Turkey is not just for Thanksgiving. Many people are using turkey instead of beef or chicken. If your kids kick about it, try this spicy turkey chili recipe. That your main ingredient is turkey will be our secret.

3 cups diced cooked turkey
1 cup whole kernel canned corn
1 large can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes, with juice
1 cup spicy tomato juice
3-15/16 oz cans of kidney beans, rinsed (or any canned beans, legumes only, of your choice)
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
5 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped coarse
2 Tblspn chili powder
1/2 tspn cayenne pepper
1 Tbspn cumin
1 tsp. oregano
3 Tbspn vegetable or grapeseed oil
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Bottled hot pepper sauce to taste*

Heat oil in large heavy pot over medium-high heat until oil is hot and shimmering. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic skillet and saute vegetables until garlic looses rawness and starts to brown and the onions and peppers become soft and tender.

To the pot, add chili powder, cayenne, cumin and oregano while stirring the mixture. Cook for ½ minute, and then add tomatoes, beans, and corn and tomato juice.

Lower heat to medium-low and simmer bean mixture for one hour. Occasionally stir to keep for burning or sticking. Add cooked turkey to pot and cook 20 minutes. Turkey will absorb the flavors of ‘the pot’.

Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary. If the chili is not hot, enough for you add several dashes of hot sauce until it is. Franks hot sauce is best for this. Makes 8 servings. This turkey chili has excellent freezing qualities.

Serve with assorted chili toppings; shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream and chopped tomatoes. Add a green salad made with black olives and cucumbers, and hearty bread, such as a rustic loaf of wheat bread where you tear off pieces of bread or corn bread hot from the oven and cut into squares ready to be crumbled into the chili.

Hint
*Do not buy already baked cornbreads to serve with chili; they often taste more like cake than cornbread. But, remember you do not have to have made-from-scratch corn bread, use a mix.
*This is certainly a matter of preference, but I find that Tabasco Sauce, which is made to tabasco peppers, is hotter and has a sharper edge than Frank's Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce. Franks has an undertone of smokiness and a smooth flavor when placed on your tongue.