I don’t know about you guys, but one of the challenges I have with the Thanksgiving holiday is what to do with all the turkey leftovers.  This challenge became even more pronounced this year since I am eating Paleo and strictly grain-free.  In past years, one of my go to favorites with the turkey was a sandwich with dark meat seasoned with pepper, mayo, lettuce and onions on whole wheat bread.

This year I decided to make a Chili Verde with a big chunk of the turkey.  It was a success, and facilitated my goal of turning the inventory in my refrigerator quickly (having my oldest nephew (ON) here has also resulted in increased inventory turns of the food supply.  He’s 21, and young men at that age can put away vast quantities of food).

I made this recipe for our dinner on Friday.  We had it again on Saturday.  It was even better the second day.  TMOTH and ON finished off the turkey I didn’t use on Saturday.  We rolled into Sunday with one bowl of the chili left.  I think we did an excellent job of making sure that none of our FABULOUS Willie Bird turkey was wasted.  I have the carcass in the crockpot right now making some broth.

Without further ado, here’s my recipe for Turkey Chili Verde:

Ingredients (makes about 6 servings)

• ½ lb. Chorizo (pork, turkey or chicken)
• 3 cups chopped onion
• 2 TBS chopped garlic
• 2 TBS chili  powder
• 1 teas cumin
• salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 cups chicken or turkey stock
• 6 fresh (or canned if you must) tomatillas finely chopped
• 1 can (10 oz) Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
• 7 poblano (pasilla) chilies, fire roasted, seeeded and chopped
• 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped (optional-I prefer the chili with this added.  TMOTH, the wimp, would have enjoyed the chili more if I had left this out)
• ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped
• Juice of one lime
• 2 lbs. Cooked turkey cut into 1 inch chunks (you could also use this recipe with leftover chicken or pork)

To roast the poblano peppers:

1. Preheat oven broiler
2. Coat each pepper evenly with oil.  Avoid extra-virgin olive oil as it will burn in the broiler.  I melted some coconut oil and applied with a pastry brush
   
3. Arrange peppers on a cookie sheet and place on the highest rack in the oven
4. When dark splotches begin to appear on the peppers, remove from the oven and turn the peppers over using tongs
   
5. Return to the oven.  When the tops of the peppers begin to darken again, remove them from the oven and place them in a large bowl.  Cover the bowl tightly with foil or plastic wrap and let the peppers steam for 15-20 minutes.  This will cause the skin to loosen.
6. Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, pull off the stem.
7. Hold one end of the pepper down on a flat surface and gently pull the akin off each pepper.
8. Slice the pepper open and remove seeds.  Scrape off any ribs or membranes that remain in the pepper.

To make the Chili:

Note:  I used my food processor to do most of the chopping.  I processed the onions and garlic together and then set aside.  I then processed the tomatillas, jalapeno, roasted peppers and Cilantro together.

1. Heat a large heavy-lidded pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and add chorizo.
2. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the meat.
3. Add onions and garlic.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in the Chili Powder and Cumin to coat the onions.
5. Add chicken stock, tomatillas, tomatoes, poblano chilies, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice.
6. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Cook uncovered 20 minutes
7. Add turkey and cook about 10 minutes more.  Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.