Healthy Hollywood: Try It On Tuesday – Vanessa Lachey’s Favorite Chili Recipe!

Winter is ready to deliver another snow-soaked punch. UGH!

The Midwest is bracing for yet another storm and the temperatures here on the East Coast are downright frosty. Healthy Hollywood is hoping warmer weather is right around the corner.

Until then, why not cozy up with friends and family and enjoy a hearty yet healthy meal?

Healthy Hollywood met up with new mom Vanessa Lachey at the recent launch event for P & G’s Have You Tried This Yet? Campaign, where she shared her favorite cold weather dish.

“Turkey chili is one of my favorite dishes to make. It’s great for those cold nights, a potluck dinner, or my husband [Nick Lachey’s] personal favorite-sports Sunday! This dish is really great so many ways – as a dip with tortilla chips, on hog dogs for a fun lunch, or just in a bowl with a cozy blanket and good movie,” reveals Vanessa.

Plus, the TV personality adds, “It’s so easy! I love EASY now that I have a new baby in my life.”

Vanessa Lachey’s Turkey Chili:

Ingredients

2 packs of 20oz. ground lean turkey

2 fresh red peppers

1 onion

2 cans 28oz. crushed tomatoes in tomato puree

1 can 15 oz. tomato sauce

I pack of favorite taco seasoning (this is the “secret ingredient”)

2 cans 15 oz. kidney beans.

Olive oil

Shredded cheddar cheese (for garnish)

Sour cream (for garnish)

Start by putting all the sauces into a large pot over medium heat. Some I add ½ a pack of “chili seasoning” here. Drain the beans and add them to the sauce.

Dice the onion. Take core out of red peppers, and slice and dice them. In a pan add a bit olive oil on medium heat, add onion and red pepper. Saute for minute. Turn heat down to med-low and put a lid on it. Stirring occasionally, let the veggies soften (about 10 mins). Brown both packs of turkey and add the Taco seasoning. Add the onion/red pepper mixture to the sauce, stir. Add seasoned ground turkey to the sauce, stir. Turn heat down to low and let simmer for a few hours. The longer the better!

“The most important part: I always make a HUGE pot to share with company and to have on hand for a few days,” adds Vanessa.

As a wife and mother to a five month old son, the busy TV personality has teamed with the Have You Tried This Yet? program from P & G to offer other busy parents tips and ideas to help improve and simplify life. For more of Vanessa’s tips, check out www.pgtryit.com.

— Terri MacLeod