December 26, 2014

Hello all!

Happy day after Christmas to you! I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday – I certainly did. There’s nothing much better than spending the day with my family and my boyfriend (yep, he came to spend Christmas with us this year) all at the same time. And I’ll bet you ate as indulgently as I did too – which is why my latest recipe for white chicken chili is the perfect way to get back to healthier eating.

You know how around the holidays cakes, cookies and everything else sugar and fat-laden seems to spring up at every turn? Me too. My work is probably the worst offender of all. It seems like daily leading up to the holidays there were candy canes, chocolate, cupcakes, etc. in the community kitchens whenever I entered.

Now I have some will-power, but certainly not enough to say no to all the deliciousness just laid out for the taking (plus, my sweet tooth kicked in big time). So knowing all this, I decided some dish, packed with protein and healthy ingredients, to try to counteract all the festive eating, was in order. Better yet, let’s make it some warm chili, guaranteed to fill you up and not weigh you down.

Try whipping up a batch of my white chicken chili. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.

White Chicken Chili

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium red onion
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 (32 oz.) carton low-sodium, reduced-fat chicken broth
• 1 can Rotel
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 2 cans great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large dutch oven or wok over medium heat on the stove top.
2. Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks, and add to the dutch oven, cooking 5 minutes or until all pieces are cooked through. Remove these to a plate when finished.
3. Slice onion, and add it and the garlic to the dutch oven with a little more oil, and saute 5 – 6 minutes or until tender and translucent.
4. Add back the chicken, broth, Rotel, cumin, chili powder, oregano, pepper and 1 can of beans.
5. Mash remaining 1 can of beans with a potato masher (or fork) until creamy and stir it into the chili to thicken it.
6. Bring the chili to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Divide into 6 servings and enjoy.

Sorry this picture of the white chicken chili isn’t the best – I couldn’t wait to eat some after I made it.