Falling for Cozy Meals

    By: Jacqueline Gomes, RDN, MBA  

    As we begin to trade t-shirts for sweatshirts and feel the chill of cool Autumn mornings, you may start to crave cozy comfort meals to satisfy the chill.

    Comfort foods come in all shapes, sizes and flavors, for instance; some may find sweets like chocolate chip cookies to be comforting while someone else might prefer the heartiness of beef stew.

    While comfort foods are often perceived as higher fat or higher sugar alternatives to healthier dishes. But, with a few simple adjustments this may not always be the case!

    • Add in more veggies to bulk up the nutrition factor such as sweet potatoes, squash and apples.
    • Swap out a higher fat ingredient like sour cream for low fat Greek yogurt.
    • Change the portion size. Enjoy your comfort food as is, simply reduce your portion size and enjoy.

    Chili is a fall and winter favorite, add in potatoes to further enhance the cozy comfort food factor on this popular dish!

     

    Beef & Sweet Potato Chili

    a bowl of beef and sweet potato chili

    Prep: 10 minutes

    Ready in: 30 minutes

    Makes: 5 (1 Cup)  Servings

     

    Ingredients:

    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 small onion, minced
    • 1 carrot, diced
    • ½ bell pepper, diced
    • 3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
    • 1-pound Greenway Ground Beef
    • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
    • 1 tablespoon chili powder
    • ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
    • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 28 ounces canned crushed tomato
    • ½ package Alexia Organic Sweet potato fries

     

    Directions:

    1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add in olive oil, onions, carrots and bell pepper. Sauté until onions are soft and translucent, about 2 minutes.
    2. Add in garlic and jalapeno pepper. Stirring constantly, cook for about 1 minute, careful to not let garlic burn.
    3. Add in Greenway Ground Beef, breaking up into bits with large spoon cook until no longer pink and beef is well cooked. About 5 to 7 minutes.
    4. Stir in all spice’s, cumin through salt. Add in crushed tomatoes.
    5. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes.
    6. Portion chili into 4 serving bowls, top with Alexia sweet potatoes.
    7. Serve with chopped green onion, diced avocado and shredded Mexican cheese if desired.

     

    Nutrition Information for 1 cup + sweet potatoes:

    393 calories; 44g carbohydrate, 16g fat; 22g protein; 1,476mg sodium; 7g fiber

    Nutrition information for 1 cup without sweet potatoes:  

    225 calories, 15g Carbohydrate; 10g fat; 20g protein; 1,307mg sodium; 4g fiber

     

    Recipe by: Jacqueline Gomes, RDN, MBA