Buffalo Chicken Chili

Every so often I get a craving for hot wings, but I don't normally indulge because of all of the fat and calories. I would rather use up my calories for baked goods such as cookies! Anyway, I was craving the taste of wings, so I went looking for Rachael Ray recipes. She always comes up with great recipes that are on the different side of the spectrum. It was on her website that I found this chili. It was everything that I like in a chili and it incorporated hot wing sauce, score! This chili is delicious! I used mild hot wing sauce because I don't care for too much heat, but you can adjust the heat to your preference.

Source: http://rachelray.com

Ingredients:

2 tbsp EVOO ( I used 1)
2 pounds ground chicken
2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 ribs celery, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp smoked sweet paprika ( I used Hungarian)
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
salt and pepper
2 c. chicken stock
1/2 c hot sauce
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 can stewed, fire-roasted or crushed tomatoes (15 oz)
1 sack whole grain tortilla chips
3/4 pound blue cheese, crumbled (I omitted)
Parsley, chopped (I omitted, but I think cilantro would work really well with this dish)

Directions:
Place a large pot over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the ground chicken and break it up, lightly browning it for 5 minutes.
Add the carrots, celery, garlic, paprika and bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 7-8 minutes. Add the chicken stock and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
Add the hot sauce, tomato sauce and the stewed, fire-roasted or crushed tomatoes to the chili and bring to a bubble. Simmer for 8-10 minutes more to allow the flavors to come together.
While the chili is simmering, preheat the boiler.
Spread the chips on a cookie sheet. Top with crumbled blue cheese and transfer to the oven to melt the cheese, 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle withe the parsley.
Top each serving of the chili with a few blue cheese chips.