Black Bean Chili

I've been bragging.

About black bean chili. This delicious, warm concoction makes a spring in my step and a smile on my face. It sends me to a place that others say only chocolate can take them.

It's made with turkey. Surprised?

Me too. If you had told me, the meat-and-potatoes-don't-you-dare-take-away-my-beef-girl, that you were going to make turkey chili for a dinner party or barbeque, I wouldn't rsvp.

In my opinion, some recipes need beef.
(like my bolognese sauce. hubby says it's the reason he married me- that sauce doesn't work with turkey. I tried.)

I have two recipes. One skillet style and another crockpot edition. I'll post them separately for you all to enjoy.

Onto the main event!

Black Bean Chili

Ingredients

• 2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed, drained, and divided (I prefer low sodium)
  
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 pound ground turkey
• 1 cup chopped sweet onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 1/2 cups medium salsa
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 (14 oz) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream for topping (extra sharp cheddar is also delicious)
  

Preparation

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups beans, 2/3 cup of the beef broth, and sugar in a food processor; process until smooth. Combine bean puree and remaining beans in a bowl.

2. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. After coating your pan with PAM, add ground turkey; cook until browned, stirring to crumble (approximately 3 minutes). Remove turkey from pan.

3. Add onion & bell peppers to pan; cook until onion is just browned (about 5 minutes). Return turkey to pan. Combine with chili powder, cumin, oregano, and crushed red pepper; stir well to coat. Stir in bean mixture, salsa, tomato paste, and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If you can wait that long.

I warned you, this stuff is delicious. You'll never look at turkey chili the same way again.

I'm still tweaking the recipe to allow for a truly thick, hearty, break your spoon chili. The flavor of this one makes up for the thick-but-not-the-thickest chili I've ever had. :)

Tex Mex Beef Tacos

Taco Night leftovers + romaine lettuce = HAPPY KAREN


This post is seriously overdue. I have all the usual excuses.

"I'm so busy!" always.
"I work two jobs!" so do a lot of people.
"our water heater exploded!" sure did! (this silly couponer was afraid of losing her stockpile!)
"we put down hardwood floors" mmhmm! in the bedrooms, and we'll be putting laminate in the living room soon.
"I have nothing to say!" Now that's just b.s.

On to the important things, like ground beef and black beans...
Hubby loves tacos, (but not the "boring" all beef kind) I love hubby, (and eating healthy) so I searched and hid a low fat taco recipe in the dinner plans for a boring Wednesday night. That was two years ago, and since his request has always been for the "special" tacos.

I personally think the secret is in the chipotle peppers. Make the extra effort to find them at your grocery store (you may have to look in the Mexican or Spanish section depending on how your store is set up).

The recipe is as follows:

Tex Mex Beef Tacos
adapted from Cooking Light
you can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

1 Cup White Onion Chopped
2 medium clove (4g) Garlic
1 lb Ground Beef 85% lean meat
1 12oz can sweet yellow corn (drained)
1/4 teaspoon alt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
8 oz can Hunt's Tomato Sauce - 100% Natural
1 container (1 4/5 cups ea.) Black Beans - Canned Drained & Rinsed (50% Less Sodium)
1 container (1 4/5 cups ea.) Dark Red Kidney Beans - Drained & Rinsed
Goya - Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce, 6 Tbsp (3 or 4 peppers, chopped, relative to how hot you want it.) Proceed at your own risk, these babies are T-O-A-S-T-Y. Do not get the sauce in your eyes! Heat large skillet (you'll need a pan with a lid!) over medium high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Add minced garlic, chopped onion and beef to skillet. Break beef into crumbles and cook until browned. (about 6-8 minutes) Stir in beans, salt, pepper, chiles and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce your heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes. Each serving is 1/2 cup of taco meat. Nutrition: 226 calories 21g carbohydrates, 8g fat, 18g protein, 497mg sodium, 4 g sugar. Generally, hubby eats his on whole wheat tortillas with jack cheese and lettuce. I prefer mine piled high on romaine with fresh salsa (or 0% fat greek yogurt if I'm feeling dangerous ;) ) Since mangoes were on sale, I made mild mango salsa. (recipe to come!) Needless to say, I was excited about lunch the next day. True Love: 307 calories of DELICIOUS.

I hope you all enjoy these. :)