peppers
Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Stuffed Turkey Burgers – 140
Last night was one of those “I can’t decide what I want for dinner” nights. My son, Josh, was visiting so I asked him to decide (this way I don’t have to 😉 ). He said “How about burgers, maybe stuffed with some kind of cheese”? Well…that sounded pretty good.
Of course, if you read my blogs very often, you’ll know that I don’t eat red meat so these burgers would be turkey burgers. I always use 99% fat free ground turkey which can be dry when fully cooked (who wants a rare turkey burger 🙁 ), so I’m always trying out ideas to “kick them up a notch”. I looked in the fridge and found that I had fat-free feta, mozzarella, and cream cheese – a good start; then I noticed that I also had some roasted red peppers from our most recent trip to Whole Foods – that will do it! When the burgers were almost done, I realized that I was out of my favorite sandwich rounds that I usually use in place of buns; but I did have some Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Thin Sliced Bagels – that works!
My son loved them and my husband says they are the best turkey burgers he’s ever tasted….let me know what you all think!
Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Stuffed Turkey Burgers
4 -100% whole wheat thin sliced bagels
1/2 cup fat-free feta cheese crumbles
1/4 cup low-fat mozzarella, shredded
2 Tablespoons fat-free cream cheese
1 medium roasted red pepper, cut into pieces
1 Tablespoon plain fat-free yogurt
1 – 1/4 lbs. 99% fat-free ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried onion flakes
1/2 teaspoon basil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Place the feta, mozzarella, cream cheese, red pepper pieces and the yogurt into a food processor and process until well blended (you might need to add a little more yogurt to get it to all process smoothly). You want to end up with a thick mixture that holds together. Set aside in a small bowl. (This amount made more than I needed for the four burgers, so I set aside the rest of it and spread it on top of the cooked burgers.)
Place the ground turkey in a large bowl, add the garlic powder, onion flakes, basil and vinegar; blend well. Press the mixture into an even ball in the bottom of the bowl; score into four even sections. Take one section at a time and break that into two even pieces, form each piece into a flat patty and place onto a plate. Take a couple of spoons of the cheese filling and spread onto one patty; top with another patty and press the edges together well.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add the stuffed burgers and cook 4 – 6 minutes on each side or until golden brown and cooked through. Top with some of the extra cheese mixture and serve on toasted bagel thins.
Chicken Curry Soup – 142
Last weekend Eric and I went to our favorite book store in Nashville, McKay’s Used Books. It is the best place to spend a few hours, spend very little money and come home with a ton of fun. They have used DVDs, books, audio books, video games, and (Eric’s favorite) vinyl albums. He usually spends the entire time browsing through the albums and I divide my time between DVDs and books.
This particular outing we totally scored. Eric got the Beatles 1962-1966 double album for $9.95 (the most he’s ever spent for an album there), a Bad Company for .50¢, Queen for .68¢, Simon & Garfunkel live in Central Park for $4.95 and several others, . I got a 5 DVD set of a World War II documentary and a 4 DVD set of Elvis movies for less than $10. My best value was two giant, full-color cookbooks from the early 90’s for .25¢ each.
When we got home I immediately started looking for some new recipe ideas (with the Beatles playing in the background, of course). I found so many! I kept turning the pages and finding really interesting ideas. I marked all the pages where I found things I wanted to try and then I went back and looked for something I could make for dinner based on the ingredients I had on hand. I settled on a Curried Soup. As usual, I liked elements of the recipe, but I wanted to “make it my own”. I already had some chicken breast in the fridge and some great fresh organic broccoli from our last trip to Whole Foods. I ended up with a delicious Chicken Curry Soup. I hope you’ll try it and let me know what you think!
Chicken Curry Soup
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 – lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup carrots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, sliced
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
1 medium head broccoli florets
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
5 cups low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth
2 cups cooked brown rice (I use Success brown rice, in a bag – 1 bag = 2 cups)
In a medium skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil over medium heat; add the diced chicken and season with black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of curry powder. Saute until browned and cooked through. Remove from heat and keep warm.
Add carrots, garlic, onion, red pepper, and broccoli to skillet; season with 2 teaspoons curry powder, the coriander and cumin. Saute for 5 – 6 minutes until onion is soft. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes (until veggies are done to your liking – you don’t want them mushy). Stir in the cooked chicken and rice; simmer for an additional few minutes to mingle the flavors. YUM 🙂
Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna – 143
Yesterday Eric and I took a trip to the new Whole Foods that just opened in our area. It’s actually a new location for the Whole Foods that we’ve been visiting for years. Yesterday was the Grand Opening – how could we resist? We made a big list, loaded up the car with our canvas grocery bags and we were on our way!
