Lightened up cheeseburger mac casserole

So back in the day, when I was first starting out cooking, I was a fan of making the Hamburger Helper meals. They were relatively easy, one pot meals and all you needed to add was raw hamburger.  Of course, they are based on sauce partially coming from a powder and they all processed out the wazoo, but hey, a cook's gotta start somewhere.

Because of this, I have a special place in my heart for when someone "fancies up" what could have been a Hamburger or Tuna Helper meal (sometime I'll post my take on Emeril's tuna tetrazini).  

This is another of those recipes.  However!  This particular recipe also shows the importance of always reading the online comments of those who have tried it before you.  Sometimes people's postings just show that they are idiots that don't know how to cook but sometimes they are quite valuable.  This recipe is from Hungry Girl and I actually saw her make it on her show.  On the show, she threw everything in a crock pot and 8 hours later on low/4 on high, it came out looking tasty.  But if you read the reviews of practically everyone who has made it, it comes out as disgusting mush.  This has to do mainly with some slow cookers running hotter than others (I found I couldn't even cook meat in my old one on high without it coming out tough!) but it's good to know.  Other commenters on the FN site mentioned that they had just cooked everything on the stove top and it worked out much better.  So, I took that route.  I also made a few substitutions based on the ingredients I could find/already had available.  And it turned out delicious!!  If you do want to make it her way, be my guest....but don't be surprised if you get mush at the end.

My version of her cheeseburger mac casserole

Ingredients

5 oz. (about 1 1/4 cups) uncooked elbow macaroni (I used a mix of whole grain macaroni and quinoa macaroni)
16 oz. raw lean ground turkey (I used 93% lean)
3 tbsp. ketchup (I have the fancy "unsweetened" ketchup)
1 chopped onion
Two 10 oz. frozen cauliflower and low-fat cheese sauce (like the kind by Green Giant) packages (the original recipe calls for one 24 oz. pack but I searched 2 stores and they didn't have that size)
1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese

4 oz shredded Cabot 75% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
2 scallions, thinly sliced
salt and black pepper
Hot sauce (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375.

Combine the turkey and onion in a saucepan over medium heat.  Meanwhile, cook your pasta to al dente in another pot.  Stir the turkey and onion until both are cooked through thoroughly.  Take your frozen cauliflower packages out of their boxes, cut a hole in the plastic pouches, and microwave them till heated.

Once the turkey and onion are cooked, add the ketchup to the pan and stir well.  Then carefully stir in your Laughing Cow wedge, green onions, cauliflower and cheese sauce, and pasta.  Add salt and pepper.  Add in all but 1/4 cup of your shredded cheese.  Then, pour the entire mixture into an 8x8 glass baking pan.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake until melted and gooey, about 15 minutes (or you can save this step and serve it right then and there).

We ate it with a bit more salt and pepper to taste and some hot sauce!  It was delicious.

Not the prettiest picture ever, but you get the idea.

Indian Fish Coconut Curry

So for some reason, whenever I try a variety of dishes at Indian buffets, I dislike all but one of them.  And sometimes all of them. If I order a specific entree, I'm usually safe and it tastes great.  And if I make Indian dishes from scratch at home, I enjoy them.  Maybe Indian buffets are just crappy.  

I made this particular recipe a few months back and was a little generous with the Indian chili powder and so it was *very* spicy.  I made it because I had made some homemade roti bread as well (having made paneer the day before) and I wanted a good curry to go with it.  I didn't take any quality pictures of this curry (I need to use my good camera for such things in the future!) so there is no picture here.  But here's the source recipe, which has a nice picture.

 

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless fish fillets, cut into chunks.  Use the fish of your choice: mahi mahi, grouper, flounder, tilapia, or even shrimp would be good.
1/2 pound of cubed paneer cheese (totally optional)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 

1/2 onion, chopped 

1 teaspoon grated 

fresh ginger 

2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 fully ripe tomato, diced or 1 1/2 cups canned diced tomatoes 

1 teaspoon garam masala 

1/4 teaspoon chili powder (cayenne) (I used Indian chili powder, extra hot, that I got from the Asian market.  And I maybe used around 2 teaspoons of it. Don't do this unless you like it spicy!!) 

1/2 teaspoon saltfreshly ground black pepper
1 cup coconut milk (I used low fat)

 1/4 cup water 

Directions:

Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat and swirl in the oil. When the oil is heated, add the onion, ginger and garlic. Turn the heat to medium-low and let the aromatics cook slowly. Saute until very fragrant, about 5 minutes. Take care not to let it burn!

Add the tomato and saute for another 3 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Add the garam masala, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and cook for 2 minutes. This is the masala (spice base).

Turn the heat to medium-high. Pour in the coconut milk and the water. When the mixture comes to a good boil, add in the fish and cook for 4 minutes or so, until the fish is cooked through. Fish never takes very long.

Serve with some basmatic rice, naan, or roti (or all three!).

