Thursday, December 10, 2009

Amazing White Turkey Chili

I love any thick, hearty soup. I really love any thick, hearty, white bean chili soup. I decided to attempt my own last night, and I got a "You can make white chili anytime" from Mr. Not Your Bubbe's Kitchen. So, grab your apron and glass of wine, and here we go!

As I was cooking this I forgot to take photos (sad). I will post one photo, and it is of the measly left overs that I took for lunch at work.

Here are the ingredients:
4 cups light & free (aka low sodium) chicken broth
2 cups tap water
5 servings (about 20 ounces) 99% fat free ground turkey
2 jalapeƱo peppers, diced
4 tbsp of diced green chiles in a can
2 yellow onions, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of any medium heat salsa
2 16 oz cans of white beans (cannellini is that I used)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

To start:

Brown the ground turkey. Drain the beans and rinse them with water to get rid of some of that salt that they are canned with.

In a large dutch oven, crockpot, or just big pot over medium heat, place the beans, 1 garlic minced, 1 diced onion, the chicken stock, the water, the salsa, and the meat to a boil. Lower the heat and let this cook together, covered, for about 15 minutes.

In the pan where you browned the turkey, heat the oil. Saute the remaining onion & garlic, add the peppers, and all of the spices together for about 3-4 minutes. Take this mixture, and add to your big pot of soup.

Cover the pot and let simmer for about 2 hours. Taste after 30 minutes and adjust salt & heat to your liking. This had a mild heat to it; kind of lingered on the back of your tongue just a touch.

When it's done, it should have reduced about a 1/4 of the liquid you originally placed in the pot and should appear a lot thicker.

If you like, add some 2% or other low fat shredded Mexican cheese and serve with tortilla chips like we did. Ole!

Approximate nutrition facts (livestrong.com)

Nutrition Facts

Recipe Serves 6 people

Amount per Serving
  • Calories 238Calories from Fat
% Daily Value *
  • Total Fat 2.66g4%
  • Saturated Fat 0.51g3%
  • Monounsaturated Fat 0.08g
  • Polyunsaturated Fat 0.04g
  • Cholesterol 58.33mg19%
  • Sodium 900mg40%
  • Potassium 80.17mg2%
  • Total Carbohydrate 26.86g9%
  • Dietary Fiber 8.94g36%
  • Sugars 1.63g
  • Protein 26.25g52%
  • Vitamin A7
  • Vitamin C72
  • Calcium7
  • Iron19.9
  • Vitamin E1.29
  • Niacin (B3)0.03
  • Vitamin B60.14
  • Phosphorus3.33
  • Magnesium1.83
  • Zinc0.04
  • Manganese0.02
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 10.1% Carbs 45.1%
Protein 44.1%

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Bite sized loves.


When appetizers are served at parties, do you walk over, at a fast pace, hoping people don't notice you're the first person grabbing something good?

Well, you'll love these then. They are tiny. They are bite sized. The opportunities for the fillings are endless.

Thank you, Bakerella, for giving me the idea for this (and if you haven't tried her pumpkin pie bites....DO IT. DO IT NOW!).

It's party season after all, so tell your next host you'll bring the appetizers.

Feta and Carmelized Onion Tartlette's and Goat Cheese, Spinach, Sundried Tomato, with Pesto Tartlette's!

For both, you will need 1 package (2 rolls) of Pillsbury ready to roll pie crust (any brand will do).

Preheat the oven to 350.

Ingredients:
Feta and Carmelized Onion
1 yellow onion
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp light butter
1 8 ounce pack of light feta cheese

Goat Cheese, Spinach, Sundried Tomato, with Pesto
3/4 cup goat cheese
1 bag of fresh baby spinach
3 tbsp julienne cut sun dried tomato in oil
3 tbsp basil pesto

Directions:
Roll out pie crust so that it is a tad bit thinner than how it comes packaged.
With a 3" glass or cookie cutter, cut little disks from the pie crust.
Place each disk in a mini muffin tin, as shown.
With an egg white, brush each tartlette lightly. Your tarts are ready for their yummy fillings!

For the Feta and Onion Tartlette's

Chop up the onion and butter. Melt butter in small/medium saute pan.

Let the onions sweat, with lid on, for about 15 minutes.
Next, add your brown sugar to the onions. Cook, uncovered, for about 5 more minutes til golden brown in color.
Next assembling the tartlettes. Place a bit of feta(chopped, as shown) in each tart. Cover each one with some chopped onion. They should look like this:
and, after 15 minutes of baking, when they are done:


Next, the goat cheese, spinach, sun-dried tomato, and pesto:
Saute the spinach with the sun-dried tomato
Then, chop up the spinach mix finely.
Take each tartlette, and fill it with some spinach, then some goat cheese crumbles, and last a small dollop of pesto.
Pop in the over, 15 minutes. Delicious!

Goat Cheese and Spinach:

Nutrition Facts

Recipe Serves 24 people

Amount per Serving
  • Calories 124Calories from Fat 80
% Daily Value *
  • Total Fat 9.2g14%
  • Saturated Fat 3.13g16%
  • Cholesterol 1.63mg1%
  • Sodium 162.94mg7%
  • Potassium 68.54mg2%
  • Total Carbohydrate 9.5g3%
  • Dietary Fiber 0.43g2%
  • Sugars 0.65g
  • Protein 1.25g2%
  • Vitamin A23.58
  • Vitamin C6.03
  • Calcium1.92
  • Iron2.24
  • Vitamin K74.38
  • Folic Acid (Folate)5.83
  • Magnesium2.19
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 66.8% Carbs 30.6%
Protein 4.0%

Feta and Onion:

Nutrition Facts

Recipe Serves 24 people

Amount per Serving
  • Calories 129Calories from Fat 69
% Daily Value *
  • Total Fat 7.89g12%
  • Saturated Fat 4.08g20%
  • Monounsaturated Fat 0.17g
  • Cholesterol 1.67mg1%
  • Sodium 374.42mg16%
  • Total Carbohydrate 9.73g3%
  • Dietary Fiber 0.13g1%
  • Sugars 1.4g
  • Protein 4.68g9%
  • Vitamin A0.89
  • Vitamin C0.79
  • Calcium0.13
  • Iron0.13
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 55.0% Carbs 30.2%
Protein 14.5%

Enjoy! Happy Holidays!