Superbowl Sunday is coming up and a lot of us will be at parties where the junk food will be flowing. While I’m certainly not one of those fitness freaks who insist you bring your celery and hummus dip to the party, I think you can come up with alternatives to greasy, processed food so I wanted to share a recipe for a healthy Beef & Bean Chile Verde. Delicious and lighter than the original version, it will satisfy and still let you enjoy the wonderful flavors of this dish! Try it out – the recipe serves four and is only about 309 calories per serving with 8g fat, 29g carbohydrates and 27g protein!

BEEF & BEAN CHILE VERDE

1 lb 93% lean ground beef

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 16 oz jar green salsa/salsa verde (I like the Herdez brand)

1/4 cup water

1 15-oz can pinto or kidney beans, rinsed

Cook beef, bell pepper and onion in a large saucepan over medium heat, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon until the meat is browned, about 6-8 min. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and cayenne; cook until fragrant about 20 seconds. Stir in salsa and water, bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover an cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 10-15 min. Stir in beans and cook until heated through, about 1 min.

You can sprinkle some fat free/reduced fat feta cheese or even better, the Mexican cotija cheeese on top, which is relatively low in fat (about 30 cal per 1 tbsp w/1g fat) but provides a lot of flavor. Garnish with a couple of slices of avocado and a dollop of fat free sour cream.

Who’s deprived now??!  🙂