Posts Tagged ‘ground turkey’
Posted by terrepruitt on February 21, 2018
One of my yoga students gave me a recipe. The title sounded good and as I started reading the ingredients I was thinking it sounded good until I got to the cream of mushroom soup. It just sounded really odd to me to add cream of mushroom soup with the other ingredients. I told her that, but she assured me that it was really good. She said that the dish is a hit whenever she takes it somewhere. She said everyone likes it when she makes it. So, I trusted her. And decided to try it. I am always looking for new recipes to try that are easy. This one looked really easy. It doesn’t have that many ingredients and it had the potential to turn into a staple. So I tried her recipe to Taco Pie.
Since I so often use my blog as my recipe book I am documenting this recipe with some of the changes I made and how I will make it in the future. I will explain below the changes I have (or will make) and why below the recipe.
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Taco Pie
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 of an onion
1 lb ground turkey or ground beef
salt
garlic powder
cumin
12 ounces enchilada sauce
1 bottle taco sauce
20 ounces cream of mushroom soup
1 dozen corn tortillas
2 to 4 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese (or Mexican Cheese)
1 can sliced black olives
Preheat oven to 325° F.
Heat the oil in a large pan. Chop the onion, then add the onion to the pan. Cook until translucent. Add the meat (crumbling it as you cook it or crumble it into the pan). Salt the meat as you cook it. Sprinkle the meat with garlic powder and some cumin. Not a lot (that is why I didn’t even put a measurement), you are just adding a tad bit of flavoring to help layer the flavors, but you still want the sauce mixture to be the star. Cook the meat until it is about half done.
Add the enchilada sauce, the taco sauces, and the cream of mushroom soup. Stir until it is all mixed together with the meat. Bring to a boil. Then let simmer over medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes. Let the sauce flavor the meat.
In a 9X13 baking dish you are going to do layers. First layer is 1/3 of the sauce, then a layer of sprinkled of cheese, the next layer is 6 tortillas to cover the sauce. Then 1/3 of the sauce, a layer of sprinkled of cheese, then six tortillas. Then use the rest of the sauce to cover the tortillas, then cover it with the cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes. Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving. Top with the sliced olives. (If you want the olives cooked then put them on top of the “pie” before baking.)
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I have written before about how I don’t really care for the taste of plain meat. Plain meat to me, is just really not appetizing. So, when I made this recipe I cooked the turkey with chopped onions, as I stated in the recipe. It still was not enough for me. I like layered (or what I call layered) flavors. And to me, the plain meat just tasted plain. It stood out from the sauce. I like everything to meld together. So, the next time I make this I am going to add the spices as I have stated in the recipe.
The original recipe called for two cans of cream of mushroom soup, I used two boxes. That is a difference of four ounces. I did reduce the amount of enchilada sauce by two ounces, but it was still very soupy. All of the meat and sauce leaked out from between the layers and I was just left with stacked tortillas and the sauce on the side. So, next time I am going to reduce the liquids as stated here in the recipe. Not that much, but perhaps with the increased cooking time on the stove top this will help reduce the amount of liquid.
This was really good. As I type it up I am wanting to make it again. Thanks, Judy for this recipe! And as with any recipe it is fun to add and subtract and make it your own. I thought of adding mushrooms – because I love mushrooms – and/or chilies, but I really love the simplicity of this recipe so I doubt I will be adding much to complicate it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to fancy it up.
How does this sound to you? What will you add to it to make it your own?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: cream of mushroom soup, easy dinner, easy recipe, enchilada sauce, ground beef, ground turkey, staple recipe, taco pie, taco sauce, Yoga class, yoga student | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 29, 2017
As you know if you have looked at any of my recipes . . . . I cook with ground turkey a lot. I also cook with onions and garlic – a lot. I just throw stuff together, but primarily flavor it with onions and garlic. I am sure that I have stated this before because it is what I do. Every once in awhile when I branch out . . . I am sure I have posted about it. And, I am sure I have posted about me wanting to use different flavors. I DO use different flavors, but onions and garlic is my default. But the other night I wanted a different flavor. This recipe does contain onions AND garlic, but they are not the predominant flavor. As I was cooking this I had a thought and I think it turned out to be true. My hubby doesn’t like corn-beef hash. Half way through cooking I thought, “Oh no! This is sort of “hash flavored” is he not going to like it?” Well, it was not his favorite. When he likes something he comments on it. I was the only one complementing the chef that night. AND the next night when we had it for leftovers. So while I LOVED this, my hubby was ok with it. So unfortunately this might not become a staple . . . although I will cook it every once in a while.
