Healthy, no carbs & I get to use up some of my veggies out of my bins… can’t go wrong!  I love summer fresh veggies.  Herbs and spices replace fats in this recipe.  In the summer we gravitate to lighter dinners and this one flew off everyone’s plates.

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs of lean ground turkey (or beef)
Olive oil
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of chipotle chili spice
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup of vegetable or chicken broth
2 heads of butter lettuce or 1 head of iceberg
1 large carrot, shredded
1/2 red onion, diced
2 corn on the cobs, kernels removed
1 red pepper, sliced very thin
1 green pepper, sliced very thin

Directions:

Over a medium flame, drizzle some olive oil in your pan sauté the turkey breaking up the pieces. Add all of your spices cumin through pepper.  Cook until no longer pink.  While cooking, prepare your vegetables.  If using iceberg, slice the head in half and gently remove the leaves (washing) and laying out on a platter to use as the shell.  Arrange your vegetables on a platter so that people can make their own as they go.  Feel free to add sprouts or other vegetables that you wish to use.

Once the turkey is cooked throughout, place in a bowl and serve separately.  Buffet style works best keeping the lettuce as fresh as possible until ready to consume.  Top with cheese, if you wish or fresh salsa.

— Knead to Cook

I admit, I’m not a huge fan of leftovers.  But last night I cooked up a lot of extra lean ground turkey & quinoa.  And I couldn’t wait to use these beautiful peppers I bought at the farmer’s market…. so dinner was born!

Ingredients:

1 cup of quinoa, soaked and cooked according to package directions
1 tbl olive oil
1/2 of a medium sized zucchini, cut in slices and then quartered
1/2 of one large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb of lean ground white meat turkey
1 c of crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup Worcestershire’s sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
3 large bell peppers

Directions:

Cook your quinoa according to package directions and set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, add your olive oil.  Once hot, add your zucchini.  Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until fork tender then add the onions and cook until translucent.  Add the garlic.  Cook for 1-2 minutes.  Then add the turkey.  Cook until no longer pink.  Then add the tomatoes & Worcestershire’s sauce.  Season with salt and pepper.  Mix in 1/2 of the quinoa to the meat mixture (or more if you like).  Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, wash and cut your peppers in half.  Remove the membrane and seeds carefully.  Spray a glass 13×9 pan with non stick spray and set aside.  Take the meat/quinoa mixture and stuff the pepper cavity carefully.  Then place the pepper in the baking pan.  Repeat until all of the peppers are filled.  Now you can top each pepper with additional tomato sauce or a sprinkle of cheese (optional).  I didn’t do either tonight.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.  OR you can prepare ahead of time, cover and refrigerate.  Baking will then take 45 minutes or so to reheat.  Is served with mashed sweet potatoes.

— Knead to Cook

I thought I would do a retro-inspired dinner tonight.  Comfort food, to be exact.  We have a rushed evening and this was easy to get in the oven and have it ready for my kids to eat early, before our movie night tonight, and for hub’s to heat up later, when he gets home after work.

I had ground turkey leftover from another recipe and thought I better use it up before it went bad, which sadly happens to be too often.  So here’s what I did…

Ingredients:

1.25 lbs lean ground turkey
2 c of organic baby spinach (raw)
8 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 tsp of flax seed meal
1 egg, room temperature
1/4 c of Panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper

Take your loaf pan and spray a nonstick spray on the inside. Mix that all together in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment.  Avoid over mixing, just mix until blended.   Pour into your prepared pan and either refrigerate until later or bake immediately.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 45-60 minutes or until it reaches 160 degrees.

Remove from the oven and cover for 10 minutes to let the juices return back to the meat.  Slice and serve.

— Knead to Cook

I love this meatloaf recipe.  My grandmother used to make it when I was very young.  She would sun-dry her own garden tomatoes outdoors and can them.  They were so flavorful.  She didn’t use feta cheese but I’ve adapted this recipe to suit my family today.  I still think it holds a great representation of the original 🙂

Ingredients:

1 lb of white meat ground turkey
1/2 c seasoned panko bread crumbs
1/3 c fresh parsley or 2 tbl of dried
1/2 c of sun dried tomatoes packed in oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 c crumbled feta cheese
1/4 c of olive oil
1 tsp of Greek Oregano
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In your mixing bowl with the paddle attached, blend all of the ingredients together.  Avoid over-mixing.  Blend until incorporated.  Then take your loaf pan and spray it with a non stick oil spray or your mister.  Pour the mixture into you pan and spread evenly.  Bake at 350 degrees until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.  I normally bake it for about an hour (I like it with a bit of a crust on it).

Remove from the oven, I drain off the fat if any has collected and tent it with foil for 8-10 minutes.  Then slice and serve.

— Knead to Cook