I have a lot of chili fans in the house but the reason I like chili is that I can make it and separate some out to make a vegetarian version for me while the kids have chili with meat in it. I also tend to use chili as a dish to use up meat leftovers. I have made it with ground meat or with leftover leg of lamb, leftover pork tenderloin. You get the picture. You can put whatever meat you want in the chili.

Let’s start with a basic ingredient list. I have to tell you that I seldom measure things when I make chili so a lot of this is going to be a guess as to how much to put in the pot. I use a lot of chili powder. I use either black or white beans as I have one child who does not like kidney beans of any sort. I also sometimes throw corn in but the particular photo does not have corn in it.

Ingredients:

2 28 ounce cans Italian diced tomatoes (the Italian part means they come seasoned with Italian spices)

1 40 ounce cans Great White Northern Beans

1 15 ounce can black beans

1 pound ground turkey

1 sweet green pepper

1 sweet red pepper

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 jalapeno pepper

chili powder to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Beer or Red Wine

Preparation:

First I dice the onion.  I put the olive oil in a pot and heat the pot and oil. Then in goes the diced onion. While the onion is cooking, I chop the peppers. I usually take the ribs and seeds out of the jalapeno as I have one child who does not like things to spicy. Leave the ribs and seeds in if you want more heat. I grate the garlic cloves over the onions and add the peppers. If making with meat, I now add the meat into the pan. And, here comes the first addition of chili powder. I try to cover the meat with chili powder. This continues until the meat is cooked (or heated through if using leftovers).

I deglaze the bottom of the pan with either beer or red wine. I use whatever I have on hand for drinking but will recommend using a merlot or a darker beer. I have, though, used an ale.

Then, into the pan goes one can of tomatoes with juice. I also then put in the black beans. I add more chili powder to cover the top of the ingredients. In goes the second can of tomatoes and the white beans. In goes more chili powder. I let this come to a boil, turn the heat down to barely on and simmer for at least 30 minutes but could be longer.

Frequently, we will grate fresh parmesan over chili or serve it over rice.