The Homegrown Gourmet: Nacho bid'ness

I've been a little lazy about posting over the weekend. There's always so much to do that I never seem to get around to parking in front of the computer to blog. Food is definately still being cooked in the Anderson house and I even manage squeeze off a few pics before Roger gets hold of it. I just don't get the recipes posted in a timely manner. What a slug right?

This weather is killing us Floridians. Normal (for this time of year) temps one day and overnight it drops 35 degrees! We're like the MULLET of weather this year...you know...bid'ness in the front...party in the back. It's bid'ness as usual in the daytime and colder than a witch's uhm...well..you know... at night! So I was sitting here freezing the other night and decided to whip up a batch of chili. Have you ever tried to cook wearing your SNUGGIE?? Not pretty....had to get out my SHAM WOW to get the tomato paste off it!

Anywho...the only beans I had in the pantry were black beans and since I was making Turkey Chili...they just didn't inspire me. It was about that time I espied the 4lb bag (trip to BJ's wholesale club last week) of RW Garcia tortilla chips. Why RW Garcia? It's not like he's a personal friend or anything...like Juan Valdez. Naw...it's because his chips are thin and crispy and have a great "authentic" flavor (as opposed to tasting like WHAT?), made from certified non gmo corn and have no trans fat. Plus...a 30g or about 15 chip serving only has 40mg of sodium. Boooyaaaaaah!!

Typically nachos are nasty bid'ness calorie wise especially if eaten in a restraunt. They taste great but most are served up with great golden GLOBS of cheese, guac and a pint of sourcream. Heaven only knows what grade of ground beef they use. Is there a 50/50 grade? Sometimes I wonder when you see that river of grease coagulating at the bottom of the mountain of stale corn chips. If I ask the waiter to find out what the lean percentage of the meat is, he rolls his eyes, gathers his less than remarkable wits about him and flounces off to the kitchen. When the laughter dies down back there, a very tall, uptight, 50-ish balding man with a pinched face walks over to my table and says "Sorry Ma'am, we can't give out that information. It's just NACHO BID'NESS!"

Now that you are starving after that lovely description, I'm posting a recipe right? Sorry, I have raised children and dogs...you can't gross me out so I just assume everyone has the same cast iron constitution.

I think the calorie conscious readers will enjoy this recipe though. Of course if you really want to cut back, skip the chips and have the chili over shredded lettuce like a nacho salad. Maybe you could just crumble one or two evil, carbohydrate-ridden corn chips over the top. The chili by itself only has 166 calories and 2 grams of fat for 3/4 cup serving.

Sweet n' Spicy Turkey Chili Nachos

For Chili:

-1 lb ground turkey breast

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1/2 cup diced onion

-2 cloves minced garlic

-1/2 cup diced bell pepper, any color

-1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth

-3 Tablespoons chili powder

-2 teaspoons ground cumin

-1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

-pinch of ground cinnamon

-1 Tablespoon honey

-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

-1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 15oz. can no salt added petit diced tomato

1 8oz can no salt added tomato sauce

1 6oz can no salt added tomato paste

1-Heat oil in a large heavy bottom sauce pan. Break up ground turkey and cook until it begins to turn white. Stir in onion, garlic and bell pepper. If pan becomes dry add a little chicken broth. Saute 5 minutes or until veggies become tender.

2-Add all spices and seasonings; mix well. Allow spices to toast before adding liquids.

3-Pour in all tomato products and stir to combine. Bring to a slow boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer 25-30 minutes.

Serve over tortilla chips with garnish.

To assemble nachos:

Line dinner plate with torn lettuce or lettuce cups. Check the portion size on the brand of tortilla chips you are using.

Arrange chips on plate. Top with 3/4 cup of chili, 1/4 cup organic reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese, 1 tablespoon reduced fat sour cream, diced tomatoes and onions or a couple of spoonfuls of fresh (not jarred) salsa. Fresh salsa from the deli counter or refrigerated section has a fraction of the sodium of jarred salsas. You can always make your own too.

The chili serves 6

per serving: 166 calories, 2g fat, 15g carb, 20g protein, 110mg sodium, 4g fiber

With chips, reduced fat cheese and sour cream: 430 calories, 10g fat, 39g carbs, 31g protein, 400mg sodium, 8 g fiber (if using a high fiber corn chip)

Chili may be served in lettuce cups to cut down on the calorie and fat content. You can still top with the cheese and sour cream.