PepperJack Corn Chowder/ Best Chowder I've Ever Had and Made Healthy!

I saw a recipe for pepperjack corn chowder that looked divine, but way to indulgent to have without feeling like I need to spend my evening on the treadmill.  I found a way to make it into a deliciously guilt-free indulgence.  It's so rich and creamy that you would never know there is a less healthy version!

You will need:
3 tablespoons of butter (I use smart balance- for healthy cholesterol)
1 can of Rotel (10oz) I used the habeñero one, because I love spice, but go with the one you think you'll like best.  I've used a couple different kinds for this and they are all good.
1/2 red bell pepper (diced)
1/2 green bell pepper (diced)
1 small yellow onion (diced)
1 cup greek yogurt
8oz. pepperjack cheese (2% milk) -This is where the fat really gets cut out.  I didn't find any reduced fat pepperjack cheese, so I bought Sargento sliced pepperjack cheese and made the soup with sandwich sliced cheese made with 2% milk.
1 can evaporated skim milk
1.5 cans sweet cream style corn
If desired, add 1 tsp of your favorite hot sauce.  I prefer El Yucateca Haeñero.
Salt, Pepper and Red Pepper flakes to taste

On another note, you can save a few carbs (sugars) and minimally increase the calories by substituting 1/3 fat cream cheese for the greek yogurt. I've made it both ways and it doesn't make much of a difference.  I go with the yogurt because I need to watch my cholesterol.  If I were watching sugars, I would probably go with the cream cheese.  Note that the nutrition facts are calculated with yogurt.

 Cooking Instructions:
Sauté bell peppers and onion in butter until soft.
Add greek yogurt and continue stirring until melted.
Add remaining ingredients and stir frequently until hot and cheese is melted through.

Enjoy!!!!

Nutrition Facts per serving: (based on this recipe serving 5 bowls)

Total Calories 371.6
Total fat 14.4 g
    sat fat 7.4g
    polyunsaturated fat 1.2g
    monounsaturated fat 0.9g
    trans fat 0g
Cholesterol 26mg
Sodium 1086mg
Potassium 474.5mg
Total carbs 31.1g
    Dietary Fiber 5.5g
    Sugars 20.4g
Protein 24.4g
Vitamin A 40.4%
Vitamin C 66.1%
Calcium 65.7%
Iron 4.1%

Ginger Burgers

Here's an interesting twist on burgers with some added health benefits from the ginger and turmeric.  Follow these links to learn more about the benefits of ginger and turmeric.

You will need:

1lb lean ground beef or ground turkey

one piece of bread, tear into small pieces.  I sometimes sub bread crumbs when I have them.  It helps the burgers stay stuck together while cooking.

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon ground red chili pepper or cayenne

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4 cup onion grated or finely chopped

1 tablespoon ginger root (if you store your ginger in the freezer, it will grate very easily)

3 cloves garlic minced

Fold above ingredients into meat and grill to your liking.

I suggest serving with low fat cheese, whole wheat bun, mint or cilantro chutney (recipe found here) or a spicy mayo, lettuce, onion and tomato.

Best Slow Cooker Carnitas Ever!!!!

The best and easiest Mexican dinner!  One of my absolute favorites.  I love coming home from work and finding this waiting for me in the slow cooker.

You will need:

1lb pork tenderloin or chicken
1 12oz jar of salsa (use this link to make my 5 minute salsa recipe for the best results)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper, or ground red pepper if you can find it (way better than cayenne)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
3 cloves of garlic minced

I also like to use 1/2 tablespoon of turmeric when I have it because it adds nicely to the flavor and turmeric has many health benefits.  Follow this link to read some of them.

Combine all of the above ingredients.  I like to add the ingredients to a ziplock bag and then add the meat and marinate overnight.  Place the meat and marinade in a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours.  Pull the pork or chicken and serve according to your liking.

To serve, I enjoy whole grain taco shells or soft taco shells, lettuce, onion, salsa, Greek yogurt (instead of sour cream), tomato, low fat cheese, and a side of refried beans.

Skinny Loaded Baked Potato Soup

This is the best (healthy) potato soup I have ever had!!!!  Only 316 calories per serving- I could eat it every day and it would actually benefit me to do so!

You will need:

2 russet potatoes, washed and dried
1 medium head of cauliflower, stem removed cut into florets
1 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth
1 12oz can of evaporated skim milk
salt (to taste)
1 Tbsp freshly cracked black pepper (I know that sounds like a lot, but I used to work at an Irish Pub that had a lot of black pepper in the potato soup and it was divine!)
3/4 cup Greek Yogurt (fat free substitute for sour cream)
1 cup of 2% reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
5 tbsp chopped chives, divided
6 slices turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled (you can use turkey bacon if you prefer)
1/2 cup of diced white onion
1/4 cup of chopped green onion
1 Tbsp crushed red pepper (less if you don't like as much kick)

Pierce potatoes with a fork; microwave on high for 5 minutes turn over and microwave another 3 - 5 minutes, until tender. Or if you prefer to use your oven, bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool.  Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the insides out.

