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MARCH 11, 2012

VOLCANO
MARCH 28  2012

ARIA RESTAURANT
APRIL 05, 2012

COOHILL'S
APRIL 16, 2012

THE LITTLE NELL
MAY 26, 2012

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Featured Recipes
Featured Recipes              >more
  Elway's Downtown Prime Rib
by Chef Robert Bogart
Beef Petite Tender with Chianti Black Olive Sauce
by Chef Michel Wahaltere - miniBAR

 

Love Grown Foods

by Maddy D’Amato

 

Turkey Chili

Welcome to 2012! It is hard to believe that yet another year has passed. January always provides us with the opportunity to start over...to have a clean slate. This idea gives us hope to apply new resolutions to our lives...and more often than not these resolutions involve eating healthier. When we think "healthy" it is easy to think of low-calorie, unfulfilling foods (i.e. salad, carrot sticks, etc.). My goal is to remind you that there are fabulously filling foods that are also healthy and that will keep you from snacking because you are truly satisfied. This recipe is the perfect example. Home-made chili is one of my FAVORITE winter foods. Make a large pot and store smaller containers in the freezer to pull out when nights get crammed and you can't find time to cook. This recipe is packed full of protein, fiber, and will keep you full! Serve with warm tortillas or (my favorite) home-made cornbread! Enjoy!

 

Spread LOVE,

Maddy

Ingredients:

(Serves 8)

olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 teaspoons cumin
2lbs ground turkey (or other lean meat)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large (15oz) cans of whole pealed tomatoes
1-2 cans of chopped (salt free) tomatoes
15oz of canned kidney beans, strained and rinsed
15oz of canned black beans, strained and rinsed
15oz of canned pinto beans, strained and rinsed
small can green chilies (or fresh roasted green chilies from the farmer’s market, pealed and chopped)
1/2 C red wine
3-4 tablespoons chili powder (possibly more, depending on how spiced you like it)
1 teaspoon coriander
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
a little pepper

GARNISH
Avocado Slices
Fresh Cilantro Leaves
Thinly Sliced Green Onion
Shredded Cheese

Directions:

In a large stew pot heat olive oil (enough to cover the bottom) over medium high heat. Add chopped onions and cumin and saute until onions are translucent. Add meat and garlic and cook until meat is lightly browned (about 5 minutes). While meat is cooking, on a large cutting board with lifted edged chop the whole pealed tomatoes (reserve juice in the can). Add the chopped tomatoes, juice in the can, and then fill each can about 1/2 way with water and pour into soup to add more liquid and to clean off the sides of the can. Add all of the rinsed and strained beans, green chilies, and red wine. Judge if there is enough liquid (you want the beans to be barely submerged). If needed add 1-2 cans of chopped tomatoes. Add all of the spices and the maple syrup. Stir, cover, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let cook for an hour and then add the fresh parsley, cilantro, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Cook for another couple of hours to allow the flavors to fuse. I prefer to let the chili sit over night in the fridge, and then reheat before serving, but it can be served the same day.

Garnish with fresh cilantro, slices of avocado, some thinly sliced green onion and shredded cheddar cheese...and of course, serve with fresh cornbread!

 

NOTE: The apple cider vinegar helps diminish the gassy effect that beans tend to have on our digestive systems. This recipe is great to make and freeze in smaller containers and pull out in the heart of winter. Also, it is the best chili to make JUEVOS RANCHEROS!! Enjoy!



Maddy D’Amato
 

I graduated from the University of Denver with a BA in Sociology and a double minor in Wellness and Spanish. I am also a Certified Nutritional Consultant, Certified Pilates Instructor, and Certified Massage Therapist. I was born and raised in Aspen, Colorado. My earliest memories hold health and nature as prominent aspects of my life, and I have continued to incorporate them into how I live today. Although I have witnessed certain inequalities in life, from my local community to across the world,

I live purposefully to introduce hope and to take steps toward change. I have had incredible opportunities traveling to all of the continents aside from Antarctica, which have opened my eyes, my mind, and, most of all, my heart.  These experiences have given me a profound understanding of various cultures, persons, and landscapes. My decision to turn my passion into my career unfolded during an eye and heart-opening backpacking trip through Thailand in the winter of 2006. To walk among a culture of individuals who embodied the connection between the physical and mental, I became determined to bring a part of this sacred lifestyle back with me. My enthusiasm and love for health, however, was instilled within me before I was even born. My mother, a now-retired Special Education Teacher, continuously read about the (then-recent) studies linking learning disabilities to food additives, refined sugar, processed foods, and unbalanced diets. Little did I know at the time, but the importance of whole grains and raw foods that I was raised with would later blossom when I needed it most.

During my freshman year of college I began to experience serious health issues concerning my digestive system. Over the following two and a half years I saw specialist after specialist, nutritionists, and homeopaths in hopes of resolving the flare-ups of horrific bloating, unbearable stomach pains and intense fatigue. After many tests, various elimination diets, and an appendicitis I was told that I had IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and there was little to do for it. Determined to find my own cure, I turned to my fundamental instincts and took it upon myself to reverse my IBS by listening to my body. This was the first step to my recovery. I quieted my mind, and I listened to my body.

Currently, I am focusing on our health food company, Love Grown Foods. Love Grown Foods was born from my love to create incredibly healthy food that is also delicious (but that doesn’t have any of the junk in it) and Alex’s passion for entrepreneurship. I am on a mission to educate people about food and what they are putting into their bodies day in and day out. We need to understand what our food is in its raw, natural state in order to appreciate it and understand how it affects us (physically and mentally).