Not Your Normal Turkey Burgers

Today is/was a beautiful day. It was warm. There was a breeze. I got to spend my time outside mowing grass. Perfect day if you ask me.

However, I did stupidly wear a bright fuscia sports bra under my white shirt today. And after an hour of sweating the shirt looks tie-dyed perfectly around the boob area. Perfectly.

I really hope it comes out. I really liked that white shirt.

So, I'm not really a huge red meat fan. I'll chose something else, anything else, over it any day. But sometimes you just want a big juicy burger, because there is nothing like bitting into a burger. At least during the grilling season. I solve my dilemma of hating red meat, but liking burgers by substituting the red meat for turkey or chicken. This recipe is the result of it.

Turkey Burgers

1 lb ground turkey

2 chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped (plus a tblsp of the sauce)

1/2 large red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c feta cheese

1 package frozen spinach, thawed

2 tblsp your favorite grill seasoning

Sauce

1 c greek yogurt

2 tbslp adobo sauce

It couldn't be easier. Just mix all ingredients together until everything is evenly through the meat. You don't want to overwork your meat, so only mix as much as necessary to make sure every bite has all ingredients.

Form into patty size of your choice. But remember they shrink and swell. So, I tend to make small patties but make an indent in the middle so they cook into flat burgers.

Grill 4-5 minutes on high heat to get the grill marks we all know and love. I generally then move mine to lower heat to finish cooking. It will probably take another 5 minutes, depending on patty size.

While the burgers are grilling, mix the greek yogurt and adobo sauce. Let chill until ready to serve.

Let your burger rest a few minutes before serving. Once ready top with yogurt sauce and serve on a toasted bun of your choice. Let me know what you think and what have you substituted for red meat?

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Flank Steak

I spent the entire last evening planting. Keeping up with a large garden is hard work. We have a very short growing season. And this year's growing season seems a little off kilter already. We went from winter straight to summer it seems. One week it was 30 the next 90 degrees; which makes it very hard to plant and maintain things. Try tilling dirt in 90 degree weather or better yet mixing manure or compost. Heat and manure is a deadly combination, I promise. 

So, with all that, dinner had to be simple and done outside on the grill. Warm weather calls for outdoor cooking in my book, especially when you only get to do it a few months out of the year. 

Also, you know what I love?  Great fake out meals. You know, the ones that look like they took hours and seem really impressive, but were super easy to prepare. That is just what this recipe is. Everyone will be impressed, because it looks fancy; but it's totally not. All you need is 5 mins to prepare and a few ingredients. 

This recipe calls for flank steak, so here are a few facts for you to ponder. For the most part flank steaks are all about the same, they range from 1 to 2 pounds in weight and are usually ~12 inches long, ~6 inches wide and an inch thick. They are like this because of their location on the cow. Flank steaks come from behind the rib cage, beneath the loin and in front of the rear legs. They are also a lot leaner than a skirt steak and the muscle composition is very evident. There is a lot to picking the right cut of meat, let alone deciding which flank steak looks the best. In any case, here are a few tips on picking the right flank steak: 

1. make sure the steak is uniform in width to aid in even cooking

2. be sure it has a nice dark red color-closest comparison is probably to a bing cherry (so no brown looking meat)

3. look for marbling or spidery white lines running through it (in general because flank steak is so lean the more marbling the better-it really is what gives your steak flavor when the fat melds into the meat while cooking)

4. last but not least, make sure it does NOT smell! Nobody wants stinky meat! ;)

By the way, I spied this recipe on Family Circle awhile ago, if you want to go check it out and others like it.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Flank Steak

2 lb flank steak

1 15 oz jar roasted red peppers, diced

1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 clove garlic, minced

8 oz feta cheese, chunked

salt and pepper

Flatten your flank steak by pounding it with a meat tenderizer. I also let it sit with a little lemon juice to soften up the muscle. While your steak is resting, mix together red peppers, spinach, garlic and cheese. Sprinkle your steak with salt and pepper and then spread the mixture evenly across as pictured. It would probably be best to leave a 1 inch border, because I had to stuff some of the stuffing back in.

Roll the steak up, pressing tightly as you go. Tie it up in 3 locations using butcher's twine or cotton string. Now salt and pepper the outside as well. Pay attention to the grain of the meat and which way it is running.

