My Mom was nice enough to give me one of her old slow cookers, and this is literally the first time I have ever used a slow cooker. I have a feeling I will get obsessed...Going to bed at 10 and waking up to delicious turkey chili for lunch? Count me in!
I got the recipe from my Mom, who got the recipe from Allrecipes.com: Laura's Quick Slow-Cooker Chili. All I needed to buy to make it was one onion and two cans of tomato soup - I was thrilled how cheap it was to make. Definitely something most people should be able to throw together with what they have on hand.
*I put stars next to all the changes that were my additions. You can check out the original recipe if you would like to know the other version.
1) To start, cook the turkey (which makes me happy because I can safely sample the chili while it cooks). I used 1.25 pounds* turkey and a tablespoon of olive oil, heated over medium, and cooked until brown (about 8 minutes). I sprinkled my turkey with turmeric* and pepper*, to ensure the meat was flavorful. I try to add turmeric whenever possible, because it is such a healthy spice. In fact, my food is starting to look weird when it DOESN'T have a yellow tinge to it :) When done, drain the turkey. I used a slotted spoon and put paper towels under and over the meat, to soak up most of the fat.
2) Coat the slow cooker with cooking spray. Add the following to the slow cooker:
- Cooked ground turkey
- Two 10.75oz cans of tomato soup
- Two 15oz cans of kidney beans
- 15oz black beans
- One medium onion, chopped*
- Two tablespoons chili powder
- Two teaspoons red pepper flakes*
- Half Tablespoon garlic powder
- Half Tablespoon paprika*
- Sprinkling of curry powder*, pepper, and allspice
3) Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours - I went for low.
I will let you know how it turns out in the morning! I have a feeling it is going to be delicious. The only thing I might need to change is it doesn't look like there is much liquid. However, I am not familiar with slow cookers, so not sure how much I will end up needing, plus I prefer a chunkier chili, so we will see what happens.
The ultimate test will be if it is better than this chili I made previously in the year: MOPS Chili
*Update: The chili turned out great. There was definitely enough liquid- after it cooked for 8 hours, it got perfectly juicy, so I wouldn't change the liquid. I like this better than the MOPS Chili because I like ground turkey better than chunks of beef. The MOPS chili was closer to a stew. However, I do think this turkey chili would be great with the addition of diced tomatoes and potentially the juice of a lime.
Last night I made myself a cabbage and chicken salad and discovered that one head of cabbage makes QUITE A BIT when sliced up. I have always loved purple cabbage, so that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just a surprising thing. I think my mom can attest to my cabbage love -- I vaguely remember asking for my own head of purple cabbage to snack on when I was little.
Anyway, my massive amount of cabbage meant quite a bit of salad, and I should be set eating that for the next few days. Along with that, I decided to toast up some walnuts because a) I have an abundance of walnuts and b) I wanted something besides cabbage and chicken salad to eat tomorrow (even though it is fantastic). I bought a bunch of walnuts over a short period of time because I read that it was good to eat at least a few a day. I quickly forgot to make this a habit, and that is how I ended up with my stock.
I saw a recipe in Cosmo (August 2011) for jazzing up any sort of nut, and used it for inspiration. This recipe said to coat your favorite nuts in olive oil, add "pinches" of paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and salt, and toast on a baking sheet for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring every 5 minutes.
I adjusted it a bit, on purpose and on accident. The accident was I keep thinking I have paprika (who doesn't have paprika) and I don't have any and keep forgetting! Therefore, these nuts were paprika-less. The on-purpose was a lack of salt, as I am trying to consume less salt. It isn't the best for you, and I put a lot of fish oil in my aforementioned salad, which has a LOT of salt.
I also didn't use any sort of "pinches." I would say I DUMPED the spices on. I put some, I put more, and then I added a little more. Adjust for what you prefer, but I think a pinch would not be enough in most circumstances. Also, if you are doing salt and garlic powder, it might be more efficient to use garlic salt?
As you toast the nuts, they get a better flavor and the spices develop. However, I think this temperature was too high and for too long (at least for walnuts). I would try toasting at 225 degrees for twenty minutes. My walnuts are a little too brown, but they should still make a great snack for the next few days.
Do you have any favorite ways to use up leftover nuts?
