I made this quick and easy chili tonight. The thing I love about chili is that you can kinda throw in whatever you feel like and make it to taste. The measurements are a bit rough, but make it to suit your fancy.

Ingredients:

splash of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
hunk of ground turkey, about the size of your fist
a few slices of onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed
1/3 cup frozen sweet corn
1/3 cup frozen sliced peppers
a splash of red wine
chili powder (I probably used about a teaspoon total, but I have the cheap store brand version that isn’t very strong, so it took a lot. Add it to your taste.)
sprinkle of dried basil flakes
sprinkle of red pepper flakes
liberal shakes of salt and pepper
Optional: shredded Mexican cheese, avocado, chopped scallions, sour cream or plain yogurt, salsa, etc

1. Heat the olive oil in a smallish pot.

2. Add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant.

3. Add the onions and ground turkey and stir until the meat is cooked through and browned.

4. Add the tomatoes, beans, corn, peppers and wine. Stir until it’s all combined.

5. Stir in the spices. Taste it as you go to determine if you need more of anything. This is a pretty flexible dish — for example, I added the wine as an afterthought because I had gone a little heavy on the red pepper flakes and my eyes started to water when I tasted it.

6. Let the pot simmer on medium-low heat, with the cover on, until it has thickened. This will probably take around 45 minutes, but keep checking on it and stirring it every 10 minutes or so.

7. Top with shredded Mexican cheese, avocado, chopped scallions, sour cream (or plain yogurt, to cut calories), salsa, or whatever tickles your fancy.

Making this dish made me really crave cornbread, and I was busy lamenting the fact that I didn’t have a mix handy when I realized that I probably had all of the ingredients for cornbread anyway — cornmeal, flour, etc. I did a quick search and found this recipe, which I chose because all the other ones had a ton of lard or butter and I didn’t have either on hand, plus yogurt was a much, much healthier alternative. They turned out a bit dry, but good with some butter melted on top and dipped in hot chili, and they certainly satisfied the craving.

Leftovers for lunch! Everyone knows chili tastes even better the day after.

(Note: In an earlier version of this post, I forgot to include #6 in the instructions.)