Showing posts with label ground turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ground turkey. Show all posts

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but this Ground Turkey Casserole is so delightful...

8:26 AM | Labels: , , ,


Just this past week, the sun was shining and I wasn’t even wearing a jacket to go outside. Now, I’m sitting in bed staring out the window as snowflakes fall gently to the already-white ground. Go figure. No, but really, as much as I smile into the sun and grumble about cold fronts, I feel better about this weather. After all, it is February and I’m currently situated in central Pennsylvania; anything less than the weather falling down upon the grass and lake behind L’s dorm building is, quite frankly, unnatural.

The other relieving part about Mother Nature finally deciding to switch over to winter is that I can really get behind telling you about this recipe for a ground turkey casserole. I did love breaking up the parade of heavy winter dishes with the light avocado salad on Thursday, but it’s just as nice to have this warm and comforting, yet ultimately healthy version of a comfort food to counter it today. Life is all about balance, no?

This casserole brings a meek heat, just as though the spices from the rotel tomatoes were peeking around a corner, asking not to be forgotten completely. It’s creamy in a respectful way, so you can indulge in flavor without feeling weighed down by the end of the meal. The only change that I would make, which should really come to no surprise to you by now when it comes to the meat meals that I cook, is to supplement some of the turkey with some beans or extra vegetables. I definitely like the meat in my recipes to get nominated for Best Supporting Actor, while leaving the starring role to the plant-based ingredients. Still, it tasted delicious as it was, so if you come from a more meat-centric household, I certainly wouldn’t fault you for leaving this as is.

 
One Year Ago: Classic Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting

Ground Turkey Casserole, adapted from SI Money Savers
Yield: 6 servings
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients
1-2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound ground turkey breast
1 medium chopped red onion
2 celery stalks, diced
15 ounces (no salt added) tomato sauce
10 ounces rotel tomatoes
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 cup kale, chopped
½ cup (low-fat or skim) milk
4 ounces (non-fat) plain greek yogurt
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup cooked brown rice
5 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes1
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

The Method
Preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit and lightly coat an 8 inch square baking dish with nonstick spray.

Place the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and, once heated, add in the turkey, onion and celery. Continue to cook, breaking up the turkey until it is nearly or completely done (no pink should remain). Stir in the tomato sauce, rotel, oregano, and basil, allowing the mixture to come to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the kale and continue simmering for another 5 or so minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the milk, yogurt, and garlic in a small, separate saucepan. Stir the mixture constantly over medium-low heat until well blended, then mix in the rice. Add the rice mixture to the turkey off heat and fold to incorporate well. Season with salt and pepper, pour into the baking dish, and sprinkle with the nutritional yeast flakes. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes until it is heated through and bubbly; check on it halfway through and cover if browning too quickly. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:
1Nutritional Yeast Flakes are a vegan-friendly alternative to cheese in that they impart a cheesy flavor without using any animal/lactose products. They’re excellent sources of fiber and protein, yet low in fat, making them even more enticing additions to a healthy meal. You can find them at many grocery stores, including Wegman’s (in bulk) and Whole Foods. But, if they’re really not your thing, you can use 1 ½ cups shredded cheese, as the original recipe indicated.



 


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Thirty Minute Thursdays: Rice & Turkey Stuffed Peppers

2:05 PM | Labels: , , , ,


If there’s one thing that I’ve learned about Rachael Ray’s meals, or at least the ones from the book I have of hers, it’s that she’s not a big fan of the bold, in-your-face flavors. Her Classic 30 Minute Meals book is full of safely good – conservatively good food. That’s not to down play the “good” part of that statement; I do enjoy a large majority of the recipes I make from it, but I don’t often find myself so blown away that I need to copy the recipe down for safe keeping. Once I feel as though I’ve more or less finished cooking my way through this book, I will likely give it away – it’s now full of food stains and my own haphazardly written notes in the margins so I doubt it’ll fetch any sort of price, but maybe it’ll find its way to a garage sale. Or maybe a few years from now I’ll become rich and famous and people will crawl over each other trying to get this old beat up cookbook I once owned, full of my own honest-to-goodness hand-written insights. Sounds likely, right?

Anyway, the recipe for this week’s Thirty Minute Thursday post is the most loosely based on one of Rachael Ray’s recipes as I’ve created yet. I took a recipe for rice with peppers in it and turned it into a full on stuffed pepper. In the end, I’m glad I did – I think the rice on its own would have been a little lackluster, and even with all of the changes it remained a very modest meal. I tend to go for the really wacky, explosively flavorful recipes, but every once in a while, even for me, it’s nice to turn to just a simple, understated recipe – and I know a lot of people prefer the majority of their meals to be that way. So for all of you out there, this one’s for you. No big flavors, no big spice, no big fuss – but it is good. The only thing I didn’t hit out of the park was the portions – the filling that I made was probably enough for about 1 ½ servings, so that’s been adjusted in the recipe below. If you wind up with extra, though, save it for a snack the next day, wrap it up in a tortilla with some beans for lunch – there are plenty of ways to enjoy it later on.



