Curried Turkey Burgers

I am so incredibly behind on sharing my meals. I mean, hell, this dish was cooked on the 17th of the month - 2 weeks ago!

School has started and unfortunately (but predictably), homework overwhelms almost every second of my breathing life. If I'm not doing homework I'm in class. If I'm not doing either of those, I'm at work. And such is life. The good news is that even with school in session, I still have found time to cook myself dinner.

This burger was another request from one of my MFP friends. I really love turkey burgers. Because ground turkey can be so bland, I love all the different variations on a burger it can create with just a few shakes of spice jar.

I am sharing this burger with Kahakai Kitchen's Souper Sundays! Yeah, yeah, it's not a soup, but they accept sandwiches and salads as well.

Curried Turkey Burgers

Ingredients

8 oz ground turkey

2 tbsp egg substitute

2 tbsp red onion, minced

1 tbsp cilantro, chopped

1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp curry powder

olive oil, for brushing

2 hamburger buns

tomato slices

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine the turkey, egg substitute, red onion, cilantro, ginger, garlic, bell pepper, cumin, and curry powder. Make 2 patties out of the meat mixture.

2. Brush the patties with a little bit of olive oil. Heat a skillet and cook the patties 5-8 minutes on each side, until no longer pink and cooked all the way through.

3. Place each patty on a bun and top with tomato slices (or whatever else goes on your burgers!)

CALORIES: 318 calories

CHOLESTEROL: 127 milligrams
FAT: 11 grams

Hoisin Noodles with Turkey and Green Beans

If I had actually followed the recipe for tonight's dinner, the calories in this meal would have been significantly lower. Also, if I had followed the recipe, this dinner would have qualified as a dish requested by one of my MFP pals: a meal involving pasta and chicken.

Here is where the problem lay.. My grocery store didn't have ground chicken and I really wasn't in the mood to travel around to different stores to find a place that did. I decided to settle for turkey, because I figured it would be closer in calories to chicken than like.. beef. I mean, that's still probably right, but holy shoot did it rocket my initial estimate really high.

I use the website myfitnesspal and I asked my friends over there to tell me what they wanted to see me cook. Every suggestion I got has been worked into my meal plans for the next two weeks. Every day I'll be posting at least one dish. At least one dish will be something I made per the request of an MFP friend.

Today's dish.. well, just pretend there's chicken in it instead. If you can find ground chicken that is. It's obviously not the easiest thing to find in the whole world. The flavor was really yummy, kind of spicy, but generally just good.

Today's dish is going to be entered to Presto Pasta hosted by Simona of Briciole.

Hoisin Noodles with Turkey and Green Beans

Ingredients

1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut in half

3 packages ramen noodles, with the spice pack discarded

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

juice from 1 small lime

3 tbsp garlic chili paste

1 tsp olive oil

1 lb ground turkey (or chicken)

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 stalks green onion, chopped

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the green beans for 6 minutes. Add the ramen and boil for 4 more minutes. Drain.

2. In small bowl combine the hoisin sauce, lime juice, and chili paste.

3. In a skillet heat the olive oil. Add the turkey and cook until no longer pink. Add the garlic and cook until tender. Add the green beans and ramen and stir to combine. Add the green onions and combine more.

Cheesy Turkey Penne

Pasta is just easy. And you can do so much with it. This pasta dish was super simple. I used jarred sauce. All I really had to do was boil the noodles, cook the turkey, and mix together with the rest of the ingredients. By no means was this a difficult dish.

By no means was it a plain dish. This is definitely a meal that will make its way into my recipe box of all my repeat dishes. It was perfect to make this pasta after work, when I just want to eat and eat quick.

Like I said, simple. But good.
The bread doesn't need a recipe. Spread pesto on a piece of bread, sprinkle with garlic, and bake!

I'm submitting this recipe to Presto Pasta, this week hosted by Simona of Briciole. After Thursday go check out all the other pasta dishes!

