Monday, February 15, 2010

Easy Chili and Valentine's Day Surf and Turf

I hope everyone had a great weekend! It's snowing like crazy here in Columbus, and it's literally pitch white (instead of pitch black..haha). I've got a lot to share today, so let's get started.


2010 Cookbook, Quick, Cheap, and Healthy Recipe #12
Thick and Meaty Chili

Ingredients
(Makes 2 large servings, or 3 small)

6 ounces cooked ground turkey
1/2 can tomato, with all the juice
1/4 can black beans
2 T tomato paste
1/4 cup red pepper
1 t. basil
1 t onion powder
1 t cumin
1 t garlic
1/2 t cayenne

Possible Modifications

- Use any protein you wish
- Use any kind of bean you wish
- Add any other vegetables you wish
- Add more or less of any of the spices!

Instructions

This is EASY AS PIE. Throw everything into a large pan, turn on the heat, and cook until desired temperature is reached. YEAH!


I served mine over some spinach, and added some grated parmesan, and Red Hot.



Nutrition Facts
(for one large serving)
My Rating: 9 out of 10
This recipe was SO EASY! And I just love chili, no matter what, so it deserved a 9 more it's easy prep and delicious taste.

Nick's Rating: 9 out of 10
He added extra Red Hot to his, and it was VERY SPICY


Surf and Turf From My Valentine
I thought of a new job for Nick on Friday (when we celebrated V-day) and that is to be a food safety inspector! See the plate below? I put the lobster on the same plate as the fillets, so I could get a picture. WELL the food safety "Natzi" yelled at me and said you can't put seafood and raw meat together because that could cause "cross contamination". But they haven't been cooked yet!, I said. Apparently it doesn't matter. Ooops.



Despite a couple "wrong moves" I made in the kitchen, and despite having the tiniest kitchen on this planet, we came together and made an AMAZING meal. We used Alton Brown's recipe for steak fillets, and set off the smoke alarm.....at least we know it works!



We used a simple recipe for the lobster. Basically we steamed the lobster tails in salty water for 10 minutes. EASY! The hard part was getting to the meat. My goodness, we paid a ton of money for about 4 ounces of lobster. It was worth it though.


Our final dinner consisted of freshly baked sweet potato, sauteed spinach, lobster tail with garlic and basil butter, and medium rare fillets
. For drinks we had our favorite pale ale, Sierra Nevada. Not pictured is the blue cheese we added to our steaks


Freshly dipped lobster tail. Devoured in ten seconds.



Dessert: Gluten free brownies (which actually have more sugar than the regular kind..why were the in the "healthy" section again???) and homemade chocolate ice cream with peanut butter chips.


Coming Up

Tomorrow I'll be answering your questions from Sunday's supplement post! Also if you're interested in reading about some 2010 Fitness trends, I wrote a new blog post for our workplace wellness website; 2010 Fitness Trends.

Thanks for reading, and have a great night/day!

37 comments :

  1. Wow - that chili is simple and looks delicious! You are totally on to something with your recipes girl!

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  2. amazing Valentine's dinner!! such a feast! :D
    I remember making lobster to my dad when he visited me, it was amazed how cheap it is in US!!! WE're lucky to be here! :)

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  3. Hey Gina-that sounds like an easy chili recipe,and I love the fact that you used turkey!!!! I guess I'm going to try it with some turmeric, a dash of garam masala and some red chilly powder-we like it extra spicy :)
    Sorry for not checking out your posts regularly-I'm so glad you're doing so well (both blogwise & professionally). Way to go girl!!
    BTW-Trader Joe's just opened shop here!!Remember I used to always rue the fact that we didn't have one when everybody used to talk about their wonderful stuff. I'm SO excited-thought I should let you know.Do let me know what are the stuff I HAVE/should try out(I know it'll be a long list-but they're here to stay).

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  4. ooh, i really want to try your chili recipe!!

    your v-day steaks look really good, too! you can never go wrong with an alton brown recipe! and homemade ice cream?! yummmm!!! looks like you and nick had a fantastic dinner!

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  5. What a great Valentine's dinner! I love that you did surf-n-turf! I'm so intimidated to cook a lobster. Its my favorite though :)

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  6. I love chili!! (Although I make mine with beans of course). It's such a hearty, wintery meal. That homemade ice cream sounds wonderful as well. Glad you had a good Vday!

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  7. wow, what an elegant and delicious meal!

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  8. chili is SUUUUCH a winter staple of mine! this is the easiest i've seen and sounds so delicious :) i love my foods spicy so i would be having some chili with my hot sauce haha


    i love your valentines dinner! so romantic :)

    btw i totally bought beano today and thought of you..

