Slow Cooker Turkey Green Chili Chowder

Turkey Green Chile Chowder
Turkey Green Chile Chowder

Slow Cooker Turkey Green Chili Chowder

Wow! This slow cooker turkey green chili chowder recipe is a real keeper. It’s creamy, delicious, light and nutritious. Healthy comfort food in a bowl.

I came across the recipe for it in FIX-IT and FORGET-IT LIGHTLY: Healthy, Low-Fat Recipes for Your Slow Cooker, early last week while looking for a soup to make with leftover turkey other than my standard turkey noodle. It had been submitted by a woman in Rio Rancho, New Mexico (where they really know their green chile) so I had a feeling it would be a winner.

I made a couple minor changes: using a can of chopped green chiles instead of fresh (since that’s what I had on hand) and adding a can of green chile enchilada sauce to kick up the canned chiles a bit.

This slow cooker turkey green chili chowder reminded me of my mom’s corn chowder, only zippier and heartier, thanks to the addition of green chilies and turkey. And it makes a big batch – a full 12 cups – which is a lot when you’re a family of two.

We had it for dinner twice which wasn’t a sacrifice since it was so good. I shared a container of it with my mom who also enjoyed it. And there was enough left for a few quick and easy lunches too. I love recipes that allow me to cook once and then eat two, three or more times.

Enjoy!

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Creamy Chili-Corn Soup with Chicken and Black Beans

Creamy Corn Soup
Creamy Corn Soup

Creamy Corn Soup

The title of the recipe really says it all – creamy chili-corn soup with chicken and black beans. This easy, healthy and delicious soup stirs together in minutes making it perfect for a quick lunch or supper. The recipe is from The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great, by Pam Anderson. (Of all Pam’s cookbooks, this is one, brimming with light and healthy recipes that never sacrifice flavor or taste like “diet” food, is the one I use most often.)

Most of the rest of the country is well into soup season but here in Phoenix it’s barely beginning now that temperatures finally have dipped into the 80s.

I’m a soup lover who eats soup all throughout the year regardless of the weather, but this creamy chili-corn soup with chicken and black beans is thick and hearty so I think it tastes better in cooler weather.

Enjoy!

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Lightened Up Quinoa and Corn Salad with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Lightened Up Quinoa & Corn Salad with toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Lightened Up Quinoa & Corn Salad with toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Lightened Up Quinoa & Corn Salad with toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Avocado and Lime

This yummy quinoa and corn salad with toasted pumpkin seeds is a lightened up version of one in the cookbook, Power Foods: 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients, from the editors of  Whole Living Magazine. It’s another recipe that’s helped me overcome my initial aversion to quinoa. (Camilla’s Lemony Lentil & Quinoa Salad was the first one.)

Studded with corn, pumpkin seeds, and diced red bell peppers, this Mexican-inspired salad is perfect as a side dish or on it’s own for a delicious light lunch.

It’s important to remember that just because a recipe is full of healthy ingredients, doesn’t guarantee it’s low calorie. This quinoa corn salad is a great example, weighing in with 504 calories and 14 Weight Watchers PointsPlus, mostly because of the overly generous amount of olive oil called for and enormous 2-cup portion size.

So, when I made this recipe last week to accompany the grilled salmon I was having for dinner when my sister and brother-in-law were in town, I did what any responsible food loving Weight Watchers Lifetime member would do :-) I slashed the olive oil in half and cut the portion down to a reasonable 1-cup size, turning this into a 190 calorie, 5 PointsPlus value Weight Watchers friendly salad or side dish.

Everyone  gave it two thumbs up so it’s going in my “make again” file.

Enjoy!

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Moist Mexican Corn Bread – 5 Points+

Moist Mexican Corn Bread

Since my recent post about light and healthy cornbread recipes, I have corn bread on the brain and am seeing recipes for all kinds of cornbread everywhere. I guess it’s how the universe works. What you focus on grows! First came this rich and yummy sounding cornbread casserole, from Nancy Fox at Skinny Taste that I just can’t wait to try.

