Spicy Chipotle Carrot Soup and Bunless Turkey Burgers with Slaw

So satisfying, you don't realize it's low fat and low carb!

Okay.  So I haven't blogged for awhile.  The hubs and I were on the Master Cleanse last week, and there is absolutely nothing about surviving on lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne that inspires you to post on a food blog, let alone do anything other than miss food.

I'm back now - and with a very crazy work and life schedule, the last few meals have been 'throw togethers' with no measurements.  Sometimes, those throw togethers are the best - you just combine the things that you like, and more often than not, it comes out great.

Here's tonight's throw together, with my best guess at measurements!

Spicy Chipotle Carrot Soup

• 5 lb bag of carrots, peeled and rough chopped (don't worry about making it pretty - it all gets puréed in the end!)
• 1 red onion, rough chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Mexican Oregano
• 1.5 T Chipotle chili powder (the newest addition to my spice cabinet, and I love it! It's very spicy though, cut down if you don't want the heat)
• 1 T Pasilla chili powder
• 2 tsp ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1.5 boxes of Swanson's vegetable broth
• EVOO
• S&P
• 1 individual portioned container of nonfat Greek yogurt.

Sauté the onions over medium heat with a little bit of S&P until translucent.  Add the garlic, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the carrots and all the spices, season with some more S&P and continue to sauté until very fragrant, about 3-5 minutes.  Add the broth, cover the pot, and turn to medium low.

Let simmer until carrots are fork tender.  When tender, use an immersion blender to purée the soup to a smooth mixture.

Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Mix in the greek yogurt, and let simmer on low for 5 more minutes, or until ready to serve.  If the soup is thicker than you like, just thin with some more broth, and let it heat through.

Serve with a dollop of greek yogurt on top if you like!

Bunless Turkey Burgers

• 1 package of ground turkey meat
• 2 tsp Pasilla chili powder
• 1 tsp Adobo seasoning
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 scant tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder.

Mix the turkey meat with the seasonings, and form into patties.  Cook with whatever method you like.  Since it's freeeezing today I opted to cook them on the stovetop.  Just make sure that you cook them thoroughly since this is poultry and you don't want it rare!

I finished ours off with a little sprinkle of cheddar cheese, which always makes the hubs very happy. Serve over Slaw (recipe below) with a little Pico de Gallo, Guac (thank you Holy Guacamole!) and a dollop of plain greek yogurt or sour cream.

Red Cabbage & Cilantro Slaw

• 1/2 head of red cabbage, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 3 scallions, whites and half of the greens sliced
• 1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 T light mayonnaise
• 3 T skim milk
• 1 T rice wine vinegar
• S&P

Whisk all ingredients except for the cabbage and bell pepper together, and let sit for 10 minutes to allow flavors to marry.  Add the cabbage and bell pepper, and toss well to coat.  Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Toss again, and serve.

Happy eating!

Chipotle Chili with Chicken & Butternut Squash

Yummy!

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and this is one such recipe.  I had some leftovers that I needed to use up, in this case, some roasted butternut squash and some shredded chicken breast, so I decided to make them into a chili. The squash acts as a thickener for the chili, but could be skipped.  If you don't have shredded chicken on hand, you could easily sauté some chicken before you start your onions, remove and then add in before the simmering process, or skip completely and up the beans to 2 cans for a meat free version. This is a really simple, satisfying, and spicy chili - the hubs and I really enjoyed it over wild rice. I hope you like it too!



Ingredients:

All the good stuff

• 1 cup roasted butternut squash, fork mashed
• 1-2 cups shredded chicken breast
• 1/2 large red onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 to 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped (1 full pepper makes for a very spicy stew, scale back if you're not into fiery foods, but the smokiness of the pepper is important for the flavor, so don't skip it entirely)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (again, scale back or omit for less spice)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 T chili powder
• 1  tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
• 1 tsp Mexican oregano
• Few dashes of Worcestershire sauce (Lee & Perrins is my preferred brand)
• 8-10 Campari sweet tomatoes, halved
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and quartered
• 1 can Habicheulas Blancas (small white beans), drained and rinsed
• 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp "better than bouillon" chicken

Garnish with:

• Avocado slices
• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• Non-fat plain Greek Yogurt (less guilt than sour cream, and all the taste!)
• Lime Wedge
• Serve over rice of your liking - I used long grain wild rice

Start by roasting your peppers and tomatoes.  Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Rub the peppers and tomatoes with some EVOO, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast on the top shelf of the oven until the skin of the peppers is blackened and the tomatoes are collapsed and beginning to caramelize, approximately 20 minutes.  When you remove them from the oven, immediately take the peppers and put them in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  The steam will help them "sweat" their skins off.  While the peppers are cooling, rough chop the tomatoes and set aside.  When the peppers are cool, use a knife to scrape the skins off.  Discard skin, and rough chop the pepper flesh.  Set aside.

How the bell pepper and
tomatoes look when ready
to remove from the oven

In a dutch oven, sauté the red onion over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, and sauté for another 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant.  Next, turn your heat to medium low and add the chipotle, red pepper flake, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, and Mexican oregano.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, and then add the better than bouillon (kicks the flavor up a notch).  Let that dissolve into the mixture, and then add your chicken broth.  Stir well and be sure to scrape up any caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan.

