Freestyle Turkey Chili

Here's how to do some delicious FREESTYLE turkey chili. Whether you are watching your weight or not, this is one delicious chili. We like things a little spicy, so I used a variety of hotter style chili powders, but if you don't care for spicy, use mild chili powder and omit the chipotle in adobo from the recipe. (Chipotle en Adobo is a canned food product of dried and smoked jalapeno chilies in a smoky, tomato sauce. Great pantry staple.)

So here it is ONE POINT Freestyle Turkey Chili!


Freestyle Turkey Chili
serves 8

Extra Lean! 

1 lb. Jenni O Extra Lean Ground Turkey
1 link Al Fresco Chicken Sausage with Jalpenos and Red Peppers
1 tsp. olive oil
1 can original Rotel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies
3 cans Diced Tomatoes (15 oz.)
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz.)
2 T. tomato paste
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 T. minced garlic
1 T. Chilpotle en Adobo from a can**(chopped up)
3 T. chili powder, divided use
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 T. apple cider vinegar

3 spicy chili powders I like

1 small can chopped green chilies (mild)
Cooking spray, such as PAM
3 cans kidney beans --I used 2 dark red and 1 light red                
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper

Heat a deep non-stick pot over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Slice the chicken sausage thinly and cut each circle in half. Cook the sausage until lightly brown on the edges. Remove and set aside. Add 1 tsp. olive oil to the pot and brown the turkey, breaking it up as you do.

Add the onions and green pepper to the skillet along with one T. of the chili powder and 1 tsp. cumin. Cook about 5 minutes until veggies begin to soften then add the garlic.

Chili Prep

Cook a few more minutes until you start to smell the garlic and then add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, canned chilies, vinegar, chipotle en adobo and the rest of the spices. Season with 2 tsp. Kosher salt and 1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, turn it down low, cover and let simmer for 30 - 45 minutes.

While the chili is cooking, drain the beans and rinse them. Shake out all the water in a colander. After about 40 minutes, add the beans, chicken sausage and the tomato paste into the chili. Bring the chili to a boil, lower the heat and cover. Let the chili cook 30 - 45 minutes to allow all the flavors to come together and to cook the beans.

I like to serve it with a few crushed tortilla chips, 1 T. low fat Mexican Blend Cheese and a dollop of non-fat plain Greek yogurt. If you do also, be sure to count the extra points       

This chili freezes well and will keep several days in the refrigerator. It also makes a GREAT Taco salad --Put  a ladle full over a plate of mixed greens and top with a few crushed chips, a little plain Greek yogurt and some additional salsa and a few black olives, YUMMY! I have already had that for lunch and I highly recommend it!

Taco Salad for lunch? YES PLEASE!! 

**You can freeze the leftover Chipotle en Adobo from the can. It will keep a long time if you seal it up well in a freezer bag.

Turkey Burgers

My husband really likes to cook burgers on the grill. The only thing is, I find them to be a little bland. While I can fully appreciate the ol' American favorite, cheeseburger with all the fixin's, I sometimes want something a little different. I watch a pretty fair amount of Foodnetwork TV, and if you do to, than you all know who I am talking about when I say that's she's the one who calls herself "queen of sammies", "queen of burgers", "queen of" .... how can you be "queen of" everything? Anyway, some of her recipes are good, but I must say, rarely do they really take only 30 minutes to prepare, unless you like your meat really, really rare! I took one of her weeknight burger suggestions and changed it up, not only to make it more healthy, but also to suit my own taste. Southwestern Turkey Burgers 1 pkg. ground turkey breast (most of them are about 1 1/3 lbs.) 1 handful cilantro 1/3 c. roasted red pepper 1/4 of a medium onion, yellow or red, whatever you have 2 garlic cloves 1 heaping T. grill seasoning (I used the mesquite flavor kind) 1 med. jalapeno pepper, seeded No one in my family will even try a burger with big pieces of anything in it, so I put everything but the meat into my mini food processor, and process until fairly smooth. Then, I add it into the ground turkey and mix it in with my hands (it's the only way to get everything distributed evenly). Form this into 5 patties. Get your grill hot. Grill these ( I used a grill pan on my stove ala the queen of everything) for about 3 - 4 minutes on each side. They will get a nice little crust on each side. Split 5 sturdy rolls (kaiser or sandwhich) and remove a little of the bread from the inside of the roll, making a little well to fit your burger and toppings. When you take burgers out of the pan, grill the rolls a minute or 2, cut side down first, then a quick flip, to toast them up a little. Or put them under the broiler for a minute, but I am terrible at that and always burn them Maybe I am queen of burning rolls... Toppings: your favorite salsa leafy lettuce pickled jalapenos monteray jack pepper cheese red pepper jelly cajun mayo* Use any combo of the previous to top your burgers. I choose a little salsa, a thin slice of pepper jack cheese and some leafy lettuce, chopped up. I've done the cajun mayo on one side with the red pepper jelly on the other and lots of lettuce and that's yummy too, but probably more calories than I wanted on a Tuesday night! Play around with it to suit your taste. The mayo keeps several days in the frig, and is good to jazz up a plain turkey sandwich! *To make cajun mayo, combine 3 T. light mayo w/1 tsp. chili powder, 2 - 3 drops tabasco sauce, 1 tsp. LF sour cream and a sprinkle of the grill seasoning (again, I used the mesquite kind). Stir well and let sit to combine flavors.