Cheesy Turkey Penne

Ingredients
1/2 lb ground turkey
2 1/2 cups uncooked penne pasta
1/2 jar spaghetti sauce - I used Classico's Spicy Tomato and Basil
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Italian seasonings
1/4 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
2 tbsp Parmesan

Directions

1. Boil the penne noodles per the directions on the box. Cook the turkey over medium heat in a skillet sprayed with Pam.

2. Drain the noodles. Mix the cooked turkey and the rest of the ingredients into the pasta.

3. ENJOY!

CALORIES: 632 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 76 milligrams
FAT: 15 grams
SODIUM: 1010 milligrams

Ground Turkey with Potatoes and Spring Peas

I've found the best blog ever. It's called Skinny Taste and is full of recipes that are tasty and low in calories. This recipe today came from that wonderful website. For as simple as I felt like this recipe was, it really was packed with flavor. Sometimes turkey can be so bland, but the cumin and the salt (which I used very very little of) really made a difference.

On top of that, sometimes I love cilantro and sometimes I hate it. I'm not sure what makes the difference, but sometimes I just find it over pungent. Sometimes though it adds that little kick that the dish needed. This was an instance like the latter. The cilantro gave it a kick, but didn't make it overwhelming cilantro.

So for the record, I am not the genius behind this dish. And because of that, I don't even want to post the recipe (since I didn't make any changes either) because I don't think it's fair for me to take credit for something that grew from the tastebuds of someone else.

But don't feel deprived. Just go here for the recipe.

CALORIES: 188 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 55 milligrams
FAT: 2 grams
SODIUM: 388 milligrams

* The picture is showing 1/2 cup of rice with 2 servings of the turkey.

Turkey Mini-Meatloaves w/Roasted Root Veggies

Now that we have the welcome out of the way and now that I'm taking a break from studying for my Criminal Law test, I can post my first homecooked meal! I actually cook to relieve stress, so high impact times in my life are just generally going to produce more entries, because I get such a satisfaction from standing in the kitchen, mixing, baking, stirring, and sauteing. I also love sitting down with whatever I made and indulging in it. But above all, I love to share my food (which is why my boyfriend is so great). Even though I lack capacity to create my own recipes and follow most recipes exactly the to tee, cooking is like an art. There was one day and I accidentally dropped my cooked cauliflower on the floor and I just fell down and cried, because that was my labor, my work, it's my creation.

Anyway, I guess in each of these posts you'll get to know me a little more. I don't really want to do a "HEY MY NAME IS ELIZABETH" kind of entry, because it's weird to me and I just would rather not. But anyway, I got this cookbook last year when I decided I needed to lose weight. I just found low-calorie foods to be so bland. But after some careful review I got the best cookbook ever. I really recommend it as it's one of the cookbooks I've used more than twice. Maybe if this all works out and I get lots of followers I'll host a giveaway with this cookbook, since it is my favorite and all. Because really, if I have giveaways I'm only going to give you the best of the best.

But I am getting so ahead of myself.

Turkey Mini-Meatloaves with Roasted Root Veggies

For the Meatloaf:
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup 1% milk
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
5-oz bag baby spinach leaves
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1/4 cup egg substitute
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg

For the Glaze:
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Tapatio

For the Veggies:
3 medium carrots, cut into chunks
2 New Potatoes, chunked
6 stalks asparagus, chopped
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Put the breadcrumbs and milk in a bowl and let sit.

3. In a skillet with the olive oil, cook the onions over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until golden and soft. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. Transfer to a bowl with the breadcrumbs. Add the turkey, cheese, egg substitute, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Combine the mixture using your hands.

4. Pack 1 cup of the mixture into a 1-cup measuring cup. Invert the cup onto a rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden.

5. On a baking sheet toss all the vegetables with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add to the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

6. While the meatloaves are cooking, making the glaze by mixing the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce in a small bowl. When the meatloaves are complete, brush over the top.

* the veggies serve 2, the meatloaf serves 6

Nutrition: Meatloaf
CALORIES: 203 calories
CARBS: 12 grams
PROTEIN: 27 grams
SODIUM: 515 milligrams

Nutrition: Root Veggies
CALORIES: 112 calories
CARBS: 19 grams
PROTEIN: 3 grams
SODIUM: 45 milligrams