Smoky Chipotle Bean and Turkey Burritos

This is so good that we ended up making it into chili the next day with the left overs. Using a whole can of chipotle chilies made a big difference in this dish, separating it from the usual flavours of a standard burrito.

Ingredients

1 can red beans
1 can black beans
1 small can chipotle chilies, diced
700 g ground turkey
1 and 1/2 cups corn
1 yellow onion, diced
2 Serrano chilies, minced
1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:
Queso fresca cheese
diced tomatoes
diced red onion
guacamole
salsa
cilantro

Instructions

1. Satay diced onion and Serrano peppers with a bit of olive oil in a medium sized pot or high sided pan on medium heat, until onions are translucent.
2. Add the ground turkey to the onions and peppers, breaking it up as it cooks. Add the spices and chipotle to the pot - chopped chipotle chilies, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Mix well. Keep stirring turkey mixture for about 15 minutes or until the turkey is white and cooked through.
3. When the turkey is almost done, add the rinsed beans and corn to the pot and mix well. We put about 3/4 of each can of beans in this mixture and reserved the rest of the beans for the chili the next day.
4. Cook for an additional 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the beans are heated through.
5. Serve with warmed burrito tortilla shells, queso fresca cheese, diced tomatoes, red onions, guacamole, salsa and cilantro!

Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

 

This makes a lot of chili. And it was just for me so I still have some in my freezer. Good thing its delicious and freezes well! Matt took this picture of course and spiced it all up because he is da bomb at creating tex mex/Mexican flavours.

 

You will need a 4QT crock pot to fit all of this.

 

Ingredients

yiels 6-8 dinner portions

 

1 yellow oninion, diced

1 16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 8 oz can corn, drained and rinsed

1 16 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

2 fresh tomatoes, diced

3 serrano chilis, minced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

*1-2 cups chicken broth

2 chicken breasts, diced

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbs cayenne powder

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp red chili flakes

3-4 drops of chipotle tabasco hot sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 avocado, diced (for garnish)

small bunch of cilantro, diced (for garnish)

lime wedges (for garnish)

cheese of choice (for garnish)

 

1. Put your crock pot on high to cook for 4 hours or low to cook for 8 hours.

2. Put everything into the crock pot except for the garnish, mix well and let cook according to the times above.

 

* I felt my chili was a bit dry, although I do love a really thick chili, so I added about a cup of chicken stock. If you like it more "soupy" and there's enough room in your pot, you can add more. The liquid does not evaporate much or at all with this recipe so your level of soupiness will stay the same.



Turkey Taco Salad

This is one of Matt and my go-to meals. It is easy to make, fast, delicious and mostly healthy! When I was vegetarian, I would make this with dehydrated soy protein and add onions and all the spices the same as below. To be honest, you can't really tell the difference between the soy protein and any other kind of meat as long as you spice it generously. Even the texture is very similar. This is  a really good brand of soy protein that I always used.

 

Ingredients

yields 2 servings

 

300g ground turkey

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2 Serrano chillies, minced

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

1 head of green leaf lettuce, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup grated medium cheddar cheese

2 handfuls of tortilla chips, crushed

2 tomatoes, diced

salsa

guacamole

oil of choice

 

Instructions

1. Dice the onion and chillies. Preheat a frying pan on medium heat.

2. Oil the pan and add the chillies and onion. Fry onion until soft.

3. Add the ground turkey to the pan along with all of your spices. Combine well, and keep breaking up the turkey as it cooks.

4. While the turkey cooks, grate cheese, dice tomato and prepare lettuce for the salad.

5. Once the turkey is completely cooked through (15-20 minutes) in large bowls place 3/4 full of lettuce, top with tomato, then crushed tortilla chips, then cheese, then spoon the hot turkey on top of cheese.

6. Serve with salsa and guacamole. No other salad will make you this full :)



Breakfast Burrito

This is a fast breakfast that you can make on the weekend then have the leftovers during the week. It's low carb, full of protein and of course delicious. At first I thought it would be strange to mix a bratwurst with Mexican flavours like cilantro and tomato in a tortilla, but the bratwurst really just tastes like breakfast sausages in this meal. You can substitute an equal amount of breakfast sausage instead of the wurst in this meal.

Ingredients

Yields 4 servings

3 bratwurst sausages, casings removed
1 tbsp red onion, diced
1/2 cup mozzarella, grated
3-4 ancient grain tortillas
8 eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp chopped tomatoes
small bunch of cilantro, torn
lime slices
1 tsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Put some olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Fry the onion for a minute or so.
2. Remove the sausage from the casings, break up and fry with the onion.
3. As the sausage cooks, keep breaking it up until it is fully browned.
4. Whisk eggs and milk together.
5. Add the eggs to the pan and move around every couple of minutes in order to make a sausage scramble.
6. When the eggs are no longer runny, serve the sausage scramble in the tortillas, topped with the cheese, tomatoes, a bit of lime juice and cilantro.

Fish Tacos

I'm on a big fish kick. I adore basa. So delish. Try these out! They are a healthier alternative to the traditionally deep fried fish tacos.

Ingredients

yields 1 portion

1 basa fillet

1 fresh Thai red chili, minced

1 tsp ground adobo chili

3 dried pequin peppers, crushed

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

2 corn and wheat mixture tortillas

1 lime wedge

Cilantro, for garnish

chopped red onion, for garnish

sliced lettuce, for garnish

guacamole



Instructions

1. Start marinating your basa with the following - olive oil, thai red chili, pequin peppers, salt and pepper.

2. Make your guacamole, slice lettuce, pick cilantro, slice lime wedges, dice red onion.

3. Pre-heat a frying pan on medium heat. Add the marinated basa to the pan - you do not need to add more olive oil. Cook the first side for about 5 minutes and the second side for about 3 minutes. Once cooked through, break up the fish into flaky bite sized bits.

4. With a dry frying pan on high heat, heat up each side of the tortillas - for about 30 seconds each.

5. Fill your tortillas with fish and desired toppings and eat!