Tom's Turkey Chili
Dinner for four for less then $15 in about a half hour
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground turkey dark meat
- 1 medium onion
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 15-oz. can red kidney beans, drained
- 1 20-oz. can tomato sauce
- chili powder
- red chili pepper flakes
- cumin
- 1 or 2 tblsp. olive oil
Why turkey? you might well ask, if I hinted around enough. Well, it's less fatty. If less fatty works for you, great. If not, you can sub ground beef, but if you do, be sure and rinse the meat after you brown it so that the chili doesn't get too greasy.
The key to getting this dish on the table in a half hour is to multi-task.
- (If you are going to serve the chili over pasta, start the flame under the water now.)
- Put two skillets on the stove top. Plop the turkey in one and let it sit over a medium flame. Put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in the other fry pan and put a low flame under it to get it hot.
- Coarsely chop the onion and pepper and place the chopped vegetables in the pan with the olive oil. Spread it around so it sautes evenly and raise the heat an increment or two.
- Set the table.
- When the turkey starts to sizzle, flatten it to a patty the size of the pan. When it starts to brown on one side, break it in pieces and flip it over. Repeat as necessary until done. Chop the patty into bite size or smaller chunks as you go.
- Stir the vegetables as necessary until onions are translucent. Add drained kidney beans and tomato sauce. Season to taste with chili powder, cumin, and red chili pepper flakes. Stir well and cover. Reduce heat.
- When the turkey is completely cooked, stir it into the other pan that contains all the other ingredients. Let it simmer.
At this point, the longer you let it simmer, the more flavorful it will be. Since members of my family like it over pasta, I serve it when the pasta is done.
