Chilly Night Chili

Gonna start breaking out my crockpot recipes, even though it's mid-Nov and was 75 degrees out today.  Maybe by doing this I'll help bring out the lower fall temps.  I'm so ready for lower temps, 75 is great for the summer, but I want my chili and hot chocolate, dammit!

I've been making this chili for years now.  I think it was originally based on a SBD recipe somewhere, but I've tweaked and modified it so much over the years that I don't remember anymore. This recipe is also easy to modify based on what you have on hand.  I've posted my "basic" recipe below, but tonight (in the photo) I made a variation based on what I had in my pantry.  Black beans instead of great northern beans, ground sirloin instead of ground turkey, and I added a chopped carrot.

I don't eat spicy food, but if you want a spicier chili, you can use cans of diced tomatoes with jalapenos or chiles (like Ro*Tel) instead of the plain ones.

Chilly Night Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tray (1.25 lbs.) ground turkey (I used ground sirloin tonight)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced (I added a dice carrot tonight)
• 1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans, drained
• 1 can (15 oz.) great northern bean, drained (I had black beans but no GN beans tonight)
• 1 can (15 oz.) red kidney beans, drained
• 3 cans (14.5 oz.) petite diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• a few generous dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• In a skillet, heat the olive oil and brown the meat.  Drain and then place the browned meat into your crockpot.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally.

This chili keeps really well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.  It actually is delicious the day after, once the flavors have fused together overnight.  It freezes well too and makes good "frozen meals" to take to work on mornings when you realize you've forgotten to prep lunch the night before.