Amazing Turkey Chili

Ingredients
1/4 cup canola oil
2 medium onions, cut into ¼-inch dice
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch dice
3 Tbsp. ancho chile powder
1 Tbsp. pasilla chile powder
2 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. ground coriander
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. dried thyme
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, or more to taste
5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
2 1/2 lb. ground turkey
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 large can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, with their juices
1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, with or without seeds, minced (optional)
2 cans (15 oz. each) pinto beans, rinsed under cold water and drained
1 Tbsp. apple-cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
~ Salt, to taste

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables soften, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine the chile powders, cumin, coriander, sugar, thyme, oregano, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.
3. When the vegetables are soft, add the herb/spice mixture and the garlic, and stir constantly until the mixture is hot and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking up the meat, until the meat is browned, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, chipotle peppers, pinto beans, and vinegar. Stir to blend, and simmer the chili over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is cooked through and has begun to thicken, 30 to 45 minutes.
5. Remove the pot from the heat, and stir in the lime juice and salt to taste. Serve hot.

Julie's Thoughts:
I've made this without the chipotle peppers and have substititued "regular" chili powder for the pasilla chile powder and it's still really good. Ground beef works here (not as healthy but my grocery store doesn't sell ground turkey), and the chili freezes well.



Source: The Earth Bound Cook

Lime Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
* 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 2 tablespoons finely grated lime zest, plus 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (2-4 limes)
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions
1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; set aside.
2. Put granulated sugar and lime zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 1 minute. Add butter, and mix until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in vanilla and lime juice. Reduce speed to low, and gradually mix in flour mixture.
3. On a lightly floured work surface, halve the dough. Flatten each half into a 10-inch disk, and wrap each in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Working with 1 half at a time, roll out dough on parchment paper to 1/8 inch thick. Cut shapes from dough with cookie cutter. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Cut a hole in center of each with a 1-inch round cutter. Repeat with remaining disk. Wrap scraps in plastic. Freeze 15-30 minutes; reroll, and cut.
5. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Before serving, sift confectioners' sugar over cookies.

Source: Martha Stewart's Cookies

Chewy Molasses Crinkles

Ingredients:
* 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1C packed light brown sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 C granulated sugar, plus 1/4C for rolling
* 1/2 C unsulfured molasses
* 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 C All purpose flour
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
* 1 tsp. ground ginger
* 1 tsp. allspice
* 1/2 tsp. coarse salt

Instructions:
1. Put butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 c granulated sugar in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time, followed by the molasses and oil.

2. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt. Cover dough with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 325 F. Put remaining 1/4 c granulated sugar in a bowl. Using a 1 3/4 inch ice cream scoop, form balls of dough. Roll balls in sugar to coat, and space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are flat and centers are set, about 17 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 5 days.

Source: Martha Stewart's Cookies

Julie's Thoughts:
1) Don't overmix the batter! If you do, and cookies will go flat.
2) Space the cookies atleast 3 inches apart. I didn't and ended up with one giant cookie on my first patch.
3) I dusted them with icing sugar after they cooled for a festive cook.

Almond-Orange Shortbread

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups chopped almonds
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
* 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
* 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
* 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
* 2 tablespoons sanding sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Process nuts in a food processor until finely chopped, about 20 seconds (do not overprocess). Transfer nuts to a large bowl; add flour, granulated sugar, butter, zest, and salt. Mix with hands until dough just comes together and forms a ball.
2. Halve dough; shape each into a disk. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. With lightly floured hands, shape 1 disk into a 7-inch round, and score to mark 12 equal wedges (do not cut through). Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sanding sugar. Repeat with remaining disk and sanding sugar.
3. Bake, rotating halfway through, until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. While shortbread is warm, cut wedges to separate completely. Let wedges cool slightly on sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Source: Martha Stewart's Cookies

Potato Hash with Spinach and Eggs

• 3/4 lb small white potatoes cut into 1/2" pieces
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 c Feta (or Parmesan)

Directions

1. In a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water over high. Cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, about 6 minutes. Drain.
2. In skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium. Add onion and bell pepper and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Add potatoes and red-pepper flakes; season with salt. Cook until potatoes are golden, 3 minutes. Add spinach and 1 tablespoon butter and cook, stirring, until butter is melted.
4. Make four wells in potato mixture. Crack 2 eggs into each well and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until whites are set but yolks are still runny, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley and serve immediately.

Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/859191/potato-hash-spinach-and-eggs

Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad
serves 4 • active time: 20 min • total time: 35 min

2 pounds red and yellow beets, scrubbed, peeled, and thinly sliced
6 medium carrots, thinly sliced 
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
coarse salt and ground pepper
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
3 small Belgian endives, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch pieces, or 2 heads frisée, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
4 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled (1 cup)
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans 

1 Preheat oven to 450°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss beets and carrots with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, 25 to 30 minutes, tossing halfway through. Let cool 5 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, vinegar, tarragon, and 1 1/2 tablespoons oil; season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss endives with half the dressing, then transfer to a serving platter. Toss beets and carrots with remaining dressing and add to platter. Top with goat cheese and pecans before serving. 


Rachel's Thoughts:  Titus and I found a 10lb bag of beets at our local farmer's market for $3.  This salad made excellent use of them!


