Turkey Burger

This is what I made to go along with the baked rosemary fries.

Ingredients 
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried basil

Directions
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Form into 4 patties and grill 4-5 minutes until done.

Rating? 4.5/5
Why? The really lean turkey just doesn't taste the same as beef, but it is healthier and it was pretty good.

Baked Rosemary Fries

Oh my word, this has been a hellacious week. I have never doubted my abilities as a teacher more than I am right now, and I actually searched for "jobs to do with a teaching degree" on google. Turns out, I'm out of luck. At times like this, I have the unfortunate tendency to find comfort in food, which is one of the reasons for this blog. I seem to want burgers and fries, comfort food, when my life just sucks, and these fries are actually quite good, while still being at least better for you than regular fries. Original recipe from Minimalist Baker. 

Ingredients:

4 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes

2 Tlbs olive oil

fresh rosemary, stripped and chopped

salt and pepper

Directions:

Cut the potatoes into roughly similar sized strips. Soak them in warm water for 15 minutes. Take them out and dry them thoroughly using a paper towel or hand towel. Heat the oven to 450. Put the potatoes in a bowl with a tight fitting lid and drizzle them with the 2 Tlbs of oil, and about 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper, then shake thoroughly until potatoes are well coated and salt and pepper is evenly distributed. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil, and spread the potatoes on them in a single layer. Cover with tin foil, then bake for 5 minutes. Take the tin foil off and bake for 15 minutes more. Take the pan out, flip the fries over with a spatula, and put them back in for 10-15 minutes. Watch them carefully, as they will burn quickly. After removing them from the oven, sprinkle with rosemary and more salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. 

I actually drained my fries for about 5 minutes while I got my burger ready because they were a little oily for my taste. But they were pretty good. I have tried making fries before, and these were pretty nice and crispy. Soaking them definitely makes a difference. The rosemary is good too. Minimalist Baker added garlic to hers, but I wasn't feeling up to it, so I left it off. 

Rating: 4/5

Why? It takes 45 minutes to make these, start to finish, so it is a little time consuming, and I don't love heating my oven that high, but they were pretty good. 

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

It has already been well established that I like pumpkin, and fall flavors, and fall in general, so it was only a matter of time before this happened. I saw this post on pinterest, and then another recipe showed up in a friend's instagram feed, and combine that with a clean house and being ALMOST caught up on grading, and well, it will be a happy day at school tomorrow. The recipe was based on the link above, but I did make some changes.

Cookie Ingredients:
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tlbs cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1.75 cup pumpkin puree (1 15 oz can)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Icing Ingredients:
1 8 oz package of neufchatel cheese, at room temp
1 stick of butter at room temp
2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp cinnamon (to taste)

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients (from flour down to cardamom) together in a medium sized bowl. In a large bowl, beat the remaining cookie ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly, mixing just until incorporated. Spoon cookie batter into 2 inch circles on a non-stick pan, making them relatively flat. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes*, then let cool for 1-2 minutes before removing them from the pan. Let them completely cool before frosting. To make the icing, mix the ingredients together and beat until smooth. If the icing is too sticky, add milk, a tsp at a time until the consistency is correct (you should be able to easily spread it without tearing apart the cookies, but not so runny it will all run off). Frost the flat side of  a cookie, then put another cookie on top to make a sandwich. Best served chilled, if you can resist.

*Her recipe said 14 minutes, and another recipe said 12. I have dark non-stick pans, and checked them at 8 minutes, and they were perfectly done. I didn't use evoo. Check on them and test with a toothpick. Doneness will depend on how thick your cookies are, and how hot your oven runs. Like a cake, the cookies should not have any raw material in the middle, and to keep them from burning or getting at all brown on the edges or top.

