Smokey Joes

My baby sister, Debbie, has really become quite the cook. She recently got married, so she is enjoying all her new kitchen gadgets, and has been whipping up all kind of Food Network gems. Last week, she sent me a Rachael Ray recipe, for Chipotle Sloppy Joes. It looked pretty simple, and sounded tasty enough, so I bought some ground turkey and put the recipe to the test. First of all, the recipe is incredibly easy to throw together, especially if you are low on ingredients or time. You can really add any veggies to this, though peppers and onions are key. The end result is really flavorful, with just the right blend of smoke, spice, and sweetness. We aren't big on eating sloppy joes on rolls, so I served them over "Un-fried Rice," for Kevin and the kids, and I ate them over a salad. The salad idea was actually great, because it tasted like a Tex-Mex version of a lettuce wrap. I really liked this, but I don't think it was extraordinary enough to serve to company. It was more like a solid, easy weeknight meal. I think this would have been terrific served over baked potatoes (sweet or white), or with couscous or barley. I had leftover white rice to use up, so this worked well for me, but next time, I see sweet pots in the cards!



Make these. They are a great addition to your weeknight repertoire! 3.5 Bowls!

Smokey Joes
Adapted from Rachael Ray

• Cooking spray
• 2 1/2 cups presliced Vidalia or other sweet onion
  
• 1 Chipotle Chili, plus 1 tsp of adobo sauce (use a can!)
  
• 1.5 pounds of ground turkey (or chicken or beef)
  
• 1 red pepper
  
• 3 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• MOST of 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce (Probably about 3/4 of the can)
  
• 5 (1 1/2-ounce) hamburger buns - OR try rice, baked taters, or another grain!)
  

Preparation

1. Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; cover and cook 8 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Remove onions from the pan.

2. Remove 1 chipotle chile from can; chop and set aside. Reserve remaining chiles and adobo sauce for another use.

3. Heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add turkey to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add bell pepper to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in chopped chipotle chile, adobo sauce, tomato paste, and next 3 ingredients (through tomato sauce); cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon 1/2 cup beef mixture over bottom half of each bun, and top evenly with onions and top half of bun.

Un-Fried Rice

Ingredients:

3 cups of leftover rice

1tsp of Sesame Oil

1/3 cup Shallots

2 tsp of bottled minced ginger

2 tsp bottled minced garlic

1 tablespoon plus 1 tsp of soy sauce

1/4 cup of green onions

Directions:

Saute shallots, garlic, and ginger in the sesame oil for a few minutes, or until shallots are soft. Add anyother veggies you want to include (frozen peas or broccoli, peppers, etc.). Add rice, and drizzle soy sauce over the rice. Heat through. Add green onions and stir to blend.

Terrific Turkey (or Chicken) Chili

I know. I've posted a LOT of chili recipes. Don't worry. I'm sure I'll post more. Seriously, I love a good chili recipe, and now that I'm obsessed with Penzey's spices, I am constantly buying new spices, and finding chili recipes where I can use them. So, this past week I paid 2 visits to Penzey's, and left with their Taco Seasoning, Chili Con Carne seasoning, and Coriander. Then, I found this chili recipe on allrecipes, and since it boasted so many excellent reviews, I decided it must be worth a go. I absolutely loved this one. It has terrific flavor, it was super easy to make, and it was really hearty and healthy. I made a lot of modifications, but it was nothing major. This will definitely go into my arsenal of chili recipes. I hadn't made Mexican food in a while, and this was so good, I am now on an official chili kick. Mmmmmmm.



Make this. It's some darn good chili. 4.5 Bowls. At least.

Terrific Turkey Chili

Serves 6, and takes about an hour.

Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
* 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (I used ground chicken - only a pound)
* 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix (I just measured my own)
* 1 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can beef broth (I used chicken)
* 1 (7 ounce) can salsa
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or coarsely chopped tomatoes packed in puree
* 1 (7 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
* 1 medium onion, finely chopped
* 1 green bell pepper, diced
* 3 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced (I skipped this)
* 1 bunch green onions, chopped
* 1 cup sour cream (skipped!)
* 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (skipped!)
* Can of chickpeas (I added this, since I didn't have enough ground meat, or zucchini)
Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble turkey into the pot, stirring with a wooden spoon to break apart as much as possible. Season with taco seasoning mix, coriander, oregano, chili flakes, and tomato paste, and mix until meat is evenly coated with seasonings. Continue cooking, reducing heat if necessary, until turkey is well browned.
2. Pour in beef broth, and simmer to reduce liquid slightly, about 5 minutes. Add salsa, tomatoes, and green chilies, and continue cooking at a moderate simmer for ten minutes. Adjust the thickness at any time you feel necessary by adding water.
3. While chili is still cooking, heat one tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion and green bell pepper, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent and bell pepper is lightly browned. Add onion and bell pepper to the chili, and continue cooking at a very low simmer.
4. In the same skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini, and cook stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the zucchini to the chili, reduce heat, and continue cooking 15 minutes more. Again, adjust the consistency with water as needed.
5. Ladle chili into serving bowls. Top with sour cream, green onion, and cheddar cheese, and serve.