Meanwhile, steam cauliflower with water in a large covered pot until tender. Drain.  In a regular blender, Blend cauliflower and chicken broth until smooth.  Return cauliflower mixture to pot. On medium heat, add milk and potatoes and bring to a boil.  (You could use an immersion blender and blend the potatoes, milk, and cauliflower, but I prefer not to blend the potatoes because I like the heartiness of the potato chunks).  Add remaining ingredients.  Cook on low another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Garnish with a little green onion, chives, greek yogurt and cheese.

I calculated the nutrition facts based on this batch being approximately 5 bowls.

Calories 316, Total Fat 10g, Saturated Fat 4.5g, Cholesterol 49mg, Sodium 695.6mg, Total Carbs 29.2g, Sugars 14g, Fiber 4.1g, Protein 23.9g

Skinny Summer Dip

This dip is so tasty and healthy.  I have a new addiction!!!

Combine:

1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1 can corn drained and rinsed
1 cup fat free greek yogurt
1 red pepper chopped and seeded (optional- I like it with and without, but very different)
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 package ranch dressing mix
chopped jalapenos (between 1 Tbsp and 1/4 cup depending on how spicy you like it- of course I love the spicier dip)

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

Delicious and very healthy Black Bean Burgers!

You will need:
1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed, then dried (as best you can because the mixture will adhere better if they are dry)
1/2 Green Bell Pepper, cut into pieces
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 egg (or egg substitute)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp ground red pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup steal cut oats (you could use all bread crumbs or sub other oats if you have them)

Directions:

1. If grilling, preheat grill for high heat and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly oil baking sheet.
2.  In a medium bowl, mash black beans with fork until thick and pasty.
3.  In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion and garlic.
4.  press onion, garlic and pepper into fine strainer.  The more dry they are, the better the mixture will be.  Stir into beans.
5.  In a small bowl, stir egg, chili powder, hot sauce, cumin, red pepper.  If you are concerned about the spice level, you can add the egg to the beans last and taste for spice as you go.
6.  Stir the egg mixture into beans.  Mix in the bread crumbs and oats until mixture is sticky and holds together.  Divide into 4 patties.
7.  If grilling, place patties on foil and grill about 8 minutes on each side.  If baking, place patties on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes on each side.

Each burger is 200 calories and has 3 g fat and 33 g of total carbs (3 g of sugar)

Panang Chicken -Reduced from 50g fat per serving to 6.7g

My boyfriend and I love, love, love the Panang chicken.  We always order it from Thai restaurants.  I wanted to make it at home and was just appalled and probably more surprised than I should have been that the recipes came out to be over 50g of fat per serving.  I set out to make it at least more healthy than what we get in the restaurants and it came out pretty freaking delicious.

You will need:

1.5 lbs  boneless skinless chicken
Panang Curry Paste
4 cups coconut milk
4 Tbs palm sugar
1 Tbs fish sauce
6 Kaffir Lime leaves (torn)
1 red Thai chili
1/4 cup fresh Thai basil leaves
1/2 cup baby corn
1 cup broccoli florets
4 dried Thai chilies

White sticky rice

Much of the fat from the restaurant recipes comes from using full-fat coconut milk.  I shopped around and I think I found one of the healthiest brands (Silk).  It definitely thins out the final product, so if you wanted to, you could thicken the sauce by whipping starch into the curry paste and coconut milk.  I had to go to the international store for the Curry paste and Lime leaves.  I ended up using fresh basil instead of thai basil.  The taste is a bit different and it cooks differently, but they are not cooked in this recipe, so the substitution was just fine.  Also, you will note that there is not amount for the curry paste.  The paste should have a recommended amount per pound of chicken on the container.  I used 4 tsp for this brand, but another recipe I saw called for 5 Tbs- what a big difference that could have made.  I will warn that the palm sugar and fish sauce dramatically change the taste of the dish.  I added both at the end little by little for the perfect taste.  I recommend tasting the sauce before and after adding each.

Here is a photo of some of the ingredients I thought would be difficult to find/recognize:

Let's get cooking!

Prepare rice as directed by package.

1.  Fry the curry paste in a wok or large pan in cooking oil until fragrant
2.  Stir in the coconut milk, chopped fresh pepper and whole dried pepper and bring to a boil
3.  Add the chicken (cubed) and cook until almost done (10-15 min)
4.  Stir in the palm sugar, fish sauce, vegetables and lime leaves.  Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
5.  Serve over rice, garnish with basil leaves and enjoy!


Here are the approximate nutrition facts (assuming that this makes 4 servings and not including the rice)

Calories 295
Total Fat 6.7g
Saturated Fat 5 g
Cholesterol 82.5 mg
Sodium 1446 mg
Potassium 170 mg
Total Carbs 18.2 g
Fiber 3.3 g
Sugar 10.8 g
Protein 35.5 g