Moist Mexican Corn Bread

Moist Mexican Corn Bread Photo Credit Flickr - JeffreyW

Next came this recipe for Moist Mexican Corn Bread in the December/January issue of Healthy Cooking, which is brimming with delicious sounding good-for-you  comfort food recipes perfect for this time of year.

This moist cornbread calls for ground flaxseed, which is a great source of omega 3 fats, antioxidants and fiber. It gets it’s Mexican inspiration from the addition of chopped sweet red pepper and and reduced fat monterey Jack cheese. To add more zip, you could add a small can of chopped green chiles and/or use pepper Jack cheese.

This cornbread would be perfect accompaniment to a steaming bowl of vegetarian chili, easy baked bean soup, easy taco soup, or slow cooker Mexican meatball soup.

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Light & Healthy Cornbread Recipes – Points+ 3 – 6

cornbread

I love warm-from-the oven cornbread with a bowl of  chili or soup, so I end up making it a few times during the cooler months. The trouble with some cornbread recipes is that they’re full of sugar and fat and high in calories. While I like moist, taste cornbread, I prefer to keep it on the light and healthy side.

cornbread

Light & Healthy Cornbread Recipes

One option, which works well when you’re in a hurry or feeling a little lazy, is to use a package of cornbread mix and modify the ingredients that you add. You can use less oil than is called for, substitute applesauce for part of the oil, use skim milk or nonfat yogurt in place of the milk and egg whites instead of whole eggs.

I took this approach with a package of honey cornbread mix from Fresh & Easy to make the cornbread we enjoyed with our slow cooker black-eyed peas and vegetarian collard greens on New Years Day, creating a moist and tasty cornbread with a 4 PointsPlus value.

But the truth is that it isn’t really that much more work to make cornbread from scratch. Here’s a great recipe for a simple classic cornbread from the  Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, a great basic cookbook for people who want to lose weight and eat healthier. (I have a pretty big collection of Weight Watchers Cookbooks and they’re some of my favorites.)

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Corn and Shrimp Chowder Recipe

Corn Chowder

Here’s a recipe for corn and shrimp chowder, which is essentially a simple corn chowder recipe to which you add shrimp right near the end of the cooking.

I’ve been a fan of corn chowder since I was a kid. It showed up routinely in my mom’s supper rotation, probably because it was quick, easy and inexpensive and we all liked it. She never added shrimp to her corn chowder though, probably because it was a lot more expensive and less plentiful than it is these days.

If you like corn chowder and you like shrimp, I think you’ll love this shrimp and corn chowder recipe.

When you are fresh out of simple supper ideas this quick easy recipe might just do the trick.

Corn Chowder

Corn Chowder

I think that hearty soups and chowders make some of the best simple suppers ever, especially when you add a salad and good warm bread.

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Corn and Shrimp Chowder Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

This chowder calls for both a can of cream style corn and  a cup of whole kernel corn. Fresh corn, canned corn and frozen corn all work well.

Ingredients

5 cups water
2 medium onions, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 large potatoes, diced into 1/4-inch cubes
1 bay leaf
1 can (15 ounces) cream style corn
1 cup whole kernel corn
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, defrosted if frozen
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Finely chopped parsley and paprika for garnish, optional

Recipe Preparation

Pour the water into a large soup pot. Add the onions, celery, pepper, carrot, potatoes and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer gently until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add the shrimp and corn and heat, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp turn opaque, about 3 minutes.

In a bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the milk and flour. Add to the soup, stirring to blend well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the milk is heated, but not boiling. Taste and season as necessary. Remove the bay leaf.

Serve the soup, garnishing each bowl with a a sprinkle of chopped parsley and paprika, if desired.

