Saltless In Seattle

I am not on any sort of restricted diet, but I am getting to an age wherein I should begin thinking about lowering my sodium intake.  Sodium ‘hardens’ the arteries, making them inflexible and leading to high blood pressure and heart disease.  It is amazing prevalent in processed foods – take a look at the sodium content in a can of soup, for instance.  One of the worst offenders is canned chili, which I really loved to eat (with saltines!) but now I just can’t stomach the idea of all that salt.  So, to that end, here is a chili recipe that I devised that has very little sodium:

1.5 lb ground turkey or beef
1 lb ground chorizo  (this is a likely place for hidden salt, but if everything else in the recipe is sodium-less, we should be OK)
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
.25c chili powder + 2 tbsp  (most commercial chili powder blends contain salt.  I have found that ‘organic’ chili powder (usually sold in bulk) will have little or no salt)
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp oregano leaves
1 15oz can tomato sauce (check for low/no sodium – organics are usually a good bet here)
1c dark beer (lately, I have been using Sam Adams)
.5c masa (this is ‘corn flour’ used in making tortillas)
.5c water
1 can kidney beans, drained (again, check the labels for sodium.  Organics tend to have less (but not always)
1 can small red beans, drained (check label)

Brown the ground chorizo in some olive oil.  Transfer to stewpot.  In same pan, brown the ground turkey/beef, breaking it up.  Add the 2 tbsp chili powder while browning.  Dice the onion and garlic very fine.  Transfer the meat to the stewpot, then brown the onions and garlic in the same pan.  Add beer and tomato sauce to stewpot, and start over low heat; add spices to stewpot (remaining chili powder, cumin, oregano) and mix thoroughly.  When onions and garlic have cooked down, stir these into stewpot as well.  Let simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix the masa and water in a cup, then stir into the chili.  Add the two cans of beans.  Cover and leave on low heat for at least 30 minutes.

This freezes very well (and tends to concentrate the flavor).