Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

When planning out my month of meals I assigned Thursday to be my "bean" day of the week. Each day of the week has it's own main ingredient or type of food. Monday is soup day, Tuesday is leftover day (I always have leftover soup), Wednesday is Pasta, Thursday is rice or bean or rice & bean, Friday is Chicken...etc.

This Slow Cooker Turkey Chili recipe comes from Cook's Country magazine. It is definitely not a 5 ingredient or less recipe, luckily I already had all the ingredients but one on hand. It turned out really yummy. A little too spicey for the kids though. One problem for me was that the recipe made way too much to fit into my little slow cooker. I ended up having to just simmer it slowly on the stove top in my stock pot. I felt it turned out perfectly yummy just the same. The recipe says it feeds 8 - 10, but I think it feeds more. I would say at least 12 if you're eating anything else with this dish. It makes a lot, I'm going to have to freeze some of it.

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

1/4 cup chili powder

1 TBSP ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

2 slices of hearty white sandwich bread, torn into pieces

1/4 cup soy sauce

6 garlic cloves, minced

salt and pepper

2 lbs of ground turkey (anything but 99 percent lean)

3 TBSP vegetable oil

3 onions, chopped fine

1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 (16- ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (28 - ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 TBSP brown sugar

2 tsp minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo (this is your heat, eliminate it for mild chili, or use crushed red pepper or something else for heat, if you prefer)

1. Heat chili powder, cumin, and oregano in large nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Set aside.

2. Using potato masher, mash bread, soy sauce, 1 TBSP toasted spices, half of garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in large bowl until smooth. Add ground turkey and gently knead until well combined.

3. Heat 2 TBSP oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook turkey mixture, breaking up meat into 1 inch pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Transfer to slow-cooker insert. Add onion, bell pepper, and remaining oil to now-empty skillet and cook until softened, 6-8 minutes. Stir in remaining toasted spices, tomato paste, and remaining garlic, and cook until paste begins to darken, 1 - 2 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.

4. Stir beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, brown sugar, and chipotle into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until turkey is tender, 4 to 6 hours. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips.