Football Fever: Food for the Masses

It's that time of year, either you're entertaining fans anticipating the World Series or you're all banding together to root for your favorite college or pro football team, which is what we did yesterday. I'm on the road, visiting family, and Saturday in Los Angeles means the USC Trojans football game. It's a bit of a religious experience for my brother and friends. This band of alums gathers together each week to watch the game, complete with USC caps, shirts, and cocktail napkins.

I didn't want to offer to cook anything that was too complicated, so that I could join in the fun, but needed a dish that would serve 12 and be healthy. I decided on Black Bean Chipotle Chili, a hearty stew full of flavor and a perfect accompaniment to football. The trick is to use ground turkey in place of ground beef. Trust me, no one will be the wiser. While ground turkey can be rather bland in taste, the addition of the chili powder and chipotle peppers, among other things, really amps up the flavor.

If you are serving a mixed group of children and adults, you can deseed and leave the chipotles whole and fish them out before serving; for adults only, you can increase the number of peppers, deseed and puree before adding to the chili for a spicier version. On the healthy scale, in addition to the use of turkey, you can sneak in additional veggies. I only used onions and peppers this time around, but diced carrots and celery work very well, plumping up the volume of the chili and adding more nutritional value.

Timewise, you can chop and assemble the ingredients while the turkey is browning, and the whole pot can be done and simmering within 45 minutes. I cooked up this recipe prior to the start of the game. I left it on simmer for the duration of USC's rout of Washington State (69-0), stirring it every 30 minutes or so. Very low maintenance while you root for your favorite team.

You can't have chili without cornbread, but to minimize the time in the kitchen, and make your life a bit easier, I scoured the grocery store shelves for a healthier cornbread mix. Not surprisingly, Krusteaz Honey Cornbread mix (15 ounce box) was the winner in my book. Easy to make in 3 minutes with one egg and one cup of milk, it pops in the oven and is ready in 25 minutes. Only 120 calories per serving, it is low in fat, cholesterol, and sugar.

Black Bean-Chipotle Turkey Chili
Serves 12-16

3 pounds ground turkey
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1 bell pepper, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup chili powder
1 tablespoon seasoning salt
12 ounce bottle of dark beer (or vegetable/chicken broth)
4 chipotles in adobo, deseeded
3 cans black beans, drained
1 28 ounce can of diced tomato
2 28 ounce cans of tomato sauce
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Heat oil over medium-high heat in large stockpot, add turkey and cook for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, chop your onion, pepper, garlic and cilantro, and open the cans of beans and sauce. Add onion, peppers and garlic to the meat mixture and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chili powder and seasoning salt, stirring for 3 minutes. Add in the beer or broth and chipotles, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Finally add the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce and chopped cilantro. Bring to bubbling, and reduce heat to simmer for 2-4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.