Uber Bean Chili

Tasty Tuesday

 

Welcome back to Tasty Tuesday. I didn’t know a good recipe to try out this last week, but my mother in law came to me practically begging me to make my chili! It is not really my chili; it is a friend of mine’s concoction that I have adjusted here and there until it has become my own special creature. I have named it: Uber Bean Chili! The best part about this chili is that it can be made completely vegetarian. We in the Purcell house don’t eat vegetarian on a regular basis, whenever I try the husband speaks in his caveman voice and says, “Me big strong man, me need meat, yummy for my belly!” No I did not make that up; he loves randomly talking in his caveman voice! On the other hand we don’t eat hamburger either, we use ground turkey. The leaner the better!

So here is what I use:

1.25 pounds of 97/3 Ground Turkey

Two cans of Dark red kidney beans

Two cans of pinto beans

One can of black beans

One can of chili beans

One can of corn

Two cans of diced tomatoes

Chili season packet – I love Carroll Shelby’s Chili Kit

Half an onion, diced

 

(I know my picture only shows one can of tomatoes but I have a toddler that insists on “helping” momma sometimes and he was not giving up that can!)

This is how simple this fantastic chili is, are you ready for it?? Brown up your meat in a sauté pan on the stove, adding additional seasonings… my go to are salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, and for chili, a dash of cayenne and chili powder. While that is browning I get my crock pot ready and drain all the cans of the beans and the corn. Throw those in the pot. Then I open the cans of tomatoes and add them in. DO NOT DRAIN THE TOMATOES! Add one can full of water to the crockpot, and then stir in your seasoning packet. Once that is all stirred in, add the onion and your turkey should be done by then and can be added in as well. Because my family and I love garlic I also add a spoonful of minced fresh garlic to the pot. Stir it all up, throw the temp to low and let it cook most of the day. Your house will smell fantastic! I promise!

 

      The chili kit I use has mesa in it, when it comes time to serve up your chili if it isn’t as thick as you like you can use this great little packet instead of boring tasteless flour     Again, you can make this vegetarian by just leaving out the turkey. I have tried it both ways and it tastes fantastic either way it is made.

Well that was a simple Tasty Tuesday, so I thought I would share with you a trick I have learned from Pinterest that helped make the prep for this even faster. When I buy onions I will either one, by them pre chopped (yes I am lazy and willing to pay the extra buck so I don’t spend a half hour crying in the kitchen chopping up those horrible buggers) or two, actually spend a half hour crying in the kitchen chopping them up yourself. Then put them in a gallon size freezer bag, squeeze all of the air out and chuck it in the freezer! They stay fresh and good for what seems like forever. My husband loves onions and would eat them cooked in every meal, but who really wants to cut up onions for every meal or keep buying them and they go bad in your fridge… cause that doesn’t smell delightful at all! I do this will green onions as well, but I have heard that throwing the green onions into an empty bottle is better.

        If you happen to try this chili let me know how you like it or if you throw your own spin on it. I love to hear feedback!

 

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