Turkey and Black Bean Chili

The hearty and healthy chili Curtis Stone prepared on Biggest Loser.

Yield: Serves 12

Ingredients

Watch Curtis Stone prepare this recipe on Biggest Loser.

1 pound dried black beans, soaked in cold water for 24 hours
1 batch homemade vegetable stock, see recipe
2 tsp. fennel seeds
2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 small dry chili, ground
4 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. safflower oil
2 pounds ground turkey meat
½ tsp. smoked paprika
1 yellow onion, small dice
1 bulb of fennel, small dice
2 red bell peppers, small dice
4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
4 large vine ripe tomatoes, medium dice
1 large acorn squash (about 2 ¼ pounds, top cut off and seed cavity hollowed out
1 large butternut squash (about 4 ½ pounds), cut in half, seed cavity hollowed out
2 red bell peppers
2 yellow bell peppers
2 orange bell peppers
3 zucchini, split in half lengthwise and hollowed out slightly
4 portobello mushrooms, stemmed
2 cups cilantro, chopped semi fine
Juice of 1 lime

Instructions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F, and grill or indoor grill pan on medium high heat.
Drain the soaked black beans and rinse with fresh cold water. In a large saucepot, add beans and vegetable stock, cover and cook for 2 ½ to 3 hours or until beans are soft and tender. Remove from heat and keep covered in a warm place.
Heat a large sauté pan over high heat. Toast each type of seed separately for 1 to 2 minutes or until fragrant and color slightly darkens. Remove from heat and in a mortar and pestle, grind spices and dry chili into a fine powder. Add paprika to ground spices and mix well. Return pan to heat.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil and cook ½ of the ground turkey. Season with half the spices and black pepper and stir to break up any extra large chunks. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until turkey turns light golden brown. Remove to a mixing bowl, wipe out pan, and repeat with remaining turkey meat and spices. Drain off any excess liquid from turkey meat and reserve.
In a separate large saucepot, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Once hot, add onions and sweat for 3 minutes stirring constantly. Add fennel and sweat for an additional 3 minutes. Add peppers and garlic and cook for 3 minutes stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and gently stir to mix. Bring to the simmer, add turkey, and reduce heat to low. Cook covered on low heat for 10 minutes, after which the tomatoes will begin to release their liquid.
Drain the beans from their cooking liquid but reserve ½ cup of the bean broth. Add beans and reserved broth to the turkey mixture and gently simmer covered for an hour.
At this point, brush each squash, the peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms with remaining 1 teaspoon of oil. Roast each squash uncovered on a sheet pan for 1 hour or until flesh is just barely soft but not mushy. When squash is halfway done, place peppers in the oven and roast for 30 minutes or until skin starts to color and peels away from the flesh. Add zucchini to oven when squash and peppers have 10 minutes of cook time left and grill portobellos for 5 minutes on each side. Remove all vegetables from oven and grill and reserve.
Once peppers have cooled slightly, peel skin away from flesh, cut top off pepper and discard seeds. Stuff each roasted vegetable with chili and arrange on a platter. Garnish with cilantro leaves, squeeze lime juice over chili, and serve.

Source: Biggest Loser

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