Note: This post is brought to you by Jared, sharing one of my favorite meals he makes. This post is also the official kick-off to 'Chili Month,' which means I'll be posting one healthy-ish chili recipe per week for the entire month of October - get psyched! When the weather gets cold there is nothing like a good bowl of chili for dinner or lunch, especially on football Sundays. Since we try to keep it healthy-ish around here I went looking for a recipe that was an alternative to a full fat chili and also easy/quick to make. When I came upon this one and saw it included cooking with beer I was sold. Chipotle is the key ingredient that gives the smokey spice to the meat and the beer adds a pretty awesome flavor to the broth. This is a thin chili, that can pack a lot of heat if you want it to, just add an extra chipotle and another spoon of adobo, and it's very easy to double the recipe to have leftovers that taste even better the next day. Other modifications that I've tried using are lean beef instead of turkey (they are surprisingly comparable health wise), different styles of beer, and different toppings, our favorite is low fat grated cheese. The recipe below is supposed to be 4 servings..but it's more realistic to say it's for 2-3 hungry people. 30-Minute Chipotle Turkey Chili (from Food Network Kitchens) Ingredients • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped • 5 cloves garlic, chopped • 1 tablespoon kosher salt • 2 teaspoons chili powder • 1 teaspoon dried oregano • 1 tablespoon tomato paste • 1 chipotle chile en adobo, coarsely chopped, with 1 tablespoon sauce • 1 pound ground turkey • 1 (12-ounce) Mexican lager-style beer (Corona Light for the health conscious, Modelo works too) • 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juice (diced tomatoes if you don't want to get messy) • 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained • Sliced scallions, cilantro sprigs, sour cream, grated Monterey jack cheese, and/or tortilla chips are all optional *Reserve 1 additional beer for drinking while cooking. Directions Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, salt, chili powder, and oregano and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and the chipotle chile and sauce; cook 1 minute more. Add the turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until the meat loses its raw color, about 5 minutes. Add the beer and simmer until reduced by about half, about 8 minutes. Open you're reserve beer and enjoy while this happens. Add the tomatoes--crushing them through your fingers into the skillet--along with their juices and the beans; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 minutes. Ladle the chili into bowls and serve with the garnishes of your choice.
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Rachael Ray, where should I begin? Well, I'll begin by being honest - 90% of her recipes don't even come close to being healthy-ish. In fact, most of her recipes are just layer after layer of comforting flavors and textures (cheese, pasta, tortilla chips...name a comforting, yet fattening item - and you'll find it in one of her recipes). I'm not going to hate on that (how could anyone hate on that?), I'm just not going to eat it everyday. A few months ago I discovered Rachael Ray's book Yum-O which is her cookbook for families. It seems that these recipes are a bit more figure friendly, often making the chicken for beef swap - or adding extra veggies. Needless to say, it's still my girl Rachael (lots of layers, lots of seasoning, lots of real ingredients) but with less fat. I'm into it. Her recipe for Buffalo Chicken Chili is one of my go-to meals on a busy weeknight. I got home at 8pm, and dinner was on the table by 8:45...not bad for a full-flavored chili. This recipe is healthy-ish because, let's not lie to ourselves, there is really no need to treat yourself to plate of buffalo wings for no reason on a Monday night. You get all of the flavors of a plate of buffalo wings with no deep fryer and 100% white meat chicken. Plus, in my opinion Frank's Red Hot is a gift from God - seriously it's my crack, I eat it on celery sticks when the wings are gone, writing about it right now only makes me want some. You can make this recipe extra healthy-ish by using baked chips (my opinion on those = gross, not worth it) and reduced fat cheese (my opinion on that = good swap for this recipe). Make it tonight, it's delicious and healthy-ish (not to mention super-fast): Rachael Ray's Buffalo Chicken Chili Ingredients
Preheat oven to 375°F or broiler to medium Place a large pot over medium-high heat, add 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon, and the butter. Once the butter has melted and the pot is hot, add the ground chicken. Brown it, using the back of a wooden spoon to break it up in to small pieces, about 5-6 minutes. Add the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, paprika, bay leaf and some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken stock and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the hot sauce, tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes, and bring up to a bubble. Simmer for 8-10 minutes to let the flavors come together. While the chili is simmering, spread the yellow and blue corn chips out on a cookie sheet. Top with the crumbled blue cheese and transfer to the oven to melt the cheese, about 4-5 minutes. If using the broiler, 2-3 minutes should do the trick. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Top each serving of buffalo chicken chili with a few blue cheese-topped corn chips. |