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Turkey Hash
olive oil
1/4 of an onion
1 pound red skin potatoes
2 teaspoons basil
1 teaspoons parsley
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 C water
1 teaspoon powdered mustard
1 pound ground turkey
1 teaspoons salt
sprinkle of garlic salt
1 green bell pepper
black pepper (optional)
Pour some olive oil in a pan. While the oil is heating chop the onion. Put the onions in the pan, while they are heating cube the potatoes. When the onions are translucent . . . or if you like them a little caramelized, add the potatoes. Stir the potatoes. While they are cooking add the basil, let them cook. Then add the parsley and bay leaf, let them cook some more. Sprinkle the garlic salt on the potatoes. Add the coriander. Cook the potatoes until they start to brown. Then add the water and powdered mustard. Cook until the water evaporates. Brown the potatoes some more, then add the turkey. Add the salt . . . sprinkle on the garlic salt. While all of this is cooking chop the bell pepper. If you like your bell pepper cooked then add it well before the turkey is cooked. If you are like me and you like it raw, then add it when the turkey is pretty much cooked. If you like black pepper, add it.
Serve.
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So, I really liked this, but my hubby not so much. But he is a good sport and he will eat it when I make it. Thankfully he eats pretty much whatever I cook. Whew!
The next night, I added corn to the left overs. That was interesting . . . potatoes and corn. Actually the potatoes were pretty much gone. I liked the different flavor the corn added. I don’t often cook with corn.
Do you like corn-beef hash?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: cooking with coriander, corn-beef hash, corned-beef hash, ground turkey, hash, onions and garlic, turkey | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 23, 2017
I always cook the same thing. If you have read my blog for a bit or looked at the recipe page you can see what I cook. I actually USE my blog for my recipes. I use it for
Cauliflower Cake
Easy Peasy Chicken Enchiladas With Sour Cream Sauce
My First Tomato Sauce Lasagna
A New Recipe To Love – Red Beans and Rice
Chai Tea Latte For Me
Celery Soup
Although I don’t make some of those that often. What I do make all the time is just ground turkey and whatever leafy green (besides lettuce) that we have in the refrigerator. If I have any ricotta in the fridge I might stir that in. Or if I have any cream cheese. That makes it “different.” I would make that at least once a week, if it didn’t drive my hubby batty. But he gets tired of it. I don’t. I haven’t made meatloaf in a long time. But I just made it this past weekend. It used to be that it wouldn’t stay together for nothing. But then I started using less liquid in it. Ya see, I am not a fan of tomato paste or ketchup so I don’t always use it. I usually make it with ground turkey. But this last time I decided to use beef. And while I was in the aisle about to buy some tomato paste I remembered that I had some marinara sauce in the fridge and I thought, “Hey, I can use that.” Here is the basic recipe I use.
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Meatloaf
2 tablespoons of butter, plus enough to grease your loaf pan
1/4 of a large onion
1 lb ground meat (beef or turkey)
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup bread crumbs*
1 large egg
3 tablespoons ketchup**
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
a couple of turns of pepper
soy sauce
cooking cherry
1 green bell pepper
Mince the onion. Heat the butter in a pan then saute the onion. Grease the loaf pan with butter. Heat the oven to 350° F. Put the meat in a large bowl. Finely chop the garlic or use a garlic press. Mix the garlic in with the meat. Then add the bread crumbs and mix well. Add the egg, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. Incorporate it all into the meat. Sprinkle some pepper into the mixture. Mix well. Then use a measuring cup and make a combination of soy sauce and cooking cherry – totalling a 1/2 cup. Pour it into the meat mixture and stir. Mix it in with the meat. Dice the bell pepper then mix it in with the meat. Add the onions. Mix it all together.
Put the mixture into your loaf pan. Spreading it out until it fills the whole pan and is level. Then bake it for about 50 minutes.
Slice and serve.
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It might not stay together . . . mine rarely does. If you like your meatloaf to stay in the loaf shape and you want to be able to slice it, use less liquid.
*in this last batch I used Panko bread crumbs and I really liked that.
