Chicken Chili

 

I have always loved a good bowl of chili, it's just good old comfort food at it's best. This healthy version does away with the beef and substitutes chicken in its place. I don’t miss the beef but you can make the same recipe with a lean cut of meat.

Serves 4

Ingredients

·        1 to 2 uncooked chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

·        2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

·        1 1/2 tbsp. chili powder

·        1 tbsp cumin

·        Crushed red pepper flakes to taste (optional, if you like hot chili)

·        1 green pepper, sliced into thin strips

·        1 medium onion, chopped

·        1 (15 oz.) can of no salt added whole or crushed tomatoes  (save the can for adding water to the pot)

·        Red wine

·        16 ounces of each of the following: 

black beans
kidney beans
whole kernel corn

*Use dried beans and fresh corn cut from the cob

Procedure

·        Cut chicken breast and  into1 inch pieces and sauté in oil over medium heat until cooked through.  Add the green pepper and onion for 2-3 minutes until softened.

·        Season with the spices now (including the red pepper flakes, if desired) and stir into chicken-pepper mixture for a couple of minutes.

·        Pour in tomatoes, cut up into smaller pieces and heat to boiling. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. 

·        Add in 1 tomato cans worth of water and 1/2 can worth of a good red wine and stir to blend for 1 minute.

·        Add the beans and corn. Bring back up to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer and cook for at least 45 minutes longer, adding additional wine if needed…the longer the better to allow for the flavors to meld. 

*This chili, as with ALL tomato-based sauce dishes, will taste even better the following day…so you may want to cook it the day before serving, then just reheat in the same pot.

Serve with whole-grain crackers or over brown rice or with a dense whole-grain bread…or just by itself (with the rest of that bottle of red or a cold one). A bowl full of awesomeness!