Food Thursday: 09.13.12

 It's Food Thursday once again.  Since it has been a few weeks since we had a recipe, let me reiterate the premise of this most special of days: Food Thursday.  If you want to lose weight and stay healthy, you should eat the majority of your meals at home.  Hopefully you can follow a recipe or you live with someone who can.  If not, that's okay.  You can move into my basement and I will feed you for a small fee.  Is $5,000 a month small?  It's all relative I guess.  While we are taking tenant applications, I will be here provide recipes, advice and food facts to help you eat yourself thin.

Who doesn't love chili?  If you don't dig a good bowl of chili goodness, well then you're just weird....or a communist.  Chili is as American as it gets.  If you are a chili snob, may I suggest you stop reading right here.  This ain't your Texas chili.  Texans will tell you that real chili is meat and sauce.  No veggies and NEVER any beans.  This recipe couldn't compete in a classic chili contest, but is delicious through and through.  Tonight I bring you chili that is an amalgam of my mother's and my own.  It is much healthier than your typical beef chili and has a boatload of fiber to go with the satisfying flavor that all comfort food should have.

This recipe is enough to serve a big crowd, or if you are like me, to have on hand for a number of meals during the week with plenty left to freeze for another time.  I use very lean turkey, lots of beans, red and green peppers along with corn and my secret ingredient: cocoa powder.  Two cups of chili per serving has only 380 calories and a whopping 12g of fiber, 31.5g protein and only 4.1g of fat.  Make this for your next football Sunday.  I like mine over whole grain elbows or any shape macaroni, but you might like it over brown rice.  Then again, it's great just straight up, plain in a bowl.

TDT195 Turkey Chili
Serves 18

Ingredients

2 Tbs canola oil, divided
2 medium red bell peppers, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 large green pepper, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 medium yellow onions, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 jalapenos, seeds removed and minced
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 2.8 oz jar chili powder
5 Tbs cocoa powder
1 Tbs cayenne
1/4 cup water or low-sodium, low-fat chicken stock/broth
2.5 lbs 99% lean ground turkey
72 oz crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
2 14 oz cans black beans, rinsed
1 36 oz can kidney beans, rinsed
2 ears or 2 cups fresh or frozen corn

Method

1. In a large pot, heat 1 Tbs of oil over a medium high flame and saute the peppers, onions, garlic and jalapenos until the onions are tender, stirring frequently for about 8 minutes
2. Add the tomato paste, chili powder, cayenne and cocoa powder and cook for about 3 minutes
3. Remove the mixture and set aside
4. Turn heat to high and add the water, scraping up the bits and add to the reserved vegetable mixture
5. Return the heat to medium high and add the remaining oil.  Brown the ground turkey, breaking it up as you go and stirring frequently
6. Add back in the vegetable mixture and all other ingredients
7. Stir gently so as not to break the beans and simmer, uncovered, for at least one hour, stirring occasionally
8. Serve over whole grain pasta, brown rice or just in a bowl.

Cya Friday,

M

What I ate today and how I exercised:

Breakfast ~ Scrambled eggs, ham, one piece of wheat toast and decaf

Lunch ~ Homemade chicken salad (recipe next Thursday) on 7 grain bread

Dinner ~ Thai pork over brown rice (pictured here)

Exercise ~ none