This weekend’s frigid wind sent me running in doors, searching for safety. Luckily, after I came home from seeing Noah at the movies Saturday night, I had all the ingredients to make my robust and spicy lean turkey chili with broccoli that always receives raving reviews. (The movie in my eyes – not so good!)

Here’s a tip that I want to share with you about ground turkey. It can be leaner than ground beef, but it depends on what you purchase and where it comes from.

Read the label and buy the lean!

You trade ground turkey for ground beef in recipes to save saturated fat. But be careful. The dark meat in ground turkey can be just as bad as beef, in fact it can be worse.
A quarter pound of regular ground turkey contains 3 grams saturated fat. The same amount of sirloin has 2.5 grams.
Whereas lean ground turkey breast has just half a gram of saturated fat.
So just pay close attention to what you’re buying.
A savvy technique is to create your own product — just buy boneless, skinless turkey breast and grind it yourself in your food processor.
Lean Turkey Chili with Broccoli (Magro Chili de Pavo con Brócoli)

Makes 4 servings

Preparation time: 1 hour

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

½ red pepper, diced

1 lb. lean ground turkey

3 Tablespoons chopped culantro

3 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 Tablespoon chopped oregano

1 Tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder

1 Tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

½ (1 lb.13oz.) can of red or pink beans

4 broccoli florets, chopped

In a 5-quart pot, add olive oil and sautee garlic, onions, red pepper, culantro, cilantro, and oregano for 3 minutes over low flame.

Add turkey. Add chili powder, chipotle chili powder, paprika, cumin, and turmeric. Cook until evenly brown.

Add tomato sauce and beans. Cover and cook for 25 minutes.

Add broccoli. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve over brown rice.

(Special thanks to my mom for the evening at the movies and for the ideas for the chili.)

Buen provecho!