Chili was a staple growing up in the cold, Cleveland winters. Generally, my childhood chili consisted of venison and beans, but venison is very hard to buy in a grocery. When I moved away, I started to make chili with ground turkey because it was healthy and easy to get.

The concept of lentils in chili, however, came years later from some friends of ours. My fiance and I were visiting said friends and ended up staying for dinner somewhat out of the blue. They made us the most delicious turkey and lentil chili, although their version is much spicier than mine. Needless to say, after that experience this chili was born. It’s hearty, healthy, and perfect for those chilly nights. Yummm!

Ingredients:

2 cans diced tomatoes with green chiles (or one with chiles one regular if you’re like me and don’t like it too spicy)

1 can black beans (15.5 oz)

1 can kidney beans (15.5 oz)

1/2 lb lentils, washed and sorted

1 lb ground turkey

2 large onions

5 cloves garlic, minced

6 TBSP Chilli 9000 (This is my secret ingredient. It’s a salt free spice mix from Penzey’s, and it’s amazing)

1 1/2 cups water

I make my chili in the crock pot, so it’s actually very easy. Put all the veggies into a 6 qt crock pot. Then, add the turkey, chili 9000, and water. Cook everything in the crock pot on LOW for about 7-8 hours.

Stir and then serve however you like. We like our chili over rice, nomms.

Those are all the instructions; this is probably the easiest recipe I’ve ever posted. 🙂