Turkey-Zucchini Burgers

These burgers are based on this recipe that I found on RealSimple.Com. I was pretty skeptical about using grated zucchini in burgers; how could that be good? I was afraid they would turn out like Eddie Murphy's momma's welfare green pepper burgers. However, I decided to go for it, since the recipe had good reviews and I had a zucchini that needed to be eaten. Also, I was strangely attracted to the idea of having all of my meal elements--meat, vegetable, and carb--in one hand-held package.

The burgers turned out to be very tasty--juicy, light, and earthy. Definitely better than the McDonnnnalds!

1 pound ground turkey (I used an 85/15 mix)
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 green onions, minced
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 and 1/2 teaspoons grill seasoning
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Wrap the grated zucchini in the middle of a clean dish towel, and wring out the excess water over the sink.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix lightly but thoroughly with clean hands. Form the mixture into 4 equal patties. You can cook these in a large skillet, grill pan, or over an outdoor grill; being an apartment dweller, I chose the grill pan. I spritzed it with a little nonstick cooking spray and let it warm up for a couple of minutes over high heat. When the pan was sizzling hot, I placed the burgers on the pan's ridges and cooked them for about 6 minutes per side. If you're crazy like me, you can cut one open to make sure they are no longer pink and fully cooked through before eating.

Toast a bun (whole wheat is my preference) and serve the burger clamped inside with whatever burger toppings you choose. I have condiment phobia, so I ate mine plain ; it was very good regardless!

Rating: This is awesome

I found that Pringles Select Honey Chipotle Sweet Potato Chips were the perfect accompaniment to this simple summertime dinner.

Sausage and Mushroom Pizza

Hmm, let's see if I can remember how to do this :-)

I can't make homemade pizza and not think about my father. He was very proud of his pizza, and he used to make it almost every week when I was growing up. He would always make it on a Saturday, starting during the afternoon, which made me think that it was labor-intensive. In truth, this was a really easy weeknight dinner! I used this recipe for a make-ahead dough. With the help of my stand mixer, it came together in under 5 minutes this morning. Even if you don't have a mixer, I think you could still make it in 10 minutes.

I let the dough rise for an hour while I got ready for work and punched it down just before heading out the door. It sat all day in the fridge. When I got home this evening, all I had to do was saute the sausage and mushrooms, roll out the dough, assemble the pizza, and bake it off. Less than 45 minutes after I came in the front door, I had a hot, fresh pizza to chow down!

Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 envelope (1/4 ounce) dry active yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for coating bowl

Pizza
1 pound hot Italian turkey sausage
8 ounces button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup tomato sauce, homemade or jarred
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
Olive oil for drizzling
Sea or kosher salt

Stir the yeast into 3/4 cup of warm water (105 degrees F - 115 degrees F) and let stand until the yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Put the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and pour over the water-yeast mixture. Stir together until the dough is a shaggy mass. Sprinkle a work surface with flour and knead the dough until smooth and springy, about 1 minute. Alternatively, use the paddle attachment on your stand mixer to do the initial mixing, and switch to the dough hook for the kneading.

Lightly coat a medium sized bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover with a dish towel and let rise for an hour. Punch the dough down and transfer it to an airtight container. Leave in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

When you're ready to make the pizza, take the dough out of the fridge. Punch it down again and let it sit while you get everything else ready. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Take the casings off the sausage and place in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, breaking the sausage up into bite sized pieces, until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Place the sausage on a plate and set aside. Warm up a tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet and saute the mushrooms until they release their liquid and turn brown.

Dust a work surface with flour and roll out your pizza dough until it will fit your pan. Drizzle olive oil over the rolled out dough and brush or smooth with your hands over the surface of the dough. Gently place the dough in your pan, oiled side down. You could also spread the olive oil out in your pan first and then flop the dough into it (I can't do this because my pan has holes in the bottom to keep the crust crisp!). Press the dough into the sides of your pan to form a crust.

Spread tomato sauce over the dough with the back side of a spoon and sprinkle with sea salt. Evenly place the sausage, mushrooms, and garlic over the pizza. Top with the mozzarella cheese and basil and scatter over the parmesan cheese for the final touch. Bake for 15 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven. Cut into wedges and serve!



Rating: This is awesome

The great thing about pizza is that you can change it up to totally meet your tastes and what you have in the fridge. The dough is your canvas!

Taco Casserole

Subtitle: In which I put together a bunch of stuff that Wei hates on a night he's not home

Wei has a job that's much cooler than mine, the perks of which include client dinners at Atlanta hot spots from time to time. I spend these nights eating a dinner that he would hate! Hah! Take that, cool job haver! Tonight, I decided to throw together a taco casserole, involving two of his least favorite foods: cheese and black beans. I don't pretend to claim that this is actual Mexican food, by the way; this is my version, based entirely on my tastes! Feel free to vary the spices however you want.

