Monday, September 8, 2008

Big Bowl Chili and Parsley Flatbread




The past weekend was the start of football season, well I think. I don't follow the game, I just use it as a random excuse to cook some classic American food and pretend that I'm inhaling the culture. Part of the culture inhalation was to try my hand at making chili (which I've never done before). Anyone who knows me, knows that I dislike beans with a passion. But the thought of making Texas-style chili just seemed overwhelming, what with the meat and complete lack of other kind of vegetables it just felt like I would be merely making... pasta sauce.

I found some really nifty ideas online for a low-fat turkey and black bean chili. Again, anyone who knows me knows I hate beans with a passion. So if a recipe was going to demand beans, it had better be pretty darn good. Turns out, the chili was absolutely yumtastic; I actually had second helpings. The corn and tomato sauce evened out the flavour of the beans and made it so much more bearable (and also because I sekritly picked out the beans from my bowl). I call it the Big Bowl Chili because I used some Big Chili Bowls I bought from Crate and Barrel. It's only fitting.

The best thing that went with the chili was of course some flatbread. Deb of smittenkitchen, where this flatbread recipe came from, has a really uncanny knack of finding easy and super delicious recipes. While she used rosemary, I thought that wouldn't be a good pairing with chili, so I substituted the rosemary with some parsley.

We rounded off the meal with some ice tea infused with vodka and berries for a perfect game season meal. I'm including only the recipe for the chili, you can head over to smittenkitchen for the flatbread recipe.

You can top off the chili with cheese, but I went heart-healthy with this one.

Big Bowl Chili
Serves 4

8 oz. ground turkey
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, no salt
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz)black beans in water
1 cup frozen sweet corn kernels
3 heap tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp ground coriander
1/4 tbsp ground black pepper
Salt to taste
Sour Cream (optional)
Shredded cheddar or 4 cheese Mexican mix (optional)

Heat 1 tbsp extra light olive oil or vegetable oil in a soup pot or dutch oven. Saute onions and garlic until fragrant and soft. Add in turkey and saute until turkey is no longer pink. Add in tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, corn kernels and spices. Simmer for about 20 minutes, uncovered. Add in salt to taste and simmer for 10 minutes covered. Turn off heat and let the chili steep for as long as possible, allowing the chili/tomato compote to steep will help seal in the flavours.

To serve, spoon in bowls and top off with a dollop of sour cream and scatter some shredded cheese.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As a fellow bean hater, but knowing that beans are a miracle food (hi protein, low fat, etc. etc. etc.), I'm trying to incorporate more into my diet. This looks like a great recipe to try.

Also, just found out there are bean flours for making things like healthy flatbreads. You might want to check that out. (Check out Bittman on chickpea flour, for instance.)

Your pictures are brilliant and, so it would seem, is your cooking.