Monday, October 1, 2012

Black bean and turkey soup

I know I haven't been here in a while and I don't know how often I'll be able to update but I've gone through some changes in the past few months. I've started eating... healthily. I know I know what the hell. But I had a health scare and decided I needed to lose some weight. While I am perfectly happy working out to lose weight that never quite does it for me, even if it is a big part, so I had to make some diet changes. But not an actual DIET. Recently one of my friends suggested that maybe I should start writing about my new recipes because well, I've become a better cook in the past few years and I'm all about discovering new delicious stuff that maybe isn't quite as bad for me. So here is one I found online and made on a whim last night. I think it turned out pretty good and we'll definitely be making it again. Adapted from food and wine magazine
 1/4 pound sliced bacon, cut into bits (around 6 slices)
 1 onion, chopped
 1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons dried oregano
 2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 3/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (one 15-ounce can)
1 quart canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1 2/3 cups drained and rinsed canned black beans (one 15-ounce can)
 1 pound of leftover roasted turkey breast cut into 1 in cubes
 10 ounces spinach, stems removed, leaves washed and cut crosswise into strips 

In a large stainless-steel pot, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pot. If you use center cut bacon I found that you don't have to drain off the fat. Reduce the heat to moderately low. Add the onion to the pot and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cocoa, Tabasco sauce, oregano, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the black beans and turkey to the pot. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the bacon. You can add the spinach in at this point and cook for a minute, or if you aren't planning on eating all at once you can add the spinach to the very hot bowls of soup and let them wilt in the bowls so you don't have wilty spinach in your leftovers. Serve with grated cheddar cheese and fritos or Tostidos. If you want to make it a little lighter eliminate the toppings. Serves 2 dinner portions and 2 lunch portions or 3 large dinner portions. Approximately 300 calories per serving

No comments:

Post a Comment