One Year Ago: Chicken, Two Ways – Italian Herbed or Smoky Herbed
Past Stuffed Vegetables: Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Potatoes, Carb-Haters Stuffed Peppers, Sophisticated Stuffed Portobellos, Tabouleh Stuffed Tomatoes,

Rice & Turkey Stuffed Red Peppers, inspired by Rachael Ray’s Classic 30 Minute Meals
Yield: 4-5 servings
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients
1 ½ cups chicken broth
¾ cup brown rice
¼ small red pepper, finely chopped
½ cup cooked ground turkey
2 tablespoons chopped celery
¼ cup onion, diced
½ cup chopped kale
4 teaspoons sesame soy dressing
4-5 whole red peppers, left in tact
1 ½ tablespoons sliced scallions

The Method
Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Add the broth to a medium pot and bring to a boil, covered, before adding in the rice. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover again, and cook for approximately 15 minutes or until the rice has absorbed the majority or all of the liquid. Stir in the chopped red pepper, turkey, celery, onion, and kale, and allow to cook until the mixture has warmed through, approximately 5 minutes. Mix in the dressing so that it is evenly distributed.

Slice the tops off of the remaining whole peppers and hollow out the seeds. Divide the rice mixture evenly amongst them, packing it in if necessary but not actually overstuffing them. Wrap each stuffed pepper in foil (this will make things easier if they don’t all stand up on their own; the filling won’t spill out even if you need to bake them on their sides) and place them on a baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, remove from the foil, and serve with a scattering of the scallions on top.





 

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Thirty Minute Thursdays: Thai Turkey Burgers with Pineapple Salsa

1:39 PM | Labels: , , , ,



One of my favorite meals may be a well-cooked burger. It doesn’t have to be beef, either. In fact, a homemade veggie burger can knock the socks off of even the most delicious beef hamburger (that is, if hamburgers were ever to wear socks). Today, though, I’m not talking about beef or veggie burgers; I’m talking about turkey burgers, sometimes known in the Floptimism kitchen as the most common type of burger made. With grass-fed beef being more expensive and, even with its lowered saturated fat profile, still a food more suited for the occasional indulgence than everyday fair, I wind up making a lot of meals using ground turkey breast. As long as you choose a package that clearly says ground turkey breast, not just ground turkey (the nutrition label should read about 1g saturated fat, no more), you’re getting a pretty healthy source of protein. Plus, I think it’s pretty tasty.


Earlier this week I made Rachael Ray’s Thai Turkey Burger, and absolutely loved it. It was a soy sauce and scallion-infused burger topped with a mild spicy-sweet pineapple salsa. The flavors were strong but well balanced, and the burger was filling enough that I didn’t even need any sides (but in the future would definitely consider making more, smaller burgers and pairing them with a side salad of some kind to take the focus away from the meat).

I made 2 burgers and ate the leftover one several days later over kale sautéed in a peanut sauce (more on that later!), which was equally excellent; and I had the leftover pineapple salsa first mixed with peanut butter as a wrap, and next layered with some Chobani Passionfruit yogurt for a mid-day snack. I meant to add a drop of rum extract and would have topped it with some dried coconut if I had any, but it was really good even without those two ingredients.

I would definitely recommend making this recipe (or really, recipes plural if you split up the salsa and burger) – it was easy and by far one of the best recipes I’ve made from her cookbook yet. This one’s a keeper!

One Year Ago: Chicken & Pear Paninis with Oven Roasted Pear & Sweet Potato "Fries"

Thai Turkey Burgers, adapted from Rachael Ray’s Classic 30 Minute Meals
Yield: 4-6 servings
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients – The Salsa
1 small, fresh pineapple
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ small red bell pepper, seeded and diced
¼ red onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon brown sugar

The Ingredients – The Burgers
1 ⅓ pounds ground turkey breast
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
4 small cloves garlic
2 tablespoons (low sodium) soy sauce`
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 scallions, chopped
4-6 rolls or sandwich thins, toasted (optional)
kale or lettuce, for topping

The Method
Coarsely chop the pineapple and place it into a food processor. Pulse until coarse and chunky. Meanwhile, heat the oil and red pepper flakes in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, add the bell pepper and onions; cook 1-2 minutes. Add the pineapple to the pan and allow the juices to evaporate a little, 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle with the brown sugar, let cook an additional 1-2 minutes, and then turn the heat as low as it will go while you cook the burgers.

Heat a skillet or griddle over medium-high heat (but err on the side of medium) and spray with nonstick spray. Combine the turkey, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, curry powder, and scallions so that all of the ingredients are evenly distributed in the mixture. Form into 4-6 patties and arrange somewhat evenly spaced on the heated pan. Cook the patties 6 minutes per side.

Serve the burgers either over a salad or as sandwiches, topped with the kale and 1-2 tablespoons pineapple salsa.





 

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Thirty Minute Thursdays: Turkey & Mushroom Meatloaf Patties with Herb Smashed Potatoes

12:32 PM | Labels: , , , ,


Apparently, meatloaf is making a comeback. What once used to be regarded with disdain – surely we’re too good for lowly little meatloaf, that block of dry ground meat and whatever  mysterious leftover ingredients mom needed to use up that week – is actually topping the lists of predicted food trends for 2012. Now, I never grew up on meatloaf. I can’t even tell you the first time I tried it, or if I even necessarily did before I made my own version last year. I don’t know if I quite understand everyone’s previous grievances with meatloaf. I know people who associate it with “poor people’s food” – generally, people who grew up in hard times and can’t really separate those financial struggles from the foods upon which their families relied; I know other people who balk at the texture. Yet really, what is meatloaf but a “bulk” scale version of a burger? It’s ground meat, some filler…it seems pretty innocuous, if you ask me. Plus, as people have been commenting recently, it’s super versatile, and you know how weak in the knees I get for a recipe that can shape shift to keep things exciting without too much added effort.

