Chili for all seasons

Clearly, I'm on a chili kick.

First off, my work just had it's annual chili cook off...sort of. It was cancelled this year due to inclement weather, so chili was made anyway and we just ate it in the lab break room. Now, while that's all good and well - I don't eat beef. So I only had some corn bread, but given that I had made my chili (previous post) and had been eating it all week, I didn't feel like I was missing out.

Secondly, don't know if I mentioned this, but I'm pregnant. Really pregnant. 3 weeks to Momdom. At my most recent ultrasound, I was diagnosed with a mild case of polyhydraminos, speculatively due to my diet creating a high sugar environment for the baby resulting in increased urine, therefore increased amniotic fluid. I was told to watch my carb intake by the specialist while my OB told me I'm fine and just approach carbs with moderation. After a few days of moping and feeling like a failure, I realized that chili is an excellent vessel for low carb meals with some alterations. So, I remade my chili with some modifications:

Ingredients:

1 lb Turkey

1 lb Pork

chicken stock

2 dried Ancho chilis
2 dried Guajillo chili
2 dried Pasilla chili

3.5 tsp Ancho chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cheyenne

1.5 onions diced
1 large zucchini (~1 cup diced)
2 carrots (~1 cup diced)
4 cloves garlic

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

salt

Procedure:
Soak dried chilis in water for about 20 minutes. Remove the stems and seeds and pulse blend the chilis

Brown meat in a little bit of oil, then remove from the pot.

Saute onion & garlic until the onion is clear. Add carrots and zucchini and mix well.

Add the meat back to the pot. Add the spices, blended chili paste and enough stock to cover everything by 1/4 inch. Simmer until the carrots are tender (15-20 minutes)

When carrots are tender, add the can of crushed tomatoes. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, then adjust seasoning to taste

Salt to taste. Simmer a little longer, than store in fridge over night for the flavors to meld.

Removing the beans and corn allows me to have more control over the carb content and frees me up to eat the chili with cornbread or Fritos. I can also add beans if I want to and just let the chili simmer for 15-20 minutes. 

Chili 2019

I started making chili the year before last when I developed mad cravings for Frito pie (the tuna noodle casserole of the American Southwest).

The bigger inspiration aside from needing to use up Thanksgiving leftovers is my diet. I don't eat beef and I tend to keep my diet low sodium. This makes most chili in Texas off limits for me. This recipe came about from reverse engineering someone's vegan chili that I had at a charity benefit. I added meat.

Ingredients:

1 lb Turkey

chicken stock

2 dried Ancho chilis
1 dried Guajillo chili
1 dried Pasilla chili

3.5 tsp Ancho chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cheyenne

1 onion
1 large zucchini (~1 cup diced)
2 carrots (~1 cup diced)
2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 can Rotel tomatoes, liquid reserved
1 can black beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can corn

salt

Procedure:
Simmer dried chilis in water for about 10 minutes. Remove the stems and seeds and pulse blend the chilis

Brown meat in a little bit of oil, then remove from the pot.

Saute onion & garlic until the onion is clear. Add carrots and zucchini and mix well.

Add the meat back to the pot. Add the spices, blended chili paste and enough stock to cover everything by 1/4 inch. Simmer until the carrots are tender (15-20 minutes)

When carrots are tender, add tomato paste and Rotel tomatoes. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, then adjust seasoning to taste
---At this point, the chili is pretty good without the beans and corn. This is a good stopping point.

Drain and wash beans and corn, then add to chili. Simmer for another 20 minutes.

Salt to taste.