It used to be that the word “chili” would conjure up images of brown chunky mush that looked (and smelled) like something you would feed a furry four legged companion. The only thing that would make the chili of my memories remotely edible was to douse it with loads of cheese, sour cream, onions, and salsa.
Recently I was contemplating the contents of my pantry and given barren shelf with a lone can of smoked chipotle chilis and cannellini beans (aka white kidney beans) staring back at me, I decided I’d throw old notions of chili out the window. What I came up with was a fresher alternative that still captures the spicy warming essence of what good chili should be.
As in keeping with this blog’s name, I encourage you to take liberties on the ingredients and come up with your own perfect chili. Some ideas include replacing the turkey with crumbled extra firm tofu, using different spices, and serving it with different things. The picture above illustrates what I did with the chili on day 2.
Chili
2 tbs - good olive oil
1 - medium onion diced
1 - celery stalk diced
1 - jalepeno, seeds removed and minced
3 - garlic cloves minced
1 tbs - minced ginger1 - bay leaf
1 tbs - ground cumin
1 tbs - ground coriander
1 tsp - cinnamon
1 tsp - chili powder1 lbs - ground turkey
2 - chipotle chiles (canned in adobo sauce) diced
2 tbs - Adobo sauce from the chipotle chiles
3 cups - low sodium chicken stock1 16 oz can - cannellini beans drained and rinsed
Pickled Jalepenos
2 - Jalepeno peppers sliced thin
1/4 tsp - salt
pinch of sugar
2 tbs - white vinegar
In a medium saucepan, saute the first set of ingredients in the olive
oil over medium heat until soft and starting to caramelize. Add the
spices and cook for another minute until fragrant.
Add the ground chicken, turn up the heat and break up into small
chunks until cooked through.
Add the chili’s, reserved adobo sauce and chicken stock and bring to a
boil. Turn down the heat, add the beans and simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve with pickled jalepenos and toasted bread rubbed with a clove of
raw garlic.
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