Friday, January 21, 2011

meat craving- taco turkey burger with fiesta salad!


Hey all,

Since I'm doing this whole vegetarian two meals a day thing, I noticed I get really intense but semi random meat cravings. So, for that one meal when I indulge in meat, I want to make it count.
Last week I had such a craving for burgers. I really love burgers and I happened to have ground turkey and some select seasonings, and thought it was time to experiment with a taco turkey burger!

Taco Turkey Burger
(this is for two servings, so good for a date or for a relaxed dinner and easy packable lunch the next day)
8 ounces ground turkey- I prefer breast, 93/7
fairly small onion chopped up
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon oil of your choice
1-2 tablespoons chicken stock
1/2 packet of sason
1/2 -1 tablespoon of taco seasoning (depending on how salty and taco-ish you like it)
black pepper to taste

suggestions: serve on toasted sesame seed roll, like I did.
use a bit of black bean and corn salsa AND sliced avocado for that extra awesomeness, like I did.

this is what you do:
1. Mix the above ingredients together. Don't over work the meat. Be extra cool and let this mixture marinate overnight. it'll be a damn good burger if you have patience, but its damn good either way.
2. When you are ready to cook, split meat in half to form two patties. Shape them accordingly (thin if you want it to cook faster, thicker if your buns are...smaller? hehe )
3. Get a pan ready. Get out the big guns cast iron if you have one. If you are poor collegiate kid like me, get out the non stick. Coat with the thinnest, wispiest layer of cooking spray. When pan is moderately hot put that bad boy in.
4. Let the burger sear and cook on the first side for 4 minutes. Flip over and let it cook for 3 minutes on this side. It should be done by now....but if you are paranoid cut it open and check it. Really- you CANNOT eat a turkey burger any less than WELL DONE
5. Toast the buns/roll/starch you will put the burger on. Garnish with the black bean/corn salsa. Cut up an avocado if you are feeling fancy!!!
6. Eat and enjoy...if you feel a bit guilty eat this with a fiesta salad...

Fiesta Salad
your favorite salad mix
black beans (canned is fine, as long as you drain, rinse, and pat dry)
sweet corn
salsa
^mix it together and eat this with something that involves tacos; heck use this as a base and REPLACE the bun you carbophobe!!!!

Tabete,
HK

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

vegetarian in nature: pesto pasta salad


I started this new year by making a promise to not eat obscene amounts of beef (like I do when I go back home and the first meal I request is braised beef shins, but I digress). When I'm here in etown I try to only eat turkey or chicken if I'm going to have meat at all, but I decided to one up myself! Now, I have 2 vegetarian meals a day. So far, so good.

This is my first attempt at a strictly vegetarian meal. It's loaded up on veggies so I'm not tempted to chop up kielbasa or some other cured sausage product and throw it in there, so yes: the vegetable to pasta ratio is like 50:50.

Pesto Pasta Salad
1 1/2 cup fusilli (I went badass and did regular pasta, not whole grain, but I've done the whole grain before and it works the same)
3 tablespoons pesto*
1 tablespoon oil (whatever you like to cook with)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cup vegetable medley of your choice (I did peas, carrots, and sweet corn)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used button but baby bellas would be nice)
1/4 roasted red pepper, diced
*I usually don't do the premade thing but sometimes its just more practical for my collegiate cooking to get things like premade pesto. If you want to make your own, please do! Alas I did not but the end product was still tasty.

Do it:
1. Boil a big ole daddy pot of water for the fusilli. That should be the first thing you do when you make pasta, before you even touch or wash any accoutrement for it. Maximize your utility minimize stove time. Is that my slogan now?
Use your peripheral vision and check to see when water boils. Salt the water liberally and add the fusilli. Cook according to directions on box.
2. While you wait for the water to boil get the vegetable medley ready. For example, if it is frozen, rinse and let drain.
3. Heat up a saute pan with the oil on medium heat. Maybe it's a wives' tale but I don't like to heat up my nonstick with nothing in it; I put the oil in first then that pan on the stove. When the oil is way hot, add the garlic. Let it get brown, obvi don't let it burn but let it get as close as your cooking anxieties allow. This is when you add the vegetables. Saute them around and add salt to taste if you like salt on your food (seriously, some people don't do salt). Transfer vegetables to a vessel of your choice.
4. In this same pan: take a look. Is there residual oil? If so, throw the pan back on the stove and put the mushrooms in! If not, add a few drops of oil, then put the pan on the stove and add shrooms. I like my mushrooms browned, so leave them in until this happens (on medium heat about 3-4 minutes). Once again, salt if desired.
5. If your timing is awesome, your pasta will be ready just about now. Whenever its ready: drain it.
6. In the minute it takes for pasta to drain, get your mixing bowl out. Spread the pesto around the inside of the bowl. Why? Because its easier to incorporate the thin layer of pesto into the pasta as opposed to a 3 tablespoon sized glob. Let's level here, its like putting the dressing at the bottom of the bowl pre-toss.
7. Toss in the HOT pasta (really, it needs to be as hot as possible for it to absorb the pesto goodness) till its nicely coated in the green stuff. Now add the vegetable medley, mushrooms, and roasted red pepper. If you hate the taste of pepper, leave it out. There is only a 1/4 of it for a reason.
8. Enjoy! Can be served hot or cold! Wow!
Suggestions: I eat this on a bed of kale when I'm feeling extra veg-head. If you are patient, it is one of those dishes (like curry) that tastes better the next day- perfect for packing a lunch or making one cooking sesh span multiple meals.

Comer!
HK

Friday, January 7, 2011

2010- A food tribute

Hello! I have failed since the launch of Second Trimester Food Baby (STFB) at posting my culinary adventures. I did indeed cook, eat, and on occasion take pictures of my creations. Here are some snapshots of the glorious food I made and/or ate in 2010.
Note:  I cooked a lot more than what you may think from looking at these 6 pictures, I promise. I'm bad at documenting my food making adventures but I'll be a lot better about that from now on. Also, no recipes yet but if you are interested in making any of the below let me know and I'll be happy to share!


A French inspired cooking adventure with Nick. Above: potato pancakes with baked eggplant and red pepper "ragu" served with creme fraiche and dill; below: glorious pan seared ribeye with side of kale chips


Homemade spaghetti bolognese: the surprise? It's turkey bolognese. Trust me, you won't even miss the beef.

Thanksgiving smorgasboard that I created with Michelle. Clockwise (starting after the stack of plates)- Asian bbq marinated and glazed turkey (the dark meat) served with the turkey bacon I baked it with (picture of whole turkey is somewhere...I'll find it), the white meat on a separate platter, buttermilk biscuits, chilled corn salad, primavera vegetables, mushroom/carmelized onion sage stuffing, and my first attempt at "candied yams" even though they weren't too sweet and were in fact sweet potatoes. In the center is dill and garlic smashed red potato salad. It was a 7 hour cooking fest!

^Yours Truly^

Moving forward I promise to be a better blogger. I'll post up some oldies but goodies of my never fail go-to dishes, picture and recipe included, very soon I promise! I'll make sure to keep you all in my culinary loop.

mangia
HK