Rachael Ray includes her own version of meat loaf in her Classic 30 Minute Meals cookbook, and I gave it a shot just last week. She uses ground turkey breast instead of beef, adds in some meaty mushrooms (which you could totally increase in order to cut back on the meat even more), and has you form the mixture into patties rather than one log. The patties are lightly sautéed rather than baked, and I think the combination of keeping them individual and on the stovetop really helps to eliminate that cliché “dry” meatloaf that so many people probably have stuck in their minds. I thought they were absolutely delicious. The other thing they most certainly were, was enormous – I think, given the right side dishes, the meatloaf mixture could easily feed 5-6 non-ravenous people, though the recipe claims it’s only for 4.

I served it with two other RR recipes – lemony green beans and herb smashed potatoes. I only tasted the potatoes and then focused on the meat and beans for a lower carbohydrate meal, which is why the full patty was good for me, but if you have a healthy serving of potatoes and fill a good half of your plate with the green beans, you could easily trim back on the meat portion of the meal. Although, I found both side dishes to pale in comparison to the main meat loaf patty, so maybe you should go for a more enjoyable pair of sides instead of these two specifically. In fact, I’m not even going to tell you about the green beans because I actually disliked them, and it takes a whole lot to get me to actively dislike any veggie-based recipe. It was admittedly, to some extent, my fault for using defrosted frozen beans instead of fresh, and heating them in the pan with the lemon juice, which resulted in that unwanted shade of green, but it still just didn’t do anything for me, or really anyone else who had them. They were edible, sure, but ultimately forgettable. The potatoes were much better, and maybe my lackluster review has more to do with the fact that I just don’t get very excited about regular potatoes in general. You can see my adapted version of Rachael’s recipe for those below.

Also, please note below that I used dairy alternatives in place of all of the butter. The original calls for the real stuff, but my dad chooses not to mix meat and dairy, so we always cook with soy/almond milk and butter alternatives when a meat dish calls for dairy. It took a while to find a butter alternative that worked. Most are chock-full of hydrogenated oils, and a surprising amount contain trace levels of dairy products, such as whey from milk. We finally found Bestlife Buttery Spread, which is free of hydrogenated oils and all signs of dairy, even in the most minute amounts. I still use regular butter whenever meat and my dad aren’t involved, and my dad also uses regular butter whenever he isn’t planning to eat meat, but this has been a great find for us. Just know that you can make this recipe with regular dairy products if that’s what you prefer – it’s how it was intended – but I think all of dishes turned out perfectly well with the substitutions, too.


One Year Ago: Cranberry & Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad

Turkey & Mushroom Meatloaf Patties with Herb Smashed Potatoes, adapted from Rachael Ray’s Classic 30 Minute Meals
Yield: 5-6 servings
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients – The Potatoes
6 red potatoes, cut into chunks
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter alternative
1 ½ shallots, chopped
15 blades chives, chopped or snipped
1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
¾ cup chicken broth
6 ounces goat cheese (optional)

The Ingredient s – The Meatloaf Patties
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 crimini (baby Portobello) mushrooms, chopped
8 shiitake mushrooms, chopped & stems removed
1 shallot, chopped
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 ⅓ pounds ground turkey breast
1-2 teaspoons dried, ground sage
1 tablespoon barbeque sauce1
½ cup panko or homemade breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter alternative
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 cups chicken broth

The Method
Start a large pot of water to boil for the potatoes, then start working on the meat patties. Place a very large skillet or sauté pan with 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat, then add the mushrooms and shallots when the oil has heated. Season with pepper and sauté until the mushrooms have darkened and tenderized, 5-6 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Place the turkey in a medium-large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Into the well, add the sage, barbeque sauce, bread crumbs, eggs, and sautéed mushroom-shallot mixture. Season with pepper and mix together thoroughly before dividing into 5-6 equal, 1-inch thick patties. Set aside (refrigerate if you plan to make these in advance).

Once the potato pot has reached a boil, add the potatoes and let the water return to a boil. Once it reaches the second boil, continue to cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, approximately 15 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, heat 1 tablespoon of oil to the same pan you sautéed the mushrooms in, and arrange the patties in the pan. Cook the patties for 10 minutes on each side, adding more oil as necessary if the patties stick too badly (remember, ground turkey breast is much leaner than ground beef, and won’t leech nearly as much fat to help with the nonstick process).

As the patties are finishing up, and once the potatoes finish cooking, drain the potatoes and return the empty pot to the stovetop. Lower the heat to medium and add in the 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. When the butter has melted, add in the shallots, sautéing 2-3 minutes before adding in the chives, thyme, and potatoes. Mash the potatoes (you may transfer to a food processor or stand mixer if your family likes well-pureed potatoes, but I think these turned out best slightly chunky), slowly adding in the broth until you achieve the right consistency.

Hold the potatoes over low heat and transfer the meat patties to a serving platter in order to make a quick gravy: add the remaining butter and, once it has melted, whisk in the flour. After 1-2 minutes, whisk in the broth and thicken the gravy to your liking. Serve the potatoes with a side of goat cheese and the meat patties with a side of the gravy, and enjoy!

Notes:
1I really cringe when I read the ingredient list on a bottle of barbeque sauce. I’m not sure if Worcestershire is any better. For now, I use it so infrequently that I haven’t scoured the grocery store aisles for more wholesome alternatives, but if you know of one, definitely feel free to use it here. It may even be good with a little bit of whole grain mustard!