Next, add the honey and a few dashes of Worcestershire.  Add the butternut squash, shredded chicken, tomatoes, bell peppers, and Habichuelas Blancas. Turn heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes.

While the chili is simmering, cook your rice (if you wish to serve it over rice) according to package directions, and prepare the other garnishes.

When 20 minutes is up, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Serve over rice with some slices of avocado, fresh cilantro, greek yogurt, and a squeeze of lime juice to brighten the flavor profile.  Enjoy!

Guest Post! Alex's New Orleans Style Tuna Steaks & Sides

Yummo! I can't wait to try this!

One of the best things for me about the hubby starting medical school, is the wives/significant others of his fellow students that I have gotten to know - such a diverse group of amazing women (and some dudes) from all around the country, with all different experiences.  One of my newest partners in crime is the lovely Alex Z.

Alex and her hubby hail from New Orleans, and needless to say, they know food!  Alex has already taught me so much about New Orleans culture and food, added a delicious & zippy seasoning salt to my pantry, and opened my eyes to the wonderful world of Mardi Gras parties... so when she told me what she was whipping up for dinner tonight, I asked her to share so I could share with all of you.

This is one talented chica and not only does she make beautiful meals, she is also a jewelry designer who makes really incredible jewelry (I proudly sport a gorgy pearl bracelet with anchor charm that she custom designed for me!).  I am so happy to count Alex as one of my new friends, and I can't wait for all of the adventures we will share during this bumpy med school road. So without further ado - here's Alex's Sunday night dinner!

A note from Alex:

What a gorgeous couple!

Remember, we are from New Orleans and we like our stuff spicy!  For those who don't like or can't handle the heat, they may want to consider using other seasonings or only making part of this dish.  As a suggestion for dessert, bread pudding goes well.  

Enjoy!

TUNA STEAKS

What you need:

- tuna steaks

- Paul Prudhome's Seafood Magic (or your favorite seasoning)

- salt

- butter and/or olive oil

What you do:

- Wash and dry the steaks

- when dry, season the steaks with Seafood Magic and salt

- in a skillet with a little butter and/or olive oil, cook tuna to you liking

RED HOT MASHED POTATOES

What you need: 

- Red potatoes

- Zatarain's Crab boil

- salt

- milk

- butter

What you do:

Boil the potatoes

When potatoes are almost finished, put the crab boil bag into the pot with them.  (the longer the bag is in the pot, the spicier the potatoes will be, so if you aren't used to spice be careful!  I leave it in there for about 15-20 mins)

when potatoes are finished, drain, mash and use salt, butter and milk to your liking

CORN MAQUE CHOUX

What you need:

- can of corn 

- can of creamed corn

- tomato

- 1/2 green pepper

- 1/4 white onion

- Tony Chachere's Seasoning 

* Feel free to use more or less of the vegetables, but that is usually enough for me

What you do:

- chop the tomato, onion and green pepper

- drain the can of corn

- in an extra large pan or a pot mix all of the ingredients, except the seasonings, over medium heat

- when the mixture has cooked, add Tony's to taste

* sometimes, the tomatoes make the dish soupy, use some corn starch to correct that if necessary.

STEAMED GREEN BEANS

- that one is pretty self explanatory lol!

Football Season

"Foos-ball? Buncha overgrown
monsters man-handlin' each other... "
-Mama Boucher, the Waterboy

Like many of you, my husband, Ian, spent the majority of the day with his eyes glued to the TV.  Yes folks, college football was the order of the day.  Admittedly, I'm not a huge football fan. While I like to see UW do well,  I don't have a favorite team, I have no clue who won the Super Bowl last year, or who won the college championship (What is that even called?). What I DO like about football season, is the social aspect.  Getting together with friends to watch a game can be a lot of fun - I guess I like any reason to entertain.   Football season is also a great opportunity for slow-cooking foods like casseroles, soups, stews, chili, etc - more on that later on.

 In honor of the start of the season, I thought I'd share a super easy dip recipe.  This is a big-time crowd pleaser, especially for the guys. By no means lo-cal or healthy, but really tasty. If you need something to take to a tailgate or to someone's house, I hope you give this one a whirl!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

• 1 1/2 cups chopped/shredded chicken breast.  Super easy if use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, or just bake off or poach some chicken breasts
• 3/4 cup hot sauce (I like to use Texas Pete or Franks Red Hot - you can use more if you like things really spicy, or a little less if you don't like things too spicy)
• 1 block cream cheese
• 3/4 cup ranch dressing
• 1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese (I like to use Sargento's medium cheddar)

In a sauce pan, combine the chicken breast and hot sauce.  Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Then add the cream cheese and ranch.  Continue to cook, stirring constantly until the the cream cheese is totally melted. At this point, add half of the bag of cheddar cheese.  Stir to mix well.  Take the dip mixture, and pour into a glass baking dish, then top with the other half of the cheddar.  At this point you can either let the dip cool and then refrigerate for later, or put it right into the oven. Regardless of whether your serving it now or later, you do need to bake it at 350 degrees until the cheese on top is all melted and bubbly, obviously this takes longer if you're heating it from the fridge temp.

Serve with sliced baguette, celery sticks, and Ian's favorite - Fritos scoops.

And for my college buddies... GO HUSKIES!!