Turkey & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Yield: 6 servings

What You'll Need:
For the meat mixture:
1lb ground lean chicken or turkey breast
2 green onion, chopped
1/2 roma tomato, chopped
1/8 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 c. white onion, chopped
3/4 c. white mushrooms, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder (slightly heaping)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp Shaan Tikka Boti spice mix* (optional)
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
1 Tbs. tomato paste

For the quinoa mixture:
3/4 c. quinoa
1 1/2 c. water
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c. black beans
1/2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh lime juice

3 whole red or green bell peppers

What To Do:
Preheat oven to 350º

1) For the chicken mixture:
In a shallow pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute garlic powder in the oil heat, until it begins to turn slightly golden in color. Add in thawed ground meat; stir in remaining spices (i.e. red pepper, salt, cumin seeds, Shaan and lemon pepper). Reduce heat to medium and cook until meat begins to brown (about 4-5 minutes). Stir in all chopped vegetables (tomato, bell pepper, green onion, mushrooms and onion). Cook meat for about 13 minutes, until almost cooked through; stir in tomato paste and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.


2) For the quinoa mixture:
In a shallow pan or frying pan, bring 1 1/2 c. water and 1/8 tsp salt to a boil. Add quinoa, cover pan and reduce heat so that the water simmers (med/med-low heat). Cook for about 20 minutes, or until water is evaporated and the quinoa is cooked through and sprouted. Once the quinoa is cooked, mix in black beans, olive oil and lemon juice.

3) Fold quinoa mixture into the ground meat mixture and set aside.

4) Remove stems and seeds from whole bell peppers and slice lengthwise. Wrap each bell pepper in a separate piece of foil and place in a baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes.

  

Remove from oven and remove each bell pepper from foil wrapper.  Arrange bell pepper halves in the baking dish and fill each bell pepper half with 1/2 c. of the meat/quinoa mixture; pack it in with your hand, if needed.

 

Once bell peppers are stuffed, cover baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until bell peppers are tender. Serve with tomato-less corn salsa (I got mine from Trader Joe's) and a light sprinkle of shredded low-fat mozzarella!

Pan Seared Turkey Burgers

 Yield: 6 servings

What You'll Need:
1 lb ground lean turkey meat
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp hickory flavored liquid smoke
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp carom seeds (a.k.a.- ajwan, ajwain, bishop's weed)
pinch lemon pepper


What To Do:
Mix all ingredients together in medium sized bowl.  Divide into 6 parts, form patties (3/4" to 1" thick).  Lightly spray non-stick frying pan with olive oil, heat over medium/high (closer to medium) heat.  Cook patties for 5 minutes, covered on one side. Flip and cook for 3 minutes uncovered. Cook an additional 2 minutes covered, or until juices are clear and patties are thoroughly cooked. You can reduce the heat to slightly lower than medium, if the patties start to dry up towards the last 2-3 minutes of cooking.

Spinach and Chicken Phyllo Bake

Yield: 8 servings

What You'll Need:
1/2 package Phyllo dough, thawed (about 16-20 full sheets)
1/3 c egg substitute
1/3 c non-fat milk
1 tsp olive oil

For the Meat Mixture:
1lb ground chicken breast or turkey meat, thawed or fresh
1/2 c white onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 large stalk celery, chopped
1/2 tsp Jamaican Jerk seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 c water
1 tsp olive oil

For the Spinach Mixture:
16 c baby spinach
1/2 c low-fat feta cheese
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 c egg substitute
1 tsp dry parsley flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt

What To Do:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.

For Spinach Mixture:
Place spinach in a medium-large pot, add olive oil, parsley flakes, salt and garlic powder. Cook over medium-high heat until tender (approx. 3-4 mins). Add feta cheese and cook until mixed well. Add egg substitute and cook for additional 1-2 minutes, or until cooked, over medium heat. Set aside.

For Meat Mixture:
Heat olive oil in large non-stick frying pan or shallow pot. Saute bell pepper, onion and celery for 2-3 minutes over medium high heat. Add ground chicken (or turkey) meat and all spices and lemon juice; mix well. Reduce heat slightly (between medium and medium-high) and add water. Cook for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked. Add meat mixture to spinach mixture; mix until well blended.

  

  

In a bowl, whip 1/3c egg substitute, 1/3 c non-fat milk and olive oil together, until well blended.  Lightly spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan with olive oil. Layer 10 sheets of phyllo dough, one by one, lightly brush each sheet with egg/milk mixture. Evenly spread spinach/meat mixture over phyllo dough sheets. Continue to layer the remaining sheets of phyllo dough (brushing each sheet with milk/egg mix). Once all sheets have been used, lightly spray the last sheet (one on top) with olive oil. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cut into 8 servings.

  

Nutrition Information is an estimate 
based off of an online tool.

Turkey Meatballs in Spaghetti Sauce

What You'll Need:
1 lb ground turkey breast (you can use ground chicken breast too)
3/4 c. seasoned bread crumbs (I prefer Italian style)
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs crushed black olives
1 Tbs celery, minced
1/4 c. red bell pepper, diced (approximately half of a medium sized one)
1/4 c. egg substitute (such as Egg Beaters)
1 jar spaghetti sauce ( I used Whole Foods brand: Roasted Vegetable)
1 c water


What to Do:
In a large saucepan, heat the spaghetti sauce with 1 c. water over medium-high heat, until mixture begins to boil. While the spaghetti sauce and water are heating, mix all remaining ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.  Once it is well blended, form 25-30 meatballs and carefully drop into the boiling spaghetti sauce.  Reduce heat so sauce cooks at a medium-slow simmer (about medium heat). Cook for approximately 20-25 minutes, stirring and turning meatballs frequently.
*Note: be careful when stirring so the meatballs to not break.  You can also gently shake the saucepan instead of stirring.

Serve over pasta

Tips:
*I prefer either whole wheat pasta, quinoa spaghetti or black bean spaghetti
*To make with tofu instead of meat: omit the egg substitute, saute cubed tofu with 1 tsp olive oil and all spices and vegetables as called for in the recipe for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Simmer sautéed tofu mixture in spaghetti sauce for 15 minutes with 1/4c water.  
*You can also use the meatballs as a tasty sandwich filler