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Thirty Minute Thursdays: Zuppa Osso Buco, or well, that's how it started... (Turkey Meatball Soup)

5:45 PM | Labels: , , ,



Oh, Rachael Ray and her “stoups.” As much as I sometimes joke at her silly names for food, I made this soup for L when he came to visit me a few weeks ago, and I have to say, I was actually pretty impressed. I got a late start making it but managed to throw it together relatively quickly, and it was the perfect antidote for the cold, rainy, and dreary night. I really appreciate foods that can be filling and satiating while still feeling light, and this soup did exactly that. It was definitely simple – this is no flavor explosion – but still good, and in fact, the nutmeg in the meatballs completely stole the show. From now on I think I’ll be adding nutmeg into other similar dishes, for the extra spice it brings.

Of course, no Floptimism meal would be complete without my changes. I used ground turkey breast instead of the veal, in part because the idea of sad baby cows tied up in confined spaces makes me not too keen on eating meat (my conscience rests slightly more easily with sad turkeys – let’s not get too analytical here, lest my mild hypocrisy officially convinces me to be a veggie-vore), and also in part because I just don’t know where you buy ground veal around here. Then, because turkey breast is sold in 1 1/3 pound containers, I still just used half of the package so it may have been a little meat heavy (and, in the end, I did notice that the meatball:liquid ratio was a little off). I also used quinoa spaghetti instead of egg noodles, and let them boil a little longer because I had a feeling the egg noodles were supposed to be fresh instead of dried, though the recipe didn’t say. I also forgot the beans, and by forgot I mean I ate them as a snack earlier in the day and didn’t realize until the recipe told me to add them in that I had made a mistake. I threw in some diced green peppers as a pseudo replacement, and actually really liked it, so I’d encourage you to put those in even if you don’t munch on your beans before it’s time to cook with them.  The only other change I’d make was to let the carrots cook for a little longer to soften them up.  Oh, and there was an anchovy “gremolata” that was supposed to go on at the end, and I just ignored that part of the recipe because anchovies really aren’t my thing. Or L’s. Or many people’s, really.

As I sit here typing up the ingredients, I suddenly realize my problem with the aforementioned meat:liquid ratio – there was so little liquid because I intended to use all chicken broth instead of a chicken-beef broth combo, but I must have just added in the quantity for the chicken broth. There were 2 cups of broth missing from my soup! You see, this is what happens when you get a late start and just throw things together haphazardly. So apparently I really did a number on this dish – buying the wrong meat, eating the beans as a snack, forgetting about nearly half of the cooking liquid…if it was as good as I claim it was with all of these mistakes, just imagine how fantastic it’ll taste when you make it the right way! Or at least the less horrifically modified way.

I think you could easily omit the meat altogether, or throw in some other veggies here or there that you may like or are in season. It may not be “Zuppa Osso Buco” anymore, but that won’t make it any less popular at the dinner table, now will it?



Zuppa Osso Buco, adapted from Rachael Ray’s Classic 30 Minute Meals
Yield: 4-5 servings
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients
1 pound lean ground meat of choice (turkey was excellent)
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup (homemade whole wheat) bread crumbs
2-4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (use less if it’s the fake Kraft stuff)
¼ - ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup diced green bell pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 bay leaf
½ cup white wine
14 ounces cannellini beans, drained
15 ounces diced tomatoes
5 cups stock or broth1
4-5 ounces spaghetti, broken in half or thirds

The Method
In a mixing bowl, combine the meat, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, nutmeg, and pepper, then set aside.

Start the soup by heating the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat, and adding all of the vegetables. Turn the carrots to coat them fully in the oil and prevent the vegetables from browning. Add in the bay leaf and season with pepper, to taste, continuing to cook until the vegetables soften, approximately 5 minutes. Reduce the heat if it looks like the vegetables are starting to brown. Stir in the wine, beans, tomatoes, and broth/stock. Raise the heat back up to high, add in the pasta if using dried, and cover the pot with a lid.

Return to the meatball mixture, rolling the meat into 1-inch balls. Once the soup begins to boil, add the meatballs into the pot (along with the pasta if fresh), and simmer until both the meatballs and pasta are cooked, approximately 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to sit for several minutes before serving.

Notes:
1The original calls for a 3:2 chicken to beef ratio, though I’d imagine that any combination – including all vegetable stock – would be fine.

What's that you say? It's getting a little bit late to be posting a Thirty Minute Thursday post? I'm sorry for the borderline neglect I've been putting this blog through. I really have been getting my butt kicked this semester, and appreciate any patience you have. I think it's more my Twitter activity that's suffered, since I can find time here or there to write updates, but still. Thank you for sticking with me, even when life threatens to steal me away to much, much less enjoyable places.




 

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Pasta with Meat Sauce for Dad

12:46 PM | Labels: , ,



Hopefully everyone is recovering from a delicious Father's Day spread! How did you celebrate? Are there any really great (or not-so-great) dishes you tried out? I baked up a loaf of my modified banana bread, but it didn't go over well. I'm not really sure what happened - I made it almost exactly the same way as the previous time I tried it, but the last loaf was out of this world. I was a little disappointed, but tried not to let the flop get to me. It just means I have some more experimenting ahead of me!



My family celebrated Father's Day yesterday with an extravagant platter from a nearby deli and three - three! - cakes from a bakery. I brought my homemade banana bread, but most of the dinner was catered to make my grandmother (the hostess) feel less stressed about the entire preparation. So, instead of telling you about the meal that we made for our family's dads, today I have a recipe for pasta & meat sauce that, although my dad didn't taste himself, is right up his alley. I wouldn't call spaghetti his favorite meal, but he loves a good plate of pasta with meat sauce, and this version that I tried was pretty delicious! It definitely won't be my go-to spaghetti sauce, but I enjoyed it and would even make it again. It smelled amazing and is hearty enough to pass as a stew with a nice, crusty loaf of bread if you didn't want to serve it with the traditional pasta.



