Cranberry Peach Turkey Meatballs with Peach and Parsley Yogurt Sauce

I've not been a timely blogger lately (obviously). Namely due to traveling quite a bit and being a busy bee in general, but I will do my best to get back on the blogging bandwagon. Tonight, I wanted something very quick, light and flavorful....and this recipe was born! And, by the way, I'm not a big measuring person (except for when it comes to baking). So I just pull ingredients and put in what feels right....that's probably no real help to all of you "measurers"...but I will try and ballpark how much I used of each ingredient.

Cranberry Peach Turkey Meatballs with Peach and Parsley Yogurt Sauce (and a pesto vegetable stir fry)

INGREDIENTS (for meatballs)

1 lb Ground Lean Turkey Breast

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Sliced Peaches (canned is fine), diced

Dried Cranberries

Minced Garlic

Minced Parsley

Sea Salt

Coarse Ground Pepper

1/2 cup Chicken Broth

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Yogurt Sauce

Plain Greek Yogurt

Juice from Canned Peaches 

Minced Parsley

Sea Salt

Coarse Ground Pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. In a large bowl, mix turkey, 1/3 cup dried cranberries and 1/3 cup diced peaches, Mix well and add 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Add minced garlic and parsley (about 1/8 -1/4 cup each, depending on your preferences), salt and pepper. Form into meatballs. This recipe makes about 8-9 meatballs.

2. In a separate bowl, mix 3/4 cup yogurt, 1/4 cup diced peaches, and parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

3. Place meatballs into heated skillet and turn until browned (about 7 minutes). Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and let meatballs sit in the broth for 7-10 minutes. Meatballs will absorb some of the liquid.

4. Plate and serve with yogurt sauce, and a side of your choosing. 

Serving suggestion: I made mine with stir fried broccoli slaw and sliced summer squash. I added some pesto for flavor and a mild creamy consistency. It was delicious. ENJOY!

Roasted Blackened Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Yogurt Sauce

Ever since I began roasting shrimp, I can barely cook it any other way! It's so quick and easy. I really wanted some tacos the other night,so I whipped up this delicious recipe and created a yogurt sauce that I thought you all might enjoy ....

 CHIPOTLE YOGURT SAUCE

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp adobo sauce
1 squeeze of lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

ROASTED BLACKENED SHRIMP 

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tsp paprika
1.5 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp olive oil






TACO ADORNMENTS 

Flour or corn tortillas
Broccoli slaw
Cilantro
Sliced avocado
Peaches
Cherry tomatoes
Feta or goat cheese

To roast shrimp:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Toss shrimp with olive oil, pepper, oregano, cumin, paprika and garlic.

Place evenly on baking sheet and roast for 5 minutes.

To make chipotle sauce:

Mix all ingredients in separate bowl and set in refrigerator to chill.

To assemble tacos:

Warm tortillas in pan. About 15 seconds on each side or until lightly charred.

Spread chipotle sauce on base of tortilla, then add shrimp. Adorn with other ingredients as you like.

ENJOY!

Easy Turkey Meatballs

As much as I love to cook, there are some weeks that I put off going to the grocery store for days and days....and those are the days I have to get really creative! So, I just returned from a very fun trip to Chicago, but before I left, I was in dire need of groceries...we are talking scrounging through frozen veggies and leftover frozen meat. I did not want to eat out, so I decided to make something out of what I had in the fridge and spice cabinet. And these turkey meatballs were born! 

Turkey meatballs (before baking)

 

Here is the very simple and (quite delicious) recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• Lean ground turkey 
• Minced garlic
• Minced onion
• Crushed red pepper
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp crushed rosemary
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 cups tomato/pasta sauce
• 1 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

A lot of recipes call for eggs, but I did not use eggs. I found that the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese helped to bind, and the tomato sauce helped to moisten.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients and 1 cup of the tomato/pasta sauce. I used Classico Tomato & Basil pasta sauce. Form into 1-inch meatballs. The consistency should be a little sticky (not gooey).

Place meatballs in greased baking dish, and bake for 20-25 minutes. You can check the meatballs around 20 minutes and cut into one of them to make sure the turkey is cooked. 

