May 26

Spicy Turkey Burgers

Despite my many attempts, my “spiceometer” registers on the extremely mild side. For years I have tried to trick my taste buds into tolerating all the wonders that spicy food has to offer, but atlas, I have had no luck…until I made the spicy turkey burgers, adopted from a Sara Foster recipe.

Aside from bursting with flavor, these burgers require minimal prep and cook time.

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 pound of lean ground turkey meet

1 tablespoon of Greek yogurt

1 cup of bred crumbs

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire or BBQ sauce

1/2 tablespoon of hot sauce of Tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1-2 fresh scallions, chopped into small pieces

6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped thinly

Combine the turkey meat and ingredients into a large bowl and mix with your hands, but be careful to not over mix, otherwise the turkey meat can become dry and tough when its cooked. After thoroughly mixing the ingredients, mold the turkey meat into balls and flatten until you have 6-8 burgers. Then lightly sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the turkey meat for additional flavor. Lie the burgers on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve with pickles and my special sauce (greek yogurt mixed with ketchup) for the perfect summer spicy burger.


May 02
This tofu dish takes plain old bean curd to the next level by combining two flavors that compliment each other extremely well: sweet and sour. Not only is this meal easy to put together, but it can create up to one week of meals aka minimal cooking and clean up time with optimal feeding time. Ingredients: 1 pound of firm or extra firm tofu 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, snow peas and mushrooms 1 cup of ketchup or tomato paste 1/2 cup of honey 1/2 cup of soy sauce 1 tablespoon of minced ginger or a ginger powder 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon grinds for taste 1 teaspoon of minced garlic 1/2 cup of water salt and pepper to taste Mix the ketchup, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, water, garlic and ginger into a bowl. Then cut the tofu into one inch square blocks and mix into the sauce. Let the tofu marinate in the sauce overnight, or for several hours if you can not wait. After marinating the tofu, cut up the peppers, snow peas and mushrooms into thin slices. Sautee the vegetables with olive oil and minced garlic in a deep pan for 5-7 minutes or until the peppers are slightly limp. Add the tofu and the sauce and set the temperature to low and allow the vegetables and tofu to simmer until the tofu is lightly brown or for 10-15 minutes. Serve the sweet and sour tofu over rice or ramen noodles (made without the ramen sauce) and enjoy!

This tofu dish takes plain old bean curd to the next level by combining two flavors that compliment each other extremely well: sweet and sour. Not only is this meal easy to put together, but it can create up to one week of meals aka minimal cooking and clean up time with optimal feeding time.

Ingredients:

1 pound of firm or extra firm tofu

1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, snow peas and mushrooms

1 cup of ketchup or tomato paste

1/2 cup of honey

1/2 cup of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of minced ginger or a ginger powder

1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon grinds for taste

1 teaspoon of minced garlic

1/2 cup of water

salt and pepper to taste

Mix the ketchup, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, water, garlic and ginger into a bowl. Then cut the tofu into one inch square blocks and mix into the sauce. Let the tofu marinate in the sauce overnight, or for several hours if you can not wait. After marinating the tofu, cut up the peppers, snow peas and mushrooms into thin slices. Sautee the vegetables with olive oil and minced garlic in a deep pan for 5-7 minutes or until the peppers are slightly limp. Add the tofu and the sauce and set the temperature to low and allow the vegetables and tofu to simmer until the tofu is lightly brown or for 10-15 minutes.

Serve the sweet and sour tofu over rice or ramen noodles (made without the ramen sauce) and enjoy!