One Year Ago: The Restaurant Blues

Tomato Sauces au passé: Sneaky Veggie Pasta Sauce



Pasta with Meat Sauce, adapted from Cooking During Stolen Moments

Yield: 4 servings

(printablerecipe)



The Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey breast

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 zuchinni, quartered lengthwise and sliced

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

30 ounces whole peeled tomatoes, crushed

4 ounces tomato paste

½ cup chicken stock

3 cups spinach, finely chopped

1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano

1 ¼ teaspoons dried basil

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 bay leaf

fresh ground black pepper, to taste

penne or crusty bread, for serving



The Method

Add the turkey, olive oil, onion, pepper, garlic and zucchini to a large skillet over medium heat. Season with red pepper flakes and cook, breaking the turkey up, until the mixture has browned. Add in the remaining ingredients and stir to mix thoroughly. Cook until the sauce begins to bubble, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until ready to serve, at least 10 minutes. Serve over pasta or alongside a loaf of bread.


 

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No Need to Knead: Homemade Herbed Turkey & Vegetable Pizza

1:52 PM | Labels: , , ,

Whenever my dad tastes a loaf of bread that is particularly fresh and delicious, he is sure to say, “Whoever said ‘man cannot live on bread alone’ was clearly mistaken.” They haven’t yet uncovered the Carboholic gene, but without a shred of doubt, I have inherited my infatuation with bread and carbohydrates from him. I’m careful  now, or at least more careful than I was before finding out my triglycerides were a little funky, but I will still ultimately hand my heart over to anyone with a warm baguette who’s willing to share.  Melt some cheese on it and add some toppings, and you’ll never get me to leave.

Pizza is one of my absolute favorite foods – but not just any old pizza. Sure, Mack n Manco’s is a staple during my annual summer trips to Ocean City NJ, and I ate so much Eliot’s pizza as a kid I’m surprised I didn’t turn into a frozen slab of it myself, but what I really go nuts over is the earthier, artisan-type pizzas, the ones that are more akin to a fancied up flatbread than a pizzeria-produced pie. And, by true Floptimist nature, I just had to learn how to make one myself.

Right now, I’m sitting at my desk, beside my bedroom’s sole window, and even beyond the crowd of trees that usually shades my room, I can tell the sun is hiding. It feels like rain has already come and gone, though the weather report claims it is still on its way, and it has brought the recent heat-wave, at least temporarily, to a halt. I wore a sweater earlier to walk outside briefly, and came back into the apartment, warm from the oven cranked up to 450 as my best-yet pizza attempt sat inside, turning golden-brown and melty. Today was a perfect day for pizza.

Yes, I think I’ve done it – or, more realistically, I think Jim Lahey and Dinner with Julie have done it, since I can take no credit for this recipe. I was skeptical that a pizza dough made with minimal handling – a dough that formed by literally just sitting on your counter for a day – would really be that incredible, but its level of ease combined with my wanting to spend as much time with L while he was visiting as possible made me decide to give it a try. We whipped up the dough in a couple of minutes flat yesterday afternoon, then stuck it loosely covered on top of the fridge and nearly forgot about it until today.

What came out of my oven just a few hours ago was a beautiful, beautiful pizza. The crust was a deep brown and had developed a crunchy exterior without losing its soft, doughy interior – which was perfectly spotted with holes, by the way. It tasted hearty, though a little plain, and I cannot wait to take it to the next level next time by adding in herbs and spices, and potentially brushing the top with olive oil. It’s not perfect as is – at least not for a crust kind of girl like myself. L could take it or leave it, generally eating the pizza up to the crust and then feeding the rest to his pup, but I love a good crust all on its own – and this one does need some work, but I’m okay with that. You see, with a texture as spot-on as this one without requiring much effort at all to throw it together? It’s not even a question – this pizza dough will absolutely be showing up on my menu again. And again. And again…

One Year Ago: Spring Vegetable Pizza
 
Homemade Herbed Turkey, Mushroom & Green Pepper Pizza
Yield: 4 servings
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients
1 batch No-Knead Dough*
½ - ¾ cup red sauce
¼ pound ground turkey breast
Dried oregano, basil, garlic powder & cumin, to taste
4 ounces sliced mushrooms
½ green bell pepper, diced
¾ - 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

The Method
One day in advance, prepare the pizza dough. The next day, turn the dough over itself a few times on a floured surface before spreading it onto a pizza stone or well-greased, rimmed baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and let the dough rest on the sheet while you prepare the toppings.

Mix the ground turkey with the herbs and spices, then add to a lightly greased skillet. Cook over medium heat, breaking up the turkey until very little pink is left. Add the mushrooms, and sauté the two ingredients until the mushrooms have cooked and the turkey has browned nicely. Set aside.

Spread the sauce over the dough, leaving a ½” or so border for the crust. Sprinkle the peppers, mushrooms and turkey evenly over the surface of the dough and top with the cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes, removing when the crust is golden-brown and no longer soft to the touch, and the cheese has melted and is bubbly.

Notes:
*I used white whole wheat flour and a scant 1 teaspoon of salt, but aside from that followed Julie’s recipe to a T.