There was one small crimp in our plan…I had forgotten to write down directions to the new location…ooops 😳 We were almost at the old location when I realized my mistake. Not to worry – I have a GPS and Google Maps on my phone, a couple of wrong turns later and we arrived at our destination. Wow, this place is huge and the parking lot was packed (at 2:00 pm on a Wednesday afternoon – doesn’t anyone work any more?).
The first thing we realized when we walked in was that we had no idea where anything was located. Oh well, they had plenty of samples – fresh strawberries, cantaloupe, cheeses….mmmm. As we made our way around this giant food heaven, I started realizing that our cart had a lot more in it than we had on the list – but how can you resist? The produce is spectacular. I found a huge container of fresh baby spinach and I decided that we were going to cook a vegetarian lasagna for dinner! A few minutes later we arrived at the “Olive Bar” and I saw some beautiful roasted red peppers; another great addition to my lasagna.
Once we arrived at home we had the monumental task of putting away all of this good food and then getting in a P90X workout! We did it, a kick-ass P90X+ Intervals workout, followed by creating a huge pan lasagna, followed by a great bath, followed by eating this amazing creation with a glass of red wine – what a perfect ending to the day 🙂
Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna
1 – 8 oz. box whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions, no salt
1 – 28 oz. can tomato puree (I finally found a large can with no salt – Dei Fratelli brand)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, chopped
6 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 cups fat free cottage (or ricotta) cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fat free feta cheese
1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 egg)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups Mozzarella cheese ( I use 1 cup fat free and 1 cup of regular)
1 large roasted red pepper, sliced into julienne strips
Preheat oven to 375°, spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix the tomato puree, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, and oregano; set aside. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, add onion, garlic, and mushrooms; saute until onion is soft and mushrooms begin to lightly brown, season with basil and oregano. Add in the baby spinach – you’ll need to do this a little at a time. It seems like a ton of spinach, but once it cooks down it’s just right. Once all the spinach has been added and is cooked down; take the pan off the stove and let the mixture cool slightly. In another large bowl mix the cottage cheese, Parmesan, egg, and black pepper; then add in the cooled spinach mixture and blend well.
Now you’re ready to assemble it – put a very thin layer of the puree mixture on the bottom of your prepared 9″ x 13″ pan, followed by a layer of lasagne noodles, spread the noodles with 1/3 of the cheese/spinach mixture, add several strips of roasted red pepper, a layer of Mozzarella – continue until all of the noodles are used up; ending with a last layer of sauce followed by Mozzarella on top. I also added a few last strips of the roasted red pepper on the very top.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 1 hour. Take the foil off and place under the broiler for about 1 minute to lightly brown the top. Now the hardest part – let it sit for at least 15 minutes before cutting into it. 😆
Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Burgers – 145
First I have to apologize for being so behind in my postings! The Tuesday after the Rhett show in Darien, GA I woke up with a terrible cold. This was the first cold I’ve had in almost 3 years and it really kicked my butt. That, coupled with helping Eric launch his new book AND keeping up with website work – I haven’t been cooking many new meals 🙁 On a happy note – Eric’s book was officially published last week – click here to read all about it and get your own copy 🙂
Enough with the excuses – let’s get to the food! I love buffalo anything (think buffalo hot wings, not the big hairy animal that roams 😉 ) – so I came up with this variation of a ground chicken (or turkey) burger, hot buffalo sauce on the outside, stuffed with a creamy blue cheese filling….Amazing!!
Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Burgers
1 lb. 99% fat-free ground chicken (or turkey)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 cup fat-free bleu cheese
4 Tablespoons fat-free cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 cup hot buffalo sauce (I use Frank’s)
Combine the ground chicken, cayenne, chili powder, and garlic powder in a bowl; mix well. Form into 8 very thin burgers; place onto a plate. Combine the bleu cheese, cream cheese, and onion powder in a food processor and blend well. Divide the bleu cheese mixture into 4 equal portions and place onto each of the 4 chicken burgers, place an additional burger on top and squish together well. Heat a skillet to medium-high and spray with butter flavor cooking spray. Place your stuffed burgers into the hot pan and brown well on each side, lower the heat to medium and continue cooking until cooked through (nobody wants a rare chicken burger!). When the burgers are done, pour the hot sauce over the burgers and flip them a couple of times, really coating them well with the sauce. Place onto 100% whole wheat buns (I really like Arnold’s Sandwich Thins). Serve them with some delicious oven roasted “fries” and you’ll be thanking me later!!
