Workout and a Dinner

My workouts this week have been highly leg focused thus far. Sunday was legs and then I did a spin class on Monday. I thought I might take today as a rest day, but I went ahead and did a step workout and abs from my library of Cathe Friedrich workouts - Step Jump and Pump/Step Blast.

The next part of the evening involved refueling! After unseasonal upper 60's this weekend, the temperatures are finally starting to drop. Today we didn't reach 50 and tomorrow is supposed to be 45. Needless to say, I was thinking along the lines of something warm and cozy for dinner tonight. I had half of a butternut squash that needed to be used and a couple of different recipes for a Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili. I didn't have all the ingredients to fulfill one recipe or the other, so I'm melding them together and creating my own.

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chile

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp (or less) Olive oil 
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed 
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 cups water or low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes (no salt), undrained
• 2 Chipotle peppers in adobe, diced (more or less depending on heat preference)
• 4 oz can mild green chiles, minced
• 3 oz tomato paste
• 1-2 tsp chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste 
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin

 

Directions:

1. Saute onion, bell peppers in small amount of olive oil until soft, approximately 5 minutes.
2. Add butternut squash, sweet potato, and garlic. Saute approximate 5 minutes.
3. Add in remaining ingredients and simmer for approximately 1 hour or until butternut squash and sweet potatoes are soft and flavors have melded.

I will say that it hit the spot quite nicely. For my own personal tastes, I will likely add 1 more chipotle pepper and use broth rather than water. I think this may be able to be cooked in a crockpot perhaps. I'll be sure to post an update if or when I try that option.

After looking up the recipes, I also looked up the nutritional facts about some of the ingredients. I keep reading or hearing about some of them touted as being "super" foods. So, here is what I found:

• Black beans - high in fiber, antioxidants, and protein. They also contain calcium, potassium, and iron.
• Butternut squash - high in vitamins A and C as well as a good source of fiber, potassium, manganese, and folate and rich in beta-carotene.
• Sweet potatoes - high in vitamins A, C and E, fiber, calcium, potassium, and folate,
• Tomatoes - rich in vitamins A and C, lycopene (a powerful antioxidant), and beta-carotene.

I hope you give it a try, and I'd love to hear how it turned out or how you tweaked it to make your own.