Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Turkey Burgers

This is one of our favorite meals!We like to eat this tasty burger with baked potaoto/sweet potato strips.







Oprah found a new favorite food when she tried this turkey burger at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's private club in Palm Beach. "I believe [it] may be the best turkey burger in the entire world," she says. The Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger will be permanently available at the Trump Bar and Grille in Trump Tower in New York City, open to the public for lunch and dinner. It will also be served during lunch in Chicago at Sixteen, the Trump International Hotel restaurant.


Ingredients:
Serves 6
· 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
· 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
· 3 Granny Smith apples , peeled and diced
· 1/8 cup canola oil
· 4 pounds ground turkey breast
· 2 Tbsp. salt
· 2 Tbsp. black pepper
· 2 tsp. Tabasco® chipotle pepper sauce
· 1 lemon , juiced and grated zest
· 1/2 bunch parsley , finely chopped
· 1/4 cup Major Grey's Chutney , pureed


Sauté the scallions, celery and apples in the canola oil until tender. Let cool.Place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add sautéed items and the remaining ingredients. Shape into eight 8-ounce burgers. Refrigerate for 2 hours.Season the turkey burgers with salt and pepper. Place on a preheated, lightly oiled grill. Grill each side for 7 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked. Let sit for 5 minutes.Serve with a side of Mar-a-Lago Pear Chutney and your favorite toasted bread, pita or hamburger roll. {or make them protein style and wrap it in lettuce!}

Mar-a-Lago Pear Chutney
Ingredients:
Serves 6
· 1 Anjour pear , peeled and diced
· 1/2 tsp. sea salt
· 1 1/2 cups Major Grey's Chutney
· 1/4 cup dried currants or raisins
Preheat oven to 350°.Toss the diced pears with the cinnamon and salt. Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 10 minutes.Cool and mix with the chutney and currants or raisins.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Veggie pizza!



This was one tasty pizza! Who needs meat when you’ve got the following atop your crusty whole wheat pizza dough? (whole wheat pizza dough pre-made from trader joe’s):

½ c trader joes pizza sauce (or whatever you have)
1 c. part skim mozzarella cheese
½ packed cup spinach
½ cup of sliced mushrooms
1 cup of sliced grape tomatoes
2 sliced garlic cloves
5 torn basil leaves
¼ cup of crumbled feta
Sliced red onion, to taste
Oregano, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Roll out dough, sprinkle pizza stone with cornmeal, spread out dough, top with fixins, bake at 350 until cheese is melted and crust is brown.

*makes 8 slices. approx: 197 calories per slice. 29 grams of carb. 6 grams of fat. 8 grams of protein.*

Side salad was quite tasty, as well:
cup of packed Spinach
Tomatoes
Walnuts
Feta
Whatever dressing you have

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Carne Asada

We just had this for Sammy's birthday dinner. You may remember eating it at Jenny's first birthday party and many other family events. Anyway, at Mimi's request, I am sharing it with you.

1 flank steak (1-2 lbs, NOT tenderized)
1 lime, juiced
2-4 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 c oil (vegetable or olive)


2-4 Tablespoons oil
1 small red onion, chopped
fresh cilantro, chopped. about 1/4 cup, use more or less to your taste
1/4 pound each monterey jack and cheddar cheese, shredded


place lime juice, pressed garlic and oil in a one gallon zipper bag. close and mix well. add flank steak. let marinate at room temperature while you preheat the grill for 15 minutes.

cook flank steak over high heat until medium/medium rare, about 5-7 minutes per side (if you like you meat more well done, don't worry. you will cook this more later).

place meat on a plate and cover well with foil. let rest until cool enough to handle (I like to place it in the fridge overnight). cut flank steak into small bite size square-ish pieces, about 1/4 - 1/2 inch.

heat a large skillet over medium high, add oil (it's more traditional and more flavorful to use bacon grease or lard). cook cut meat and onions, stirring occasionally, until onions are melt-y and the meat is heated through. stir in cilantro. add cheeses and stir until melted.


a few notes: if you let the carne asada sit a while on low to medium low heat, the meat's natural juices and the cheese will mix together and make a kind of sauce. Sometimes, I like a cleaner flavor and I omit the cheese.




I love this served with homemade guacamole:

Reserve about 2 teaspoons of the lime juice and 2 tablespoons each of the red onion and cilantro from the carne asada recipe. chop the reserved onions fine (very small). use just the cilantro leaves and chop small.

additional ingredients:
2 ripe avocados
1/2 fresh jalapeno, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
salt

mash one avocado with the onion, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic and pepper until smooth. cut the remaining avocado the large chunks and place in bowl. sprinkle with lime juice and salt to taste. mix lighlty to preserve texture of avocados.