Hearty & Healthy Chili Con Carne – gluten free
Hearty & Healthy Chili Con Carne is quick and healthy just like the cookbook promises. It’s also really good so I hope you try it!
There is something very satisfying about a bowl of hearty chili, especially when it’s also healthy.
This chili recipe can be made with extra-lean ground beef or lean ground turkey. The recipe shown here is with super lean range-fed ground beef grown on our farm. If you like, sprinkle some reduced-fat cheese on top.
Hearty & healthy chili is gluten-free, dairy and yeast-free, (without cheese) and weight watcher friendly. Weight watcher points are 6 for each 1 cup serving made with beef and 5 points if made with turkey.
I added 1/2 serving of reduced cheese for 1 more WW point. You could put the other half serving of cheese on a salad, add it all to your chili, or skip it altogether. Whatever suits your taste.
This recipe is from a cookbook, Quick & Healthy, by Brenda J. Ponichtera. She focuses on keeping things simple and healthy.
Hearty & Healthy Chili Con Carne Serves 4
3 cans (15 oz. each) kidney beans, drained – or mix it up with pinto beans and red beans.
2 large onions, chopped
2 green pepper, chopped
2 lbs. extra-lean ground beef or turkey
2 cans (16oz. each) tomatoes ( I like to puree mine)
2 cans (8oz. each) tomato sauce
1/4 tsp. paprika
2 bay leaves, crumbled
2 Tbl. chili powder
In a large kettle brown the meat. Drain. (I always drain my meat even though it is lean)
Add to the meat, onion and green pepper. Let cook about 3 minutes.
Add all ingredients. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
That’s it! Now relax while it is cooking or make some Corny Cornbread or Gluten-Free Cornbread.
Corny Corn Bread or Homestyle (without corn)
Preheat oven to 400. Spray a 9″ x 9″ square pan with a non-stick cooking spray.
Combine dry ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl. Mix well.
In a small bowl combine oil, egg or egg replacer, and milk or milk replacer in a small bowl. Mix well.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until the center is done. Test by sticking a butter knife into the center of the bread, it should come out clean.
Gluten-Free Cornbread
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Cornbread Mix, is an excellent packaged mix that I made egg-free and dairy-free. In fact, the cornbread looked so much like the regular cornbread, people had to ask which one was gluten-free! We know that’s always a good sign!
With the gluten-free mix, I substituted Ener-G Egg Replacer for the eggs and used soy milk for the milk. Any non-dairy substitute will work.
Then followed the instructions on the box.
Hearty & Healthy Chili Con Carne
Ingredients
- 3 15 oz cans kidney beans, drained ~ or mix it up with pinto beans and red beans.
- 2 large onions ~ chopped
- 2 green pepper ~ chopped
- 2 lbs. extra-lean ground beef or turkey
- 2 16 oz cans tomatoes ~ I like to puree mine
- 2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
- 1/4 tsp. paprika
- 2 bay leaves ~ crumbled
- 2 tbsp chili powder
Instructions
- In a large kettle brown the meat. Drain. (I always drain my meat even though it is lean)
- Add to the meat, onion and green pepper. Let cook about 3 minutes.
- Add all ingredients. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
- That’s it! Now relax while it is cooking or make some Corny Cornbread or Gluten-Free Cornbread.
Enjoy your dinner!
