Sunday Football Chili

B and I love pretty much everything about fall- sweater weather, caramel apples, hot apple cider, fairs and festivals, and most importantly, football and fall food.  Sunday’s in our apartment are dedicated from 1 PM on to NFL and tailgate-worthy eats.  Nothing welcomes the season better than homemade chili.  I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to make chili- you have to have cool weather to really enjoy it.  Summer chili just won’t do.  Read on for my Sunday Football Chili recipe, and GO EAGLES!  (Sorry, no matter how long B and I live here, we’ll never be Redskins fans…)

JM’s Sunday Football Chili

Serves 6

1 ½ lb ground turkey

1 46 oz can diced tomatoes in juice

1 15oz can tomato sauce

1 can dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

½ of a Vidalia onion, chopped

½ of a red pepper, chopped

½ of a green pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 bay leaf

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp basil

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cumin

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

¼ cup chili powder

Brown meat in a Dutch oven on stove over medium high heat.  Add the peppers and onions and cook until onions are translucent.  Add all other ingredients, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 2 hours.  Top with shredded cheddar cheese and serve with cornbread.

JM's Memorial Day Getaway

Memorial Day weekend was spent gloriously on the beach with a group of girlfriends.  A long weekend of fun and sun was exactly what I needed after the past few very stressful weeks at work.  At the beginning of the trip I only knew half of the girls going, but we got lucky and the whole group got along really well.  Everyone was laid back and fun to hang out with.  We rented a small townhouse a block from the beach, and to save some money we decided to cook most of our meals.  We skipped the usual barbeque and grill foods, two of the girls were vegetarian and we didn’t have a grill anyway.  At first I thought meals might be difficult- I almost always cook meat- and wasn’t sure what we would eat all weekend without it.  I’m happy to report that it wasn’t difficult at all (the girls ate fish, so it made things a little easier).  Meals were cooked together and served family-style, so it was easy and a fun way to hang out. 

I learned a new meal that I am definitely planning on making again, fish tacos.  I’d had shrimp tacos before, but never ones made with fish, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  They were delicious and healthy!  We were limited on spices since we didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something we’d use once or twice, but we used such fresh ingredients that we didn’t need much more than salt and pepper anyway.  We baked tilapia with a tequila lime seasoning rub (just a packet of premixed seasoning), mixed up a cabbage-cucumber salsa, and topped off with homemade guacamole and fresh tomato salsa.  The cabbage-cucumber mixture was a big improvisation, we bought mangos with the intention of making mango salsa, but they weren’t ripe.  Instead, we threw together some red cabbage (prepackaged), diced red onion, a jalapeno, cucumber, tomato, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.  It was so easy and had a ton of flavor.  It had just enough citrus to complement the fish, and a little kick from the jalapeno.  The tacos were incredibly fresh tasting; it was a perfect summer beach meal. 

All in all it was a successful weekend away, I got plenty  of sun (my sunburned skin says too much), made some new friends, and even learned something new.  If you did anything fun or made an interesting meal, tell us about it in the comments!  

Comfort Food Done Healthy

B’s surgery this week went very well, and he’s on the road to recovery.  He’s handling it really well, but I know he’s still in some discomfort and tired of being stuck in the apartment.  Being the (part) Italian that I am, I immediately turn to cooking for others in their time of need.  Food is one of those things that people look to for comfort, and providing that for others is my way of consoling and (hopefully) helping those in need.  Since B can’t be physically active for a while, I wanted to make him something comforting but still somewhat healthy.  Lasagna is one of B’s favorite foods, so I decided to put a healthy spin on the old classic.  What I came up with was turkey and vegetable lasagna rolls.  Rather than layering sheet upon sheet of noodles and filling, I thought that rolling up the noodles and filling would make it easier to portion out and serve.  I ended up with individual lasagnas instead of a big messy pan.  To increase the health quotient, I replaced the classic ingredients with healthier versions and added lots of veggies.  Read on for my recipe!

Lasagna Rollups

Makes 9 servings

9 whole-wheat lasagna noodles

1 c. diced onion

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

½ lb. ground turkey (93% lean)

1 c. fresh spinach

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

½ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. basil

½ tsp. oregano

4 tbsp. part skim ricotta cheese

1 jar marinara sauce

1 c. mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook noodles according to directions on box.  Drain and lay out on foil so they don’t stick together.  Chop the onions, peppers, and garlic, then sauté in olive oil (I usually add the garlic a minute or two later so it doesn’t burn). 

When the veggies are soft, add the turkey and spices and brown.  Put the spinach in a large bowl, add the cooked turkey/veggie mix and stir.  Let cool for a few minutes before adding the ricotta and half of the mozzarella cheese.  

Mix well, then spoon filling on each noodle, spreading down the length of the noodle, then roll.  Put a layer of sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan, then add the lasagna rolls (seam down) and top with remaining sauce and mozzarella.  Cover with foil, bake for 15 minutes.  Remove foil and cook another 10 minutes. 

Sneaking in the Vegetables

During the winter, B and I, like most northerners, tend to go for comforting, cold weather meals- lots of starches and hearty dishes.  When spring rolls around, I get inspired to eat healthier and try to incorporate better ingredients into my cooking.  I love fruits and vegetables, especially when they are fresh, so this isn’t much of a challenge for me.  B tends to be a bit more difficult to please.  He likes when I hide vegetables (especially spinach) in meals- he usually doesn’t like to eat veggies when they’re sitting on the plate beside the more appetizing main course.  It tends to be a challenge to get him to eat, let alone enjoy, a vegetable other than a potato or corn, so I seek out ways to disguise them or sneak them into meals.  Unfortunately it tends to decrease the healthiness factor significantly, but sometimes you lose some to gain some.  This recipe incorporates spinach and heart healthy salmon, and I use nonfat cream cheese so as to not completely negate the nutrition quotient.  B loved it and even commented I could add more spinach next time, if that’s not success, I don’t know what is!  Next challenge- getting him to like zucchini and squash without frying it or coating it with cheese.  Check back later for progress on that one!

Spring Salmon Packets

Serves 2

1 salmon filet (big enough for 2 people)

4 sheets of phyllo dough (or 1 sheet puff pastry)

1 egg

Salt and pepper

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. parsley

2 tsp. nonfat cream cheese

1 c. fresh spinach

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350.  Remove skin from the salmon filet and cut in half.  Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and parsley.  Coat the top of each filet with 1 tsp. cream cheese.  Lay out the phyllo dough (or puff pastry), brushing each sheet with olive oil before layering on the next sheet (skip this step if using puff pastry).  Cut the pastry in 2 equal pieces, then place the salmon filets on each.  Top each with ½ cup spinach, then wrap each in the dough/puff pastry.  Cut off any extra pastry, and then fold the ends under like a package.  Wisk the egg to make an egg wash, then brush it on the top of each packet.  Place on a baking sheet (coated with a little nonstick spray) and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Serve with rice.