Turkey Marinara Burger

This burger was fantastic!  The turkey stays moist and flavorful, few ingredients are needed, and it tastes great.  Enjoy...

To start, combine 1 package of Jenny-O 93/7 Lean Ground Turkey with an Italian seasoning blend.  I decided to add dried parsley, some roasted garlic, fresh basil (the kind you find in a tube, it's weird I know), and s&p.  I also added some red pepper flakes to give it a little kick.  Once combined, add 1 egg and 1/3 cup of panko bread crumbs (or any bread crumbs).  Combine until all ingredients are incorporated and shape into four patties.

Then in a deep dish skillet over medium high, heat 1 Tbsp. of olive oil.  Grill the burgers until brown on the first side, then flip and brown on the other side.  Warning!  Don't flatten the burger with the back of your spatula!  It forces all those yummy juices out of the burger and makes the burger dry later on, gross.  Once the burger is browned on both sides, add one jar of premade marinara sauce.  Lift the patties up slightly so it rests on top of the marinara, but is covered slightly as well (if that makes sense).  Cover partially and let cook for 10 minutes or until a thermometer reads 165F when inserted in the center of one patty.


Once the burgers are cooked through, add to a toasted bun (I only had sesame on hand, but I recommend ciabatta) and top with a couple spoonfuls of marinara.  Top with a couple slices of fresh mozzarella (or 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella).  Place on a cookie sheet and broil until the cheese melts.




Enjoy!  I didn't go to the store to grab any of the ingredients (tried to use only what I had on hand), but if I were to make it again (I plan on it) then I would swap the sesame bun for ciabatta and add fresh basil to the finished burger.  I can't get over how moist and delicious these burgers were.... if you give it a try please let me know what you think!

Turkey Marinara Burger
Alyssa's Two Bites, April 2011

Ingredients:
1 package Jenny-O 93/7 Lean Ground Turkey meat
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped or squeezed from tube (tubes can be found in produce section near packaged fresh herbs)
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. roasted garlic (used the jarred roasted garlic you can find in the produce section, I would substitute with fresh garlic or garlic powder if needed)
1/2 tsp. red pepper flake
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 egg
1/3 cup bread crumbs (I used Panko)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 jar Marinara sauce (I used Barilla classic marinara)
4 ciabatta buns (or one loaf of ciabatta cut into four slices to make buns)
Mozzarella cheese (2 slices per burger)
Fresh Basil

Directions:
1. Combine ground turkey, all seasonings, egg, and bread crumbs.  Shape into four burger patties.
2. Heat olive oil in deep skillet over medium-high heat.  Add burgers and cook 1-2 minutes on each side, until brown.  Once browned on both sides, add entire jar of marinara sauce and lift each burger patty so the burger rests on top of the marinara, but is still covered slightly.  Partially cover and cook for 10 minutes or until internal temperature of turkey burger is 165F.
3. Toast ciabatta and add burger with a couple spoonfuls of marinara.  Top with 2 slices of mozzarella and broil until cheese melts.  Add a couple fresh basil leaves and enjoy!

Blueberry-Almond French Toast Bake

There is nothing like the smell of cinnamon and a sweet french toast bake infusing the house early on a Saturday morning, nothing!  I found this recipe in Ellie Krieger's So Easy cookbook last night and decided it would be the perfect Saturday morning breakfast for my niece Shelby who is 11 years old.  I invited her over for a girls night, to which consisted of making chocolate chip cookies, dance battles on the Kinect, and lots of laughs!  I hope you enjoy this recipe, it's healthy and super easy to make.

Blueberry-Almond French Toast Bake
Ellie Krieger, So Easy, pg. 55

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray
1 whole-wheat baguette (about 18 inches long, 8 ounces), cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups low-fat (1%) milk
8 large eggs
8 large egg whites
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Directions:

Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.  Arrange the bread in a single layer in the baking pan.  Whisk together the milk, eggs, egg whites, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Pour the egg mixture over the bread in the pan, spreading it around so the liquid saturates the bread.  Scatter the blueberries evenly on top.  Sprinkle with the almonds and brown sugar.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.  Preheat the oven to 350F.  Uncover and bake for 50 to 60 minutes.  Serve hot.

Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1 4x3-inch piece

Per Serving:
Calories: 270
Total Fat: 8g (sat 2.5, mono 2, poly .75)
Protein: 16g
Carb: 35g
Fiber: 3g
Cholesterol: 220mg
Sodium: 280mg

Excellent source of: Iodine, Manganese, Protein, Riboflavin, and Selenium
Good source of: Calcium, Fiber, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Vitamin K, Zinc

Shrimp Thai Pasta

I usually try to make a handful of recipes each month out of the Cooking Light magazine and this month I found a recipe for Shrimp Pad Thai.  I didn't have any rice noodles on hand, but decided to substitute with some organic whole wheat fettuccine.  The one thing I recommend is to wait until the water starts boiling to begin making the sauce.  I started the sauce too early which was fine, but you risk overcooking the shrimp if you're not careful.

