Mexican turkey meatball soup

I often make a large batch of soup on the weekends, so that I have a tasty healthy lunch every day at work.  This was a soup that I made last week and enjoyed for 4 lunches.  Luckily I am quite happy to eat the same thing several days in a row, but it would freeze well if you had problems with that. Though warming and comforting as all soups are, it has the tastes of Mexico so invokes a little taste of summer at the end of winter.

Turkey meatballs

• 
  
• 1lb ground turkey
• 1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
• salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together

Form in to small meatballs, about the size of a large marble, and place on a lined cookie sheet.

Cook in a preheated 350 oven for about 15 to 20 minutes until cooked and turning golden.

Turkey and cranberry balls

Tis the season of potlucks and appetizers and it always a struggle to find something vaguely healthy and tasty that can be made ahead and please a crowd.  To add to all the Christmas cheer we were also having a potluck lunch for a baby shower at work. Often these potlucks are heavy on the starch and desserts, so I thought some lean protein would be a good idea, and this close to Christmas what could be more appropriate than turkey and cranberries.

This made enough for about 35 walnut sized meatballs

2lbs of ground turkey
1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs
1 large garlic clove
1 onion
1 cup of frozen cranberries
1 sprig of fresh sage or parsley

Place the turkey and breadcrumbs in a large bowl.

Place the remaining ingredients in to a food processor.  I added the cranberries after the onion and garlic had been fairly finely chopped up as I did not want to turn them into mush.  Add this mixture to the turkey and breadcrumbs.

It looks like Christmas already

Ground turkey sliders

I am calling these sliders, because if I had had some small buns, that is how I would have served them, but I didn't so I served them more like a kefta.

This was a quick dinner on a week night, on a beautiful sunny warm day, which we seem to have an abundance of this summer.  I made enough for 4, and as there was 3 for dinner I had enough for lunch one day at work, oh happy day.

1 lb of ground turkey
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
handful of mint
handful of parsley
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
salt and pepper

Combine the onion, garlic and herbs in a mini chopper, or chop by hand until they are finely chopped.

Mix this with the ground turkey and bread crumbs.

Season well with salt and pepper and form in to small patties, I made 8 and two per person seemed to be a good serving.

Ground turkey hash a one pot meal

I love one pot meals, because I do not love washing up and I especially love dishes like this, that can be made ahead and provide a quick easy dinner after work, or even lunch at work.

Serves 4

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1lb ground turkey (or beef)
1 yellow onion chopped
1 clove of garlic sliced
4 ribs of celery
1 small butternut squash peeled and chopped
2 medium potatoes chopped
1 bay leaf
handful of chopped parsley
1 jalapeno pepper chopped finely
1 cup of frozen peas or edema beans
Salt and pepper to taste

Add the olive oil and turkey to a large saute pan and cook stirring often until the turkey is almost cooked through and then add the onion and garlic.

Continue to cook, until the onion is softened, then add the remaining ingredients except the peas or beans.

Zucchini pasta with turkey meatballs

I love the idea of pasta, and I love the sauces that go with pasta, what I do not love is pasta.  Don't get me wrong if you put a plate of pasta with a nice sauce on it I will happily eat it, I just would not cook it for myself.  Because of this I am always looking for substitutes for the pasta. In the past I have used shredded cabbage quickly cooked and spaghetti squash, but I have been wanting to try zucchini as a substitute.  My husband currently is in Europe waiting for me to join him, so I am on my own for dinner, it was time to experiment.

I am trying to lose that last couple of pounds before leaving for my vacation so a light meal was in order and as I was on my own a one dish meal was also the order of the day.

Turkey meat balls

Feeds 4

1lb of ground turkey
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon of chopped mint.
2 tablespoons of fine breadcrumbs.
1/4 cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together then form in to balls about the size of small walnuts.  Place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.

Place in a preheated 400 oven for between 15 and 20 minutes until they are just cooked through, you do not want to overcook and dry them out.

I used a 1/4 of these for my dinner for one and will use the remainder this week for dinners and lunch.

Healthy ground turkey soup with a Thai influence

December is full of rich food high in calories and not so high in nutrition.  I think we should find a way for everyone to spread out the baking and the chocolate giving year round.  Think how nice it would be if you received a plate full of delicious home made baking in the middle of a dreary cold February.  Sadly now they just get piled up with all the other goodies and boxes of chocolates, which unfortunately I pick at when every I walk by.  So in between the picking and grazing I like to eat something that is healthy, but of course it has to be tasty too.

This recipe grew out of what I had on hand, and as I had a bag of young bok choy and steam fried noodles that both needed using up, asian food came to mind and I love Thai flavours so I went with that.

1 onion chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 clove of garlic sliced
1 lb of ground turkey
3 carrots sliced
4 cups of chicken stock
Grated zest of one lime
1 tablespoon of chili pepper flakes
3 tablespoons of soy sauce (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 bag of young bok choy (about 6) or any other asian green such as napa cabbage
2 cups of steam fried noodles or any asian style noodle you have on hand
Handful of cilantro chopped

Cook the onion in the olive oil until it is translucent add the garlic and stir, then add the ground turkey and cook stirring often to stop it from clumping.  When it is cooked through add the carrots and stir in and add the lime zest and chili.

Turkey chili

In an ever more desperate attempt to find tasty food that is weight watchers friendly I have turned more than once to ground chicken or turkey.  This is something that in the past I have never used, but anything made with ground beef is very high in calories and therefore not on the menu right now.

This week the weather is really feeling like fall and on the way home from work on Wednesday I felt like chili, so I thought I would try it with some ground turkey that I had in the freezer. I added a fair bit of carrots as I was trying to make it as healthy as possible and due to the short time available I used canned beans, not usually my preference.

Serves 4

• 
  
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 garlic clove sliced
• 1lb of ground turkey or chicken
• 1/2 tablespoon of chipotle chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of regular chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
• 3 carrots chopped
• 3 large tomatoes chopped (or equivalent canned)
• 1 can of red kidney beans (though any beans would do)

Sweat off the onion and garlic in the olive oil until they are transparent. Then add the ground turkey and stir until the meat is cooked through.