Green Chile Cheddar Biscuits

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I debated not posting today, in honor of his legacy and the lives and dedication of those who took part in the Civil Right's Movement, but I realized that I wanted to write a little dedication in the end. Although this country is far, far away from being equal in many respects, it honors me to be able to learn about those who have stood up against oppression and unfair treatment, even when risking their own lives in the process. Due to sacrifice and hard work from people who were willing to give up every physical and emotional comfort, things are not as bad as they once were. We, as individuals, need to come together and continue the wave of civil rights legislation and mindset that those before us have fought for.

So, Happy MLK day.

We are going to do a complete turn-around now, and switch topics back to the blog. Hang onto this train of thought with me, ok?

Going back to CO was rough.

How can someone easily transfer from 65F weather to just 10F?? If any of you internet friendsies have advice on how you got insane enough to live in a cold state, shoot me a message.

Seriously, though. I've been curled up in a heated blanket with so many layers on, drinking copious amounts of tea, and attempting not to catch the sickness that every single one of my friends seems to have. Soup and sauteed vegetables have been my go-tos this entire week. It's not even snowing, currently, and this weather is apparently "warm." I missed the coldest weeks of negative degree days, thank goodness, when I was in CA. I'm pretty sure all my Coloradan friends think I'm pathetically below average temperature. There are girls walking around in short sleeved shirts, and here I am barely able to leave the heated apartment.

Such first world problems.

But! Do you know what isn't a problem?

Biscuits. So many biscuits, I can't even begin to describe the pure biscuitness (making this a word now) that I am filled with currently. They're helping me keep warm, and require very little effort which translates to more time that I can spend wrapped in my heated blanket. Those beauties above (look at them again. Look at that cheese!) combine whole and all-purpose flours, rich green chiles, and sharp cheddar to basically make heaven on a baking sheet. In all honesty, I ate about three of these before they even cooled down? Burnt tongue= totally worth it.

These aren't your traditional flaky biscuits, because I've never found those kind enjoyable in cold weather. At Thanksgiving or in the summer with a BBQ? Heck yes! But not in January. When it's cold, all I want is something to dip in soup or to slather with some type of spread (read: butter). You just can't dip those other biscuits in soup. You can with these. I really love drop biscuits, because they are a bit more crumbly and (in my opinion) have more flavor than just butter biscuits.

These kind of have a southwest feel, but aren't spicy because of the balance between the cooling yogurt and the mild green chiles. They are also a lot lower in fat (particularly saturated fat), calories, and sugar. They also pack 6g of protein each! I basically took my standard biscuit recipe and added some pops of color and deliciousness, because I knew that I would want to eat a few a snack just on their own. It works perfectly. Flavor isn't sacrificed just because they are healthier, that's for sure.

Check out the recipe below.

Green Chile Cheddar Biscuits

Serves 6                 Serving Size: 1 large biscuit

Ingredients:

• 3/4c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4c. whole-wheat flour
• 1/4c. light margarine 
• 1/2tbl. baking powder
• 1/8tsp. baking soda
• 1/4tsp salt
• 1/2tsp honey
• 1/2c. nonfat plain yogurt
• 3/4c. (3oz) finely shredded sharp 2% cheddar cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons diced green chiles, from the can, drained
• cooking spray

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut the margarine into the mixture a little bit at a time until the mixture is coarse.
3. Add the honey and yogurt into the dry ingredients, mixing until nice and moist. The resulting mixture should be a little bit sticky, but not incredibly so.  Add in 2 tablespoons of the chile, and 1/2c. plus 2 tablespoons sharp cheddar.
4. Coat a medium baking sheet with cooking spray. Divide the mixture into 6, making each 1/6 a biscuit dollop (I divide my mixture in half, and then take that half and split it into 3). Make sure to space them apart, as the biscuits expand a lot during cooking.
5. Gently press down on the biscuits with the back of a spoon so they look prettier in the end with a smoother top.
6. Take remaining 2 tablespoons cheese and divide evenly among biscuit tops.
7. Bake in the oven for 16-19 minutes (or until cheese is melted and golden, and a toothpick inserted into the center of a biscuit comes out completely clean).

Nutritional Information
Sodium: 927mg
Total Fat: 6g
       Saturated:  2g
       Trans: 1g
Protein: 6g
Sugar: 1g
Calories: 151