South Beach Diet Chili

This chili recipe is pretty close to my standard chili, I just nixed the corn and carrots.  We always have a lot of deer meat on hand, so I used ground venison, but extra-lean ground beef or turkey would do the trick too. 

I usually make it the day before we plan to eat it, because it's even more flavourful if it sits for a day.  It comes together very quickly though, so it would make a great weeknight meal as well.

The recipe is full of veggies and protein, it doesn't get much healthier!

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 5 stalks of celery, diced
• 6 large mushrooms, diced
• 1 tbsp crushed garlic
• 1 large can of diced tomatoes
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 packet of sweetener (or 1 tbsp of sugar or honey)
• 1lb of ground venison (or extra-lean ground beef or turkey), cooked and fat drained
• 1 can of beans (I used six-bean blend, but kidney or black would be fine too!), drained and rinsed
• Seasoning to taste:  chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, cayenne, salt & pepper
• Hot sauce to taste

Directions:

1. Pour olive oil into a large dutch oven and heat to medium.  Sautée the veggies until softened.
2. Add the remainder of the ingredients and simmer for up to an hour.
3. Serve and enjoy!  Shredded cheddar, low-fat sour cream and scallions make great toppings. 

Green Pea and White Bean Soup

Source: Chatelaine Magazine

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 small onion, minced

540 mL can of navy beans, rinsed and drained

4 c. frozen peas

900 mL carton of chicken broth

Garnish: crumbled goat cheese, pancetta or bacon crumbles

Instructions:

Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add oil, onion and garlic. Sautee for about 3 minutes, stirring continuously until the onion is soft.

Add beans, peas and broth. Bring to a boil over the medium heat. This will take about 12 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender. Simmer on very low heat for 5-10 minutes.

Serve garnished with crumbled bacon or pancetta and goat cheese.

Comments:

This soup was different, but really nice. It is a great lunch or served as a side or appetizer. It came together really easily and quickly too.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Source: skinnytaste.com (a new favorite!)
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 potatoes
• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. skim milk
• 1/2 c. fat free or low-fat sour cream
• 1/4 c. green onion or chives (+ a little extra for garnish)
• Fresh ground black pepper and salt
• Shredded cheddar
• Bacon bits

Instructions:

1. Bake potatoes in either the microwave or the oven. Peel.
2. Break the cauliflower into flourets. In a large pot, steam the cauliflower.
3. Once the cauliflower is steamed, discard the water and add the peeled potato, chicken broth and milk. Boil for 3-5 mins.
4. With an immersion blender, blend until smoth.
5. Stir in sour cream, chives/green onion and salt and pepper.
6. Simmer on low for about 10 minutes.
7. Serve topped with shredded cheddar, bacon bits and additional chives or green onions.

Comments:

This was sooooo easy and made for a really tasty lunch! You can taste the cauliflower a little bit, but I love mashed cauliflower, so it didn't bother me at all. Without the cheese and bacon garnish, this would be a little bland, so make sure you have those on hand to spice this soup up.