Chicken and Bean Chili

Happy New Year to you all! So happy for the long weekend, it gave me a chance to catch up with many things including blogging.

Yesterday I whipped up this crazy delicious chicken chili. My husband had mentioned that he was never a big chili man, but last night I witness him help himself to seconds, thirds and fourths! There's a certain satisfaction when a dish hits a home run. We both took leftovers to work for lunch, he made sure I measured it out evenly making sure I didn't take more than him.  Ha! 

For leaner and lower calorie purposes, I switched the ground beef to ground chicken, a move that I was nervous about but this gamble paid off in spades! The hubby asked that I make this chili again in the summer time as a topping for hot dogs! He's such a fan now of chili. Hallelujah!

Chicken and Bean Chili

Makes about 10 servings:

2 chicken (or Turkey) sausage links (I used Applegate Farms)

1 lbs. pound of ground chicken 

1 1/2 cup of chopped onions

4 garlic cloves, minced

*1 (7 oz.) can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (optional - for spicy chili) 

3 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tsp. of salt

2 tsp. of unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 cup of dry red wine

28 ounces of less sodium beef broth

1 can (28 oz.) whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped

2 tablespoons of masa harina  (corn flour)

2 (15-oz.) cans of pinto beans

2 (15-oz.) cans of black beans

Heat a heavy pot (Dutch oven pot if you own one) over medium hight heat. Add sausage to pan with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, saute until browned. Remove sausage from pan and add the ground chicken, saute for about 8 minutes or until it's cooked, then remove from pan.

Add onions and garlic and saute for 3 minutes, if you plan to make this a spicy chili, add the chipotle chiles*. Add the sausage and ground chicken, tomato paste, and the next 6 ingredients to pan and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in red wine, beef broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Add the masa harina, stir, then add the beans and cover. Reduce heat, let simmer for another 20 minutes then get ready to enjoy.