Next I seared the outsides of my steak on a 500 degree grill. You need a very hot grill to get a nice sear. Once all sides were nicely seared  I wrapped it up in foil and moved it to the low heat side of my grill. I  let it cook there for 20 mins.

It looks like this when it first comes off the grill, as tempting as it is you need to let it rest for ~10 mins. If you cut into it too soon, all the juices run out.

Slice the steak against the grain and it will look all lovely and beautiful, and like you spent hours preparing this dish.

                           Serve a top a mountain of grilled romaine like so, or anything you've got on hand. 

Just a little fyi, hearts of romaine are amazing grilled. Sounds a little crazy, right? Lettuce? Grilled? I promise, drizzle on some olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and pepper and you've got yourself a tasty side dish. It surprised my entire family, go ahead give it a try and let it surprise yours too. 

Skillet Gnocchi with Spinach and Garbanzo Beans

I haven't always been a healthy eater. I grew up in a meat and potatoes kind of family. Although dinner was always delicious and savory (real soul food if I may), it was not exactly ideal for slimming my waist line. But, as a child, who is really thinking about keeping a flat tummy? I know I wasn't. I'm pretty sure I was more concerned with the latest episode of Gummi Bears and figuring out ways to blame my brothers for my latest shenanigans, which later changed to episodes of 90210 and still figuring out ways to blame my brothers.

Then college rolled around.  College was an eye opener in a lot of respects, but lets just stick to nutrition and save the juicy stuff for another time. I'm pretty sure I just woke up one day looked in the mirror and screamed "Gah!, Crystal you're fat! You need to do something about this TODAY!"

At that point, I was planning on becoming a physician. More than 1/3 of adults are obese (according to the CDC), and really who wants to go to a fat physician and listen to them tell you how your health problems stem from your diet and size, so YOU need to do this, this and this? I hate when the pot calls the kettle black.

Long story short I started to do my homework. I researched healthy diets and exercise plans. I made a lifestyle change. Which brings us to now, 10 years later, ~60lbs thinner.  So, you'll find all kinds of recipes on my blog, but most of them will be on the healthier side. Eating 'clean' seems to be the new fad. I do try to eat that way, but it doesn't always happen. I'm okay with that, and I hope you are too.

Today for dinner I had skillet Gnocchi with Spinach and Garbanzo Beans, which I adapted from Eating Well. The recipe is really rather quite lovely and simple.

What you'll need:

1 box potato gnocchi

1 bag of baby spinach

1-15 oz can garlic fire roasted tomatoes

1-15 oz can garbanzo beans or chick peas

1/2 c water

1/2 handful grated mozzarella cheese

1 handful Parmesan cheese

1 medium onion, sliced

garlic, minced (as much as you want)

salt/pepper

I'm obviously missing a few ingredients in the above photo. Also, don't hate, but I didn't have any fresh Parmesan and only the cheap version of extra virgin olive oil.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and dump in your box of potato gnocchi. I'm sure cheese filled gnocchi would be just as yummy. Saute until they plump and start to brown, as shown.

Remove the gnocchi and add a little more of the olive oil (about a tsp) and the sliced onions. Saute for about 2 mins. Then add the 1/2 c water and garlic. Cover and cook for about 4 mins. or until the onions are soft. I love the smell of sauteed onions and garlic. I used 4 medium sized cloves in this recipe, but only you know your own tastes. Also, I generally season every layer. So, I added some salt and pepper here and then again when I added the other ingredients.

Add the bag of spinach and cook for 2 mins. Spinach is ~91% water so it starts out looking like this.

And ends up looking like this! But stuffed full of antioxidants and cancer-fighting benefits, it's a must in your diet.

 Add the can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (Any kind will do, I just like the extra heat from the fire roasted ones). Add the can of garbanzo beans or chick peas (Again, any sort of bean will do. These just happen to be my favorite). Let simmer for 5 mins. At this point you can add the cheese, a handful of mozzarella and 1/2 handful of Parmesan. I rarely measure things when I cook, especially cheese. Cooking is more art than science, where baking is more science than art. So, for this recipe, do as you generally did in art class, add a little here, add a little there. Taste. Remember, you can always add more, you rarely can take out.

Voila! You have this little potato filled delight. This recipe makes about 6 servings, with about 325 calories/serving. Enjoy!