**sometimes I use ketchup, sometimes I use tomato sauce. I use whatever I have. I have made it before without any ketchup at all. It works.
I like it with beef, but it could be that I am just used to it with turkey because I think I like it better with turkey.
What is YOUR favorite meatloaf recipe? One with two kinds of meat? Maybe one with sausage?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: cauliflower cake, celery soup, Chai Tea Latte, Chicken Enchiladas with sour cream sauce, ground beef, ground turkey, ground turkey and greens, meatloaf, panko bread crumbs, Red Beans and Rice, Worcestershire Sauce | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 24, 2015
On one of the hottest days of the year, I decided to turn on the oven. Not only that, but I had to turn on the stove first. Sometimes whatever I am making requires one or the other, but this time, I needed both. And it was soooo hot. But this turned out to be pretty good. I can see myself making it again. I liked it.
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Turkey and Polenta Bake
1/4 onion
olive oil, about 1 tablespoon
1 lb ground turkey
1 package taco seasoning*
1 package polenta
large handful of cherry tomatoes
3 cups shredded cheese
Heat the oven to 350° F.
Heat the olive oil in a pan on the stove. Then cook the onion. Then put the turkey in the pan. Let the turkey cook a bit, then add the taco seasoning. You can follow the directions on the package or just sprinkle it all around and cook the meat like that. That is what I do. I don’t add water and all that. Remember that the meat is going to get some additional cooking time in the oven so you might want to under cook it just a tad. But you do what makes you feel comfortable.
While the meat is cooking brush some olive oil in a baking dish. Slice the polenta into rounds. About 1/4 of an inch thick or so. Line the bottom of your baking dish with the polenta rounds. Put the pan in the oven to get the polenta cooking. You can cook it about 10 or 15 minutes or just as long as it takes for the meat to cook.
Slice the tomatoes in half.
When the turkey is ready to your liking, spread it evenly over the polenta rounds in the baking dish. Top the meat with the tomatoes. Just spread them out a bit. Then sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top. Bake until the cheese bubbles, for between 20 and 30 minutes.
I used a really heavy pan when I did this so my cooking times were a bit different and all over the place, but next time I am going to use a less heavy pan and hopefully the polenta will get a little more cooked.
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This is one of those recipes (well, I guess all recipes are, but this one especially) that you can play with. You could use ground beef. You could put in green or red peppers. Maybe some corn or salsa? Anything goes, I think. I am going to add some bell peppers the next time I cook it.
This last picture is to somewhat show you the layer of sliced polenta.
So, I don’t really care for the ingredients in the package seasoning. And the day after I made this (using a package) a fellow blogger posted a recipe for DYI Taco Seasoning. I have not tried it yet, but can’t imagine why it would be good. So, if you don’t want to use the package and you want to try making your own, perhaps give Crafty Coin’s recipes a try. I was so excited to see a “homemade” taco seasoning I totally didn’t see the “spicy” part. Of course, you know I will be leaving out the “spicy”.
What do you think? Do you like polenta? What do you usually make with it?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Crafty Coin, DYI Taco Seasoning, easy recipe, ground beef, ground turkey, homemade taco seasoning, polenta | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 7, 2014
Another quick post. I often have a vague idea of what I am going to cook for dinner then I forget as the day goes on. Either I am teaching Nia, learning a Nia routine, or at the moment going through my mom’s stuff. So I find myself walking into the kitchen and not knowing what to cook. Yesterday I was on the phone with my husband and it was already past starting-dinner-time and I didn’t even know what to make. I had purchased some ground beef but had no plan as to what to do with it and I had forgotten about it. When I looked in the fridge I saw it and the butternut squash I bought. Ooo! Stuffed squash. Actually it is more like Topped Squash. It is somewhat easy . . . except for making space in squash. I was trying to do it in a manner that saved the squash innards for roasting (perhaps you will notice the cut up pieces of squash in the picture). That was the difficult part. Needing so much concentration I forgot to take pictures. I emptied out the small portion where the seeds are (easy), but I wanted more room for meat (not so easy). So I cooked then cut (I would not recommend that). I would recommend just skipping that part and making room using a spoon before baking it.
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Beef Topped Butternut Squash
1 butternut squash
olive oil
1/4 of an onion, chopped
1 lb of beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
1 cup of shredded cheese
Preheat oven to 450° F. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and enough of the insides to make a “boat” in which to place the beef. Coat both sides of each half in olive oil. Salt both sides of each half. Place each half face down on parchment paper on pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
While the squash is roasting, heat the oil and onion. Once the onion is translucent, add the beef. Add the salt and garlic. Cook the beef until it is almost completely cooked. Add the pepper.
