Texas Chili with a Moroccan - Asian - Italian twist

Ok - Let's just call in "International Chili!" OR  I guess you could call it "Kitchen Sink" chili and be done with it.

I've probably shown a step by step ingredient by ingredient breakdown of making chili in this blog several times over the past 4 years but as in life in general, things change, you add some stuff, you take some stuff out, you adapt and modify and try to make things better.

The bottom line is that you have to cook for your own tastes, your own palette and what your body needs or is asking for at any point in time.

And what my taste buds and body is asking for right now is a variety of tastes, textures, very well seasoned, even spicy, but not overly hot, with lots of veggies, a nod to the sweet side and some lean proteins thrown in there to back it all up.

So without further adieu, let's get this chili wagon started!

Start out with a smoking hot Cast Iron Dutch Oven.

I always do my "hard" veggies first because they take the longest to cook - Duh!

This is a cup of organic multi-colored carrots.... 2 - 3 minutes stirring continuously on these.

Here's a lot of the rest of ingredients:
1 large sweet onion
2 poblano peppers
1 red bell pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
Carrot sticks
Asparagus
Eggplant
Yellow Squash
Crimini mushrooms
Cilantro
Basil
Garlic
Ginger
TJ"s Sweet Basil Chicken & Turkey Sausage

Everything that goes in the pot is seasoned liberally with salt, pepper, quick chili mix and my African-Moroccan mix of Cumin, Garam Masala, Turmeric and Allspice.  This combo of traditional chili and more exotic spices really gives the chili an extra zing on the palette..... and that's a good thing!

This is the onion, peppers and asparagus. Stir and Roll for at least 5 minutes.

Next is the softer vegetables - Yellow Squash and Eggplant - seasoned as above. I also threw the diced TJ's Sweet Basil Chicken and Turkey Sausage and diced ginger and garlic in at this time. Stir and Roll for another 3 minutes.

Hold it... Did you say Ginger in Chili..... I told you we were going down the Asian aisle with this one!

Don't worry about it.... it's diced fine and is very subtle in the maze of the rest of the ingredients.... but you can taste it and again - 

That's a good thing!

 While that's going on, debone, dice and season the roasted chicken.  That's a pretty good pile of chicken - at least a pound but will disappear in the mass of veggies.

And for the sweet element - a whole fuji apple sliced and diced and seasoned with cinnmaon and a cup of the crimini mushrooms go in next.  Keep rolling and stirring for another 3 minutes.

Add in the diced chicken, roll everything in and then add a cup of chicken stock and then a good glug glug of Cabernet just to get everything deglazed from the bottom of the pot and add a little more moisture and flavor.

At this point, you've basically got a pretty good looking Chicken and Sausage stew or gumbo but with no rue.

Here's where the nod to Italy comes into the chili with a jar of Newman's Sockarooni Marinara Sauce.  Just hold your horses..... this is gonna work.  This is my favorite store bought spaghetti sauce and we're gonna turn it back to the Dark Side of Chili here in a minute.

Next add a can of good quality diced tomatoes.

And here's where the real chili taste comes in with a good dusting of the whole thing with Cayenne, Quick Chili Mix and 2 teaspoons of turbinado sugar to cut the acidity of all the tomatoes and bring everything together.

Stir all that in and keep it simmering for another 5 minutes.

Dice up a good batch of cilantro and basil.....

And add to the mix.

Mix all that in real good and turn down the heat to medium just so it's barely bubbling.....

Cover for 5 minutes....

And Voila.... that's some great looking, low fat, low bad carb, high protein, great tasting chili.....

With a bowl already removed!

I garnished with 3 thin slices of TJ's Smoked Gouda and sided with a Fruit Punch Creatine - Chocolate Protein drink for some added post workout recovery and protein.

If you add up all the minutes in the steps above, it's about 24 minutes give or take.

Yep - that's a huge pot of great tasting chili with at least 24 1-cup portions of really dense, nutritious chili

You can side this with a sweet salsa of pineapple, cantaloupe, avocado, banana, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper or a simple salad of Spring Mix, Tomatoes, Avocadoes, Carrot sticks and blueberries dressed with EVOO and Balsamic.

Yep - I'll be eating this 30 min meal for the next 5 - 7 days and enjoying every bowl of it.

Call this Chili anything you like.

I just call it DELICIOUS!