Serve with the remaining heated pasta sauce and your favorite vegetable. If you are a pasta lover, these would be excellent in a spaghetti or pasta dish. ENJOY!

Rosemary Cauliflower Flatbread

I'm not a big bread eater, but I was really wanting flatbread a few nights ago....so I decided to try my hand at making a flatbread from cauliflower! I had some cauliflower getting lonely in my fridge, so I gave it a turn in the spotlight and it delivered! It was actually quite easy! Here is how it all went down....

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
1 head of cauliflower
3 tbsp dried rosemary
Salt and pepper
3 eggs
1/2 cup almond flour (or whatever flour you choose)

I started with one head of cauliflower, which I chopped and put in a blender until all of the chunks were crumbly. Cauliflower actually holds a bit of water, so you'll want to place the crumbled cauliflower in a cheese cloth (or you can use a thin towel or t-shirt) and squeeze out the liquid. The cauliflower will take on somewhat of a rice consistency. I then mixed the cauliflower with 3 eggs, flour, rosemary, and 1 tsp of salt and pepper. Mix until you get a consistency like this, or if you prefer, you can blend to a smoother consistency.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take a large scoop and spread in a circular shape. Bake at 390F for 12 minutes, then flip the flatbread and bake for an additional 7-10 minutes, or until it is slightly browned. The flatbread should look similar to this when it comes out of the oven (I cut mine in half).


You can add anything you like to top this flatbread! I chose to add sauteed red onions (in balsamic vinegar), avocado, figs and goat cheese. Here is how it turned out....

I encourage you to try it if you are looking for something tasty and unique! Bon appetit!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Several red bell peppers were bought and trashed with the intention of making this recipe (why do they go badly so quickly?!?), but I finally got around to putting something together, and it was quite delightful! Traditional recipes call for rice and ground beef, but I'm not a big eater of either, so I elected to go grain-free, add broccoli slaw and substitute the beef for ground turkey. So, without further ado.... 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

INGREDIENTS (Serves 2)

2 large red bell peppers

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup broccoli slaw

1 cup chopped red onion

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 cups tomato or pasta sauce (I used Classico Tomato and Basil)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp allspice

1/2 pound lean ground turkey

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cut top 1/2 inch off of peppers and discard (or reserve if you want to chop them and add them back in to stuff the pepper. Scoop seeds from the peppers and discard.
3. In large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Add onions, parsley, garlic and broccoli slaw (and chopped red pepper pieces, if you choose). Saute' until onions and broccoli slaw soften, approximately 8 minutes.
4. In separate skillet, season turkey with salt and pepper and brown until cooked thoroughly (the turkey should cook while the veggies are cooking).
5. Add 1 cup tomato/pasta sauce and turkey to the skillet with the veggies. Add paprika and allspice. Stir and simmer on low for 10 minutes.
6. In baking dish, fill pepper cavities with the mixture, and pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers. Sprinkle peppers with Parmesan cheese (to your liking).
7. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes until peppers are tender.
8. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and serve!

Salt and pepper, to taste.

These are great reheated as well! ENJOY!!!

Crab-Stuffed Salmon

I love crab. I love salmon. So why not combine the two?

Prepped salmon fillet (before baking)

Cooked salmon fillet (after baking)

INGREDIENTS

Serves 2

8 oz Lump Crab Meat (you can usually find this already prepared in your grocer’s seafood section...I like blue crab for this recipe)

½ Lemon

¼ c  Minced Garlic

3 Tbsp Parsley, minced

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 Salmon Fillet

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to bake at 400°F.
2. In a small bowl, season crab meat with minced garlic, parsley, the juice of half of a lemon, salt, and pepper.
3. Lengthwise, slice salmon fillet down the center to create room for the crab stuffing.
4. Stuff salmon with crab meat mixture, using about 4oz of crab per salmon fillet.
5. On a baking sheet, bake salmon for 15 minutes at 400°F.
6. Switch to broil, move rack to the top layer, and broil salmon at 500°F for an additional 5 minutes.

Garnish with fresh parsley and lemon....and ENJOY!

The Perfect Lobster Tail

In my opinion, there a few things more savory than a juicy lobster tail! Here is a quick and easy recipe for your repertoire...

INGREDIENTS

1 whole lobster tail 
1/2 tsp ground paprika
Lemon wedge
Ground white pepper, to taste (or black pepper is fine)
Coarse sea salt, to taste
1/4 cup melted butter








DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the broiler to 500F
2. Place lobster tail on a baking sheet. With kitchen shears, cut the lobster tail lengthwise. Pull apart the shell slightly, and season the meat with salt, pepper, paprika and 1/8 cup melted butter.
3. Broil lobster tail until lobster meat is opaque, which is approximately 5-7 minutes (depending on the size of your tail). If you are broiling more than one lobster tail, it may take 7-10 minutes.
4. Before serving, drizzle with remaining butter and the juice of one lemon wedge.

Healthy serving suggestions: Mashed cauliflower, side salad, roasted asparagus...

ENJOY!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Back in May, I went out to California to visit my wonderful gal pal, Rachael (who, actually, was the initial kick-in-the-pants motivator for changing the way I ate over a year ago. Although, it did take me about 6 months to get serious about it). So...THANKS, RACHAEL! Anyhoo...after a long hike in Temescal Canyon (straight uphill...again, thanks Rachael), we dined at this fabulous eatery called  +True Food Kitchen in Santa Monica. The food was creative, fresh and delightful! It is definitely one of my favorite places to eat, and I discovered we had one here in Dallas which was some of the best news I received all year!

Ok, I digress. About a month ago, I wandered over to True Food Kitchen for lunch and chose a spaghetti squash casserole to dine on. WOW! It was really wonderful and I instantly decided that I needed to try and recreate it! And that, I did. Of course, I added a thing or two as I always do, but I highly recommend this very low-calorie, but highly flavorful recipe!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole (garnished with grated parmesan cheese and asian microgreens)

Now, this is not a quick recipe...it will take about an hour to prepare this dish, but the bulk of the time is roasting the spaghetti squash (which takes about 30 minutes). And, I actually skip making my own tomato sauce and just choose a great organic sauce which saves about 20 minutes as well.

Total cooking time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS
1 medium spaghetti squash
5 roasted garlic cloves
1 cup broccoli slaw
4 oz fresh mozzarella
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 jar, organic tomato (or pasta) sauce
Parsley, basil, or microgreen leaves (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut squash in half lengthwise; scoop out seeds. Place with cut side down in a baking dish; Cover and bake at 375° for 20-30 minutes or until it is easily pierced with a fork. When cool enough to handle, scoop out squash, separating the strands with a fork.
2. In the same baking dish, roast garlic cloves (with the squash) for 20 minutes until softened. Once softened, squeeze garlic out of its skin and set aside.
3. Slice mozzarella into small slivers. Set aside.
4. In a skillet, heat tomato sauce with 1 cup of broccoli slaw. Cook and stir for 15 minutes while squash is baking. Simmer on low once broccoli slaw softens.
5. In a large bowl, mix spaghetti squash with roasted garlic, mozzarella, broccoli slaw and tomato sauce. Transfer mixture to an ungreased 1.5 qt. baking dish (I use my Corningware). Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25 minutes until mixture starts to bubble. 
6. Take out of oven, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley, basil leaves, or microgreens.
7. Let stand for several minutes before serving.

As always, ENJOY!

Watermelon, Tomato and Avocado Summer Salad

I wasn't super hungry for lunch today, but wanted to eat something to sustain me until dinner, so I whipped up this fresh summer salad! No cooking involved! 

It's pretty self-explanatory...but here is what I put together:

2 cups watermelon cubes
1/2 sliced avocado
1 cup yellow pear tomatoes

Sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese, garnish with Asian micro greens, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar (optional). 

Light. Nutritious. Delicious. Enjoy!!

