Badger Mountain Chili

Our local grocery store, PCC, does a turkey chili called Tiger Mountain Chili that has become a lunchbox staple. However, sometimes the kidney beans had a dusty flavor and occasionally the batch we got wasn’t cooked well. So I decided to take the recipe from their website and make my own version. Because I made a fair amount of changes, the family decided to call it Badger Mountain instead of Tiger Mountain, which is a play on one of the kid’s nicknames.

There is nothing earth-shatteringly different about this chili compared to others, it just tastes good. It’s endlessly flexible to suit any family’s preferences and what is in the pantry. It makes a good large pot that can be decanted into lunch-sized portions and frozen.

I use my food processor to chop the vegetables. You could definitely cook your own beans if you wanted, but I’m happy to use canned.

INGREDIENTS

2 TBSP olive or other oil

2 lb ground turkey (or ground beef or meatless grounds)

1 medium to large onion, finely diced

4-6 cloves garlic, minced or put through a press

1-2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika or chipotle powder

2-3 tsp New Mexico chili (ground) or chili powder

2 tsp kosher salt (plus more to taste as needed)

1 tsp black pepper or to taste

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

4-6 medium carrots, cut into rounds or finely chopped in the food processor

3/4 to 1 bag frozen riced cauliflower

1 large sprig fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme 

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 28 oz can or 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce

3 15 oz cans pinto, kidney or black beans (or a mix)

2-3 c water

1-2 tsp brown sugar (or to taste up to 2 TBSP)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat and add the ground meat
2. Sauté, breaking it up into small pieces, until it’s fully cooked
3. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until the onion is softened before adding the garlic and spices
4. Sauté for a few more minutes then add the peppers, carrots, cauliflower and tomatoes
5. Cook over medium heat until the vegetables are pleasantly soft (15-20 minutes)
6. Add the beans, water and brown sugar and serve or you can also let it gently bubble until you’re ready to eat dinner