Sesame-Soy Meatballs

I love you, Cooking Light. You make my month.

I made this recipe tonight, unsure of how it would taste. It is supposed to be made with ground sirloin, but I subbed ground turkey, because I don't eat ground beef, and I had turkey in the house. The meat mixture was a big, gloppy mess, to the point where I added more meat, because I thought the balls would fall apart. I was skeptical, to say the least. Even when I put them on the stove, in a pan, I thought there was no way they'd stay together. I was anticipating one of those nights, where we would try the food, hate it, and end up re-heating leftovers. I wished I had paid more attention to the one and only review of these meatballs - it said they were good, but mushy. Why didn't I listen?

Much to my surprise, even though the balls didn't keep their perky, bouncy ball shape (they were more like a messy, slightly deflated ball), they tasted delicious. They were very moist, without being mushy, and the flavor was really outstanding. Kevin said they reminded him of the szechuan meatloaf I make, though they were much saucier and moist. I will definitely be making this again, but I'll try it with ground chicken next time. We both tend to like the texture of it a little better. By the way, this one is easy and quick. Serve it over brown rice, with some steamed veggies on the side, and you have a delicious, easy meal, with an easy clean up.

Make these. Make them, now.

Sesame-Soy Meatballs

Serve these garlicky, spicy meatballs with steamed sugar snap peas and two cups cooked rice tossed with 1 tablespoon chile paste—you'll find it on the ethnic aisle of most supermarkets or at Asian grocers.


Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 5 meatballs)

Cost per Serving: $2.50

1/3 cup minced green onions
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon chile paste (such as sambal oelek)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 pound ground sirloin
Cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.

2. Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Add beef; mix gently to combine. With moist hands, shape beef mixture into 20 (1 1/2-inch) meatballs.

3. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs to pan; cook 4 minutes, turning to brown meatballs on all sides. Arrange browned meatballs in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining meatballs. Bake meatballs at 400° for 7 minutes or until done.


CALORIES 241 ; FAT 11.3g (sat 2.7g,mono 4.8g,poly 3g); CHOLESTEROL 42mg; CALCIUM 36mg; CARBOHYDRATE 10.3g; SODIUM 491mg; PROTEIN 23.5g; FIBER 0.3g; IRON 1.9mg

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2010

Pumpkin-Turkey Chili

Didn't I just say, about a week ago, that I would never need another chili recipe, because I had found chili perfection? Well, I guess I lied. I came across this "Pumpkin Chili" recipe, and I was intrigued. In case you didn't know, there was a pretty intense pumpkin shortage last year, and there hasn't been canned pumpkin in the supermarket in close to a year. Just a couple of weeks ago, it finally reappeared in stores, and I stocked up. Yes, I have 10 cans in my basement. Anyway, I've been using it in everything, and I got very excited to use it in our dinner last night. After reading the hundreds of comments about the chili, I adapted the recipe, according to what I thought my family would like. The end result was a really good, solid dish, that my family liked. It was not exceptional, particularly special, or very unique, but it was easy and tasty. I couldn't quite imagine what kind of difference the pumpkin would make, but it was actually a really fun and healthy addition. It adds a very subtle sweetness, and makes for a nice, thick textured chili. The thing is, if you like a salty and spicy chili, that also has that underlying sweetness, you have to doctor the recipe. Anyway, Kevin's first comment about this dish was, "Wow, this is sort of bland, but I like it." Hmmmm. I didn't think it was bland at all, and I liked it too, but I still think the other chili recipe was a little more to my liking.



Maybe you should try this.

