Chili is one of my husband’s favourite dishes. It’s a wonderful comfort food on a cold winter night. Now, I’m not a huge fan of ground beef, so I tend to make my chili with either ground turkey, chicken or pork. I find by using a lighter meat the chili has a milder flavour and it let’s the tomato and spices really pop. Plus it’s so much better for your health. The great thing about chili is that you can be really creative. You change up the meat to whatever is your families favourite, try different kinds of beans, add in other vegetables. Serve it with rice or mashed potatoes…or just on it’s own with a nice slide of crusty bread. Yum!

Ingredients

approx.. 450g Ground Turkey (you can use ground chicken, pork or beef if you want)

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

2 carrots

1 stalk of celery

1 red pepper

chili powder

approx 750ml crushed or dice tinned tomatoes (note: you can use more tomato if you like you chili more saucy)

1 small tin of tomato paste

a couple tablespoons of white vinegar (to taste)

salt and pepper

ked or white kidney beans (rinsed and without the canning liquid)

1 tablespoon of sugar if needed

Directions:

Start by dicing all of the vegetables.

Next, brown the meat in a heavy pan. Le Creuset is my favourite pan because it retains the heat really well.

Once the meet is no longer pink, add the chopped onion, garlic, carrots and red pepper. Cook until soft.

Add chili powder and cook for a couple more minutes to bring out flavours.

Add tomatoes, vinegar and beans.

At this point you could transfer to slow cooker. I prefer to just leave it in the pan and let in simmer for about one hour.

Make sure to do a quick taste test and add salt, pepper and sugar as needed.

Serve with rice, mashed potatoes and top with grated cheddar and a little cilantro.