Chili just might be the perfect food

So I made a HUGE batch of organic chicken 3-bean chili over the weekend.  Plugged it into my recipe program and the nutritional stats are awesome!  Plus it freezes great.   In fact, better reheated than the day it's made.

Anyone trying this recipe, be warned, it makes a TON (I calc it at 11 generous servings).  And it's not 'classic' chili, all you purists out there, it's bean heavy, but that's what makes it so darn healthy!

• 2T olive oil
• 4-5 onions (I used 2 red and 3 small yellow), large dice
• 4 large carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 10 cloves garlic, smashed with the flat of your knife
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 5-6 grinds black pepper
• 4 T chipotle peppers in abode, finely chopped (about 4-5 chipotles, use less if you don't like it hot, but this IS chili we're talkin' about!)
• 3 T cumin powder
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 15-ounce cans pinto beans, rinsed
• 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
• 2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, rinsed
• 2 large red bell peppers, diced
• 2 28-ounce cans + maybe 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
  (I used one large can fire roasted crushed, 1 lg straight tomato sauce and a small chunky tomato sauce...sometimes I used diced tomatoes, all depends on what's in the old pantry). 
• 1 - 1.5 cups Pacific Brand organic free range chicken broth (if needed)
• 1.25- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
• cilantro, fresh lime juice, green onion (or diced red onion), fresh guacamole for garnish

Prep: chop all your veggies (get a tissue ready for all those onions!).  I put all but the red pepper in a large bowl so it gets added to the stock pot all at the same time.  In a large stock pot (6 qt at least) saute onions, carrots, celery, garlic & chipotles in olive oil until onions are translucent (about 10 minutes), seasoning with salt and pepper.  I don't bother chopping up the garlic, I just smash it with my knife and let it give up its goodness as it stews.  While it's sauteeing, rinse your beans and open tomato sauces (I'd open just 2 cans and see if you need the 3rd).  Add spices, beans, red peppers and tomato sauce (I add the red peppers at this point to keep them firmer, but of course you can saute them with the rest of the veggies in the beginning if you prefer).  Leave chicken breasts intact, just submerge them in the chili.  If the chili needs more liquid, add some chicken broth and the last can of tomato sauce.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally (depending on how well your stock pot disperses heat, I can forget about my All Clad pot, but not my other stock pot).  The longer it cooks, the better.  After about 45 minutes of simmering, pull chicken out and shred with two forks.  Return to pot.  Adjust seasonings (I almost always add more salt, cumin and chili powder, but salt and spice is a personal preference thing, we like it pretty hot).

Serve topped with fresh cilantro, squeeze of lime juice, dollop of guac, and diced onions.  I eat it as chili but my husband makes a wrap out of it adding lettuce, diced tomatoes, onions & guac to a burrito sized whole spelt tortilla.

Nutritional stats (doesn't include the guacamole, this is the chili only):

• calories: 342
• from fat: 37
• total fat: 5g
• sat fat: 1g
• cholesterol: 28 mg
• sodium: 1372 mg
• carbs: 51 g
• fiber: 13 g
• sugars: 9g
• protein: 26g
• vitamin A: 200% RDA (let's hear it for carrots!)
• Vitamin C: 52% RDA
• Calcium: 7%
• Iron: 25%

That's 63% calories from carbs, 31% from protein, 6% from fat.  We like it veggie heavy, but if you wanted to boost the protein % you could double the amount of chicken and lose a couple of those carrots.  That makes it about 39% cals from protein (36 g), and takes cals from carbs down to about 54%, 7% from fat, and gives you 395 cals per serving.

Wow that sounds good.  I'm big on making chilli and we like it veggie heavy too.  I never thought of putting carrots in though - I'm surprised I never did!  Thanks, I'll try this out soon.

:-)

after 2 hours in all those spices, who can tell they're carrots?!

this sounds great!  i copied it into my "healthy eating" recipe file.  thanks!!

Love your recipe!  Have you tried giving it an extra punch by adding lime zest and juice right at the end?  I like the bell peppers in my chili too, and I love all the carrots in your recipe.  They are so good for you.  I also add handfulls of chopped cilantro from my garden.   So I hope you don't mind if I monkey with a really good recipe!

mmmmmmmbeans. they're the best part of chili as far as I'm concerned.

hehehe...my daughter eats around the beans. my son eats around the meat. everyone gets their fill, and everyone is happy.

so I guess chili IS the perfect food! XD

hi clairelaine! haven't tried lime zest (yet, great idea!) but fresh lime juice and cilantro are in the last line of the recipe, as garnish.  I absolutely LOVE the zip they give it.  Yummo! as Rachel Ray would say.  This last time I made fresh guacamole for my hubby's chili burritos and put a big dollup on top of my chili.  It was AWESOME!  (lime and cilantro in my guac recipe too!). 

That does sound really good...but whats the serving size?  I know you said 11 portions...but what's a portion?  1 cup?  2 cups?

well, my serving is three big ladles full.  I'm guessing...3 cups? 

Yum, I made this last night, and had some for lunch today too! I used lean ground turkey instead of the chicken. I can't believe that it can be so healthy. I am going to calculate the nutrition on teh batch I made

It is a huge batch; I made half the recipe and filled up a big stock pot!

Thanks for the recipe!

will be interested, amberailene, to see if your nutrition stats come out close to mine.  What software do you use?

We had some out of the freezer the other night, I freeze my stuff in Pyrex containers, so went straight from the freezer into a 300 degree oven for a couple of hours.  presto! healthy dinner!  Glad you liked the recipe!

Ha, I made another bath tonight., and calculated the basic nutrition. Using 3 cup servings (which are quite large), I get about 339 calories, 65 carbs, 21 protein, and 2.5 fat. I altered the recipe slightly, omiting the celery and olive oil (I sautee without oil), and adding canned corn. 
I froze most of my last batch and used as lunches at work.

Thanks for the recipe, it is amazing that it is so healthy and delicious!

Glad you like it amber!  Just made another batch myself over the weekend!

I made a batch of this tonite without the chicken (vegetarians here!), substituted with vegetable broth vs. chicken broth and added some frozen corn, and just used two 29 oz. cans of tomato sauce.  I also used cayenne pepper instead of chili powder (same thing, right?).  It makes a HUGE pot, but very tasty stuff!

I'm taking some to a picnic feast this weekend!  Thanks for the recipe!

hi raehn!

I also used cayenne pepper instead of chili powder (same thing, right?).

hey, anything HOT works for me! chipotle, cayenne, jalapeno, whatever it takes!

It makes a HUGE pot, but very tasty stuff!

told ya! Why screw around with a small batch when it freezes so great?  Glad you liked it.  Hope the people at the picnic like it too!

Yanno, I just noticed that the sodium in this recipe is completely insaaaaane!!!  Where is it all coming from?  It only has 2 tsp of salt in the whole dang monstrous pot!  Is it the cumin and tomato sauce?

Hi raehn, I've been looking through all the ingredients, and here are the big salt sources:

2 tsp is 5,650 all by itself (per serving is 514)
1 lg can organic chunky tomato sauce is 1920 (per serving 175)
1 lg can fire roasted crushed tomatoes also 1920 (another 175)
2 cans kidney beans is 840
2 cans black beans is 840
and 2 cans pinto beans another 840 (229 per serving from the 3 beans)

the rest of it comes from the chicken stock (about 50 per serving), which is optional.  You could use low sodium stock or water to adjust the texture.

dried beans and low sodium tomato products would solve a lot of it too.

so yet again, it's the processed foods. 

Both my hubby and I have low blood pressure, so we don't watch our sodium, so I didn't even notice that the sodium is so high!