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Flavorful Turkey Burgers & Smokin' Hot Patty Melts

11:54 AM | Labels: , ,

Last night, as I was sitting at an otherwise empty table, in the otherwise empty kitchen of an otherwise empty apartment, eating an absolutely delicious patty melt that I had scrounged together at the last minute, I realized something: I'm no longer a child. Sometime within the past 12 months, I became an adult - and no, it has nothing to do with a 21st birthday or moving into my first non-dorm, non-home residence. I became an adult the moment that snow storms stopped being the Most Exciting Thing That Could Possibly Happen, and started being The Biggest Nuisance Imaginable. I can't pinpoint exactly when this transformation took place, but I do know that last year, having a full week of canceled classes was still the coolest thing ever, and now, well...I'm thinking that all of those retirees in Florida may be onto something.


You see, yesterday I was supposed to drive home for the weekend. I had it all worked out - dirty laundry that stacked to about 4 feet high, a bank visit that had to be made before noon today, some serious baking adventures, and even a trip to L's house to pick up some fancy clothes that he didn't bring to school with him, for him to wear next week for our big V-Day restaurant dinner. This was to be an action-packed weekend. But today, as I discovered on Tuesday, was no ordinary Saturday; no, it was the university's Optional Make Up Day. Now, the snow disasters that have been ravaging the east coast have meant that my Biochemistry course has met for a grand total of three out of six classes, meaning we are seriously behind.

Guess who stayed on campus for Saturday school today? I'll give you a hint - it's the same person who didn't do her laundry yesterday or get to the bank before it closed, but did push her serious baking adventure to another day, and chose also to procrastinate going to L's to pick up his things because, by the time she got back to her hometown, all she wanted was a dry pair of sweatpants and her puppy.

And then there was today, which is eerily reminiscent of the book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day. Only it was Me and the terrible, horrible, no-good very bad day. I'm talking setting the smoke detector off while making breakfast and waking my roommate up, rushing out of the house without finishing getting ready, almost slipping a bajillion times on the icy sidewalks, trudging through the rain to class, returning to be reprimanded by my roommate (despite apologizing profusely), and then discovering, while standing in the pouring rain, that some blessing to society had decided that I didn't really need my driver's sideview mirror.

Floptimism, indeed. I find that on nights like last night and after mornings like this one, something like that patty melt I made for dinner is the perfect remedy. Food is not the best form of stress management (most dietitians claim that it's actually the worst, ha...), but I do find that sitting down to a really good meal and focusing on that enjoyable experience can help melt away the problems surrounding you, particularly petty ones, as all of mine most definitely were/are. I'm not talking about scarfing down a quart of ice cream in minutes flat while watching sappy love movies and bawling your eyes out. I'm talking about making something or taking a portion of a food that you really enjoy, and savoring it. Sitting in a quiet, potentially empty space, just you and your food of choice, and slowly eating it, focusing just on the flavors and tastes. it's a different way of eating that really promotes appreciation of the food and has a calming effect on your state of being. For me it does, anyway.

I also find that cooking without a recipe can have a similar effect, which I also did in making the patty melt last night. I hadn't planned to be in the apartment last night, so I didn't have anything set aside for dinner. Instead, I pulled out various ingredients from my fridge and freezer, and came up with one of the best sandwiches I have ever tasted. The patty melt itself was good, but nothing out of this world - a honey mustard turkey burger, some bell pepper and spinach, cheddar cheese, and whole grain oatmeal bread. All of those were sitting on my counter when I went back to the fridge and spotted the ingredient that changed it all: hot sauce. The lightbulb went off in my head, I grabbed it, and got to work.

I brushed the one side of each slice of bread with a little bit of olive oil and a decent amount of the hot sauce, and put a little extra hot sauce, cumin, garlic powder and pepper in the middle of the sandwich. I cooked it so that the hot sauce was on the outside and got seared into the bread when I applied pressure to the cooking patty melt, and I can't tell you how incredible that sandwich tasted. The bread developed a smokiness without too much heat, as well as a really beautiful burnt-orange color, and you still got a kick from the "raw" hot sauce in the center. The cheese was melty, the burger itself flavorful in its own right, and the veggies savory and crunchy enough to keep the indulgent-factor in check. I mean really, I'd recommend brushing all grilled sandwich breads or rolls with something like hot sauce - grilled, cheese, paninis, quesadillas. It's such a simple way to elevate your meals to a new level. I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever think to do this, but humor me for the time being, because I'm very excited about this discovery nonetheless.

I also haven't told you about the honey mustard turkey burgers yet, so I included that recipe - I clearly didn't make it especially for this sandwich, and have enjoyed it in many other ways over the past few months. In fact, it's seriously delicious just with some lettuce and tomato. But don't feel like you need this burger to make the sandwich, either - any filling would be great, from a grilled chicken breast to a pile of beans and veggies, or even just straight-up, classic cheese.

Smokin' Hot Patty Melt
Yield: 1 sandwich

The Ingredients
2 slices (whole grain) bread
olive oil, to taste
hot sauce, to taste
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 - 1/3 cup spinach
1 segment bell pepper,* sliced into thin strips
cumin, garlic powder, fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 turkey burger patty

The Method
Brush 1 side of each slice of bread with olive oil, then hot sauce. Place one slice oil-side down in a skillet. Layer with half the cheese, spinach, and the pepper. Add a couple of more glugs of hot sauce to the center, sprinkle all of the spices over it, and top with the patty and the remaining cheese. Cover the sandwich with the second piece of bread, oil-side up, and place the skillet over medium heat.

Cook for about a minute, then place either a larger, heavier skillet or a brick wrapped in foil on top to add pressure. After 2 minutes, remove the heavy object of your choice and make sure the sandwich is loosened from the bottom of the pan. Place a plate upside down over the skillet and, with one hand on the skillet handle and the other pressing firmly onto the middle of the plate, flip the skillet and plate to invert the sandwich. Carefully remove the skillet and return it to the heat, and use a spatula to transfer the sandwich, cooked side up, back into the pan. Cover again with the heavy object, and let cook for an additional 2 minutes, until the other side is a vibrant, burnt-orange color and the cheese has melted completely.

Notes:
*I think that a red pepper would look really fantastic, but I can only find domestic green bell peppers right now, so that's what I used.



Honey Mustard Turkey Burgers, adapted from Eating Well
Yield: 4-5 servings

The Ingredients
1/4 cup coarse-grained mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 pound ground turkey breast*
1/4 teaspoon salt (omitted)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2-3 tablespoons chopped red onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons very fine bread crumbs**
2 teaspoons canola oil (I subbed in olive oil)

The Method
Prepare a grill, grill pan, or saute pan (I used a grill pan). Whisk together the mustard and honey in a small bowl, and set aside. Take 3 tablespoons from that mixture and combine it with the turkey, onion, salt, pepper, and garlic powder; mix well. Add breadcrumbs as needed (see note). Form into 1-inch thick patties, roughly 4-5 (I got 5, but the recipe says to just make 4).

Brush both sides of each burger with a scant amount of oil (I did this, but if you're using a stove top I would imagine that a small amount of oil or cooking spray can just be applied to the pan instead). Grill/cook for about 5-7 minutes per side, or "until no pink remains in the center," but because I don't recommend cutting into burgers while they're cooking, you could also insert a thermometer and watch for it to reach 160 degrees. Before serving, brush the burgers with the remaining honey-mustard mixture.

Notes:
*Really look for the terms "lean" and "breast" when you're selecting your ground turkey. You can see the difference between ground breast and ground turkey in general, with the former being much lighter in color. Nutritionally, you save about 8g saturated fat per serving. Even if you're not counting calories or concerned about your saturated fat intake, I would still encourage the leaner option, because the "stuff" they throw into the "ground turkey meat" to add to that fat is less than savory. I'll leave it at that.
**My ground turkey wasn't fully thawed in time for dinner, so as it thawed during the preparation process, it started to pool water. I used the bread crumbs to absorb the excess, but if your meat is fully thawed/you don't feel the need for the bread crumbs, by all means leave them out.

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The Carb-Haters Stuffed Pepper that Even Carb Lovers Will Enjoy

6:13 PM | Labels: , , ,


I promised you a recipe that did not include chicken, and I have not failed you. No, this time, I am bringing you a recipe that includes turkey instead. I have to say, I've been cosying up to lean, ground turkey breast lately - ever since vowing off non-grass fed beef. As long as you're careful about reading the packaging, ground turkey is an excellent source of lean protein and brings a refreshing, light flavor to the table. Now, in a blind taste test, you would be hard pressed to find someone who couldn't tell the difference between turkey and beef - even if burger or meatloaf form. That isn't the point. The point is variety and, if you're like me and have trouble finding meat from happy cows, still having something other than chicken to eat.

I really like stuffed peppers: little, personal boats of anything your heart desires. I like this stuffed pepper recipe even more, because it doesn't use rice or another grain as the number one ingredient. I'm definitely not carb-conscious, but it's nice to have a meal without tons and tons of starch every once in a while. That being said, the meat can be cut down in this recipe and replaced by your very favorite grain. It is easy to make, easy to scale down and, I would imagine, scale up, easy to chill and reheat for a quick lunch the next day.

Stuffed Bell Peppers, courtesy of Sweet and Savory Tooth
Yield: 2-4 servings; I used 1 pepper and got 2 meals out of it, but as this isn't a very heavy dish, a full pepper per person is not a surprising suggestion
The Ingredients
4 medium to large green peppers
1.25 pounds ground turkey breast
1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1-2 tsp garlic salt (I just used garlic)
2 tsp onion powder
3/4 of a jar Italian pasta sauce (I used a couple tablespoons of frozen homemade)
2/3C frozen corn, thawed
1C frozen broccoli, thawed
salt and pepper, to taste (omitted)

The Method
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. While it's heating, prepare the peppers: either cut the tops off if using a full pepper per person, or cut longitudinally (or, if you still reference angles the way you did in 1st grade like I do, the hot-dog way) if planning to serve half a pepper per person. Once the pepper is cut to your liking, de-seed and de-membrane, and reserve the tops of the peppers to make the end product look prettier.
2. Wrap the peppers in aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes, then set aside.
3. Spray a skillet with cooking spray or a splash of olive oil (1-2 tsp should do the trick - no more than 1 tbsp.), and place over medium heat. Cook the turkey until almost browned, then add the chopped pepper, garlic and onion powders. Continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes.
4. Lower the heat and the sauce, broccoli, corn, and salt and pepper, if using. Continue to cook over low heat until combined, no more than about 5 minutes.
5. Portion out the turkey mixture evenly into all of the peppers, and bake (still in the foil) for another 20-25 minutes. When they're done, remove the foil, place the tops on if you kept them, and serve.

All of these backlogged recipes have taught me one very important lesson: I really need to document my thoughts on the recipe. I've stopped printing out the recipes, opting instead to carry my laptop into the kitchen for what I need. It's nice to not have sheets of paper lying everywhere, but when I don't run right over to my laptop after I taste a recipe to tell you all about it, there's no hope of a detailed account. I'll try to remember to take some notes even without the printed out recipe to write on - I feel as though my entries have become a little bit too formulaic.

