I tried ground turkey but neither I nor my husband cared for it in chili; the texture was problematic for us more than the taste, though that wasn’t ideal either. We love turkey burgers and dogs, though — prefer to grill them rather than beef burgers at home.

Lean pork is pretty good in the chili; fresh ground lean pork, browned with your own sausage spices for a hearty garlic sausage flavor. Just don’t try the commercial sausage; they’re all too greasy.

Actually, when we had a café, I made this chili with three meats in it (it got honorable mention in a downtown chili-cookoff). I made my sausage, rolled into teensy link shapes, not quite an inch long and a little thicker than the kidney beans; and lamb with garlic past, parsley, and fennel, rolled into meatballs about 1/2 inch in size (I did have to drain the lamb); and 90% ground beef with garlic and rosemary, pressed into mini patties.