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  9. Oh man...I lurrrrrved me some lobster back before I went veg. So tasty!

    Looks like a great meal, Gina!

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  10. I absolutely LOVE trying all types of chili! You can never screw it up!

    I don't eat seafood, but I also had never heard of cross contamination prior to cooking the meat either.

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  11. Aw what a great Valentines Din din.. it looks so fancy shmancy!!

    I love chili.. I make a pot at least every 2 weeks.. always have leftovers, too!

    Congrats on the wellness blog post.. thats exciting! :)

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  12. Yum, Gina- the filet and lobster meal looks perfect!! Very impressive.

    Great post on supplements too. I look forward to reading your Q and A tomorrow.

    Have a great week!!

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  13. Alton Brown's recipes are all awesome. This is quite a lovely meal! I don't think I've ever had a real surf & turf before, but I think I'm missing out!

    i had no idea that gluten-free brownies actually have MORE sugar! Guess it's not so "healthy"...:-(

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  14. What did you think of the gluten free brownies. My mom made some from a mix once (the mix was 7 dollars!), and they were NOT good. I'm hoping not everything gluten-free tastes that bad.

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  15. I love the idea of serving chili over spinach. Go RD, go!

    Awesome dinner with your boy- can you please send me some of that ice cream? Please!

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  16. Great chili recipe!

    The surf and turf looks & sounds great!

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  17. happy valentines day! This looks awesome! Great chili and an awesome surf and turf dinner. I absolutely love lobster. Looks like you two did an amazing job! And you can never go wrong with brownies and ice cream!=)
    Cant wait to hear the Q&A session about supplements. I hope you have a great night!

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  18. Lobster tail looks SO good, Gina. And mmmm brownies.

    I really like the versatility of chili, it's such a nice and easy recipe to play with.

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  19. I have yet to make chili this season! looks wonderful as well as your fancy dinner :) mmm oh my gosh, Chris and I always set off the smoke alarm because we don't have a hood when we want to sear things lol oh well, I hope we don't annoy the neighbors. We have to bring out the box fan :) Hope you had a nice weekend! I'm excited for the supplement book, but I'd like to send you the shipping cost at least :)

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  20. I just made chili last night with roasted carrots and squash...and glazed the pan with half a bottle of light German Beer! SO LOVELY! If you have left overs, try adding a little beer for a boost of hoppyness!

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  21. I made chili yesterday for dinner tonight! I can wait to have it. Dave probably won't love it since its a little spicy, but I am confident I will!

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  22. Wowza! That was one heck of a meal! I've never attempted to make lobster but I bet it was amazing!

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  23. The Surf and Turf looks amazing!!! I have never cooked lobster at home but always order it when it's available in restaurants! Also, great chili recipe :)

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  24. I read your fitness trends article on my Blackberry the other day so I didn't comment but I wanted to say it was a great article!

    It's interesting what you said about the gluten free brownies. I have noticed that a lot of times when people take out some of the fat, or gluten, dairy etc in a dessert (or anything) they add more of something else unhealthy (not that any of those other things are necessarily unhealthy just for some people). I don't know if they do that so taste is not compromised...

    Your Valentine's Day meal looks so fun. I love lobster but I've never cooked it on my own :)

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  25. I am SO impressed with your gorgeous Valentine's Day dinner! WOW!! Y'all should open a restaurant!

    Ooooh, and your chili looks out of this world amazing... I love black beans in chili!!

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  26. WOW that meal looks so great! who needs restaurants?!! that looks better than anything you could order!!

    yay for nick being off this week!! enjoy that time girl!!

    ahh ive so been craving chili lately! looks great!

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  27. I'm not a chili fan, but I'd eat that Valentine's dinner in a minute flat!

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  28. Wow, Gina! I am impressed by your cooking skills! Steak and lobster sound realllllllly good right now. I think I'd have to eat that meal out- and yes, kitchen disasters are how I test my smoke alarm. Hee.

    I love chilli too- so perfect for this weather (when is spring coming?!)

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  29. Yums that chili looks so good! It would be perfect for a day like today =)

    I can't wait to read your supplement Q&A

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  30. Perfect V-day dinner! Steak and lobster is the best! I've always wanted to make lobster or crab but had no idea how haha.

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  31. I just love filet. It's the best meat! I don't eat it very often though.

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  32. Love the fancy v-day meal! I've never cooked lobster tails, but if I see them on sale soon I'm going to get some!

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  33. that meal totally looks like it came straight from some overpriced steakhouse!!

    i love your instructions for the chili! it really is that easy!

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  34. I love chili..and I love that it is so easy to make.
    What a decandent dinner! It is nice to indulge once and a while! Glad you had a nice V Day!

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  35. I had a steak for vday....not much fun

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