Super Easy Lettuce Wraps

This is my go-to recipe for a healthy appetizer or snack. I'm currently participating in the Biggest Loser Minnesota Challenge. I'll be snacking on these lettuce wraps multiple times between now and April 15th (the end of this particular challenge).

Ingredients:
1 green bell pepper
1 cup of a white or yellow onion
1 lb lean ground turkey
5 oz of Thai peanut sauce (San-J is highly recommended)
A head of lettuce

Other than the peanut sauce and lettuce, I have the other ingredients in my freezer at all times. Part of me is proud of this, and part of me worries that I'm becoming a food hoarder.

Start by chopping the onion and green pepper.


Saute them on medium heat with a little oil. When the onion starts to get a little brown, add in the ground turkey. Brown the turkey and fold in the onion and pepper.
Add in the peanut sauce and turn the heat to low. Let these ingredients simmer for 5 minutes. If you are using an iron skillet, remove it from the heat.

If you like spicy food, toss in a couple dashes of hot sauce into the meat mixture and stir.

Fill each piece of lettuce with a big spoonful of this mixture and serve! It's really delicious and simple. I think you'll be pleased... Folded like a taco:

Roasted Stuffed Peppers

Looking for the world's easiest, yet impressive, appetizer to bring to your upcoming events?  Or possibly an easy weekday, vegetarian meal?  Or something to bring to a summer picnic?  Oh, AND, it's healthy and gorgeously colorful?

The solution:

Roasted Stuffed Peppers from Epicurious:
4 red bell peppers
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 medium onion
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
3 garlic cloves
about 3 tablespoons olive oil

Start with halfing and seeding your peppers:

And Slicing and Dicing the remaining ingredients into a bowl:

Give it a good mix up and use this mixture to stuff each pepper.

Toss into the over at 475 for about 20 minutes.  If you're bringing them to a party, cook for 10 minutes at home, cover and finish baking at the party.  I couldn't help myself - I ate one of them halfway cooked and it was just as awesome as after they were cooked.  These could be eaten raw or warm or chilled - whatever you prefer. 

After these were done in the oven, I did turn them slightly to drain as they got very juicy. 

Serve as is, or sprinkle with feta. 

CROWD PLEASER!

** recipe discovery, manual labor and ingredients bought by a certain French Sous Chef

Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I think about food, oh, 97% of my day.  In the morning, I am already thinking about lunch... during lunch I am thinking about what I want to eat  for dinner.  Most of the time I dream about things I want to eat, like meatball subs, pad thai, steak and cheeses, etc.  You know, things that I could totally indulge in, except if I did it with any regularity, I would need an entirely new wardrobe.  Gotta stay at fightin' weight!

One afternoon I had a burger craving and the recipe below was born.

Stuffed Turkey Burgers:

• 1 pound ground turkey
• green onion
• onion
• garlic
• soy sauce
• cheese
• egg
• bread crumbs

Start by chopping up some garlic, onion and some green onion.  You don't need much - this will be working into your ground turkey.

BEHOLD!  A mini food processor!  Santa Mom brought me this for Christmas last year and this was, very sadly, the first time I have used it.  I guess I was previously intimidated by it.... looked like a lot of clean up for minimal results.  In fact, this thing's blade had seen more action cutting my finger in moving it all around the last  nine months.  

In went the garlic, onions and soy sauce and down went the button.  AMAZING.  I can't believe I haven't used this thing before.  What a little powerful chopper!  Given my studio size kitchen, with extremely limited counter and cabinet space, this perfectly replaces a much larger food processor.  

Once you've minced and chopped, work into your ground turkey.  Add in some bread crumbs and egg.  These two ingredients will act as a binding agent to keep your burgers from falling apart.  Mix only enough properly mix.  Because of the lower fat count (than beef), ground turkey tends to get tough and dry out in cooking.  Form into very, very thin patties.  I used a spatula to press down and my fingers to properly form the edges.

Transfer your flat turkey patties to a broiler pan.  Cover with your favorite chopped cheese.  I used a manchego.  I love cheese, so I piled mine high.  You stuff a burger by stacking two burgers on top of each other and pinching the edges together, much like you might do a calzone.  Be sure to leave a bit of room around the edge of the burger like I did. 

A cheese free perimeter if you will.  :)

These are the final products - cheese goodness stuffed inside.  Broil on high, with a layer of tin foil covering them.  This will keep the burger tops from over cooking, but allowing them to cook all the way through.  I broiled them covered for 20 minutes, flipped for 10 and broiled them uncovered for another 10 minutes, until golden brown.

These babies went in between some low calorie sandwich thins, a side of steamed asparagus and some relish.  Instant weekday dinner!