Sweet Potato Turkey Chili

Mmmm, chili!  It's a great meal to make on a Sunday afternoon.  The best part is, there is usually leftovers that make for quick dinners and lunches for the week. For this version, I used fresh turkey sausages -- they contain only fresh ground turkey, parsley and salt & pepper.  I don't use ones with lots of additives -- if that is all you can find, then I would suggest using fresh ground turkey.

Here's how I made it:

First, heated my trusty Le Cruset pot over medium-high heat and added a spray of olive oil.  I then squeezed the sausage meat from the casings and browned it while breaking it up with a wooden spoon. 

While the sausage was browning, I chopped one sweet onion and minced two cloves of garlic.

 After the sausage was nicely browned, I put it aside in a bowl.  To the pot, I then added the chopped sweet onion and some salt.  After the onion had sweat for a few minutes, I added the freshly minced garlic.  

As the onions and garlic were browning, I added about 1/4 cup of water to the pan to de-glaze any brown bits from the sausage.  Once the onions were soft, I added the sausage back into the pot along with a mixture of spices: 1 tbsp of chili powder, 1 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp of paprika, 1/2 tsp of cumin and 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper.  

Feel free to add more cayenne pepper if you like your chili extra spicy!  I let the spices "fry" with the sausage and onions for a few minutes while I prepped my tomatoes.

I use canned San Marzano tomatoes -- I like to buy the whole tomatoes, as I think they tend to use higher quality tomatoes for the canned whole tomatoes vs the pre-diced ones.  I took two 28 oz cans and 1 cup of water and pureed them in my Vitamix till they were nice and smooth.  I then added this to the pot and let it simmer while I prepped the other veggies.

I grated the carrots and sweet potatoes in my Cuisinart using the grater disc -- it makes for super quick work of the job!  If you want, you can substitute grated zucchini for the grated carrots.

I also diced 1 sweet red bell pepper.  Once these were prepped, I added the bell pepper, 2 cups of grated sweet potato and 2 cups of grated carrot to the pot. 

Finally, no chili is complete without beans!  I drained and rinsed one 19 oz can of red kidney beans and one 19 oz can of black beans and added them to the pot, along with about a tsp of fresh thyme. 

Just mix the whole works together and let it simmer over medium-low heat for about an hour -- I usually taste it after about 20 min to see if it needs any more salt or pepper. 

I like to serve mine over chopped spinach.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients:
4 turkey sausage link (squeezed from their casing -- approx 400 g -- or just use ground turkey)
1 sweet onion, chopped (approx. 2 cups)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans of whole tomatoes (28 oz cans) -- puree in blender
2 cups shredded carrot (approx. 1 large carrot); or 2 cups of shredded zucchini
2 cups shredded sweet potato
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 can black beans (19 oz can), drained and rinsed
1 can red kidney beans (19 oz can), drained and rinsed
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. cumin
1.8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Makes 10 servings (1.5 cups per serving)


Nutritional Information (Per 1.5 cup serving; made with carrots)
Calories: 248
Fat: 3.1 g
   Saturated: 0.7 g
   Polyunsaturated: 0.1 g
Cholesterol: 12.6 mg
Sodium: 555 mg
Potassium: 642.4 mg
Carbohydrates: 37.2 g
   Fiber: 9.8 g
   Sugars: 13.4 g
Protein: 18.7 g
Vitamin A: 162.3%
Vitamin C: 77.7%
Calcium: 9.3%
Iron: 23.9%

Nutritional Information (Per 1.5 cup serving; made with zucchini)
Calories: 242
Fat: 3.1 g
   Saturated: 0.7 g
   Polyunsaturated: 0.1 g
Cholesterol: 26 mg
Sodium: 539.6 mg
Potassium: 625.5 mg
Carbohydrates: 35.5 g
   Fiber: 9.3 g
   Sugars: 12.7 g
Protein: 18.7 g
Vitamin A: 101.7%
Vitamin C: 82.2%
Calcium: 8.8%
Iron: 23.9%