Sprinkled with Flour: Cooking Light

Showing posts with label Cooking Light. Show all posts

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Chili

February 20, 2011

I have a soft spot for baked goods. I think this fact is a little obvious by the majority of what I bake and post about here. Give me some sugar and flour and I'm a happy camper. However, I can enjoy a good salad or a perfectly roast chicken too, and I'd like to bring a little balance to my recipe box. A quick look at my recipe box shows my main course selection as a tiny blip, compared to the ever increasing list of cakes, pies and cookies.

I must admit that I find my enthusiasm for making dinner dwindling, when I have to work around a husband who is just a tad picky. There's only so many times a girl can make tacos or spaghetti before getting bored. I refuse to give in though, and continually present my family with new dishes, hoping with fingers crossed that I have found an acceptable variable to throw into the weekly mix. Sometimes my efforts are met with a thumbs down, but sometimes I'm given an astonishing thumps up.

This was the case when I came across a recipe I wanted to try. I was looking for something healthy but flavorful, something that would fit in with our healthy eating attempts. This dish is a hodgepodge of flavors that happens to work very well. I adapted it a little to suit our tastes, and the result was a new favorite dish for my husband. I call that a success! This Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Chili can be served over rice, tortilla chips, or you could even use it as a filling for a burrito. I bet it would make killer nachos too!

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Chili
(adapted from skinnytaste)
Prep: 5 min; Cook: 8 hr; Servings (1 cup): 8

1 onion, diced (optional)
1 8-oz can pinto beans
1 8-oz can kidney beans
1 8-oz can black beans
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 8-oz can corn
1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes w/chilies
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder (can reduce this amount for less spiciness)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 package shredded cheddar cheese

Combine beans, onion, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder, garlic, taco seasoning in crockpot. Place the chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 6-8 hours. Before serving, use a fork to shred the chicken, and stir to mix.

Serve over cooked rice and top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Tip: This is also great topped with fresh cilantro, sour cream, and jalapenos. It keeps very well in the refrigerator and tastes even better the next day. For additional flavor, squeeze a little fresh lime juice (to taste) into the meat and stir. Note: I buy chicken breasts that are naturally raised, so they tend to be on the small size. If your chicken breasts are large, you may only want to use 2-3 chicken breasts. Enjoy!

Amber

Strawberry Apple Crisp

February 3, 2011

I almost succumbed to temptation today. Almost. I have planned to make a particular calorie laden dessert for my weekend treat, but being snowed in with this midwest blizzard had me itching to make it today. Instead of giving in to temptation, I settled on a compromise instead. A dessert surely, but a lighter one with a substantially lower amount of calories and fat. I scavenged through my refrigerator and cabinets to see what I could make, and settled on a Strawberry Apple Crumble Crisp. I used sweetener in the fruit, and not much sugar and butter in the topping, so the final outcome was something that soothed my sugar craving nerves, but kept my scale happy:)

Strawberry Apple Crisp
(preparation time: 10 minutes; cook time: 20-25 minutes; servings: 2)

Filling:
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1 small apple, peeled, cored, and diced
lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cornstarch
3 packets Truvia sweetener (or sweetener/sugar of your choice)

Topping:
1/4 cup oats
1 1/2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour (all-purpose and whole wheat is fine too)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
pinch salt
1 Tbsp butter (or reduced fat spread if you prefer)

Preheat oven to 400F. In a small bowl combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Mix in the butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the diced apples and sliced strawberries. Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over the fruit to keep the apples from turning brown. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch, sweetener, and a few drops of vanilla. Stir until combined.

Divide the fruit between two ramekins. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the fruit. Bake at 400F for 10 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350F and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the topping is golden and the fruit is bubbly.