Roasted Veggie & Baby Greens Salad – 146
Last weekend I was in Darien, GA with the Rhett Akins band for a concert at the Blessing Of The Fleet. Darien is a beautiful place, I highly recommend a visit if you’re ever in the area. The people were super nice and took great care of us. Our dinner was provided at a local restaurant “Skippers Fish Camp”.
If you read my blog very often, you’ll know that I never eat at restaurants. This was different…it was seafood. Growing up in Kennebunkport, Maine; I took local, fresh seafood for granted. Living in Nashville, I really miss it! The chance to eat some fresh-off-the-boat shrimp was too much too pass up. Still; I had to be careful, I’m just not used to eating “restaurant food”.
I chose the “Sunset Salad” and Eric chose the Sweet Georgia Shrimp Platter – Broiled – Large and a one McIntosh Crab Cake. Since restaurant portions are always too big, we decided we would share. We each had a half crab cake, a half of the salad, and I got about 1/3 of the shrimp ( 🙂 ). It did taste delicious and the salad was a combination of warm roasted veggies and baby greens. The only problem was that it was still restaurant food and about an hour later I had a major belly ache and was regretting not just bringing my own food and buying some fresh shrimp to take home 🙁
The bright spot (aside from the concert – which was awesome – check out Eric’s blog about it) was that I got a great idea for a new recipe – I hope you’ll love it as much as I do!
Roasted Veggie & Baby Greens Salad
1 large red pepper, julienne sliced
3/4 cup sweet onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
4 cups mixed baby greens
1/4 cup low-fat feta cheese
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 375°. Line a baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Place peppers, onion, and garlic into a bowl, add the olive oil and mix well. Place pepper mixture onto baking pan and roast for 20 minutes, turn heat up to 425° and roast for an additional 8 – 10 minutes (watch it so the garlic doesn’t burn).
Meanwhile, place the baby greens and feta cheese into your salad or mixing bowl. In a small container blend the 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil oregano, garlic powder and black pepper. Mix the dressing into the greens. Divide into two plates or bowls. When the peppers are finished roasting, place them on top of the salad. You’re done!! Yum, yum 😉
Pasta Sauce – 147
Last week a friend of mine posted a comment on Facebook that she was cooking a big “gravy” (apparently that is Italian for “sauce”) complete with meatballs and sausage. This sounded pretty good to me, not too healthy ( 🙄 ), but good. Also, since I don’t eat beef or pork I would be leaving that out. I love all types of pasta (again as my friend pointed out – all pasta is actually “macaroni”) and a fresh homemade sauce sounded like dinner! Since I’m Irish/French and Eric is Italian/French and we’re both into eating healthy; this sauce was going to be a combo of Italian/French/Mediterranean/P90X. I prefer my sauce to be more “chunky-saucy” and less “gravy” so my first step was to enlist my favorite prep cook to chop up some veggies. I also don’t add salt or products containing salt (whenever I can avoid it) to anything, so I am forced to use small cans of tomato sauce. It’s a pain and very wasteful. If anyone knows where I can get no-salt added tomato sauce in cans larger than 8 oz. I will give you a free copy of this cookbook when it’s finished!
Pasta Sauce
1 – 1/4 lbs. 99% fat-free ground turkey
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground savory
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup sweet onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon oregano
3/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
4 – 8 oz. cans no-salt added tomato sauce
5 cans no-salt added diced tomatoes
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, season with next 9 ingredients and saute until cooked through and nicely browned. In the meantime, in a very large skillet or dutch oven; heat the remaining Tablespoon of olive oil and add the garlic, onion, mushrooms, and peppers; season with the next 4 ingredients. Saute until the peppers are tender crisp. Add the 4 cans of tomato sauce and 2 cans of the diced tomatoes. Place the remaining 3 cans of tomatoes into a blender or food processor and puree them (if I could buy tomato puree with no salt I could eliminate this step). Add the tomato puree to the veggie mixture and blend. Once the turkey is done, add that to the tomato/veggie mixture and mix well. Turn heat to very low and simmer for as long as you can stand it (the smell will be making you crazy 🙂 ). Cook up some whole wheat “macaroni” (pasta) of your choice and enjoy! This makes a TON of sauce, so for the next week or so I’m making Pizza’s, Lasagna, more pasta….yummy!
