Smoky Turkey and Black Bean Chilli

November calls for a pot of something warming on the hob. This smoky chilli combines turkey thigh mince and black beans with butternut squash and cavolo nero, and lets smoked paprika, cumin and chipotle do the heavy lifting on flavour.

It also brings together everything we have talked about this month on appetite and PMOS, previously known as PCOS. Each serving provides around 33g of protein and 14g of fibre, with plenty of vegetables and a bowl generous enough to feel like a proper meal. It batch cooks beautifully too, which helps on the evenings when hunger arrives before the energy to cook.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 400g turkey thigh mince
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ to 1 tsp chipotle chilli flakes, or 1 to 2 tsp chipotle paste, to taste
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 x 400g tins black beans, drained and rinsed
• 400g butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
• 300ml low-salt chicken or vegetable stock
• 100g cavolo nero or kale, tough stalks removed and shredded
• Juice of 1 lime
• Black pepper

To serve

• 200g thick Greek yoghurt
• Small bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• Lime wedges

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, lidded casserole or saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft.
2. Add the garlic and turkey mince. Turn up the heat and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon, until browned all over.
3. Stir in the smoked paprika, cumin, ground coriander, oregano, cinnamon, chipotle and tomato purée. Cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, black beans, butternut squash and stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender.
5. Remove the lid and stir in the cavolo nero or kale. Simmer uncovered for a further 5 to 10 minutes, until the greens have wilted and the sauce has thickened.
6. Squeeze in the lime juice, season with black pepper and taste. Add a little more chipotle if you would like more heat.
7. Ladle into bowls and top each with a spoonful of Greek yoghurt, fresh coriander and a wedge of lime.
8. Enjoy!

The chilli keeps for up to three days in the fridge and freezes well. Reheat until piping hot throughout.

Vegetarian Alternative
Leave out the turkey and use vegetable stock. Increase the black beans to three tins or use two tins of black beans and one of kidney beans, and add a 250g pouch of ready-cooked Puy lentils at the same time as the beans.

Top each bowl with the Greek yoghurt and a tablespoon of pumpkin seeds. Served this way, the vegetarian version provides around 31g of protein and 22g of fibre per serving.

That is a generous amount of fibre for one meal. If your usual intake is low, start with a smaller portion and build up.

Why This Works Well for PMOS
This is the template from last week's blog in a single pan.

The turkey and black beans provide most of the protein, with a little more from the Greek yoghurt on top. Turkey thigh mince has more flavour than breast and stays tender through a long simmer. If your pack is 500g, use it all and the protein rises to around 37 g per serving.

The beans, squash, carrots and greens provide the fibre: about 14g per serving, which is just under half of the 30g a day the NHS recommends for adults.

The vegetables, tomatoes and stock add volume, so the bowl is generous without being heavy. Olive oil and yoghurt add some fat, and there is plenty here to chew.

The carbohydrate comes mainly from beans and squash, eaten alongside protein, fibre and fat. If you would like more, a small portion of brown rice or a baked sweet potato sits well alongside.

If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, why not check out some of our other PMOS-friendly recipes over in the Recipe Index?