Monthly Archives: January 2012

Spicy Turkey Meat Loaf with Ketchup Topping

A few months ago, I made a meat loaf recipe that I enjoyed so much, I decided right then and there that it would be my go-to meat loaf recipe from here on out.  But, I had this Spicy Turkey Meat Loaf with Ketchup Topping tucked away in my recipe binder so I had to try it out also.  I almost didn’t want to like it because I loved the other recipe so much but oh boy, now I’m torn!

The “spicy” in this meat loaf is from Sriracha, hot chile sauce, which is a staple in my refrigerator.  It’s spiciness creeps up on you but is tamed slightly by the sweetness in the ketchup topping.  Since I’m in love with spicy food lately, I think I uttered “Yum” after every single bite.  The other special ingredient in this meat loaf is mushrooms.  Not only to do they add a low-calorie flavor boost but they also help keep the meat loaf incredibly moist.  I guess it’s better to have two winning meat loaf recipes than to have none at all, right?

Also check out Cheesy Turkey Meat Loaf.

The ingredients:

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat and cook onion, mushrooms, and garlic to pan for 8 minutes.  Remove from heat, place in a large bowl and allow to cool.

Add panko, broth, parsley, soy sauce, Sriracha, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, ground turkey, and egg to the mushroom mixture and mix until just combined.

In a small bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, dry mustard, and nutmeg.

Pat turkey mixture into a loaf pan and top with ketchup mixture.  Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165°F.

Additions:  None

Omissions:

  • Worcestershire sauce

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

 

Curried Chicken Sauté

Either you like curry or you don’t.  I didn’t use to and I admit it was because I didn’t like the smell.  I just assumed I wouldn’t like the spice until I tried it a few years ago.  Now, I crave Indian food and when I’m not sure what to eat, sometimes I’ll just have pasta and vegetables with a red curry sauce.  

This recipe for Curried Chicken Sauté seemed simple enough to make so I was eager to try it.  Chicken breasts are cooked with a simple rub of salt, pepper, and curry powder and then mixed with soft peppers and a creamy curry-coconut milk sauce.  This can either be eaten as a meal itself or over a little bit of rice.  The curry here isn’t overbearing and provides such a pleasant flavor to chicken and vegetables.  If you don’t want to try it, I won’t be offended.  But you never know, if you try it, you just might like it.

The ingredients:

Sprinkle curry powder, salt, and black pepper over chicken (I just put it on one side).

Cook the chicken breasts in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked.

Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.  In the same pan, sauté bell peppers and curry powder for 1 minute.

Add coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for four minutes until slightly thickened.  Add in juice from half of a lime.

Cut chicken into thin slices and add to the peppers and sauce.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Fresh whole peppers for pre-sliced packaged peppers

Overall Rating:  Like It

Spinach-Feta Stuffed Shells

As I mentioned two weeks ago, I can’t stop eating spinach. Maybe my body is needing iron, who knows. I’ve had this recipe for Spinach-Feta Stuffed Shells for quite a while and this seemed like a perfect time to make them. These aren’t quite your traditional stuffed shells because they have cottage cheese and feta instead of ricotta cheese. Using cottage cheese in place of ricotta is nothing new to me because my mom never used ricotta in recipes like this but always used cottage cheese instead. It provides a different texture to these shells which works well with the spinach.

These aren’t overly cheesy which is one thing about them that I like. The tomato-basil feta adds a little bite and the parsley adds a happy freshness but the spinach is the real star of this show. If you are willing to branch out and try something a little different than your normal shells, give these a try. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Also consider Pumpkin-Ricotta Stuffed Shells.

The ingredients:

Cook the shells according to package directions and let cool. In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, feta cheese, parsley, salt, nutmeg, spinach, and garlic.

Pour marinara into a cold large skillet and add the basil.

Spoon the cottage cheese-spinach mixture into cooled shells and set each shell into the marinara sauce.

Move skillet to the stove over medium-high heat. Bring the sauce to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, allowing the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve shells with crumbles of feta and fresh parsley.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

  • Fat-free tomato-basil feta cheese

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

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