When the first 15 minutes are done, turn the squash over and bake for another 15 minutes, salting again, at this time, if that is your preference. After the second 15 minutes of cooking . . . . check the squash. If it seems cooked all the way through, salt it again and then fill each half with the beef and top with shredded cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted.
This is very rich and very filling.
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I didn’t think about how much this was like the stuffed pumpkin I once cooked. Although the stuffed pumpkin was much more “complicated”, as in it had more ingredients and a bit more complex flavors. This was very good, I thought. And since we usually eat ground turkey and not ground beef that much this was very rich. I feel that beef is more “rich” than turkey. It was very good. And, had I not been trying to save the portion of squash that needs to come out to make room for the meat it would have been easy. So if you are not interested in making nice chunks of squash to roast along side the halves this is an easy recipe. And very yummy and rich. Good dietary fiber!
Do you like stuff/topped squash? What would you top yours with?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: baked squash, beef for dinner, Butternut squash, complicated dinner, Diane Bacho, dinner idea, dinner recipe, easy dinner, filling dinner, good fiber, ground beef, ground turkey, melted cheese, Nia, Nia routines, rich dinner, stuffed pumpking, stuffed squash, teaching Nia | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 8, 2014
In a recent post I asked for help with the items I received in my produce box. I received some great ideas. One of them was from a Chef, he is the owner of Burke’s Grill in Douglasville, Georgia. He came up with a great idea to use EVERYTHING in the box in one dish. I never would have thought to do that so I just had to try it. I hope I didn’t ruin his recipe by not having sweet basil. I used marjoram instead. Not the same, but I love it. Also, the wild rice he recommended would have added another layer of flavor but I just used the white rice that I had. His comment of the original idea/recipe is on my post Can’t Come Up With Ideas. Below I have arranged it in more of a recipe format and documented it as I did it.
In his comment he said, “First,this is advice from a chef’s view point. Organize your items from the ground up. Onions, radishes, carrots together. Then chard alone (it’s special). Then kiwis,grapefruit and apples. Now we are cooking.” Oh yeah, now we are cooking. Here is what I did.
Ingredients for Dwight’s Delicious Dinner:
2 white spring onions
2 pippin apples
4 carrots
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 grapefruit
2 radishes
salt
pepper
1/2 – 1 teaspoon marjoram
balsamic vinegar
1 lb (or so) ground turkey
4 HUGE leaves of rainbow chard
white rice (enough to make a “bed”)
two kiwis
Chop the onion. Cut the apples and carrots into bite size pieces and saute in 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil until warm. (You don’t want to cook them too much because they are going to be used as a salsa and as an addition to the meat mixture.) After you are done, split the mixture in half. Half will be the salsa used a a topping. The other half will get added to the meat.
While the above is cooking/warming . . . squeeze the grapefruit for the juice.
I used the same pan to cook the turkey, since the mixture is set aside. Cook the turkey in 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil until almost done. While it is cooking chop the rainbow chard. When the turkey is almost done add the chard. Salt the chard and stir. Cook this until the turkey is fully cooked and the chard is how you want it to be done. 
Add the half of the onion, apple carrot mixture you are not using as salsa. Then, add a sprinkle of grapefruit juice. Only cook for a few minutes.
WHILE the turkey is cooking, mix half of the onion, apple carrot mixture with the two thinly sliced radishes, salt, pepper, and 1/2-1 teaspoon marjoram, and sprinkle of balsamic vinegar. Let that set. Add the grapefruit juice after it has set for a bit. Using as much as you want to get the right bite you would like. I probably just used a tablespoon.
At some point in all of this you need to cook the rice. We have a rice maker so I usually put it on when there is 20 minutes left of cooking. This time I forgot and my hubby came to the rescue.
Also, peel and slice the kiwis.
Once the rice is done and all is done cooking. Put the rice on your plate, spoon the turkey, chard, onion, apple carrot mixture on top of the rice. Then the onion, apple carrot salsa on top of that. Garnish the dish with the kiwis. But be sure to eat the kiwis WITH the turkey/rice/mixture, the flavors blend perfectly. This was a very happy dish.
Something I really needed. So brilliant. I never would have thought to do this. I never would have thought to add all these flavors together. I love that Dwight came up with something that used EVERYTHING in the box that I received.
Thank you so much, Dwight!!!!!!!
So . . . even if you don’t receive a box with all of these items in it . . . I will tell you it is worth it to get to the store and actually purchase these ingredients and make this dish for yourself. It is like a party for dinner.
Well, what do you think?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Burke's Grill, Dwight Burke, grapefruit, ground turkey, http://www.burkesgrill.wordpress.com, marjoram, party in your mouth meal, pippin apples, radishes, rainbow chard, Salsa, spring onions, yummy dinner | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 11, 2013
Ok, the thing about recipes is you sometimes have to adapt them for your family’s tastes, but it is nice to have the idea, ya know the starting point. I love the ease of canned soups, but I have decided to work through my present supply and then no longer use them because I don’t care for the ingredients in them. Yeah, I could just throw them out but I have issues with wasting “food stuffs” and money so I am working my way through what I have. It is taking me a long time too because I keep finding recipes for which I concoct my own “soup” or, like the recipe in this post, not use soup, but still get the creamy soupy taste and texture. The following recipe is from the blog Rantings of an Amateur Chef. If you have not visited the Ranting Chef’s blog, you might want to. It is full of all kinds of recipes. He even has a cooking competition that you might want to participate in. Go check it out . . . . after you read my post first, of course!
I changed the ingredients to work for what we like. I’ve swapped out the Miracle Whip for mayonnaise. We DO NOT like Miracle Whip so that was switched out no doubt. I used the chicken option, as stated in the recipe. I made my own “croutons”. To assist in avoiding some of the “extra” ingredients in store bought croutons. Celery is in a lot of recipes. I don’t know if I have ever mentioned that I do not like celery. If I make this again, I might use celery, but this first time, I used fennel. I know I have mentioned how much I love fennel. Originally I was going to use ground turkey. You may have read a post or two about how much I love ground turkey. I have a Turkey and Fennel recipe. I love the way those two flavors marry. But I decided that if I used turkey in this it would be too much like my other meal so I opted for the chicken.
Original SWISS ‘N TURKEY CASSEROLE from the Ranting Chef
Ingredients:
1 cup Miracle Whip
4 cups chopped cooked turkey (or chicken)
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
2 cups croutons
2 cups sliced celery
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped onion
Directions:
Mix all ingredients. Spoon into 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with croutons if desired. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.
MY version: (this time)
Swiss and Chicken Casserole
Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
4 cups cooked and chopped chicken
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
2 cups croutons
2 HEAPING cups fennel, chopped
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
a few turns of the pepper mill
Directions:
Mix almost all the ingredients together, save some of the cheese for the top, if you want. Spoon the mixture into 2-quart casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Then sprinkle with the remaining cheese and extra croutons if desired. And bake for 20 more minutes.
So this was a really good treat! It really taste like warm chicken salad. I can see myself using less mayonnaise when I make it again or maybe even something else (stayed tuned for THAT post!). Some may argue that casseroles are not a very healthy meal, but to me, it beats fast food and sometimes they are a nice change of pace. Maybe not something you have all the time. And in fact, I will say this is a pretty rich casserole.
Do you like Miracle Whip? Are you a mayo family or a Miracle Whip family?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: canned soup, casseroles. Miracle Whip, celery, fennel, ground turkey, homemade croutons, Ranting Chef's blog, Ranting Chef's cooking competition, Rantings of an Amateur Chef, swiss cheese | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 5, 2013
I had received fennel before in my organic produce box. I didn’t know what to do with it. So I did what I always do with vegetables. I roasted it. It was really good. I was surprised. I might have received it another time after the first, but I am not sure. In my last produce box I received another fennel bulb. I was going to roast it to go with dinner. I had taken some ground turkey out of the freezer to defrost. When I went to cook the fennel I realized I didn’t have anything to cook with the turkey. If I am cooking ground turkey to put in something, like a tortilla, I don’t mind it being just cooked meat. If I don’t have something like that to put it on or in, I liked to add something to it. So I decided to cook the fennel in a pan, then add the turkey to it.
I didn’t have any onions so I used those dehydrated kind. Normally my flavor is onion, as in I use the onion to flavor the dish, but this time I wanted the fennel to do it so I didn’t use a lot of the onion. Had I had a fresh onion I would have used about 1/4 in order to allow the fennel to be the main flavor.
You know I love to cook veggies and ground turkey. It is one of my “staple” menu items. This combination turned out really well.
I didn’t measure as I cooked so I am guesstimating as I type:
Fennel Turkey
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 bulb fennel, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
package of ground turkey
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp season salt
1/2 tsp thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 bunch kale chopped
2 turns of pepper grinder
Pour olive oil in pan along with the chopped fennel and onion. Cook until tender. Add the ground turkey, the garlic salt, the season salt, and the thyme. Stir the fennel and meat while cooking. Add some salt (not all of it). Cook until the turkey is almost done. The idea is to just wilt the kale so make sure the turkey is done enough. Then put the kale in the pan and add the rest of the salt. Cook only until the kale is wilted. Then add the pepper.
We had this for dinner this week. We ate it will pasta. I like linguine. I put my fennel turkey on the side, whereas my husband piled his on top of his pasta.
I really enjoyed the flavor of the fennel. So much so that when I was in the grocery store the next day I almost bought some more. Then I remembered I am going to get more in my produce box this week. Yay! I am happy that I have received a few things I would not have just gone out and purchased. And I am happy that I have learned I do like these things enough to now go out and buy them. Fennel is really good!
Tonight we had the leftovers in a tortilla with cheese. You know me and leftovers! Awesome. Leftovers really help when I have a late Nia class. Currently my evening Nia classes are late, so being able to have dinner on the table within 15 minutes of getting home is necessary. I grilled my tortilla. It was really good. Fennel has a nice flavor.
Have you tried fennel, the vegetable? If you cook it, how do you cook it?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: evening Nia classes, fennel bulb, Fennel Turkey, ground turkey, leftovers, Nia, Nia class, organic produce, quick dinner recipe, roasted vegetables, tortillas | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 21, 2012
As a Nia teacher, my schedule changes a bit sometimes. I had recently added an evening Nia Class to my Nia Class Schedule that just wasn’t getting the attendance I needed in order to keep it going. So sadly there is no longer Nia in Campbell on Monday evenings. The end came rather quickly so the announcement time was short, but sometimes it is better to just rip the bandage off and move on. The opportunity given to cancel the class was wonderfully kind so I took it. You know how I have to cook on Sunday to be ready for Monday. Well, that Sunday’s cooking plan got de-railed because of a party so at the party in my head I was planning on spending my Monday afternoon cooking, but in the wee hours on Monday morning the opportunity arrived to cancel the class. So I actually was able to cook Monday’s dinner on Monday evening. Thankfully there were leftovers, because I was asked to sub for a class on Tuesday. I was still working through my vegetables that I had received. I had received two zucchini. Since I have been out of cucumber I have been putting the zucchini in our salads. I like raw zucchini in salads, but I like it sliced REALLY thin. I had used a half of zucchini for salads. I don’t often buy zucchini because the only way I know how to cook it is to roast it or cook it in a pan where you lay the rounds out in the pan. Then you have to flip each little round to make certain they get brown and yummy on each side. That is a bit too time-consuming for me sometimes. That is how I usually cook it, because I forget about grating it. When I remember I am so happy. Grated zucchini is GREAT!
I don’t remember where I first learned about grating it. But I know the first thing I did with it was mix it with pasta. I am not a big tomato fan. I have never liked tomato based pasta sauces. When I cook pasta it is usually dressed with a little butter and cheese or olive oil and garlic, but not tomato sauce. So one time I grated some zucchini then sautéed it. I tossed it with the cooked pasta and VOILA my husband actually liked it. He is not a big pasta fan so to have him like it was great. As I said I don’t remember when I learned about grating zucchini but it was a long time ago. And I haven’t done it that often since.
Recently I was visiting my mom and she puts slices of zucchini in her salad. So I came home and bought some to put in our salads, which I did, but then I remembered about grating it and I added it to rice. Again, I was reminded of how good that is.
As I was wondering what to cook for dinner Monday night, I was thinking I would use my baby bok choy with the ground turkey I had taken out to defrost on Sunday. But when I took the lone bunch out of the fridge it just seem too lonely to mix with all that turkey. So I decided to use the zucchinis that I had left. As usual, as I was cooking I thought I should take a picture because I will probably post about it, but then I thought, “No, I won’t post about it.” But here I am posting about it because I think that grated zucchini is GREAT (Ok, I like saying that!) and I want to share. I don’t know many people who grate zucchini and add it to things.