Heat up a pot of water for the noodles (or pasta).  While the water is heating, combine sugar and the next 4 ingredients (through Siracha) in a small bowl.

Adding the lower-sodium soy sauce...


and fish sauce (and lime juice)...


and Sriracha (my favorite!).


Then, dice up some green onions and mince the garlic (I used a press).  You also need to peel and devein some shrimp.


Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.  Add oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add onion pieces, shrimp, and garlic; stir-fry 2 minutes or until shrimp is almost done.




Then you are supposed to add the cooked noodles, toss to combine, and then add the sauce, but my noodles were still cooking so I added the sauce first (it still tasted great).


Once the noodles are ready, toss with saucy shrimp mixture so all of the noodles get coated.  Transfer to a plate, top with fresh bean sprouts, chopped peanuts, and some thinly sliced fresh basil (which I'm missing) and enjoy!


If you like spicy food then I would probably bump up the amount of Sriracha to your liking.  I've made this a couple of times, bumping up the amount of Sriracha each time and I haven't quite found the perfect amount.  If you decide to make it let me know what you think!

Shrimp Pad Thai
Cooking Light, March 2011 pg. 123

Ingredients:
8 ounces uncooked flat rice noodles (or pad Thai noodles)
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon Sriracha
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup (2-inch) green onion pieces (I chopped mine smaller)
8 ounces peeled and deveined large shrimp
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/4 cup chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil

Directions:
1. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain.
2. While water comes to a boil, combine sugar and next 4 ingredients (through Sriracha) in a small bowl.
3. Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.  Add oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add onion pieces, shrimp, and garlic; stir-fry 2 minutes or until shrimp is almost done.  Add cooked noodles; toss to combine.  Stir in sauce; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly to combine.  Arrange about 1 cup noodle mixture on each of the 4 plates; top each serving with 1/4 cup bean sprouts,1 tablespoon peanuts, and 2 teaspoons basil.

It's a little high on sodium, but for a "take out" style dish, much less than you would actually get from a restaurant. 

Yield: 4 servings
Nutritional Info:

Calories 462
Fat 16.1g (sat 1.6g, mono 9.1g, poly 4.8g)
Protein 15.8g
Carb 64.3g
Fiber 2.6g
Chol 86mg
Iron 3.7mg
Sodium 779mg
Calcium 90mg

Adele's Brownies

While I was in London the week before last, one of the girls I met, Adele, brought in these delicious brownies!  They are super fudgy and easy to make.

I decided to make them for my client's birthday on Friday and everyone who tried them thought they tasted great.  Kyle was less of a fan, but it's probably because they are made with more cocoa powder than normal brownie recipes, so more on the bitter side, but they still taste great.  Enjoy!

First you will need to melt the butter, then add in "caster" sugar which is superfine sugar sold in Britain.  You can either buy the sugar online, use regular granulated sugar (what I did), or you can add sugar to a food processor and process for a few minutes to make it more fine.


Mix, mix, mix...


The add in some vanilla extract...


And some cocoa powder (use a high quality cocoa powder if possible)...


Mix, mix, mix...


Add in the baking powder...


And flour, and mix, mix, mix!


Keep mixing!


Add in the eggs...


And mix until everything is combined.


Add in the chocolate chips and mix again.


Pour into a square baking dish, sprayed with cooking spray or rubbed with butter.


Bake and enjoy (full recipe below)!


Mmmmmmm...!  This picture came out WAY over exposed, so pardon the post production editing (it still looks funny to me, but wanted to share the finished brownie regardless).

The ingredients are in grams, which I don't cook with in the states, but if you go online to Bing and search for "gram conversion" you can see the equivalent in ounces, etc.  I had a scale that measured in grams so I was good to go!

These are so good! Thanks Adele!

Adele's Brownies
Serves 16-20

Ingredients:
250g butter, melted
300g caster sugar
60g flour
80g good quality cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs, beaten (I just added them whole and stirred into the mix and it turned out fine)
200g chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix the melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, baking powder, and flour together.  Then add in the eggs.  The mixture will seem really runny, but don't worry.  Then add in the chocolate chips.  Put into a lined square tin.   Bake in a low oven (160 oC or 325F) for 40 minutes or until cooked through (do the spike test... when it comes out clean they're ready).  Cool and cut into bite sized chunks!

