Tequila Turkey

Back in the day, I made just about everything posted by Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman. It's all completely non-compliant for me, but if you feel the need for a cheat day, make her steak with blue cheese cream sauce. I made it for myself on my birthday, and it was amazing.

I used to make this dish regularly in its original form with chicken. Now, I substitute turkey and omit the hot peppers, but it still tastes great.

Tequila Lime Turkey (adapted from Tasty Kitchen)

Ingredients

• 3 whole limes, juiced 
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped 
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped 
• 1/2 cup tequila (I used Jose Cuervo)
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil 
• 4-6 boneless, skinless turkey breast fillets

Directions

1. Mix the first 6 ingredients together in a food processor (or chop what needs chopping by hand) and marinade the turkey breasts overnight.
2. When you're ready to cook, fire up your grill and let em rip. And by that, I mean cook for 10 minutes per side.
3. Serve with salsa, pico de gallo, and/or mixed salad. 

Turkey Burgers with Pear Salad

Are you ready for... the Umami Burger?!

It's a meat burger with beautiful Vietnamese flavours. The original recipe can be found here, and I've modified it o make it more BTD friendly. This is not a 100% compliant burger because of the fish sauce (anchovies), but it just tastes so darn good that I can overlook the small deviation from the diet.

As for the original recipe from Bodyrock.tv, I'm not keen on sauces with meat, so I made a pear fruit salad, which really involved grilling pears and pineapple and adding them to a salad of tossed greens and some walnuts.

Ingredients - Burger

• 2 lbs ground turkey (mixed breast and thigh)
• 1-1/2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp honey or agave
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions - Burger

1. Mix all ingredients together and let sit for at least 20 mins. The longer, the better.
2. Form into patties and grill. I grill mine for about 10 mins per side.
3. Serve with salad. What salad? This salad!

Ingredients - Salad

•  2 pears, chopped into large chunks
• 1/2 a pineapple, chopped into large chunks
• small handful of basil and parsley, minced
• drizzle of olive oil
• skewers for grilling

Directions - salad

1.  Combine all ingredients together (except skewers) and let sit for a few minutes.
2. Thread the fruit onto skewers and cook on the grill with your burgers.
3. Combine the grilled fruit with mixed greens, lemon juice and olive oil. Top with walnuts for some crunch. 

Curried Turkey Broccoli Soup

So I was really skeptical about this one, but since it combines a bunch of things I love, I decided to give it a shot.

You know what? It's good! Really good!

And a very pretty colour, don't you agree?

Ingredients

• 1 cup of soy milk
• 1 head broccoli, chopped
• about 1/2 lb of chopped turkey breasts
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• olive oil (about two table spoons)
• 1 cup of crushed walnuts
• 1 medium size bowl of grated carrots
• 1 teaspoon of curry
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• salt

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. When it's good and hot, add the turkey and some salt and sear the outside. We're looking to get it brown, not necessarily cook it all the way through. This should take between 5 and 10 minutes.
2. Remove the turkey to a plate and set aside.
3. In the same skillet, add onion and garlic with a pinch of salt. Let everything cook down for about 5 minutes, then add spices. Let the spices cook for about a minute, then add the broccoli and mix. Let that cook for a minute or two, then add the soy milk.
4. Reduce heat to low and let everything cook uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Turn off the heat and grab your immersion blender and blend til everything is nice and, well, blended. It will look like a mint green smoothie.
6. Add the meat back in and turn the heat back on. Cook on medium for another 5-10 minutes to get everything nicely mixed. Add the lemon juice to give it some zip and check for seasonings.
7. Serve with grated carrots and walnuts for garnish.

Yes, that's a giant bag of red lentils in the background. I lurve me some lentils. :)

Feta-stuffed Turkey

Don't let the title fool you - you're not stuffing an entire turkey with feta, although that would be awesome. No no, this is for stuffing either breasts or thighs - your choice - with a beautiful mixture of feta and goat cheeses and sauteed vegetables. It also works with chicken, if you can eat chicken.

If you're stuffing the breast cavity, just make an incision and create a pocket to fill. Or butterfly the whole thing and roll it up. I made this dish with two turkey thighs, which I rolled, stuffed, trussed, and grilled.

Feta-stuffed Turkey (serves 2 very generously, or serves 2 with leftovers)

Ingredients

Two turkey thighs or breasts, ready for stuffing or rolling
Extra-virgin olive oil for sauteing and coating the outside, so about 1 Tbsp
1/4 of an onion, fine dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
250g (or so) sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp minced parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1-2 oz. goat cheese
1/4 c feta cheese, crumbled
sea salt, to taste

Directions

Preheat your skilled on medium and add a little oil. Saute onions and garlic for about 2 mins, then add mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Let everything cook for about 5 minutes, until mushrooms have released most of their water. Add herbs and cook a minute more, then turn heat to low and add the cheeses. Stir until combined then turn the heat off.

If you have time, let the mixture cool before stuffing the turkey. If you're in a pinch like I was, put the mixture into a metal bowl and stick it in the freezer to cool down quickly.

Hot cheese burns, you know.

Stuff and truss as appropriate, and coat the outside with a little olive oil and a touch of sea salt. Everything inside is pretty salty, so you don't need much.

Cook on a preheated grill for about 18 mins per side. Let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.

You can also cook them in a 350F oven for 30 mins. I recommend searing the sides in olive oil first, then popping them in the oven.