Asian Turkey Cabbage Cups

November 12, 2010 at 11:39 am (Main Dish)
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Cool, crisp napa cabbage leaves cradle a hot and spicy herbed filling in this quick dish.

 

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 filled cabbage cups)

Ingredients

  • 1  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger
  • 1 1/4  pounds  ground turkey
  • 1/2  cup  thinly sliced green onions
  • 1  tablespoon  brown sugar
  • 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh mint
  • 2  tablespoons  fresh lime juice
  • 1 1/2  tablespoons  fish sauce
  • 2  teaspoons  olive oil
  • 1  teaspoon  dark sesame oil
  • 1  jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
  • 12  large napa (Chinese) cabbage leaves (about 8 ounces)
  • 1/4  cup  chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts

Preparation

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and turkey to pan; cook 7 minutes or until turkey is done, stirring frequently. Drain turkey mixture; place in a large bowl. Add green onions and next 8 ingredients (through jalapeño); toss well. Spoon 1/3 cup turkey mixture into each cabbage leaf. Top with peanuts.

 

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Chili Pasta with Beans

February 3, 2009 at 10:39 pm (Main Dish)
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Source:  January/February 2009 issue of Cooking Light.

We thought we made this dish tonight, but in writing down the recipe, I see that we were quite challenged in following directions–I cooked the pasta first and we forgot to add the tomato sauce.   Whatever it was we cooked was good though, and we have a giant container of leftovers.  It was just the slightest bit over the level of spice that I like in my food, but I’m a bad judge of spiciness since even green peppers send me running for the Tums.  Rhiannon didn’t think it was too hot at all and requested that I add the recipe to the site.

Other than not reading the directions, we made one intentional change and one assumption that didn’t affect the final recipe in a negative way:

  • we substituted 99% lean ground turkey for the sirloin
  • our guess is that diced tomatoes with chiles are like Rotel.

Yield

6 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups)

Ingredients

  • 1  tablespoon  canola oil
  • 3/4  cup  chopped onion
  • 3/4  pound  ground sirloin (we substituted 99% lean ground turkey breast)
  • 4  teaspoons  chili powder
  • 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
  • 1  teaspoon  dried oregano
  • 2  cups  water
  • 3/4  teaspoon  salt
  • 6  ounces  uncooked ruote (about 2 1/4 cups uncooked wagon wheel–shaped pasta)
  • 1  (15-ounce) can no-salt-added pinto beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1  (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chiles (such as Muir Glen), undrained
  • 1  (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
  • green onions for topping
  • shredded cheddar cheese for topping

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and beef to pan; cook 4 minutes or until onion is tender and beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in chili powder, cumin, and oregano; cook 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups water and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 minutes or until pasta is done.

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Turkey Picadillo

January 28, 2009 at 11:15 pm (Main Dish)
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After the recent grocery store impulse buy, I’m glad to announce we have been able to get our money’s worth out of the Weight Watchers-5 ingredient, 15 minutes cookbook.  Tonight we tried a recipe for turkey picadillo.  Picadillo is a traditional Latin American dish, usually made with beef and tomatoes.  They suggest serving this inside a tortilla or spooning it over brown rice–we went with the rice option. The final verdict was that this is really easy and very good, if not all that different from other taco filling type dishes.  It tastes a lot like one of the Mexican flavor Hamburger Helpers, a good thing in this house actually.  But with like 1000% less sodium and not from a box.

I can imagine adding black beans and onions to this recipe with little extra effort or money, yielding nice flavors and more leftovers.  That might not make it a picadillo anymore, but we probably already made it not a picadillo by not putting the raisins in.  Raisins are not on Rhiannon’s list of approved foods, and they even creep me out a bit in this dish.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey breast (we used 93% lean since it’s easier to find and cheaper than 99% and  it’s still better for you than most beef)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (15-ounce) can seasoned diced tomato sauce for chili (I found chili ready diced tomatoes, so I guess that’s what they mean)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup raisins
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 cup presliced green onions

Instructions:

1.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat; add turkey and cumin.  Cook 7 minutes or until turkey is browned, stirring to crumble.  Stir in tomato sauce and next 4 ingredients (all but green onions if you’re counting); bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with green onions (we added a bit of leftover shredded cheddar cheese too).

Yield:

Four 1-cup servings.

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Meatballs

September 19, 2008 at 4:45 pm (Main Dish)
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Source:  Katie

Prep time: 5 minutes. Cook time:  15-20 minutes. Servings: makes approx. 24 meatballs, depending on size

Ingredients
1 pound 96% lean ground beef or 93% lean ground turkey (99% lean turkey wouldn’t work well here)
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs (more if mixture seems too wet shape into balls)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons grated parmesean cheese (or more is great too, and the cheap green can is fine for this)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined.  Scoop and roll with hands into meatballs (wetting hands with water before you start helps them not get too sticky).

Bake meatballs on sheet plan at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Rotating halfway helps them cook more evenly and with better color, but I usually forget and they are still fine.  Combine with pasta and sauce.

Notes

I’ve never really measured out any of this recipe (something that’s probably not that great to confess on a recipe blog), but I included the recipe in case I’m incapacitated and Rhiannon needs to make meatballs for some reason, or in case anyone else wants to try them out.  I’m freakishly good at estimating the size and amounts of things, so this recipe should be fairly close to the amounts I usually use, but adding more or less of the spices depending on what you have and what you like will work just fine.  Relax, it’s just dinner.

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