Chocolate Malted Cupcake w/ Dark Chocolate Frosting

Every year our work donates to United Way and kicks off the donation season with a United Way auction.  Different clients, organizations, and people within our work donate items to be a part of the silent / live auctions.  This year I decided to donate two dozen cupcakes for 12 months.  Well...

it ended up raising $120 for United Way.  I was excited to find out that Susan, a girl I work with, won my cupcake package.  It makes my life super easy because I can just bring the cupcakes to the building I work at (all of us usually work at different client sites).

So here are the December cupcakes -- Malted Chocolate Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting out of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook.  Her recipe calls for vanilla frosting, but Susan and I are both suckers for Chocolate Frosting.  These cupcakes tasted great and retained their moisture, the only downside was I couldn't taste the malted milk powder (you know, that malt milkshake taste?).  I'm not sure if it's because I used chocolate frosting or what.  Regardless they tasted great and Susan was pleased.

My recommendation is to stick with the Devil's Food cupcakes if you want the chocolate taste.  The malted powder didn't stand out like the recipe claimed and the ingredient can be hard to find (usually it can be found in specialty stores like Central Market).

Chocolate Malted Cupcakes
Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook
Makes roughly 28

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powdered
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cup malted milk powder
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
With oven preheated @ 350 Degrees F.

1.Whisk together flour, cocoa, sugars, baking soda & salt. in another bowl, whisk together milk and malted milk powder until dissolve.

2.With mixer on Med- High, beat flour mixture, milk mixture and oil until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well incorporated. Add sour cream and vanilla. Beat until just combined.

3.Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filled half way. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until until cake tester comes out clean or baked about 20 minutes.

Mushroom and Sausage Ragu with Polenta

This budget friendly meal has become an instant favorite in our household.  If I haven't told you already, you need to go buy the October 2010 issue of Cooking Light magazine. 

This dish is relatively quick to make and Kyle loves it because it's really hearty and filling (and only 428 calories/serving).

Mushroom and Sausage Ragu with Polenta
Cooking Light, October 2010 Issue, pg. 210

Cook the polenta while the ragu simmers so everything will be ready and hot at the same time.  Use mild sausage, if you prefer.

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 ounces hot turkey Italian sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 (14.5 ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
2 1/2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked polenta
4 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1 tablespoon butter

1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Remove sausage from casings.  Add sausage to pan; saute 3 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.  Remove sausage from pan.

2. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add onion; saute 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add mushrooms; saute 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add garlic; saute 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Stir in sausage, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and tomatoes; bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium; simmer gently for 15 minutes.

3. Bring broth and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Add polenta, stirring well.  Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 20 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally.  Stir in remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, cheese, and butter.  Serve with sausage mixture.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup polenta and 1 cup ragu)

Nutrition Info:

Calories: 428
Fat: 18.7g (sat 8.4g, mono 8.5g, poly 1.4g)
Protein: 18.2g
Carb: 46g
Fiber: 4.6g
Chol: 53mg
Iron: 3.3mg
Sodium: 821mg
Calcium: 74mg

Enjoy!!

Buffalo Chicken Panini

Kyle and I were both starving tonight and I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner.  I didn't feel like making anything an almost opted for Chinese delivery or pizza delivery or anything delivery for that matter.  Luckily, I came to my senses and decided to make this Buffalo Chicken Panini from the October 2010 issue of Cooking Light.  Kyle had mentioned wanting something spicy so this was the perfect meal.  It also rolls in at 402 calories per sandwich which is even better. 

My only recommendation is to add more hot sauce (if you like it spicy).  The amount in the recipe gave it the buffalo wing taste, but didn't have any heat.

Buffalo Chicken Panini

Cooking Light, October 2010 Issue, pg. 206

1/4 cup hot pepper sauce, divided

1 pound chicken breast tenders

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese

6 tablespoons canola mayonnaise

8 (1-ounce) slices white our sourdough bread

Directions: Preheat broiler; coat broiler pan with cooking spray.  Combine 2 tablespoons hot sauce and chicken in a medium bowl , tossing to coat.  Arrange chicken in a single layer on broiler pan; broil 4 minutes on each side or until done.  Place chicken in a bowl; toss with remaining 2 tablespoons sauce.  Combine cheese and mayonnaise.  Spread 3 tablespoons cheese mixture on each of 4 bread slices; top each with one-forth of the cooked chicken and 1 bread slice.  Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Arrange two sandwiches in pan.  Place a cast-iron or heavy skillet on top of the sandwiches, press gently.  Cook for 3 minutes on each side or until bread is toasted (leave skillet on sandwiches while they cook).  Repeat procedure with remaining 2 sandwiches.  Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich).

Nutrition Info:

Calories: 402

Fat: 16.2g (sat 4.9g, mono 6g, poly 3.5g)

Protein: 32.4g

Carb: 29.1g

Fiber: 3g

Chol: 75mg

Iron: 0.8mg

Sodium: 724mg

Calcium: 100mg