White chili

Two posts in a row!  And both with chili as a theme.  I'm on a roll.  Actually, I just really like chili.  I've made just about every kind of chili: Cincinnati style, traditional Texas, all bean chili, mushroom and bean chili, "Julie" chili (mix of stew and ground meat and it has beans too), and now white chili.  I even entered my Julie chili in a local chili-cookoff, but sadly, I didn't place.  There's always next year!

Today's chili post is about the white chili.  It's called white because it's typically made with chicken or turkey and does not contain tomatoes or (much) chili powder.  I went through some different recipes and finally decided to make this one as my starting point, changing things up, of course.  The great thing about white chili, and all chili really, is that you can make it hearty and flavorful without it being full of fat and calories.

Ingredients:

 1 medium onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 stalks celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 large poblano peppers, diced (if they are especially spicy, you may want to seed them. Mine were not)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more to taste
1 pound ground white meat turkey (I used 93% lean)
2 (15.5-ounce) cans white beans such as cannelini, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed (also called white kidney beans)
1 small can of green salsa (salsa verde, medium heat)
1 small can of diced green chiles (I used mild, but this is your preference)
2-4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (see below)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (use Mexican if you can)
Kosher salt 

Optional toppings:
1/4 cup nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges
Reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese blend
Baked tortilla chips

This recipe has a great deal of flexibility to it.  If you can plan ahead and buy all of the ingredients the night before, you can simply throw everything (except the beans) in the crockpot in the morning and let them cook 7-8 hours.  You would then add the beans in the last hour or two of cooking.  If you go this route, your turkey will be incredibly soft and completely fallen apart, kind of like a ragout.  If you prefer a meatier version, brown your ground turkey on the stove top first before adding it to the crock pot.  If you are going the crock pot route, I would start out with 1-2 cups of chicken broth when you throw everything in the crock pot.  Crock pots don't need a lot of liquid to cook, and it won't evaporate during the day.  You can always add more liquid later but it's more of a pain to add too much early on and then try to get it to evaporate.**

Alternatively, you can make this whole thing on the stove in about an hour.  First add about a tablespoon of olive or canola oil to a dutch oven or other soup pot over medium heat.  Brown your ground turkey and remove it from the pot.  If necessary, add another tablespoon of oil. Add the celery and onions and cook until they are starting to get translucent, around 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and poblano peppers and cook another 5 minutes. Then dump your ground turkey back in, along with your cumin, coriander, green salsa, oregano, and chicken broth.  Again, start out with 1-2 cups of chicken broth, only adding more if needed.  In the last 15 or so minutes, dump in your beans.  Then add cayenne and salt to taste.  (Note: if you use low sodium or homemade chicken broth, chances are that you will have to add a surprising amount of kosher salt at this point for it to get up to the proper taste. Or maybe that's just me). I also like to add more of the other spices at this point to brighten the flavors.  Once it's all come together, the veggies are cooked, and it's at the right consistency, ladle into bowls and serve with whichever optional toppings above float your boat.

**One trick with chili that I learned from Alton Brown is that you can crush some tortilla chips up into the chili to thicken it somewhat.  Or you can use masa harina, but I know that I certainly don't have that hanging around my kitchen.

White chili with cheese on it.

Cincinnati chili dip

So with the holidays, I have many recipes to share with you...but first I thought I'd share the easiest one ever.  I made this for New Year's Eve.  It had been several years since I had it and it was every bit as delicious as what I remembered!  Of course, the version I made was lightened up and therefore slightly less bad for you than what I had in my youth.

So this brings me to - Skyline chili dip!  Skyline Chili is a very special kind of chili found in Cincinnati, Ohio.  It is in fact known as "Cincinnati style" chili.  Now, I grew up on this stuff so I think it's wonderful, but for those expecting a traditional chili....well it's definitely different.  It's thin and soupy, the meat is super tender, and you can taste cloves instead of the normal chili powder as a dominant flavor.  You can read more about it here.  I always tell people to not expect a regular chili when they try it as it is really quite distinct.  If you go in expecting a thick Texas chili I can imagine the surprise.

Now that I'm in North Carolina I can't get my beloved Skyline fresh, but they do sell it frozen and in cans at Kroger.  I also have a knock-off recipe that I've made which is pretty good - I'll post that here someday.  But today, the dip!

Ingredients

1 can of Skyline chili

12 ounces of reduced fat cream cheese (also called Neufchatel cheese), softened

1/4 cup finely diced onions

8 oz reduced fat finely shredded mild cheddar cheese

Procedure

Smear the cream cheese evenly across the bottom of an oven safe pan (I used an 8 x 8 glass baking dish).

Sprinkle the onions evenly over this.

Spread the chili evenly over the onions.

Sprinkle the cheese evenly over this.

Bake at 350 until the cheese has melted.  Serve with tortilla chips.  So good.
I didn't take a picture when I made it on New Year's but here's one from the internet: