Tag: ground turkey

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Mediterranean Turkey Burgers

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I did a recipe exchange with some girlfriends about 8 years ago and ended up with this gem  that adds flare to any average burger night. It is simple enough to make in bulk, so we use this one a lot when having friends or family over for dinner or a bbq. Because of that, it is by far my most requested recipe. The best part about these burgers is that they are different, yet the ingredients are are palatable to almost everyone (sorry to those of you who don’t like spinach and/or feta).

  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 slice of whole wheat bread- cubed
  • 2 cup spinach- chopped
  • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 1 Tbsp minced onion
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350˚

Combine mixture in large bowl, ensuring feta is crumbled into smaller pieces and ingredients are distributed evenly throughout meat. Form into patties, or a loaf (which we do often). Place on broil pan (for patties) or flat baking sheet (for loaf). Cook for 30-35 minutes, or until internal temperature is 165˚

Note: You can bbq the burger patties as well, just ensure that the internal temperature is 165˚ before serving.

We serve these burgers (with or without buns!) with just about anything- a nice salad, rice, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob (for bbq), etc. It is as versatile as it is delicious! Enjoy!!

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Mediterranean Turkey Burgers (no buns): Serves 4- 290 calories, 15.7g fat, 3.9g carbs, 28.9g protein

cook, Uncategorized

Saturday Dinner…with Swagger

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It is a little known secret that when my husband and I met I couldn’t cook to save my life- I literally ruined french toast on one of our breakfast dates. Lucky for him…and our children, and all future dinner parties…I was eager to learn and spent lots of time reading cookbooks, experimenting in the kitchen, and nabbing every hint and recipe I could from my mom, step-mom and mother-in-law.

My mother-in-law, in particular, is a pro at home cooking, and her amazing, yet usually not super healthy, recipes are my husband’s absolute faves! Over time, I’ve taken to tweaking some of her famous recipes into more healthy versions. Such is the case with Hamburger Pie, which is a staple in our home (in the healthier version at least).

A quick note: The version of Hamburger Pie I’m sharing tonight is the “quick” version (we decided, uncharacteristically, to throw something together tonight), and contains some canned veggies. More often than not, I do fresh green beans and frozen white corn form Costco.

  • 1.5 lbs ground turkey
  • 2 green peppers, chopped
  • 1/2 can tomato paste
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 2 cans french green beans (or sub 2 cups fresh green beans)
  • 1 can corn (or sub 1 cup frozen white corn)
  • 3-4 red potatoes (depending on size), chopped and then mashed
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 Tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350˚. Brown ground turkey, adding chopped green pepper after almost fully cooked through. Allow pepper to soften. Add 1/2 can tomato paste and 1 can diced tomatoes. Stir until turkey/pepper mix is fully coated in tomatoes and paste.

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While turkey is browning, chop red potatoes and bring to a boil. Once soft, drain and mash (I usually add a small amount of fat-free milk (maybe 1/4 cup), a Tbsp butter, and some fresh garlic) into a soft mashed puree. FullSizeRender[11]

In a glass 13×9″ baking dish, layer ingredients: turkey/pepper/tomato mixture, followed by green beans and corn, followed by mashed potato mix, and finally cheeses.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly and slightly browned.FullSizeRender[18]FullSizeRender[19]

Enjoy!

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Turkey Quinoa Enchilada Casserole

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Before you can even say it, I’ll admit it…another ground turkey recipe…I know, I know…head hung.

BUT…this one is just too delicious (and easy) to pass up. This one is a hit with both the husband and the kids, and has officially replaced the go-to traditional enchilada casserole recipe that we got from a Mexican restaurant I worked for way back in the day (stay tuned for that recipe…it’s ridiculously good!!).

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1 cup red quinoa (prepared as package states)
1 lb ground turkey (I add one package of taco seasoning)
1/2 c corn (I use white organic from Costco)
1/2 c black beans
1 avocado (chopped)
2 TBSP chopped cilantro
1 can mild enchilada sauce
1 can green chilies
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
3/4 c shredded mozzarella
3/4 c shredded cheddar
Mix all ingredients other than turkey and quinoa in small bowl.
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Layer in casserole dish: quinoa, turkey, mixed ingredients, cheese.
Bake at 375˚ for 30 minutes.
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Makes 4 servings. This is about 471 calories for 1 serving.
Enjoy!
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Italian Citrus Turkey Casserole

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Last night my husband and I were able to celebrate another successful healthy, kid-friendly, recipe! Kids ate (almost) everything on their plate, and didn’t even bat an eye at the garbanzo beans, which are usually a definite no-go. This is a super easy recipe that anyone can do and it came in at only about 375 calories per serving (before the rice).

Ingredients:

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  • 1 lb ground turkey (I apologize that the protein in this one is ground turkey again…we eat it a lot…I promise to get some different meats up here for you soon)
  • 1 can organic garbanzo beans
  • 4 bell peppers of your choice- chopped (I used 2 green, 1 red, and 1 orange)
  • 4 stalks of celery- chopped
  • 1 medium white onion- chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic- minced
  • 1/4c lemon juice
  • 1/4c Italian dressing
  • 2Tbsp EVOO (A note for those of you who are used to soupy/saucy casseroles…this is NOT one! This dish is about 99% substance and only 1% liquid, so expect only a small amount of citrusy fluid on the bottom of the casserole dish once cooked)
  • 1 1/2c shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

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  • Cook ground turkey on stovetop over medium heat until brown
  • While turkey is cooking, chop peppers, celery, and onions and combine with minced onion, garbanzo beans (drained), lemon juice, EVOO, and Italian dressing in a large bowl. Mix well, making sure all ingredients are coated with dressing/oil/juice mix
  • Add turkey to vegetables and, again, mix well
  • Transfer to a casserole dish and top with shredded mozzarella
  • Bake at 350˚ for 30 minutes

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This whole dish took only about 20 minutes to prepare, which I was able to do before soccer practice (hurray! for all you multi-tasking mommas). We served ours over rice, which was absolutely delicious.

A big bonus for this recipe was the many colors of the dish…colorful dishes are always a win in our house! If you haven’t experienced eating with color, check this article out before you go…Colorful Eating Has Health Benefits

I hope you all enjoy!! Until next time…

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Zucchini Bowls

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Not sure about your kids and family, but finding healthy things that everyone enjoys can be rough. When given the choice for dinner, one son would choose pizza, another mac n’ cheese and the husband brownies…no joke, I’m sure I could have an entire post on the amount of chocolate he eats…so I’m constantly trying to find new ways to make healthy foods delicious and not obviously healthy (yes, you heard me right, I trick all three of them).

The other day I was lucky enough to have a co-worker bring me the biggest vegetables I’ve ever seen, all fresh and straight from her garden. I grabbed up a zucchini, Arminian cucumber, and some lemon cucumbers (not pictured).

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Now…what to do with a 2 1/2′ zucchini or cucumber, you ask? Well…I came up with a super easy recipe (half borrowed from Pinterest, half Kristin creation) that both husband and kiddos loved! Shocking, I know! And so Zucchini Bowls have now found a place in our recipe box.

Disclaimer: One thing you will learn from me is that I hardly ever follow a recipe step by step or ingredient by ingredient. When someone asks for one of my recipes it tends to go a little like “a pinch of that…and sometimes a pinch of this…”. For the sanity of the recipe followers out there, I will try my best to give exacts whenever I come up with something delish! I apologize in advance for the times I don’t!

Zucchini Bowls:

  • Cut a zucchini into 2-3″ rounds, making sure that the bottoms are flat, and scoop out inside. (I used a melon ball scooper) Set each bowl on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  • Dice one medium white onion and one green bell pepper and sauté over medium heat until soft in 1 TBSP olive oil
  • In another pan, brown one lb ground turkey
  • Add bell pepper and onion to turkey once browned (you can do this all in pan however, we buy ground turkey in bulk and freeze so I separate so it cooks more evenly)

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  • Add one can tomato sauce, one diced tomato, and about 1 tsp salt/1 tsp pepper
  • Let simmer until tomato sauce is no longer runny
  • Scoop into zucchini bowls and top with mozzarella cheese (about 1/3c per bowl…probably 1/4c per bowl would do for regular sized zucchini)
  • Bake at 375˚ for 30 minutes, or until cheese is lightly brown and zucchini is soft
  • Serve and Enjoy!

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We served ours with a pretzel roll and rice pilaf.  A big plus to this recipe is that I was able to blanch and freeze the zucchini insides and remains for future zucchini bread and muffins!

And in case you’re wondering what happened with the cucumber…we sliced, lightly salted and served with feta cheese. An easy and delicious snack or side!!