Source: Adapted from Twelve Months of Monastery Soups

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More Easy Soup and Chowder Recipes

Quick Soup Recipes – a great collection of easy soup recipes including recipes for quick easy tortellini soup, quick emergency soup, quick spicy bean soup, easy chicken noodle soup and a quick corn soup with less than five ingredients.
Tuna Cheddar Chowder Recipe - a great quick easy cheap soup recipe you can make in minutes with canned tuna
New England Fish Chowder Recipe – another great easy and delicious seafood chowder, this one with fish
Jamie Oliver Spring Vegetable Soup with Beans – a simple and delicious recipe for vegetable soup

 

How to Boil Corn on the Cob

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Corn on the Cob

Corn on the Cob

It’s hard to beat boiled corn on the cob, especially when it is in season and freshly picked. With just 2 PointsPlus value per medium ear (without butter), it’s a Weight Watchers friendly Power Food too!

Boiling is the quickest, easiest, tastiest way to prepare fresh corn. Many people prefer grilling corn on the cob but I don’t think it is worth the extra time and effort.

Since boiling corn on the cob is one of those things we only tend to do a few times a year, it is easy to forget the details such as how long to boil it.

And even for a recipe as simple as this, there are several varying opinions for how to boil corn on the cob. Some suggest salting the water, others to cover the pot.

I boil corn on the cob, uncovered, in unsalted water, according to the directions in one of my oldest and trusted cookbooks.  A few years ago, I read that you should add a little sugar to the water to bring out the corn’s natural sweetness and have been doing it ever since.

Basic Instructions for How to Boil Corn on the Cob

6 to 12 ears of corn
1 tablespoon sugar
Butter, softened (for serving)
Salt (for serving)

For maximum freshness husk the corn just before cooking.  Pull off the silky threads and cut out any bad spots with a small sharp pointed knife.  Bring a large pot filled with a gallon of water and the sugar to a boil.  Drop the corn into the boiling water and return water to boiling.  Cook the corn until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the corn on the cob from the water with tongs, allowing as much water as possible to drain away from each ear.

Serve with softened butter and salt, remember to keep it Weight Watchers friendly, go lightly with each :-)

Nutritional Estimates Per Serving (1 medium ear): 63 calories, 0;9 g fat, 13.9 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 2.4 g protein and 2 WW PPV.

If you like this post for how to boil corn on the cob, check out these links:

How to Cook Hamburgers on the Stove
How to Hard Boil an Egg
How to Make Fresh Lemonade

Corn Salad Recipe

Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad
Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad

Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad

This simple corn salad is a wonderful way to take advantage of the delicious fresh corn flooding the markets during the summer months.

The corn looked so fresh and delicious when I shopped Sunday morning I ended up buying way more than I needed and have been looking for ways to use it ever since.

We’ve enjoyed corn fritters, corn chowder and this delicious simple summer corn salad that can be tossed together in one bowl.

I love corn and tomatoes together. If you don’t or if you want to make this corn salad ahead and chill it, leave the tomatoes out completely or add them just before serving.

Tomatoes are so much better when never exposed to the chill of the fridge, so let them hang out on the counter.

Enjoy!

Corn Salad Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time:10 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

If your corn is super fresh you could skip the boiling step altogether and when fresh corn isn’t in season substitute 3 cups frozen corn cooked according to it’s package directions.

Ingredients

6 ears corn, husks and silk removed
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation

Cook the fresh corn in a large pot of salted water. My preferred way to do this is to place the corn in a large pot of boiling salted water, allow the water to come back to a boil, turn off the heat, cover  the pot and let sit for ten minutes. Plunge the corn into cold water to cool, drain and cut the corn kernals from the cob into a large bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and stir to combine. Enjoy.

Corn Salad Recipe Variations

  • To give this corn salad a southwestern slant add 1/2 teaspoon cumin and 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro.
  • For an Italian twist, add 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Nutritional Estimates Per Serving: 110 calories, 5.4 g fat, 15.7 g carbs, 2.4 g fiber, 2.7 g protein and 3 Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value

If you liked this corn salad recipe and post, check out these links: