Ground Turkey & Broccoli with Orzo

  

If you tune in with any regularity, you know that we enjoy using Asian flavors in our cooking endeavors. With this recipe, we wanted to create something healthy, but put a twist on our usual go-to ingredients. We started with this recipe and put our own Amateur Foodies mark on it.

 Here's what you need:
1 lb. ground turkey
1 bag of frozen steamer broccoli
1 lb orzo
2 large cloves of garlic
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
2 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt (for your pasta water)
4 quarts water
1/2 Tbsp-ish black sesame seeds
A few shakes of low sodium soy sauce

Here's what you do:
Mince  the garlic.

Start your pasta water boiling. You want 4 quarts for every pound of orzo.

Drizzle the olive oil in a 12" skillet and heat over medium high heat. Break the ground turkey up with a wooden spoon or mix 'n chop.

Add the fennel and red pepper.

 And, add the garlic.

Let that brown completely, then add the broccoli.

At some point during the above, your water should start boiling. Salt the water and drop the orzo into the pot. Cook for 8-10 minutes.

Let the turkey and broccoli mixture simmer while your orzo cooks. Add the sesame seeds as well.

Once your orzo is cooked to al dente, drain the pasta and return to the same pot.

Scoop in the turkey and broccoli. Stir to combine everything.

Finish off with a few dashes of low-sodium soy sauce.

Enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan

Quite frankly, we were really confused when we realized that we hadn't written a blog about Chicken Parmesan before. We make this all of the time. It's one of our standbys. It's also really easy, which is just one reason it graces our table consistently. The other is it's dang tasty.

Here's what you need:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
2 Tbsp-ish olive oil
1 jar marinara sauce (we didn't make our own red sauce for this one)
1 cup shredded mozzarella (or, if you're thinking about it when you're at the store, get fresh mozzarella and slice it!)
Kosher salt & black pepper

Additional Equipment:
Plastic Wrap
Cooking Spray
Mallet

Here's what you do:
If you're using regular chicken breasts, slice them in half. You're going to want them really thin. We generally use tenders for this because, well, we just do.

Lay down a sheet of plastic wrap and spray a little cooking spray on it. Add a a piece of chicken and then top with another sheet of plastic wrap.

Gently pound the chicken, starting from the center, to flatten the cutlet out to about 1/4" thickness.

Once you get through all your cutlets, set up your breading station.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and heat 2 Tbsp oil in a 12" skillet.

Also, spread the marinara into the bottom of a 9" x 13" baking dish.

Bread the cutlets, then put in the hot oil to brown.

Once crispy on the outsides, put into the marinara sauce. Top with the mozzarella cheese.

Pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes until the cheese melts.

Cook some spaghetti while your chicken is in the oven. Top the spaghetti with a couple of chicken cutlets and spoon sauce over the top.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage

This was a simple weeknight meal for us. If you've read our blog, you'll realize sometimes we get a little complicated. This meal is a little more typical for a hectic week day.

Here's what you need:
1 package Italian Sausages (we used turkey!)
1/2 box of spaghetti (for more people, cook more pasta)
Thaw some of your homemade pasta sauce from the freezer (or if you must, open a jar)
Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp butter
Salt & pepper

Here's what you do:
Over medium heat, place sausages in a high-walled skillet and pour in enough water to go halfway up the sausages. 

Cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Start your pasta water and put your sauce on to re-heat. Once your water starts boiling, salt generously and drop your pasta. Cook to package instructions.

Once the sausages are cooked all the way through, it's time to crisp them up. You can check if they're done by putting a sharp knife into the center of one, and taking a peek. Don't cut the sausage all the way through though! Drain the water from the pan and add a bit of oil. Turn the heat up to medium-high. 

Once they're nice and crispy on the outside, remove from the pan and set aside.

Throw the pasta and sauce in the pan you just cooked the sausages in and add butter and Parmesan cheese.

Give that a minute or two to hang out and let the sauce heat up and pasta absorb some of the sauce.

Now you're ready to eat.

Enjoy!

Grown-Up Ramen

If you've ever been to college, chances are, you've had Ramen noodles. You get a whole meal for just $.33. How can you beat that? 

