March Madness a little less crazy while downing this smooth, healthy chili

It originally was designed to accompany football-watching during the Super Bowl, but hey! Our team's hard-charging right now in March Madness, so Super Bowl-oriented chili seems mighty perfect to accompany the Lady Bears’ climb to success.

Southern Living premiered “Game Day” Chili back in January when everyone was settling in to watch the Game of Games early the next month. This chili recipe is totally fabulous—probably the best, and most healthy, I’ve ever eaten. So now we have it on hand to warm us while the Baylor women continue their progress through the NCAA basketball tournament as the number-1 seed! Go Lady Bears! You’re amazing! So is this chili.

Into 2 pounds of ground turkey go some fresh onions (from our garden) and cloves. Add no-salt-added tomato sauce, tomato paste, chopped fresh tomatoes, beef broth (I make mine from scratch) and two cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed throughly (a thorough rinse removes much of the sodium content therein). The recipe calls for a 4.5-ounce can of chopped green chilies, undrained. I adapted mine to use only half the can’s contents and saved the remainder; that amount made the chili plenty spicy for me.

This recipe makes a huge amount (even better the next day and the next and the next), so I anticipate we’ll still have plenty on hand for Sunday when the Lady Bears face 16th-seeded Prairie View A&M women’s team. Watching Baylor’s Britney Griner glide smoothly across the court is like watching poetry in motion. Downing this smooth, perfect chili has a certain lyrical quality about it as well. If you try it, you’ll see what I mean.

Game Day Chili

2 pound ground turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

3 to 4 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

t teaspoons ground red pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

2 (14.5-ounce) cans low-sodium beef broth (or make your own)

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2 (15-ounce) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chilies, undrained

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Cook first 3 ingredients in a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes, or until meat crumbles and no longer is pink. Drain well; return to Dutch oven. Add chili powder and next 3 ingredients; cook 1 minute. Add tomato paste and tomatoes and cook 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 2 hours. makes 8 to 10 servings.