Chrivia Night

that would be chili meets trivia night.

We needed a quick dinner before heading out the door on this nasty, rainy October eve to support the trivia team, and so a variation of the Hearty Turkey Chili from the WW database was on the menu. We threw this together into the crock pot while we were home on our lunch break. However, we took queues from another chili recipe and spiced this one up a bit. Literally.

The turkey chili recipe is pretty basic, so I always cook it up from memory. It goes something like:

small package of ground turkey (i think it's around 2 lbs) browned in a skillet with one chopped onion, as much garlic as you like, and 1 tsp paprika, 1 tbsp cumin, and 2 tbsp chili powder.

throw this mixture into a slow cooker (or large pot) along with a can of crushed tomatoes, chopped red bell pepper, 2 chopped carrots, and one can of kidney beans. This recipe also calls for a cup of chicken broth, but if you were to add the poblanos in the next step, skip the stock. It comes out a bit too soupy with both liquids.

If you are brave, like we were today, take 3 poblano chili peppers (dried), heat them in a skillet on medium until they puff up and soften a bit. Cut off their tops and deseed them (you can add the seeds directly to the crock pot at this point if you like more heat). Place the peppers in a bowl and cover them with a cup of boiling water for a few minutes. Throw the water/pepper mixture into a blender or food processor and pulse a few times. Add this to the crock pot.

Let this cook on low for 4 or 6 hours.

If I were to cook this up on a weekend, I'd sacrifice a few points and add a half bottle of Guiness. The depth the ale gives it is incredible!

I also took a hint from Roni and cooked up my first spaghetti squash tonight. In the bottom of my bowl underneath the chili, it felt like I ate twice as much as I actually did - for ZERO points!
Thanks, Roni!