Turkey

White Bean Soup with Kale and Hot Turkey Sausage

When the weather starts to get colder outside, sometimes nothing else will do but a warm bowl of soup.  This White Bean Soup with Kale and Hot Turkey Sausage is hearty, warm, and spicy – just the way I like it.  The original recipe calls for Spanish chorizo but I couldn’t find chicken chorizo in my store (bummer) so I substituted hot turkey sausage.  I cooked the sausage first before beginning and this soup came together pretty quickly.  It wasn’t until I was almost finished making this soup that I realized it’s nearly identical to the Kale, Bean, and Sausage Soup with Parmesan Cheese I made last month.  Since I devoured that soup and discovered I love kale, I knew this soup wouldn’t last long either. 

The ingredients:

Sauté onion and garlic in a pan and cook until soft.  Add in chopped sausage.  (If using chorizo, add chorizo to the pan first and cook for a minute before adding onion and garlic.)

Warm broth in a microwave for 3 minutes and add to the pan with beans.  Bring to a boil. 

Stir in kale and black pepper and cook over medium heat for 6 minutes. 

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Hot turkey sausage for Spanish chorizo

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Cheesy Turkey Meat Loaf

I remember when my mom would say we were having meat loaf for dinner, I’d frown and be disappointed, yet I’d eat it like I was supposed to.  When I think about it though, other than hamburgers, I wasn’t really a big beef person.  I’d much rather have chicken, ham, or pasta than a steak on any given day.  I haven’t eaten beef in about twenty years so I’m pretty used to substituting ground turkey in recipes.  This recipe for Cheesy Turkey Meat Loaf is slightly adapted from the original recipe which called for ground sirloin and is made into individual portions.  Ground turkey has a tendency to become dry so I was a little worried that straight up using it in place of the sirloin wouldn’t be enough to save this meat loaf from heading to dry city.  Boy, was I wrong!  This meat loaf was so moist, juicy, and flavorful that I couldn’t stop eating it!  I added smoked paprika (one of my favorite new spices) to the ketchup on top of the meat loaf and I’m so glad I did.  Instead of cubed cheese, I used shredded cheese because it was what I had on hand but I didn’t really notice it much, not that it mattered.  This meat loaf is loaded with flavor and this recipe is a keeper.

The ingredients:

In a pan coated with cooking spray, cook onion and garlic until soft.

Add cooked onions and garlic to a bowl with ground turkey and all other ingredients except for half of the ketchup.  Mix ingredients together with your hands, careful not to overmix.

Place turkey mixture into a loaf pan or shape into individual loaves as per the recipe.  Pour remaining ketchup (mixed with 1 teaspoon smoked paprika if you like) over the turkey.

Bake in a 425°F oven until a meat thermometer reads 165° or 170° (about 45 minutes).

Additions: 

  • Smoked paprika

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • 93% Lean ground turkey
  • Shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
  • Panko for fresh bread crumbs

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

This past weekend, we got our first snow of the season in the Philadelphia area.  Yes, you read that right…snow!  There is something strange about looking out the window and seeing snow in the foreground and vibrant orange and yellow leaves still on the trees in the background.  The sound of the chilly wind and sharp ice particles hitting my window prompted me to reach for a one pot dish like Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya.  I made this recipe early on Saturday morning while it was still slightly dark out and my house smelled like warm comfort food all morning long.  Smoked sausage is cooked with onion, green pepper, and celery before being simmered with long-grain rice, chicken broth and thyme.  Once the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed, diced tomatoes, cayenne pepper, and cooked chicken are added.  I used smoked turkey sausage with pepper jack cheese in this dish which added another level of heat with the cayenne pepper and was very tasty.  I also used precooked chicken which has become one of my favorite time savers.  I grabbed a warm bowl of this and ate it while I cozied up on the couch with a blanket and watched the unseasonal slushy snow fall.  Hopefully you’ll try this too, only without the snow!

The ingredients:

Cook chopped sausage in canola oil until browned.

Add in celery, onion, green pepper, and garlic. 

Once vegetables are tender, add in rice, water, broth, cayenne, salt, and thyme sprigs.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes until rice is cooked.

When rice is cooked and all the liquid is absorbed, remove the thyme springs and stir in cooked chicken and undrained diced tomatoes.  Cook a few minutes more until chicken and tomatoes are warm.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Smoked turkey sausage
  • Precooked chicken strips

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

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