Fiesta!

When I first read about the slow-carb diet and decided to embrace it, this is the first recipe that I thought about that would work. My sister-in-law Victoria introduced me to this recipe. 

Over the past couple of years, I’ve modified it, especially now that Beth and I are on the Slow Carb Diet.  It tastes good, it’s not too complicated, and you get lots of leftovers making meals for the remainder of the week pretty easy.



Ingredients:

One pound of ground turkey
Three cans of black beans
Two cans of kidney beans
Two large cans of diced tomatoes
Two cans of Rotel tomatoes (we use the one with mild chilis)
Can of chopped chilis
Taco seasoning (four tablespoons of the 'bulk' seasoning mix that you get at warehouse clubs)
Kale (quarter pound) (optional - see notes below about kale)
Turmeric - one tablespoon (optional - see notes below about turmeric)
Avocado
Onion
Can of sliced black olives

Directions:

If using kale, I would recommend running it through a food processor before doing anything else, mincing it thoroughly. Even though kale is considered a 'superfood,' I'm kind of done with it. It really takes over a meal. I believe adding it to the Fiesta, while getting the massive benefits of the kale, it adds a lot more work and detracts from the taste. If you must have kale, I recommend it as a side.

For turmeric, it's a spice that's supposedly fabulous for you.  Just be forewarned - plastic utensils will become discolored with an orange tint. It has a mild flavor, so it doesn't detract from the overall flavor of the other ingredients and seasonings.

1. Brown turkey in a pan.  We use a really medium-sized skillet and then dump the turkey in a crockpot. During the browning, we season the turkey with black pepper and granulated garlic. 2.   Add one of the large cans of diced tomatoes.  Add can of chilis.
3.   For the taco seasoning, we bought one of the larger containers from Costco.  I use four tablespoons.  You can just buy some of the individual packets if you want. Add turmeric.  Stir everything up so that the turkey is coated with the spices.  
4. Add beans.  I empty the cans into a colander and rinse before adding.  
5. Add cans of Rotel.
6. Add that second can of tomatoes.
7.  Add kale.  Again, this is optional, and it’s added because kale is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet.  When I first did this, I used about a pound of kale - that was too much.  A quarter pound would be much better.
8. Mix everything up real well.  Cover, and let it cook.
9. While cooking, dice up the onion.
10. Dice the avocado.  
11.  Periodically stir.  I usually consider it done when I see everything boiling a little bit.
12. Serve in big bowl.  Add some onion, avocado and olives.  
13. I also add some hot sauce.  I prefer Habanero Tabasco.  Beth likes the Chipotle Tabasco.
14. Mix this last bit up in your bowl and eat!

As I mentioned earlier, Victoria introduced this to me.  Before we were on the Slow Carb Diet, we served it on a bed of rice and added cheese, as well as Fritos for texture.  Eliminating these items and adding the kale, I’m not sure if you can find a more nutritious one-pot meal. Even without the kale, it's still pretty darned nutritious. 

In place of the rice, see this site's recipe for cauliflower rice.