Thursday, January 19, 2012

You have to be creative

These food allergies have inspired one thing in me and that is creativity. When you have 3 of the top  8 food allergies you know that you have to be creative with cooking especially if its not an easily avoidable allergen like the top 8. But then there are those that are not on the top 8 that can be just as much as a big pain in the rear. Its beans for me. You may not think it but beans are popular in most cuisines.
I really do miss a good chili with beans in it. Or hummus on my pita. My kids miss my taco bean dip.
But I have found ways around this no bean thing. In my chili I substitute cut up zucchini for beans and my taco dip I mix low fat cream cheese with my homemade taco seasoning and put tomatoes, low fat cheddar cheese, olives and lettuce on top. The morale of the story here, get creative. Use your imagination when it comes to foods you may use for substitutions for the allergen.

In light of our cold snowy days lately here in Seattle I will provide my Turkey Basil Chili recipe.
Feel free to leave out the zucchini if you do not like squash but try to add something else in its place.:)

Turkey Basil Chili (no beans)
1.5 lbs ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1 med. green pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 zucchini chopped
2 15 oz cans chopped tomatoes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 tbsp basil
2 tbsp taco seasoning or 1 envelope of taco seasoning, I make my own but you may use the envelopes.
Tabasco sauce to taste (if you like heat)

Cook ground turkey until no longer pink. Add in onion, garlic, green pepper and cook for 3  minutes. Add in zucchini, tomatoes, tomato sauce, paste, basil and taco seasoning. I put mine in a slow cooker at this point for 4 hours but you can let it cook for 30 minutes and serve.

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