Turkey Chili Con Carne with Vegetarian Option

Does your family serve Turkey or Ham for your holiday dinner?    In my family, my youth was spent eating Turkey on Christmas evening.  As we grew older and began to have a voice in the matter, we realized we were essentially creating the same meal for Christmas, as we’d created for Thanksgiving — a Turkey, Stuffing, and Yam dinner — so we changed it up and while we still go with tradition, its Turkey for Thanksgiving, and Baked Ham for Christmas.

What do you do with leftovers besides sandwiches?  Well, Turkey Soup was always a big one, and Ham Sandwiches.  We’re going to mix it up a bit this year — we’re sharing a healthy recipe for Turkey Chili and also a Ham and Egg Cups.  This recipe uses Ground Turkey, but we’ve made it often with very finely chopped leftover turkey, as well.

Ground Turkey Chili Con Carne

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Course: Entrees

Cuisine: Healthy Spa Cuisine

Keyword: Turkey

Servings: 10 Servings

Calories: 278kcal

Courtesy Of: Spa Index (adapted from Green Mountain at Fox Run)

A terrific cold weather chili dish -- chili con carne, made with ground turkey for a leaner option.

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 2 medium onions , chopped (1 cup)
• ▢ 2 medium carrots , chopped or sliced thin (1 cup)
• ▢ 1 medium red bell pepper , chopped (1 cup)
• ▢ 1 medium green bell pepper , chopped (1 cup)
• ▢ 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernals , we especially like blackened or charred corn kernels
• ▢ 2 tablespoons garlic finely minced , or diced leftover turkey
• ▢ 2 pounds ground turkey
• ▢ 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
• ▢ 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ▢ 4 ounches chopped green chilis
• ▢ 2 jalapeño chilies , seeded and chopped
• ▢ 15 ounce crushed tomatoes , canned (seasoned tomatoes like Rotel are also great(
• ▢ 4 cups water
• ▢ 15 ounce pinto beans , canned, drained, rinsed (or use black beans instead)
• ▢ 15 ounce kidney beans , canned, drained, rinsed
• ▢ Fine Pink Salt
• ▢ Pepper

Instructions

• Cook onions in oil in large Dutch oven or saucepan over medium heat about 10 minutes or until onions are tender.
• Add sliced or carrots, green and red bell peppers and garlic; cook 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add ground turkey; cook 5 or so minutes or until turkey is no longer pink (or to heat and char cooked turkey bits if using leftovers)
• Add cumin, oregano, chili powder, green chilies, jalapeno chilies, crushed tomatoes and water; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer about 45 minutes.
• Add corn and beans; simmer 15 to 20 minutes longer.
• If necessary, thin the chili with additional water to desired consistency, or thicken with another can of beans
• To serve, season with salt and pepper.

Spa Index Kitchen Notes

This recipe calls for ground raw turkey, but, we've made it with diced up fully cooked turkey with equally good results. A bit of olive oil in the pan makes up for the lack of (already minimal) fat from browning ground turkey.

Variation / Vegetarian Chili: Prepare chili as directed, except substitute 1 can (16 ounces) pinto beans, drained, for the turkey. Add pinto beans with black beans and kidney beans.

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 Serving | Calories: 278 kcal (14%) | Carbohydrates: 25 g (8%) | Protein: 24 g (48%) | Fat: 10 g (15%) | Cholesterol: 67 mg (22%) | Sodium: 460 mg (20%) | Potassium: 706 mg (20%) | Fiber: 7 g (29%) | Sugar: 5 g (6%) | Vitamin A: 1850 IU (37%) | Vitamin C: 37.1 mg (45%) | Calcium: 100 mg (10%) | Iron: 4.1 mg (23%)