RECIPE - Gluten Free Turkey Chili

It's that time of year again. The time where it's just turned to spring, but still feels like winter. Thanks a lot, Punxsutawney Phil. I know you said it would be an early spring, but you forgot to let us know it would only last a WEEK before going back to winter.

To help get through this faux-spring that we're in, here's a simple chili recipe.

My original plan for this meal was to take 2 cans of chili (1 Amy's, 1 Trader Joe's, both gluten free) that I was sure we had in the pantry and just combine the 2. Genius, right? Amy's are always vegan and full of nice vegetables. But the Trader Joe's one has meat and no recognizable vegetables, perfect for Eric. By combining the 2 you get the best of both.

Turns out we only had the Amy's chili left. That definitely wasn't going to be enough for 2 full dinners, so I started poking around the refrigerator. You can pretty much add anything you want to this dish. You can keep it vegetarian and add mushrooms, carrots, tomato, and corn. You can spice it up a ton and add peppers, onion, chili peppers and hot sauce. Or you can take my approach and add turkey and veggies for a sweet and spicy chili. Not to toot my own horn too much, but it was fantastic.

Ingredients

1 can Amy's chili (they have lots of gluten free varieties, all are vegan too)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 - 1/2 lb ground chili
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
1 diced tomato
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
salt + pepper
hot sauce, as needed
sliced avocado, grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, corn tortilla chips for garnish

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Add turkey, stir to break it into little pieces. add the spices and continue stirring until almost fully cooked. add the tomato and frozen corn kernels, continue cooking for a few minutes. Add canned chili and stir until heated. Adjust spices and add hot sauce if needed.

Serve with cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocado and some tortilla chips.

RECIPE - Gluten Free Stuffed Zucchini

Here are some fun facts about zucchini:

- They are naturally gluten free (if they weren't, I'd be very concerned)
- Zucchini can grow up to 3 feet in length!
- It's my favorite vegetable. According to wikipedia, zucchini is an immature fruit (and I to wikipedia: "you're an immature fruit!")
- Eric can't remember eating zucchini before he met me. I pretty much changed his life.

Now that you have some background info, let's cook! This is a great, easy meal. It's kind of like inside-out tacos.

Another reason why this meal is great, it's super cheap! I'd estimate this entire meal costs only $13, and feeds 4-6!! I put the estimated price next to each item so you can see how it adds up.

Ingredients:


4 zucchinis, sliced in half and insides scooped out (to make a boat) ($3)
6 mushrooms, chopped ($1)
1 1/2 cups spanish rice mix, cooked ($1)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground turkey ($5)
1 tomato, chopped ($1)
2 tbsp taco seasoning (Trader Joe's is gluten free)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese ($1)
1/2 cup GF puffed rice cereal, smashed into breadcrumbs (a box costs $4, so ~$1)

Directions:


Preheat the oven to 350. Place your zucchini boats on a sheet pan or in a casserole dish. Make sure the zucchini boats don't overlap.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and add ground turkey. Cook turkey, breaking it up into pieces as it cooks. Once the turkey is mostly cooked, add the chopped mushrooms, tomato, and zucchini insides (squeeze the excess water out). Add taco seasoning and a little salt and pepper. Cook until turkey is fully cooked and vegetables are about halfway cooked (about 3-4 minutes).

Stir spanish rice into the turkey vegetable mix. Mix thoroughly. Spoon the mixture into the zucchini boats, pushing down with the spoon to really stuff it in. You may have extra stuffing, don't worry about getting it all in. Top each zucchini boat with some cheddar cheese.

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted and the zucchini boat is starting to soften. Don't overcook the zucchini, otherwise it'll be impossible to remove from the pan. Serves 4-6.