20-Minute Deliciousness

I fully planned on eating dinner at a friend's house tonight, but ended up having to get some work done, so I headed home instead...and I hadn't planned dinner. I'm a couple days overdue for a grocery adventure, so I put my thinking cap on, and cooked up this yummy meal in about 20 minutes with some random things in my kitchen! Sometimes you just gotta get creative!

Curry-roasted shrimp, with roasted peach, chayote and basil medley, baked tomato and a peach-basil yogurt dip.

INGREDIENTS

Raw shrimp (if you can get them already deveined, great!)

Peaches (you can get them canned, I won't judge you...but drain the juice out of the can)

Basil leaves

Tomato

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt

Chayote (Mexican squash)...you can use regular summer squash, too...I just think chayote is fantastic!

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp sea salt (or regular salt will be fine)

1/2 tsp ground pepper (I like mine freshly grounded, but you can use the pepper shaker, if you like)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the peach (or use 1/2 canned peach slices -- drain the juice out of the can) and spread the slices on the baking sheet. Sprinkle peaches with 1/4 tsp salt. On the same baking sheet, roast 1/2 tomato and quartered slices of squash (or chayote). Roast peaches, tomato and squash for 14 minutes.
2. In separate bowl, mix shrimp with olive oil, curry powder and the remaining 1/4 tsp of salt. As soon as the peaches, chayote and tomato come out of the oven, set them aside and put the shrimp on the baking sheet, and roast for no longer than 5 minutes.
3. Peach-basil yogurt: put remaining peach slices in blender or food processor with crushed red pepper. Mix blended peach mixture with greek yogurt and chopped basil leaves. Set aside.
4. Once shrimp comes out of the oven, mix chayote and peaches (add a bit of chopped basil), and plate all food (see above picture). Put peach-basil yogurt in a separate dish to dip the curry shrimp in...or you could spread the yogurt over the shrimp...either way, it's yummy.

AND ENJOY!

Much Ado About Scallops

It's no secret I'm a seafood enthusiast. On my 10th birthday, all long-limbed and twiggy, I proceeded to devour 3 lbs of snow crab legs...by myself....with room for more! I've always loved seafood and always will....I think it's the New Englander in me. 

Anyway, one of my Dad's favorite seafood dishes is scallops and I remember him eating them from time to time when I was a kiddo, but I don't think I really tried them until a few years ago. They are delicious! And now, I eat them so much, I'm kind of burned out on them, but they are easy to cook and actually, quite good for you! 

I usually just pan sear them and throw them on top of a salad, but I had some cauliflower and heirloom tomatoes I needed to use, so I whipped up this quick, delicious meal.

Scallops, chili-spiced mashed cauliflower, heirloom tomato and feta salad

The salad is pretty self-explanatory (pick your favorite greens, chop tomato, sprinkle feta and some balsamic vinaigrette, and ta-da! Salad complete! You could add some pine nuts for a little something extra, too)

Cauliflower is actually equally as easy to make! I modified this recipe since I didn't want to use olive oil in my cauliflower, so I added a little zip by adding a tablespoon of some chili-spiced cream cheese I bought for a dinner party a few weeks back.

Broiled scallops are quick and very easy... Turn the broiler on high. Pat your scallops dry, season with coarse sea salt and black pepper and set aside. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to shallow baking dish (I just use my Pyrex) and place scallops in dish. Broil for 5 minutes, flip scallops over and broil for an additional 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika (for color). Serve immediately.

ENJOY! 

Grilled Eggplant Pizzas

I've bought several eggplants over the past few months, and guess what? They all went bad and ended up in the trash after I couldn't decide to what to do with them. Last week, I bought another one and decided today to hop on Pinterest and found this wonderful recipe! 

Here is the version I made on the right: 

I added cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, basil, sunflower greens, crushed red pepper and red onion. It was wonderful! And for once, they are just as pretty as the Pinterest picture (cause we all know how RARE that is)!

The original recipe (see link embedded) called for a grill, but these turned out just fine with a grill pan on the stove top. All in all, the meal took about 20 minutes to make...very easy...and I think I'll make it again tomorrow for lunch, and this time, I'll drizzle some balsamic vinegar on top for an added zip!