Source: Everyday Food Mag

Roasted Garlic & Pumpkin Soup

Roasted Garlic

• 4 heads of garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Soup

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups onions coarsely chopped
• 2 cups carrots, peeled and coarsely diced
• 3 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely diced
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 can pumpkin puree 
• 1 cup yellow flesh potatoes, peeled and coarsely diced
• 2 tbsp fresh sage coarsely chopped
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup 35% cream 
• Freshly granted nutmeg to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Slice tops off the whole heads of garlic to expose just the tips of the cloves, place on a large sheet of foil and drizzle garlic with olive oil.  Wrap completely and bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Once roasted, open package and let cool.
3. In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high, add onions, carrots, ginger and chili powder and cook until onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add to the pot the pumpkin, potatoes, sage and chicken stock.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and let cook uncovered until the potatoes are very tender, about 35 minutes.
5. While soup is cooking remove all the garlic from its skin and add to pot along with any residual oil.
6. Once soup is cooked, let cool slightly and puree with a hand blender or in a stand-up blender.
7. Once soup is pureed, add cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper to tase, and warm through.  Garnish with extra sage leaves, if desired.

Rachel's Thoughts: I added only half of the amount of stock (due to pot size) with the intention of adding it in at the end but decided that I likely the soup super dense and opted to leave it out.

Source: LCBO Magazine (Autumn 2011)

Eggplant Parmesan

INGREDIENTS:  Serves 6

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup whole-wheat panko or bread crumbs
• 6 tbsp low-fat Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 globe eggplants (about 2 1/4 lb total)
• 2 medium tomatoes (about 14 oz), cut into large chunks
• 1 tbsp no-salt-added tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic
• 8 large basil leaves, divided
• 1 cup part-skim, low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat 2 rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Place egg whites in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine panko, Parmesan, oregano, garlic powder and salt. Trim ends off eggplants and cut each eggplant crosswise into 6 3/4-inch slices. One at a time, dip eggplant slices in egg whites, then panko mixture, arranging coated slices on prepared baking sheets. Bake until eggplant is tender and golden brown, about 25 minutes.
3. While eggplant is cooking, combine tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic and basil leaves in a food processor and pulse to make a chunky sauce. Transfer to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened slightly, 8 to 10 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper
4. Remove eggplant from oven and preheat broiler. Arrange an oven rack about 8 inches from heating element.
5. Spoon tomato sauce over eggplant slices, dividing it evenly. Sprinkle mozzarella over tomato sauce, dividing it evenly. Use a spatula to place 6 eggplant slices on top of 6 others, making 6 2-slice stacks on 1 baking sheet. Broil until mozzarella is browning on top and melted in the middle, about 3 minutes.

Source: Clean Eating Cookbook

Rachel's Thoughts: scale this down if it is only for two people - but it was SO good.  Make sure you put lots of salt/pepper on the egg plants before the initial roasting.

Harvest Vegetable Pancake with Greens and Goat Cheese

• 3 large beets, scrubbed and peeled
• 3 medium carrots, peeled
• 1 can of chick peas, rinsed
• 1 cup of cooked diced potato
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• salad greens - I used spinach
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup of crumbled goat cheese

Grate beets and carrots on a box grater (or shred in food processor).  Stir in chick peas, potato, flour, 1 tsp salt and season with pepper.  In a large non-stick straight-sided skillet, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat.  Add beet mixture and, with a rubber spatula, firmly press into pan.  Cook undisturbed for 10 minutes.


Remove pan from heat, cover with a serving platter (or cutting board) and carefully invert pancake onto platter.  Slide pancake back into pan and cook until crisp and brown around edge, 10-12 minutes.  Invert into platter.


In a medium bowl, toss salad greens with 2 tbsp olive oil and lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper.  To serve, top pancake with salad and goat cheese.


Source: Martha Stewart Everyday Food


Rachel's Thoughts:  I just served it right from the pan because the whole flipping thing was a bit difficult.  This dish was delicious!

Quinoa and Crescenza with Sauteed Mushroom

6 tbsp clarified butter or olive oil [I used half of each]
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup quinoa, rinsed 
1/2 cup good quality dry white wine [I used pinot grigio]

1 cup water
2 big pinches of red pepper flakes
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
3-4 oz Crescenza cheese*

* If you can’t find this tangy cheese, try substituting taleggio, gruyere, or brie.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter/oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes, or until the onion starts to soften and get translucent. Add the quinoa, wine, and 1 tsp salt, until the liquid has reduced a bit.

Add the water, return to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the quinoa opens up, revealing a little spiral, and is soft and pleasant to chew.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter/oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, along with the red pepper flakes and a few pinches of salt. Stir in the mushrooms and cook without stirring for a few minutes, until they’ve begun to brown and release their juices. Then shake the skillet every few minutes until the mushrooms are evenly browned, about 4 more minutes. [I added in a glug of the white wine towards the inn to deglaze the pan]. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the quinoa is perfectly tender yet textured, drain off any excess liquid and stir in the cheese. Ladle into big bowls and top with the mushrooms.

Serves 2- plus 2 lunches.

Rachel's Thoughts: You may need to add more water to the quinoa - keep an eye on it.

Source: 101 Cookbooks - Heidi Swanson