This recipe was pretty much a shot from the hip. I needed to come up with something using only the ingredients in my pantry. So, I had a little "Chopped" competition with myself! I love "Chopped," it's probably one of my favorite shows of all time. For those of you who don't know, "Chopped" is a show on Food Network where contestants get a basket of ingredients and must turn them into a delicious dish. So, in my "Chopped" competition with myself, my ingredients were chicken breast, black beans, sweet potatoes, half an onion, and canned diced tomatoes.... GO!
Sweet and Spicy Black Bean Chili
Yields: 9 servings
Serving Size: 1 cup
PointsPlus per Serving: 5 P+
Ingredients
2 cans black beans (15 oz each), drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-2 cloves minced or crushed garlic (I used 2)
1 uncooked sweet potato, chopped (8.5oz or "medium")
2 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 oz each)
1 3/4 pound uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 tsp salt
2 TBS chili powder
Directions
Chop your sweet potato and onion. Mince or crush your garlic. Cube chicken breast into even pieces.
Spray a non-stick pot with cooking spray. Heat the pan on medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, and sweet potato. Cook until onion is translucent and sweet potato is tender.
Add chicken, salt, and chili powder. Cook until chicken is cooked through.
Add tomatoes (with their juice!) and drained/rinsed black beans.
Simmer 10 minutes until chili is heated through.
Serve with rice (additional points!) or as-is.
Enjoy!
It is the week before Christmas! For me, that means it's cookie baking week! Cookies are, without a doubt, the hardest temptation for me to conquer.
The best way to take on cookie baking week is to have a super low-point recipe on the side! (That cancels out all the cookie dough sneaking, or so I'm told!) ;)
Tonight I set out to make a low-point soup that I could eat in large quantities (I've just been really craving bulk since the cold temperatures started hitting). I mixed some of my favorite flavors together and came up with this handy little side dish...or full dinner for those of us who consumed approximately 8 points worth of cookies while baking tonight.
Spicy Vegetable Soup
Yields: Approximately five 2-cup servings OR ten 1-cup servings
Serving Size: I'll let you choose... 2 cups (huge bowl) or 1 cup (side dish)
PointsPlus per Serving: Using Recipe Builder, it's 2 P+ for a 2-cup bowl or 1 P+ for a 1-cup bowl. However, this recipe uses all 0-point ingredients. So, it's up to you how you count that. For those on Simply Filling, this recipe uses all Power Foods!
Ingredients
1 tsp minced garlic
3 medium carrots
1 medium green pepper
2 celery stalks
1 large onion
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
10 oz cabbage (I used one of those bags meant for coleslaw because I was tired of chopping!)
28 oz diced tomatoes in their juice
4 cups vegetable broth
3 packed cups chopped raw baby spinach
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground corriander
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Chop all vegetables (this is the fun part...not).
Saute carrots and garlic first until carrots are soft. (I did this slowly while cutting up all the other veggies).
Add onion, celery, green pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, and all spices. Saute until onions are clear.
Add cabbage and continue to saute the veggies for about 10 more minutes or until veggies are nearly cooked through.
Add diced tomatoes with their juice and the 4 cups of vegetable broth.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and let soup simmer for 30 minutes.
Uncover and bring soup to a boil. Add spinach.
Keep soup boiling until spinach is cooked through.
Serve Hot! Or...if you're feeling adventurous...add pasta and top the soup with mozzarella cheese (this will obviously change the PointsPlus value of the recipe).
Enjoy!