1/2 pound ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3 large flour tortillas
6 tablespoons prepared or homemade salsa
3/4 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I used a Mexican blend)
1 15-ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
Olive oil
Non-stick cooking spray

Warm up a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Throw in the cumin, oregano, and chili powder and stir to coat the onion in the spices. Add the ground turkey and garlic to the skillet and season well with salt and pepper. Turn the heat up and cook until the meat until no longer pink. Take the skillet off the heat and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spritz the inside of an 8-inch square baking pan with the non-stick cooking spray. Lay one tortilla at the bottom of the pan and spread 2 tablespoons of salsa over it. Layer half of the turkey-onion mixture, half of the beans, and 1/4 cup of cheese on top the tortilla. Place another tortilla over the cheese and repeat the layering process with 2 tablespoons of salsa, the rest of the turkey and beans, and 1/4 cup of cheese. Place the last tortilla on top and spread the remaining salsa and cheese over it.

Bake for 20 minutes, until everything is warmed through and the cheese is melted. Take out of the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Cut into big squares and serve. You could garnish with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, chopped cilantro, etc.

Rating: This is awesome

I ate this on the couch while watching Arrested Development - Season One--another thing Wei hates! Best night ever.

Turkey Meatloaf with Mashed Cauliflower

Sorry I missed last night! I ended up going out and didn't cook dinner. I'm going to make the originally planned honey-hoisin pork tenderloin tomorrow night instead.

I devised this dinner as a lighter version of that classic family meal, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I got the recipes from Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition. It turned out really well! The meatloaf was moist and flavorful, and despite acting like I was trying to poison him when he heard what I was making, even Wei enjoyed the cauliflower. Full disclosure: it definitely wasn't as good as mashed potatoes though.

Meatloaf
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground turkey, preferably a mix of white and dark meat
1 large egg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Ketchup or barbecue sauce

Mashed Cauliflower
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Start with the meatloaf first. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onions are soft, about 7 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Pour the onion and garlic into a large bowl, and add the rest of the ingredients except the ketchup/barbecue sauce. Mix well with your hands or a long-handled wooden spoon. Lightly oil a loaf pan or spray with nonstick spray. Add the meatloaf mix to the pan evenly, and give the top of the loaf a retro squiggle of ketchup or barbecue sauce (this wasn't in the original recipe, but I couldn't resist!). Bake until the center feels firm when pressed, 40 to 45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes.

While the meatloaf is cooking, place the cauliflower, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and chicken broth in a large pot and bring up to a simmer. Leave it to simmer until the cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. Add the milk and butter to the pot and mash, or puree in a food processor. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir in the parsley.



Rating: This is awesome
It was a nice, low maintenance Sunday dinner that was still filling and yummy.

Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells

The term "stuffed shells" is frozen in my memory as a nasty school lunch item that was on pretty heavy rotation at my elementary school. Whenever it was on the menu, I would opt for the tragic mini pizzas that were available everyday instead. I saw Giada De Laurentiis make these on her show when I was getting my teeth whitened several months ago for the wedding. I went to one of those fancy places where they zap you with light for an hour. Thankfully, they have little TV's you can watch so you don't go crazy. Her stuffed shells so changed my opinion of stuffed shells that I wanted to go home immediately and make them, despite the fact that I wasn't allowed to eat anything that would stain a white shirt for the next 36 hours.

I forgot about them until I saw the recipe in Everyday Pasta. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be making them again for a while, since Wei and dairy products aren't the best of friends (or fortunately, since this is pretty fatty and it probably shouldn't be eaten all the time!). This is a great "company" dish, since it makes a big pan-ful and is a crowd-pleaser. Giada recommends making a quick, slightly spicy Arrabbiata sauce to use in the dish. I decided to make it since it calls for pancetta and I had some leftover from Monday night's soup. It added a great flavor, but it's not necessary--regular marinara would work just fine!

1 12-ounce box jumbo pasta shells
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pound ground turkey, preferably a mix of white and dark meat
Salt and pepper
1 can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and chopped
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped basil
5 cups Arrabbiata sauce or marinara sauce
1 and 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

For Arrabbiata sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces sliced pancetta, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves
1 jar of store bought marinara or 5 cups homemade

In a large, heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ground turkey, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and continue to cook until the turkey is completely done. Add the artichoke hearts and stir to combine. Put the mixture in a large bowl and let cool.

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta and, if you're using it, get on with the Arrabbiata sauce in the meantime. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan or soup pot over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until it turns deep red and starts to crisp, about 6 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and garlic and saute until tender, about 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low and let it mellow on its own until you're ready to use it.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and partially cook until tender but still very firm, stirring occasionally, 4 or 5 minutes. Drain. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to the turkey mixture. Stir to combine.

Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking dish with 1 cup of the Arrabbiata sauce. Hold a shell in the palm of your hand and stuff it with a large spoonful of the turkey mixture, about 2 tablespoons. Place the stuffed shell in the baking dish. Continue filling the shells until the baking dish is full; you should have about 24 shells. Spoon the remaining Arrabbiata sauce over the shells and top with the grated mozzarella. Bake until the shells are warmed through and the cheese is beginning to brown, about 25 minutes.

Rating: This is awesome
I mean, just look at the picture up there.