These are quite delicious. I grew up on chocolate whoopie pies, which are a Mennonite tradition and have been around long before becoming trendy in the last few years. These have a distinctly different flavor, but are still very good. I adjusted the spices from her recipe to intensify the flavor and I really like it. Thank goodness I work with a bunch of teachers, there will be no problem getting rid of these tomorrow. =) One other thing, I ended up with quite a lot of frosting left over. I think I used more than half of the frosting, so I didn't want to cut the recipe in half, but just be aware.

Rating - 4.5/5
Why? Delicious, but multistep processes and a lot of ingredients make it a less than simple recipe.

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

I would like to state that I jumped on the pumpkin bandwagon before it was cool. I don't like pumpkin lattes or stalk pumpkin flavored syrup online, but I do like pumpkins in some things. To me it is so unequivocally the flavor of autumn. I've posted some pumpkin-based recipes before (here, here, and here), but I've not had a lot of chances to bake this year so this is the first pumpkin recipe of the year. I cobbled it together from this recipe (and this one) from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tlbs cinnamon
1/2 tlbs nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tlbs vanilla
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, salt, baking powder and baking soda together and set aside. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugars, applesauce, pumpkin puree, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and fold together, then fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips. Put it in a bread pan that has been sprayed with olive oil and then dusted with flour (trust me, otherwise it will not come out of the pan). Bake it at 350 for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Some notes...At 45 minutes, it was not finished cooking in the middle but was getting really brown on top, so I covered it with some tin foil for the last ten minutes. Also, this is at the top end of my sweetness tolerance, so next time I might cut the sugar to 1/3 cup for each type of sugar.

This was pretty good. Nice and moist, but it is still warm and I need to see what it will be like when it is cool. It smells really good though. The taste of the pumpkin is not very strong, even though I doubled the amount.

Rating: 4.5/5
Why? There are a lot of ingredients in this, but it is good and is a way to eat zucchini, applesauce, and pumpkin. My coworkers will love it.

Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Alfredo

I'm still not sure how I feel about goat cheese, but this type of recipe leans me in a more positive feeling direction. And, it is really, really fast, perfect for days like today when your staff meeting runs long. Original recipe here, but I did make several changes.

Ingredients:
whole wheat linguine*
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
4-5 small cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4-1/2 cup non-fat milk
4 oz herbed goat cheese
2/3 cup grated parmesan
1 jar roasted red peppers, drained
salt and pepper, to taste
1 small jar artichoke hearts**, rinsed and drained
1 cup peas**
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken**

Directions:
Cook the linguine to al dente, drain, and set aside. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a non-stick pan, and saute the garlic and onion for 5 minutes or so. Mix the Greek yogurt and milk together to the texture you want, then add the yogurt mixture and goat cheese to the pan. Turn the heat to low, and toss until everything is smooth and melted. Put the yogurt and onion mixture in the food processor, along with the parmesan and red peppers, but put the pan back on the stove, and turn the heat back up to medium. Saute the peas, artichoke hearts, and chicken for a few minutes while you process the yogurt and onion mixture until it is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste (it took about 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper for me). Toss it with the linguine and artichoke hearts, peas, and chicken, and garnish with basil before serving.

* I used between 1/3 and 1/2 of a box and it was enough for half of this recipe. I like my pasta pretty saucy (ha!), so make more or less as you desire. I am guessing this sauce would freeze really well also.
**these are optional ingredients

I really liked this, and will probably make it again, for several reasons. I think this could be really versatile, for one. It seems like any soft cheese would work well in this recipe, so if goat cheese isn't your thing, try something else. Secondly, you could add any vegetables you like. I bet this would be really good with asparagus. Also, it is really fast. It took me 15 minutes from start to finish (although my chicken was already cooked). In addition, while I really don't use a lot of canned foods anymore, this recipe lends itself to using healthy canned foods like roasted red peppers (a giant pain to make on my own), and asparagus hearts (also a giant pain to access from a raw asparagus). And finally, this is a large recipe, so it would be easy to cut in half, or freeze for later. As is, it made enough for my dinner and probably 3 lunches, and I only used half of the sauce.