I've also been told that I need to start creating my own recipes. I have some little recipes here and there, but it is true that I'm still fairly dependent on the creativity of others. I have my ideas, including some that I'm itching to try now that the season has changed, but I chicken out half the time and just alter someone else's recipe instead of experimenting. I'll work on that, too. If nothing else, the experiments will provide for some entertaining posts!

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Keftedes and Tzaztiki Pitas, or How I Got My Family To Eat Greek Food

1:29 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,


There are a few things that, through reading this blog, you should have figured out by now: I'm stubbornly salt averse, it takes me a fortnight to get dinner on the table (down recently from half an eternity), and, most importantly, my family is one of those meat-and-potatoes, fire-up-the-grill but hold-the-foreign-ingredients kind of people, and in many ways, there is nothing wrong with that. I love my family, but when I'm interested in trying out new cuisines, experimenting with flavor combinations, and generally branching out from chicken-with-a-side-of-insert-starch-here, it can be difficult. And so, it was with trepidation that I tested out this recipe for greek meatball sandwiches, essentially, that I discovered over at Closet Cooking.

Imagine my surprise when everyone loved it! Of course, there were suggestions, including making it with a tomato sauce instead of tzatziki - a change that, despite producing an undoubtedly delicious meatball sandwich, would completely undermine my attempt at cooking something new, different, and, well, not something you would find at the local pizza joint.

I did adapt the recipe to make it more appealing to my hungry diners that evening, and the changes I made made it less of a traditional greek meatball. I used ground turkey, because the traditional lamb was too cute for my family to consume, and I felt guilty asking the head of the house to buy the more expensive grass-fed beef, now that I've given up all other types of bovine. So ground turkey it was, and I highly recommend trying it either how it was originally intended, or with the lighter meat.

Greek Meatballs (Keftedes) with Tzatziki Sauce, in Pitas, courtesy of Closet Cooking and Healthy Delicious (for the tzatziki)
Yield: roughly 4 servings
The Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped*
4 cloves garlic, minced (I used pre-minced)
1 lb. lean ground lamb or beef or pork etc. (I used turkey)
1 slice of bread, pulsed in a food processor
1/4 C milk
1 lemon, zest only (I used dried peel, about 1tsp.)
1 egg
1 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp. fresh dill or mint, finely chopped (I used dried dill, about 1/2 - 1 tsp.)
1/4 C feta cheese, crumbled (I used parmesan instead, since my family dislikes feta)
salt & pepper to taste
Greek style pitas (I used regular pitas, some of them being whole wheat and others being plain)
1 tomato, chopped (I sliced them)
1/2 red onion, chopped (omitted)

1 clove of garlic (or a small scoop of pre-minced)
6oz. plain, fat-free greek yogurt (the grocery store only had vanilla, which was a fine substitute - if anything it was a tad sweeter than it should have been)
1 cucumber
2 Tbsp. fresh dill (I used approx. 1 scant Tbsp. dried)
Salt, to taste (can you believe that I actually did this? A little.)
The Method
1. Saute the onions in the olive oil until just tender. I caramelized mine perhaps a little more than necessary, but wanted the extra depth of flavor that the extra cooking would give. Also, the recipe didn't specify a heat level, so I went with around medium.
2. Add the garlic to the pan and remove it from the heat.
3. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl, adjusting for the consistency. In general, at least with the ground turkey, these were very moist and soft meatballs before cooking them up. I did add an extra slice of bread to try to firm the mixture up a little, but in the end the slightly-globby consistency turned out just fine.
4. Roll the mixture into balls, trying to keep them at roughly the same size for even cooking. Here, I put mine into a casserole dish and refrigerated them for a little bit since I wasn't quite ready to cook them. I layered them, alternating the meat with a sheet of wax paper, which resulted in more patty-like shapes than actual balls.
5. When you're ready, add the meat to a pan and brown for 8-10 minutes. I added a decent amount of olive oil to the pan, though I've been told that this was only necessary since I used a much leaner meat than the recipe called for. I've actually never worked with ground meat before, so go with your best judgment/knowledge if you're working with a meat other than turkey.

6. To make the tzatziki, which I did while my meatballs were spending some quality time in the fridge, start by peeling the cucumber and coarsely grating or shredding it with a vegetable peeler. Combine it with the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl, seasoning it to taste with salt.
7. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

8. For serving, either assemble the pitas for everyone, or place all of the fillings on the table for each person to make their own.

*Note: I finally discovered it, the answer to my problems, the secret to conquering the chopping of those pesky onions! Just put it in the food processor, and power it up, and you have yourself almost-tear-free, non-time-consuming chopped onions. I also used a full onion here, lightly sauteed half of it and added some of that to the tzatziki (since I didn't have a red onion), and then continued to caramelize the rest.

These were the perfect antidote for the suffocating heat that blanketed the east coast this past week, even if they did require some use of indoor heating elements. They are light, not at all dry, and full of tangy, slightly sweet, refreshing flavor. I would love to try these "greek" inspired meatballs with traditional meat, but am also perfectly happy with the way the turkey complemented the dill, lemon, and yogurt here. The leftover patties were just as tasty the next day, thrown over a salad with a little bit of mozzarella cheese, salsa, and plain kashi cereal for "croutons."

Like I said, a little unconventional, but who ever said that something had to be traditional to be good?

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