Chicken and Quinoa Chili

My sister and I used to eat my mom's chili on top of saltines.  Saltine + chili + sour cream + chedda cheese. Oh man, it was delicious.  A few years ago I had a craving for my mom's chili again and I asked her what her recipe was and she said, "oh, I just used Carrol Shelby's." My world was shattered.  But not really, because I knew I'd be able to duplicate the flavor for my family! 

I usually start my chili with onion and green pepper (sooo good) and then add canned tomatoes, ground chicken/turkey and then beans but I happened to have a lot of cooked quinoa and a few ears of corn I needed to use.  The beauty of chili.  It's so versatile.

Ingredients

1/2 c diced onion
1 diced green pepper
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 lb of ground chicken/turkey
1 can diced tomatoes (save can for water)
1 can kidney beans (drained)
2 cups of fresh corn (frozen or canned will work too)
2 cups of cooked quinoa
1 package of Carrol Shelby chili mix

Directions:

1.  Saute onion and green pepper until soft.
2.  Add ground chicken/turkey and cook until half way done.    
3.  Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and 1 1/2 cans of water.
4.  Add chili mix, salt and cheyenne (provided in chili mix). 
5.  Allow to simmer for 15 minutes, then add corn, drained beans and quinoa.  Allow to simmer for 5 more minutes. 
6.  (optional) If you like a really thick chili, you can add the masa flour that is included in the mix. 

Serve with corn bread, saltines, cheddar cheese, sour cream, lime, avocado, on top of burgers/hot dogs, bake potatoes...the list in endless.