white bean turkey chili-meal#2

friday night for dinner I made white bean turkey chili from scratch. I had never made a white chili before so I was a little nervous.

whenever I make chili it is all tomato based and I throw a little of this and a little of that in. I use canned beans and ground turkey meat.

this time around I decided to use real dried beans. I found a really great recipe from the one and only, paula deen. I have a calendar of hers and it was february’s recipe. I followed it to a tee and it turned out really good. not too spicy, but enough to make it chili.

my kids wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole, but if you follow the recipe you will get about 5 adult dinner serving sizes. I served it with a loaf of french bread. it also reheated really well. I think I might add this to my list of regular dinners. enjoy!

1 lb dried navy beans

5 cups chicken stock

1/2 stick of butter

1 tblsp minced garlic

1/2 onion, diced

1 1/2 cups green chilies (fresh or canned) {I used both. I had one small can of mild chilies and one fresh green chili. it worked well}

1 sandwich baggie of leftover turkey meat, chopped {you could also use 1 lb chicken, that’s what the original recipe calls for anyway}

1 tblsp ground cumin

1 tblsp dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

red pepper flakes, to taste

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

wash beans, cover with water and soak for 2 hours. drain. place beans in large pot with chicken stock. bring to a boil. in a saucepan, heat butter and saute garlic, onion and chilies for 5 minutes. add to bean pot. add turkey, cumin, oregano, black pepper, white pepper, red pepper and cilantro. lower heat to low/medium and cook, stirring occasionally for 1 1/2 hours.

note: after the 1 1/2 hours of simmering, it was REALLY thick, so I added some water to make it the consistency that I wanted. I also served it with sour cream, salsa, cheese and fresh cilantro for those who wanted it. that tones down the spiciness too. which I liked. others may want to add more spice while it simmers, and no toppings. it was a super easy recipe.