Week 5: Canned Refried Beans, Cannellini, Black and Pinto Beans

I love cooking towards specific holidays and events.  So, while no one here actually watches the Super Bowl (aside from the commercials that we DVR to watch later), it does feel like an appropriate time for chili!  My recipe is heavily adapted from the original Weight Watchers "Spicy Turkey-Bean Chili" in Simply The Best (page 144, 1997)

I've made many chili recipes over the years.  I crave this one.  It's superb.  It can also be made vegan with Boca Crumbles... I simply sub Crumbles for the turkey, scale the Crumbles back and increase the beans...still superb!

Ariella's Four-Bean Chili

Ingredients:

• PAM
• 3 lbs lean ground turkey (or Boca Crumbles for a vegetarian version)
• 2 large or 3 medium onions, chopped
• 6-12 cloves garlic, minced, to taste
• 1.5-2 Tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/4 + teaspoon cinnamon 
• 3 bay leaves
• ~1 Tablespoon salt (to taste)
• 1+ Tablespoon(s) sugar
• 1 15-oz can fat-free refried beans
• 1 15-oz can pinto beans
• 1 15-oz can black beans
• 2 15-oz cans cannellini beans
• 2 4-oz cans chopped green chilies
• 1 8-oz can tomato paste
• 3 15-oz cans diced stewed tomatoes

Procedure:

1. Heat large dutch oven over medium heat.  Once warm, cover bottom of pot with PAM.  Add chopped onions, ground turkey (or Crumbles), minced garlic, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, bay leaves and salt.  Cook, stirring as needed, until turkey is cooked through.
2. Add refried beans and tomato paste.  Mix thoroughly.
3. Add tomatoes, beans and chilies; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring as needed, until flavors are well blended, ~1 hour.  Add sugar, to taste, once it has cooked a while, to get a better idea of how much to add.
4. Will be tastier after 24-48 hours.
5. Serve over rice or cole slaw, with a side of cornbread.  This is also delightful over a baked potato!

Have a great week!