Favorite Recipe of the Week... Mexican Taco Stew

I saw this recipe on Whole Food's website. I can't say the name of the recipe really caught my eye..but it was one of their highest rated recipes of the year. I'm a huge fan of chills, soups and stews. It's an easy way to get alot of vegetables in and you can substitute things here and there to make them healthier. So, last night Mr. Allan and I gave it a whirl. Overall, I thought it was a good recipe. I was a little disappointed in the thickness of the broth. I saw stew in the recipe name and I expected a hearty thick sauce vs a broth. The recipe calls for 2 cups of chicken stock (low sodium) and next time I might reduce that amount. I ended up adding a few tablespoons of flour to thicken it up. In general, it was a nice twist to a chili.

Here's the pot o Mexican Stew simmering

a closer look at all the zucchini and beans...

Here's my recipe..I was unsure about the thickness of the stew, so I kept doing a double take and looking at the teeny picture in the printout and making some notes for the next time around.

Mexican Stew

courtesy of Whole Foods

Ingredients

1/2 pound 85% lean ground beef or turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons taco seasoning (gluten-free)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 large zucchini or summer squash, cut into small cubes
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added black beans
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup medium salsa

Just a note...I swapped some ingredients to make it a bit healthier and to cut down on the sodium with all the canned items. I used low sodium broth, beans, and diced tomatoes. I also used 1/2 lb of ground white turkey from Whole Foods. I also omitted the taco seasoning. Instead I used 2 tsp of chili powder, 1 tsp of cumin and a 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes.

Method
Brown meat in a large pot over medium high heat. Drain, remove and set aside. In the same pot, saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Add meat back to pot and sprinkle mixture with taco seasoning to blend. Add remaining ingredients and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes.

here's a link to the recipe to read others reviews and for the nutritional info as well.
Mexican Stew