Turkey Days

I've decided to do a little Coconut & Lime or Smitten Kitchen impression, by showing off the Turkey Chili I made this afternoon, while watching my Dallas Cowboys hold back the Pittsburg Steelers- only to watch them blow the whole game in the last 3 minutes. But I'm not bitter. Not a bit. Cause I had this for dinner:



Mmmmmm... turkey chili chock full of veggies and deliciousness. This all happened because I've had 3 pounds of ground turkey in the freezer for... a while. The original plan was to use 1 lb for chili, 1 lb for taco meat, and 1 lb for spaghetti sauce. After brief consideration I decided that 1 lb of meat for chili wouldn't be enough meat, and axed the taco meat all together. I got all of my ingredients ready, as well as those for a Pumpkin Pie, which perhaps we'll talk about later.



The pie was first, and after getting it into the oven I went on with chopping the veggies and browning the meat. I honestly didn't even measure the spices, but I know that I used fresh ground pepper, ground red pepper, cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes, Adobo, and oregano.



I then added most of the veggies, tomato sauce, and a little water, allowing the veggies to cook down a bit. It wasn't too long before I remembered to add the single jalapeno pepper the recipe I was loosely basing mine on had called for. All I could find at the grocery store were serano peppers, but I decided to just assume that it was the same thing- or at least very close. And then came the green chilis.



Woohoo! This chili is absolutely loaded with veggies. I put the top on and just let it all simmer for nearly an hour, then added corn and black beans. I don't even typically like beans, but knowing how good they're supposed to be for you and that I could control the amount, I decided on black beans because I find that they are less likely to get all mushy (which is what I hate about beans). Once the zucchini started to get a little transparent but still had just a little bit of crunch left I removed the lid and allowed the water to cook down for a bit. I would've liked for it to have a bit thicker of a tomato base to it, but with no tomato paste in the house and a rumbling tummy, I knew it was done.

Turkey Chili
1.2 lbs ground turkey
1 clove of garlic (diced - and it could prolly use another 3 or so)
1/2 a red pepper (diced)
(1) medium zucchini (diced)
1/2 a yellow onion (diced)
1.5 cups of cooked corn
(1) 15.5 oz can of black beans
(2) 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
(1) 14.5 oz can of stewed tomatoes
(1) 4 oz can of Ortega green chilis

And well... the directions are sort of above. I topped it with some thinly sliced Kerrygold Irish Red Leicester cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream, and it was sooooooo delicious. I'm really happy with it, having basically winged it on the measurements and spices. That's pretty much how I like to cook anyway.



And so what if the Cowboys lost? Well... I mean... I do. But it's probably my fault anyway, for lusting after the Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin. (rawr!)

...oh wait... nope. It was Tony Romo's fault for throwing that interception to Deshea Townsend for the Steelers' game winning touchdown. I feel a little better now... time for pie.