NFL Recipe: Making Chili for the Game!

There is nothing better than spending Sundays in the fall watching the game and enjoying some delicious snacks. Cooking has become a hobby of mine in recent years. I try to have a different type of meal every Sunday throughout the season to keep things fresh. But when in doubt, my go to dish is my turkey chili. Packed with protein and vegetables this is a relatively cheap meal (all ingredients come to less than $40 dollars) that can feed many. Here is the recipe. Give it a shot and let me know how it tastes!


Ingredients:
- 3 cans of beans. All 3 cans do not have to be the same. You can mix in black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans etc. I prefer red kidney beans.
- 1 Vidalia Onion
- 1-2 packages of chopped turkey meat. You can use chopped beef also but turkey meat is leaner and healthier. I do not notice a difference in taste between the two.
- 1 red or green pepper
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 1 can of tomato sauce. This can be a pre-maid store brand sauce such as Ragu, Francisco Rinaldi, etc
- Olive Oil
- 1 jar of chopped garlic
- Chili Powder
-Crushed Red Pepper
- Tabasco Sauce

Directions:

1) Begin by selecting a pot that is large enough to support 1-2 packages of chopped meat. A large pasta pot or dutch oven will work nice.

2) Wash all your vegetables (onions, peppers). Using a cutting board chop up the onion and peppers. The cutting size for these vegetables is subjective. Personally, I like mincing both to small bite size pieces.

3) Place the pot on the stove top and begin to warm. Pour olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Take a tablespoon of chopped garlic and place it in the pot. The let the garlic and oil simmer.

4) Slide your chopped onion and pepper into the pot. Allow both to cook until soft.

5) While your vegetables are cooking, begin preparing the meat. If necessary defrost the meat until it thaws. Place the meat in a large bowl. Chose a spice to give the meat some flavor (I sprinkle in salt, pepper and adobo). Mix the spices into the meat by hand. Once vegetables have cooked, place the meat in the pot for browning. Periodically tend to the meat making sure it browns.

6) Once meat has browned add your three jars of beans. Be careful not to add too much bean juice from the bean jars (it will make your chili soupy). Stir beans into meat.

7) Pour in one jar of diced tomatoes. If you are making this dish for a big group and are using two packages of chopped meat then you may choose to add a second jar of diced tomatoes.

8) Open you jar of store brand tomato sauce. Slowly add the sauce to the mix. Do not use the entire jar of sauce as it will make your chili too soupy. A quarter of the jar sauce is usually a safe amount to add. Stir the sauce into the meat so that it spreads through the chili.

9) Add a teaspoon of chili powder to your sauce (if desired add more to make chili spicier). Sprinkle in a couple leaves of crushed red pepper. Pour half a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce. Mix all these elements together into the sauce and meat.

10) Once all ingredients are mixed lower the heat on the stove burner. Allow the chili to cook on low heat for about 2 hours. Once chili has had time to fully cook turn the burner off. Serve the Chili in large soup bowls with shredded cheese to your guests and enjoy the game!

**Note: Sometimes this recipe tastes better when the chili has had a chance to sit overnight in refrigerator after cooking. If possible, prepare the chili on Saturday and serve on Sundays****

[Paul James' blog post was written for "The Kick is Good", a blog written about the upcoming NFL 2013 season. Find more posts at http://thekickisgoodblog.blogspot.com  #506iv #chilirecipe and follow him on twitter @PJ_thekicksgood ]