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.

(c)copyright Jill Anderson

The Homegrown Gourmet

Portobello Pizzeti

The Portobello mushroom makes a great platform for building a healthy little personal pizza.  They are large enough to hold toppings and meaty enough to withstand baking without falling apart.  Plus...they are delicious! One portobello has as much potassium as a large banana.  For those with high blood pressure potassium plays a crucial role in escorting sodium out of the body and thereby helping to decrease blood pressure.  If you take a NON potassium sparing diuretic, chronically low potassium levels can cause Hypokalemia.  Potassium rich foods include dark leafy greens, mushrooms, oranges, legumes, tomatoes, kiwi, peaches and bananas of course!  Not that this article is specifically about potassium but...one of the best sources of potassium and my personal favorite is young green coconut water.  I'll take that on in another post soon! 

As to our recipe...there is no grain crust for these pizzeti or "little pizzas".  The mushroom caps are the "crust".  Filled with low fat, high protein ground white turkey and low sodium, lycopene rich marinara sauce; they certainly aren't missing any of the flavor!  I use reduced fat (organic) mozzarella cheese but if you have dairy allergies you could substitute a rice milk based cheese product.  Check the label for the words casein, caseinates or whey even on cheeses that claim to be non-dairy.  These ARE milk proteins and will aggrivate your dairy allergy.

Portobello Pizzeti

8 extra large organic portobello caps

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lb. organic ground turkey breast

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium green bell pepper, diced

2 cloves pressed garlic

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon dried Italian Herb blend

1 1/2 cups Muir Glen organic Marinara Sauce

1 cup organic reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese

*I always have homemade marinara in my freezer but I realize everyone doesn't so I wrote the recipe using Muir Glen for the sake of figuring out the nutritonal content of the dish.

**Using a dark/white ground turkey blend will significantly affect the fat content of this dish

Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat and add olive oil.  Break up ground turkey into the hot skillet and cook until most of the pink is gone.  Stir in chopped onions, bell peppers and garlic.  Saute 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Season with black pepper and Italian herbs.

Stir 1 cup of the marinara sauce into the turkey mixture.

Set the prepared turkey aside and clean the mushrooms.  Wipe with a damp towel to remove any loose dirt.  Remove stems and scrape out dark "gills" with a spoon.

Place prepared musroom caps in baking dishes.  You will probably need two to hold all 8 mushrooms.  Divide turkey mixture evenly among the 8 portobellos. 

Use the remaining 1/2 cup marinara sauce to top the filled mushrooms.

Sprinkle each "little pizza" with 1/8 cup of shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese.

Bake uncovered in preheated 350F oven for 25 minutes.  Enjoy!

Each Portobello "Pizza" has 170 calories, 4.5g fat, 250mg sodium, 11g carbs, 3g fiber and 20g protein

I generally serve 2 per person with a nice green salad

A 2-mushroom serving has a whopping 1000mg of potassium!

(c) copyright Jill Anderson

The Homegrown Gourmet