Turkey Meatloaf – 152
I love meatloaf, it’s one of those “comfort foods” that makes me think of being a kid. Meatloaf when I was growing up was ground beef and sometimes a mixture of ground beef and pork. My mother usually added a few strips of bacon on the top, because there wasn’t enough meat in there already 🙂 The meatloaf I make now doesn’t resemble that one very much except….let’s see…it’s the same shape and….. it delicious!
Turkey Meatloaf
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow pepper, chopped (any type of pepper will do)
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon basil
2 Tablespoons tomato paste (no salt added)
1/4 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 – 1/4 lb. 99% fat-free ground turkey
3/4 cup oatmeal, uncooked dry
1/4 cup egg substitute
1/3 cup low-fat feta cheese, crumbled
2 Tablespoons low sugar ketchup
Preheat oven to 350°.
In medium saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, peppers, and mushrooms; season with pepper, thyme and basil. Saute until onions and peppers are soft. Add tomato paste, chicken broth and Worcestershire sauce; mix well. Place into a bowl and let it cool slightly. Combine the ground turkey, oatmeal, egg, cheese, and onion mixture; blend well. Place into an 8″ x 4″ loaf pan. Spread ketchup on top. Bake in preheated oven for 50 – 55 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165°.
General Normand Tso’s Chicken – 153
I know, there really is no such person as Normand Tso..sue me! I used to love getting Chinese take out. That is until an hour or so after finishing the food, that’s when some very unpleasant effects would start 🙁 No problem, I’ve conquered Spicy Peanut Noodles and Chicken Teriyaki, why not try the General’s Chicken? I searched on line and in books for some ideas, then combined a few of those ideas with some of my own and a quick pan fry technique instead of deep frying. The taste is very close, it’s pretty easy to make, much cheaper than take out, and a whole lot healthier. Get out your wok, some chopsticks and give it a try!
General Normand Tso’s Chicken
Sauce:
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 Tablespoons water
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup equivalent of Stevia (I use the concentrated version and it comes out to be 1/4 teaspoon)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken brothPut all ingredients into medium bowl; mix well. Set aside
Chicken:
2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup egg substitute
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into large chunks
3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
Veggies:
1 red pepper, julienne sliced
1 yellow pepper, julienne sliced
1 small onion (Vidalia or Red), sliced
1 cup portobello mushrooms, sliced
2 bags Success brown rice, cooked according to package directions (for best results, cook the rice way beforehand and chill; then use the cold rice)
Place soy sauce, egg, cornstarch, pepper flakes, and cayenne in medium bowl; whisk until smooth. Add chicken and coat well. Heat oil in wok (or large skillet) until very hot (but not smoking). Add chicken chunks a few at a time, cook until very brown, turn and cook the other side; remove to a plate that has been lined with paper towels. Continue until all chicken is done. Add all the veggies to the wok and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes, until they are tender-crisp. Pour in “Sauce”; 
cook until thick (if the sauce gets too thick, add a little water). Add chicken back to pan and cook for an additional minute. Add rice and mix well. Serve and enjoy 🙂
Mexican Stir Fry – 161
This is one of my favorite recipes. It’s super fast, really good for you and takes very little time to cook. Of course, having my prep cook (I mean sous chef 🙂 ) chopping up the veggies first is a big help! Even if you don’t have your own sous chef, it’s still a really quick meal to prepare and it makes a ton. You can vary the amounts of spices to make it as hot or mild as you like. We like ours pretty spicy!
At less than 300 calories per serving, you can feel good about pairing it with an icy cold beer (or two)!!
Mexican Stir Fry
1 diced green pepper
1 diced yellow pepper
1 diced orange pepper
½ cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup diced jalapeno peppers
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 – 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, no salt added
2 bags Success Brown Rice, cooked and drained
1 – 15 oz. can low-sodium black beans, drained & rinsed*
1 – 16 oz. can low-sodium chick peas, drained & rinsed*
Sauté the peppers, onion and garlic in a hot wok (or large saute pan) that has been sprayed with non-fat cooking spray. Sprinkle with spices and continue cooking until the veggies are just slightly soft. Add the jalapeno peppers and saute for 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, and let cook over low/med heat for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Serve topped with a sprinkle of Fat Free Cheddar Cheese.
*Variation – when I have leftover Baked Beans (recipe here) I substitute 2 – 3 cups of the leftover beans for the canned beans.