Fast & Low Fat

Super easy, fast, filling, tasty, low fat....why not right?

This recipe came from the blog Simply Recipe. I mentioned ages ago, this was the blog that inspired me to try my hand at food blogging. I'm certainly not as stylish or awesome as Elise, but I really do love what I do.

Give this recipe a shot. In the time it took my rice to cook, the dinner was done.

Ground Turkey with Peppers

I made a few changes to the recipe:

1) I used two types of ground chilies. The recipe calls for Chipotle chile powder. I'm not very fond of Chipotle as the lead flavor, so I substituted ground Ancho chile and ground Chimayo chile. Both were very tasty. I also used 1 tsp of each, doubling the total amount of chile powder. I didn't notice any "heat" from those peppers, so I might even add some Cayenne chile next time as well.

2) Another change was the addition of some chicken broth. The mixture was looking a touch dry as it finished cooking and since I was serving it with rice, I wanted something akin to a sauce, so I added 1 cup of chicken broth and allowed that to simmer until reduced. It added another 2 minutes to cooking. I'm glad I did though. It allowed the mixture to blend in with the rice more.

3) Oil. I only used 1 TB of olive in the very beginning for vegetables. I didn't use any more oil. This wasn't on purpose, I just didn't see the need in adding the additional oil for the turkey. I didn't get the meat very brown, that might be a reason to add it back in. Overall though, I didn't miss it.

4) Onions & Peppers. The recipe called for one bell pepper. That's what you see in the photo above. I think in the future I will use two. I can always use more veg in my diet, so why not. The recipe also called for one cup of chopped onions. I just made that one medium onion, which worked fine.

Mom's Ground Turkey and Peppers
from Simply Recipe

Olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 bell peppers (red or yellow preferred), chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt
1 lb ground turkey, preferably ground turkey thighs
1 tsp chipotle powder or chili powder (or to taste)
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley or cilantro


1. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the chopped onions and bell pepper and cook until onions and peppers are softened, a couple minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more.

2. Push the vegetables to the edge of one side of the pan and position that side of the pan so that it is off the burner, away from the heat. The empty part of the pan should be right over the burner. Add one or two more tablespoons of oil to coat the empty part of the pan. Put crumpled chunks of ground turkey in the pan, sprinkle with salt and chipotle or chili powder.

3 Cook the turkey without stirring until it is browned on one side, then turn the pieces over to brown the other side. Once the turkey is just cooked through, stir in the onions and peppers, and sprinkle with more salt and chili powder to taste. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer and allow to reduce a little bit. Remove from heat. Stir in fresh chopped parsley or cilantro.

Serve alone, or with steamed rice or noodles.