Wednesday, March 31, 2010

White Turkey Chili

I've raved about the glories of chili before, both white and red.  It's easy to make, it's delicious, and it has endless possibilities.  Here is a particularly healthy version that is packed with creamy cannellini beans and chewy hominy, as well as a nice kick of spice. 

This version of chili is a little bit different and fun, featuring new flavors that I haven't worked with before.  It's great for a cool evening, and you can round it out with some warm corn tortillas for dunking. 

I garnished mine with avocado because I just can't resist any excuse to use avocado.  Use whatever garnishes you like.

White Turkey Chili
adapted from Ellie Krieger's So Easy
serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 pasilla pepper, seeded, ribs removed, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound ground white-meat turkey
2 15.5-ounce cans white beans, drained and rinsed
3 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 15.5-ounce can hominy, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
cilantro and lime juice for serving

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion, celery, and pasilla pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are softened, about 8 minutes.  Add garlic, cumin, coriander, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about one minute.
2.  Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until meat is no longer pink, about 2 minutes.  Add white beans, broth, and oregano.  Cook, partially covered and stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

3.  Add hominy and salt, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, uncovered, for about 8-10 more minutes.  Ladle into individual bowls and top with cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice, plus any other garnishes you like!

Enjoy!

5 comments:

  1. Yum! I think I'll make this tomorrow night for dinner.

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  2. This does look good, and incorporates several unusual ingredients - I shall have to look up what exactly a pasilla pepper is!

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  3. it's a not-too-spicy hot pepper, in the same section of the supermarket as jalapenos and serranos. I should not that you can definitely substitute a different type of hot pepper; that was just what I felt like using.

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  4. Can i just tell you that I made this a few weeks ago, and I did not know about canned hominy. I couldn't find anything in the store that said hominy except grits, so that is what I added. It was not bad, but really thick, definitley not what Ellie was going for :)
    This actually seems like more of a chili soup because it is so brothy.

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  5. hominy was surprisingly hard to find! turns out it was in the "ethnic" aisle of the grocery store with the mexican ingredients, rather than in the canned food aisle. the chili definitely came out more like a soup - tasty, but i might reduce the broth a bit next time.

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