So while I was not really that impressed with the entrée overall, I did love the turkey and zucchini. I grilled some corn tortillas and lined a 9X13 baking dish with them. My plan was to cook the turkey and zucchini with my “normal” mix of onions and garlic. I had forgotten until after that I had originally planned to add a bit of Nutritional Yeast for an extra “cheesy” flavor. Half way through cooking I decided to see if we had and taco seasoning. I decided NOT to look at the ingredients on that package and I dumped it in the meat. Then I added the zucchini. Then I thought, “Well this is going to be weird.” Well, I might have ended up being weird, but I liked it. I put the meat on top of the tortillas then put some cheese on top. Part way through I remembered the green onions and the Nutritional Yeast so I threw them on top.
I use my blog as a bit of a recipe book and to remind me of things. With this post about how much I enjoy grated zucchini I am sure that I will remember to use it more often. I might not mix it with taco flavoring but I do love it with pasta and rice. Since it is is so good I am going to experiment with it an other things.
Do you ever grate zucchini? How do you cook it? What do you add it to?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: grated vegetables, ground turkey, Nia, Nia Campbell, Nia class, Nia Class Schedule, Nia Teacher, roasted vegetables, sauteed vegetables, taco flavor, taco seasoning, tomato sauce, zucchini | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 20, 2012
Have you ever heard of Meatless Mondays? I thought about it when I was talking to my Nia student who is about to go vegan. Seems as if we always try to make things sound neat or nice. The double M has a nice ring. MEATLESS MONDAY. It is just a tool that someone thought up to help and encourage people to eliminate meat from their diet. I guess the thought process is that people eat meat every night for dinner so one night would be good to not have meat and why not make it Meatless Monday. I always thought it was just for dinner, but I guess you could have a whole day of non-meat. The reasons for eliminating meat from the diet range from health to environment. We don’t have a meatless Monday in our house. What we have is a oh-snap-I-forgot-to-take-any-meat-out-for-dinner-so-we-aren’t-having-any kind of meatless dinner. Or sometimes I just decide I am not going to cook meat and I figure something else out. We do not have meat every dinner.
Sometimes I just don’t feel like meat. It was a few years after we had been married that my husband gave me the go ahead regarding meatless dinners. I probably was whining about having meat every night and he said he was ok with not having meat for dinner. WAHOOO! That was a happy, happy, happy day for me. Meat for us primarily consists of chicken breast or ground turkey. Yes we do have pork every once in a while. Beef even less often. But actually more than we used to. Just not having to have meat every night was so freeing. Because having that freedom meant to me that we could have less meat. So sometimes we can still have meat but instead of having a piece of chicken each we can split one. Since he is ok with not having meat than having less is ok too, right?
But we do have meatless dinners. Having the added help of quinoa to get a seedy/grainy protein is nice. Because I am not a fan of beans I usually don’t substitute beans for meat. Sometimes I do during the summer when we are having a bean salad, but not always. Sometimes we will just eat soup for dinner. If we are not having soup or bean salad then we are filling up on a ton of veggies.
Tonight we had a green salad, roasted eggplant, and mushrooms with broccoli thrown over pasta. It was pretty good. Between the pasta and the mushrooms I am ok with the amount of protein. We don’t have just pasta every night. (I took pictures because I actually thought, “Hmm, I might blog about this.” And they didn’t come out. I mean my computer is giving me that little question mark in a red box. Hmmm. Oh well. You would have drooled.)
Even though I might be having meatless dinners for other reasons there is still the same benefits that some people are doing it for. It seems as if it is a “movement” and it is for those that truly do eat red meat every night. That is probably why when I first heard about it I didn’t really get it, because we rarely eat red meat and we don’t even eat meat every night. I can see how it can help people that do, although I didn’t know that people did eat red meat every night.
What about you? How often do you eat red meat/beef? Do you eat meat every night? Do you have a Meatless Monday (or one night a week that you plan to not have meat)?
Posted in Food | Tagged: aubergine, bean protein, bean salad, beef, chicken breast, ground turkey, meat substitute, meatless dinner, Meatless Monday, Meatless Monday movement, Nia, Nia student, quinoa, red meat | Leave a Comment »
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