Rating: 4.5/5
Why? I think the sauce needed basil, which I guess would make it closer to this red pepper pesto, but I just think it needed something. Next time!!

Vegetable Quinoa Skillet

You know, there really is nothing better than a really easy, vegetarian meal...unless it's a hamburger. I like the idea of vegetarianism, but I don't like it in reality. I'll always like chicken and the occasional hamburger, and you can't have Thanksgiving without turkey, but this little skillet mix is pretty stinking amazing. Original recipe here (warning...very picture heavy post). I didn't know what to call this - skillet, stir-fry, hash, I don't know - but it's good no matter what you call it.

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
1.75 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 small zucchini, cubed
1.5 cups corn
1 cup green onions, chopped
1-2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese
15-20 leaves of basil, chopped

Lemon Vinaigrette:
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1-1.5 Tlbs honey
pinch of salt
1.2 tsp pepper
1 garlic clove, finely minced

Directions:
In a saucepan, combine the quinoa and chicken broth. Bring to boiling and then turn down to low. Let it simmer, covered, for about 25 minutes, until liquid is gone. Set it aside. Meanwhile, in a jar with a lid, mix 2 Tlbs lemon juice, 1 Tlbs lemon zest, honey, salt, pepper, and garlic. Shake well, set aside. Then warm 1 Tlbs of olive oil in a LARGE* skillet on mediumish, add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds or so, until it is fragrant. Then toss in the zucchini, corn, and green onions and saute for another 4-5 minutes. Add the quinoa and half the vinaigrette, and stir for another minute. Then add the tomatoes, feta, basil and the rest of the vinaigrette, and toss in a little bit of salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and let it sit and meld for 5 minutes or so before serving.

*She said in the original recipe to use a large skillet, and she wasn't kidding. This is a HUGE recipe. I could have cut it in half and still had enough for at least two more meals, and as it is, my fridge is full of leftovers. My pan was actually kind of crowded. Cutting it in half would probably serve 3 adults comfortably and might make the stirring process easier. She also had less basil, (but we all know how I feel about my best friend basil...) and recommended fresh corn. I had frozen, and threw it in the pan still frozen, and it turned out fine. She also says this is good cold, I haven't tried it that way.

Holy cow, this is freaking delicious. I really don't like zucchini, but I thought I'd give it a shot, and I love it in this. She originally wrote this as a farmers market recipe, and it really seems like it could be really versatile. Be careful with the salt, though, since the feta is pretty salty it is easy to go overboard. I cut it down in my recipe from the original. The feta is super creamy in this, and really goes well with the lemon. I also am not a fan of lemon zest, but I liked it in this. I highly recommend prepping everything while your quinoa is cooking, as the actual sauteing goes really fast...no more than 10 minutes, start to finish.

Rating: 5/5
Why? Fast, easy, delicious, and healthy. Mmmmm....

Tomato Garbanzo Bean Salad

School starts tomorrow, so I am sad to say goodbye to summer. And by sad, I mean desolated. One of my least favorite things about school is how early we start...I have to be at school  at 6:50 in the morning, which means I have to leave my house no later than 6:15. I do not function well in the mornings, so the last thing I want to do is think about lunch at that ridiculous hour. This will work well for that. Original recipe here.

Ingredients:
1 can garbanzo beans
1 package grape tomatoes
12-15 basil leaves
1 Tlbs red wine vinegar
1 Tlbs apple cider vinegar
2 Tlbs olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic
pinch of salt

Directions:
Rinse and drain the garbanzo beans. Rinse the tomatoes and slice them in half. Chop the basil and add it as well. Mince the garlic. Toss everything together with the vinegar, olive oil, and salt and let it marinate for at least an hour before serving. Serve chilled.

The original recipe called for 1/2 Tlbs of honey, but I forgot to put it in, and liked it just fine without it, so I left it out here as well. 

Rating: 5/5
Why? This was very easy to put together and tasted very delicious and filling.