Well, we've progressed since our poor college days, and we wanted to find a way to elevate the Ramen noodle. Mostly because the salt content in those little packets of seasoning are through the roof! You can buy just the noodles in the International aisle of your grocery store, or you can buy the individual "soup" packages. 

This preparation will be cold. If you want to try it warm, just prepare your onion and dressing before you cook your noodles.

Here's what you need: *Note - the quantities on the dressing are approximate. Use your taste buds. They'll tell you when you have the right mix.

1 package Ramen noodle soup
1 scallion
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 - 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 - 1 Tbsp honey
5-6 drops of Sriracha (more if you like it spicy!)
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt if you need it, but you should get enough salt from the soy

Here's what you do:
First things first, open up the package of Ramen and throw the seasoning packet in the trash. You don't want to be tempted to use it.

Now that that's taken care of, put a sauce pan of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add your noodles and let cook for 3-4 minutes. They cook fast, so don't let them go too long. No one likes mushy noodles.

Pour all of your dressing ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

Your noodles should be done by now, so drain and rinse with cold water to stop them from cooking and cool them down. If you are serving this as a warm noodle dish, just drain and add to your dressing.

Slice up a scallion. We like to cut them diagonally when we're putting this in a salad like this. It's just prettier. You can slice them any way you want, we won't judge you. 

Add your noodles and scallions to the bowl with the dressing and toss to coat everything.

That's it! You're ready to eat.

Enjoy!

Chicken & Pesto Spaghetti Pie

We made a variation of our normal Spaghetti Pie the other day. This version is a bit healthier, since it doesn't have pepperoni or Alfredo sauce.


Here's what you need: 
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast or tenderloins
1/2 box of spaghetti
1/2 cup of pesto (more or less to your taste)
2 cups of shredded mozzarella
Grated Parmesan
1 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt & black pepper


Here's what you do:
Clean your chicken and dice into bite-sized pieces.

Start your water boiling for your spaghetti.


Heat a skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil and the chicken. Coat the chicken with a bit of salt and pepper.

Let that cook until the juices of the chicken run clear. Scoop onto a plate lined with paper towels and set aside.


When your water boils, add your spaghetti and cook to al dente. It will continue cooking in the oven, so you don't want it really mushy.


Drain your pasta and put in a large bowl. Add the pesto and stir to coat thoroughly. If it seems really stiff, add a little olive oil to the pasta as well.

Once coated, put half of the spaghetti mixture in a greased casserole dish.




Add half of the chicken.

Then, add half of the shredded mozzarella. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan over that.

Repeat this process for the second half of the dish.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown.

Enjoy!

Southwestern Noodles

We struggled on what to call this recipe. This is actually just thrown together based off of what is in our pantry most of the time. We only used one pot, which was a nice change of pace for us. We're going to add this to our "week-night meals that don't stink" list.


Here's what you need:
1 lb ground beef (you can substitute ground turkey, chicken or venison)
1 stalk of green garlic (or 1 shallot and 1 clove garlic)
1 can diced tomatoes (get the low-sodium ones!)
1 small can of green chiles
1 can black beans
about 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
about 1/2 cup of light sour cream
Zest & Juice of 1 lime
1/2 box of penne 
Kosher salt & black pepper


Here's what you do:
Start your water boiling for your pasta. Whenever you get to a boil, drop the pasta and cook according to package directions.


Start by browning your ground beef completely in a 12" skillet. 

While that's browning, slice up your green garlic, or garlic/shallot.

Add that to the pan with the browned beef.

Drain your can of tomatoes and add those to the mixture.

Next, add the green chiles.

Rinse your black beans, and dump them into the skillet as well.

Now, add the cumin. We were very precise with the measuring, as you can see.

Let that cook together until your pasta is ready, then dump the pasta in and give it a stir. Be careful, because your pan is going to be quite full at this point.

Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes. Right now, you're just letting all of the flavors combine.

Once that's done, pour into a large bowl, and add the sour cream, lime zest, and lime juice.

Mix to combine everything.

There you have it. This whole process took about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!