Turkey and bean chili

It is getting warmer out, though as I write this there is snow falling outside! No matter the weather, I am almost always in the mood for chili. It is such a comforting meal, and I also love the ability to customize your toppings!

My favorite chili is from the New England Soup Factory (along with many of my other favorite soups) and I've used their recipe for a long time. Over the years I've made some adjustments to the recipe, and that's what we have here! One of the big things I kept from their recipe is the addition of balsamic that is stirred in at the end. It adds such a nice flavor to the soup overall, so I suggest giving it a try even if you're a little skeptical.

When you're making the chili there are plenty of things you can customize. The soup has a nice heat to it, but it's not too spicy. That said, you can always reduce the amount of chili powder, or leave out the hot sauce at the end.

This soup can also easily be made vegetarian. It's easy to swap out the turkey and you can add in something like a frozen corn, or even an additional can of beans so that the soup is still thick enough (just be sure to adjust the carb count if you do that of course).

No surprise that I love to top my chili with shredded cheese, and I also enjoy some sliced avocado and sour cream. Lately, I've been swapping out sour cream for a dollop of labne from Cedar's as an alternative and it is the perfect topping. If you haven't tried Labne or Labneh, it's thicker than greek yogurt, it spreads like cream cheese, and I also used it sometimes as a replacement for mayonnaise and sour cream in other recipes so it's a great ingredient to have on hand in your fridge.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (I used jarred minced garlic)

• 1 medium onion diced

• 2 peppers (I use one red, one orange)

• 1 pound ground turkey

• 1 15 oz can black beans drained

• 1 15 oz can red kidney beans drained

• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

• 2 cups tomato juice

• 2 cups vegetable broth

• 2 tablespoons chili powder

• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

• 1 tablespoon dried basil

• 1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

• Hot sauce to taste (I used cholula)

• Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking time: About two hours all in.

Cooking instructions:

Prep your vegetables: dice your onion and both peppers.

In a large pot on medium to high heat add your olive oil and minced garlic. Once it's fragrant, add in your onions and peppers. Stir for about 5-7 minutes until your onions and peppers are cooked.

Add in your ground turkey and continue to stir until it's broken up and cooked through, another 5-7 minutes.

Add in both cans of drained beans. Pour in your tomato juice, crushed tomatoes, and vegetable broth, and sprinkle in your spices. You can add some salt and pepper at this point (you can always add more later on).

Bring your chili to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Leave on a medium heat for an hour and a half to thicken. If you feel that the soup isn't thick enough you can cook for another 30 minutes to reduce further. Add in your balsamic vinegar and hot sauce to taste. Sprinkle in any additional salt and pepper, and stir together.

Remove from the heat and serve, or fully cool and store in the fridge for up to a week!

This soup also freezes well if you don't think you'll finish the batch and then defrost and reheat whenever you're in the mood for chili. It may separate a bit in the freezer if you defrost in the fridge, but once you reheat and mix it will come back together.

Carb and serving info:

Servings: 6 (about 2 cups each)

Carbs per serving: 40.2 carbs

Carbs per full batch: 241

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.