Curried Turkey

This was a pretty fast, super easy recipe for a filling, flavorful dinner. There is a lot of flexibility to this dish as well, you can change up the ingredients based on what you have in the house! Give it a shot. Oh, and it's a one-pot meal too, so clean up is easy peasy.

Curried Ground Turkey with Potatoes

Start with ground turkey (or chicken, or pork...), brown in a skillet with a small amount of oil. My turkey seemed to release a lot of liquid. Give this a chance to cook off, then add chopped onion, chile, garlic and ginger. Saute for a minute or two to soften the onions. Then add the spices. Curry powder or Garam Masala, coriander, cumin and a small pinch of tumeric. Allow spices to toast, then add broth or water, stir to combine.

Add diced potatoes to the mixture. Add a little extra water if you need, to make sure the potatoes are covered. Cover the skillet and cook until potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the potato. Stir once or twice during that time.

Add some green beans or peas...or other veg would work. Also add diced tomato, canned or fresh. Simmer for 3-5 minutes until the veg are cooked through. These were frozen green beans, so they only needed to heat up. Top with chopped cilantro.

This is a pretty complete meal as is, or you can serve with rice or flat bread. The choice is yours. I loved how easy the meal was. Plenty of good flavor, hearty and filling, and pretty healthy. I only used about 2 teaspoons of olive oil in the whole dish. The turkey was very lean as well.

Curried Ground Turkey with Potatoes
From Simply Recipes

3-4 TB vegetable oil
1 pound ground turkey (thigh meat if you can get it)
1 chopped onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
1-2 chopped fresh red chiles (optional)
A 1-inch piece of peeled ginger, grated fine
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste
1 TB garam masala (or curry powder)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2-4 Roma or other plum tomatoes, diced
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup (loosely packed) chopped cilantro or parsley


1. Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a large pot with a lid. When the oil is hot, add the ground meat, spreading it out over the pan. Try not to crowd the meat (you may need to cook in batches). Cook the meat without stirring, until it begins to brown.

2. Add the chopped onion and chiles. Stir and sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until the onion begins to color a bit. Sprinkle salt over everything.

3. Add the grated ginger and garlic, mix well and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.

4. Mix in the spices, water, and the potatoes. Stir to combine and cover. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

5. When the potatoes are tender, add the diced tomatoes and peas. Mix well and cover the pot. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add salt, if needed, to taste.

6. Right before you serve, mix in the chopped cilantro. Serve alone or with flatbread or white rice.

Serves 4.

Scott's Notes:
*I used only 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil
*There were no red chiles, so I used one jalapeno
*I needed about 1 full cup of water to help the potatoes cook, most of this water evaporates, but you are left with a little "sauce" in the pan
*I used a little extra garam masala and probably 1/8 of a tsp of tumeric
*I used canned diced tomatoes, which I drained, probabaly 1/2 a can. Also used frozen green beans.

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.

Turkey Version

Last night's dinner was another from the new issue of Everyday Food. A year ago, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, inc. purchased the Emeril Lagasse brand from the man himself. An interesting idea...BTW, if anyone wants to buy my brand...for the right price, we can talk.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up, last night's dinner was an Emeril recipe that was in MSLO's Everyday Food. A lighter version of the classic Bolognese Sauce using turkey instead of beef & pork. It was good and I ate a giant plate. But I didn't love it! I'd make it again. It's certainly a great alternative for folks who don't eat red meat or the other white meat, but I felt there was something, I don't know what, but something lacking in the depth of flavor, which I find odd considering the effort we put in to create those flavor layers and depth. This sauce builds on itself, layer after layer, you'll see when you read the recipe. So I find this odd and that something was missing...

Well, let's get started.

The dish starts by using turkey bacon and once crispy and rendered, carrots, onions and celery are added. They chill out for awhile, then you add the ground turkey. Let that cook, then add white wine and garlic. More chilling out.

About half way through the cooking, you add tomato paste and ultimately some chicken broth and some half & half.

Serve with some hearty pasta. But still, something was missing...

Awww, fresh Parmigiano Reggiano.

As I said, it's good, but I think I prefer a more classic Bolognese sauce. (Here is a really great recipe and a fairly good recipe).

Emeril's Turkey Bolognese
(serves 8)

10 slices turkey bacon, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
salt & pepper
2 pounds ground turkey
3/4 cup dry white wine, Sauvignon Blanc
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup chopped parsley

1) In a large, heavy pot cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Add onions, celery and carrots; season with salt & pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 8-10 minutes.

2) Add the turkey; cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, 8-9 minutes. Add the wine and garlic; cook until wine has almost evaporated, 10-15 minutes. Add tomato paste; cooking, stirring occasionlly, until lightly browned, 7-10 minutes.

3) Add broth and half-and-half; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until sauce is thick and creamy, about 30 minutes more.



I cut the recipe in half and intended to have 4 meals/2 evenings of dinner, out of it. I served a little too much last night and then I wanted some for lunch (I've eaten the same thing for lunch all week and need something new!), which left just a wee bit for another meal. So, not quite four full meals, but almost. So this full recipe could serve 6-8 for a big dinner.

Noodles

A week ago, I made my Drunken Thai Noodle recipe. It's pretty tasty, but just not as good as the previous times I made it. I couldn't find the right noodles at the store, which was a total disappointment because I haven't had much trouble in the past. Oh, and the basil was not in the best shape, so there wasn't enough in the recipe. I couldn't get any at Giant...they had every other fresh herb you could think of, but not basil. Always happens. Who is going to be 20 packets of fresh bay leaves?! Anyway, this recipe is very tasty and once you have the ingredients for the sauce in your pantry, it is really affordable and can come together really quick. I like it a touch more saucy, so I usually fib on the higher end of each ingredient amount. I think you can get away with just a 1/2 a pound of the ground meat (too much turkey in this batch, chicken or pork are great options as well).