Pumpkin Turkey Chili

Servings: 6

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (I used red)
1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound ground turkey
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used Rotel, to make it spicy)
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 dash salt
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (I didn't use this)
1/2 cup sour cream (or this)

I added:
A can of black beans
A cup of frozen corn
A tsp of cumin

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Stir in the turkey, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes and pumpkin. Season with chili powder, pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve topped with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Black Bean - Salsa Chli

I've made a lot of chili recipes in the past few years. A lot. They are always vegetarian, full of beans, and easy. I always like them, but I never love them. This recipe comes from Cooking Light, and it's not vegetarian. It calls for ground turkey and smoked bacon, which I omitted from the recipe, because I can't bring myself to get on the bacon wagon. Anyway, this is easy, much like my other chili recipes, only this one is about one thousand times more delicious. Now, I think adding bacon, would have added a smokey saltiness that I would have adored, but we are not pork eaters, so I skipped it. Instead, I added a new Penzey's spice, called "Arizona Dreaming," which is a Mexican inspired blend, that has a nice smoky bite. The end result was a really high flavor, yet mildly spicy chili. It was thick and meaty, with a perfect amount of beans. This was the first time I've tried eating a chili with meat, and now I know what all the fuss is about. It lends such a nice texture to the dish. This was a great, low fat dinner, served over brown rice. It will be a great dish to serve for casual dinner guests in the Fall and Winter (well, at those who we know like chili), and I can easily whip it up for my family at the drop of a hat. Winner!

Black Bean-Salsa Chili

(Adapted from Cooking Light - See mods in italics)

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup chili and about 4 teaspoons sour cream mixture)


2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
Cooking spray
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
3 sweet hickory-smoked bacon slices, chopped (skipped it!)
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups mild salsa
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth (I used chicken broth)
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream (I didn't make the sauce, so I skipped the last 3 ingredients)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups beans, 2/3 cup water, and sugar in a food processor; process until smooth. Combine bean puree and remaining beans in a bowl.

2. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add turkey; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove turkey from pan.

3. Add onion, bell peppers, and bacon to pan; cook 5 minutes or until bacon and onion are lightly browned. Return turkey to pan. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and crushed red pepper to pan; stir well to coat. Stir in bean mixture, salsa, tomato paste, and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Combine sour cream, cilantro, and juice in a small bowl. Serve chili with sour cream mixture.

CALORIES 199 ; FAT 6.2g (sat 2.6g,mono 1.9g,poly 1.2g); CHOLESTEROL 34mg; CALCIUM 88mg; CARBOHYDRATE 22g; SODIUM 740mg; PROTEIN 14.8g; FIBER 5.9g; IRON 2.6mg

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2009

Makin' a BBQ.

I had a tough time coming up with a menu for our little get-together on Saturday. We had a house full of picky eaters, and I was really puzzled as to how to I was going to cook for everyone. We also have no grill, which makes it really tough to do a BBQ. So... I decided to do a BBQ anyway. Here was our menu:

Mini-Man Burgers
Italian Stuffed Turkey Burgers
Veggie Burgers

Corn (Mom and Dad brought the cobs!)
Tortellini Salad (I made the recipe with regular pasta also, so Kevin could eat it)
Asian Cucumber Salad

Chocolate Cake (Thanks, Mom!)
Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies


I thought this meal came out pretty tasty. The Mini-Man Burgers are an Alton Brown recipe, and they got rave reviews. It's really a very interesting method of making a burger. It really sucks in all the seasonings, and makes these little sliders, reminiscent of a White Castle burger. The turkey burgers were good, but they really should have been grilled on a real grill. It was so hard to tell if they were done, when I cooked on the stove top, and frankly, I served several undercooked burgers, which sort of upset me.



I totally spaced, and didn't take any photos of the tortellini version of this salad, but this is the rotini version, that I made for Kevin, and anyone else who was anti-cheese. The salad has a really nice balsamic dressing, with sun-dried tomatoes and red onion. It is really tasty, and the tortellini version had halved cherry tomatoes, which made it super colorful and pretty. I will definitely make this again. It's easy and delicious.




This Asian Cucumber Salad is a really nice, fresh, light salad. It's a great addition to a BBQ, in my opinion, because it's flavorful, and not starchy. Kevin likened it to a seaweed salad, but with cukes. I would highly recommend this one - it's also super easy.

Turkey-Veggie Meatballs

I've been cooking with ground meat a lot lately, mostly because I am out of chicken breasts, and ground meat is so versatile. I'd been craving comfort food, and there's nothing more comforting than spaghetti and meatballs. Maya has a book, called "Bread and Jam for Francis," and in the book, her mommy makes spaghetti and meatballs, and the whole family loves it. This spin on the traditional meatball, makes a really flavorful, tasty addition to any pasta (I ate them over rice, which may have been why I didn't care for them). That being said, I thought the balls were really dense - not fluffy and light, like how I used to like eating meatballs as a kid. I told Kevin that it felt like I had eaten a rubber ball... He liked them, though, and was surprised by my reaction. They have a decidedly Italian taste to them, and I really wished I had included the cheese, because I definitely thought they were missing something. On the upside, they were really easy to make, and I might try them again, but actually make them as directed.





