Sweet Chili Rolls

Have you had one of those weekends where you either have too much to do or don’t feel well enough to do anything at all? That was me this weekend. After taking Friday off and laying in bed all day because the pesky cold virus that was threatening me most of the week final showed it’s ugly face, I still didn’t feel up to much the rest of the weekend. When you have a food blog and do almost all of your cooking on the weekends though, this doesn’t make things easy when all you want to do it lay in bed. So thank goodness for the slow cooker. Normally, I don’t have the patience to wait for food to cook in a slow cooker. But when every physical activity becomes exhausting and all you want to do is rest, the slow cooker is a life saver. And these Sweet Chili Rolls were worth the wait.

Ground turkey is mixed with a blend of water, pinto beans, ketchup, dijon mustard, garlic and chili powder in the slow cooker and cooked low and slow for 6 hours. The result is healthier version of a sloppy joe which is topped with cheese. I love the addition of the pinto beans here because the slow cooking process make the turkey meat tender and texturally perfect with the beans which also provides a boost of fiber. I substituted some of the chili powder with chipotle chili powder to add a little kick so consider adding in additional spices if you choose. I really don’t think you can go wrong here with other flavors like dry mustard or smoked paprika also. Whether you have a lot to and have no time to cook or just need keep your feet up instead of standing in the kitchen, these sandwiches are a happy no-brainer.

The ingredients:

Blend chili powder, sugar and cornstarch in a bowl. Add ketchup and mustard and stir to combine.

Pour ketchup mixture into slow cooker and stir in 1 cup water, beans, onion and garlic. Crumble in half the turkey and gently stir to combine. Repeat with remaining turkey.