The Critique
Loved the meatballs. I want more. Reheated they were a little dry but that's to be expected for ground meat of any kind.

4 bowls

Vegetable "Fall Apart" Meatloaf with Balsamic "Crunchy Deliciousness" Glaze

My mom has made this loaf several times, and it has gotten rave reviews, so I decided to try it last night, when we had Cousin Jonathan over for dinner. The recipe calls for parmesan cheese, which I love, but since Kevin is anti-cheese, I had to omit it from the recipe. I was a bit concerned that the lack of cheese would make this flavorless or dry, but it was actually quite delicious. The topping to this loaf comes out sweet and crunchy, which, to me, is pure delight - I love a crunchy crust. The inside of the loaf is full of veggies (I added a lot more than the recipe called for), and it has great tomato balsamic flavor. I was a big fan of this one. We ate almost the whole thing between the 3 of us. Yup, we downed almost 1.5 pounds of ground turkey. Yikes. Anyway, I'd love to make this again, but Kevin thought it was only okay, so I might have to work on him...






The critique
Great flavor but totally fell apart. Would like to try again with them a little more together, but the flavor was great.

3 bowls

Turkey Tamale Potpie, Meets Chili Cornbread Casserole

In a desperate attempt to use up the ground turkey breast that's been lingering in my fridge, I found this perfect casserole recipe in an old Cooking Light. There is something warm and fuzzy about a casserole, but we rarely make them, because they almost always involve cheese or cream. This Tamale Pie recipe is like a turkey chili, with a cornbread topping. The problem was, the reviews of the pie were... sub par. People mentioned that the topping was bland, and that the inside needed a good deal of tweaking. On the same day, I found this recipe for Chili Cornbread Casserole, in Eating Well. So, I decided to get creative, and marry the 2 recipes. I ended up tweaking the Cooking Light recipe, for the inside, and using the Eating Well recipe, for the cornbread topping. Well, the end result was very pretty, and, in my opinion, quite tasty. Kevin isn't a big fan of cornbread, or casserole toppings (he doesn't like potpie) in general, so he sort of scraped off top. Bummer. I was hoping to convert him into a tamale pie lover. Oh well. Anyway, the only issue I had with this recipe, was that I used a very coarse ground cornmeal, which made the topping gritty. Next time, I will definitely use a finer grind. I really liked the flavor and texture of this recipe. I am posting it below, since I adapted it so much. It's definitely an easy, basic, tasty casserole, for a weeknight meal at home.

Weekend Food: Turkey Burgers, Pizza, and Corn

Pizza makes a nice lunch on a Saturday afternoon, when you are trying to thank your husband for taking out the kiddos and granting you a much needed nap time! Oh, and lookie here - we got a pizza cutter!


Kevin says there's something about picking up a slice of pizza (instead of cutting into it) that makes it so much better...

My frozen dough is getting used and loved! Roasted corn and chicken pizza is a weekend treat!

I am not so great at "entertaining" at the last minute (i.e. having dinner guests without much planning), but I decided to try my hand at a super casual dinner for my sister, Debbie, and brother-in-law, Dan, on Saturday night. They were driving through CT, and I invited them over for burgers and corn. This Oriental Turkey Burger recipe was a snap to put together, and besides turkey meat, I had all the ingredients in the fridge. I thought these burgers were quite good - they had a nice hoisin, sweet and spicy flavor, without being too salty or overpowering. My main problem with this recipe, is that I followed it exactly, and found that it is really a recipe for "sliders" (mini-burgers), and not full sized burgers. This is no big deal, except for the fact that I bought standard burger rolls, and the burgers looked pretty tiny perched on those full sized buns! So... it wasn't a pretty meal, per se, but it was tasty, and served with corn, it made a nice, easy, quick summer meal.

My corn-lovin' little lady.

Tiny burger, big bun. I took about 15 photos of these burgers, by the way, and not a single one is in focus!

Debbie and Dan, care to comment on our burgers?


The Critique
My wife is the man. Well not really. But she's the man when it comes to making cheese-free pizzas. I don't know how she does it, but these rock my world. I love this pizza as much as I love soup. She got the crust right and thus, it gets 5 bowls.