Turkey Enchilada Casserole

Turkey Enchilada Casserole

1.5 lbs ground turkey

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp chili powder

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

Salt & pepper to taste

8-10 soft tortillas, cut in half

3 cups shredded Mexican style cheese

2 cups enchilada sauce

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 small can corn

½ cup green onion, chopped

Cilantro

1-2 tbsp Olive oil

Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the cumin, oregano, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder, and stir for one minute. Add the ground turkey, and cook until completely cook through, stirring often to keep from clumping. Set aside the meat to cool.

Preheat your oven to 375*f. Pour some of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of deep baking dish, and cover with some of the tortillas. Add some of the corn, black beans, green onions, and ground turkey, then top with some of the cheese. Top with more tortillas and sauce, and repeat, just like making lasagna, until the final layer, which gets topped only with tortillas and the remaining sauce. Place in the oven, and bake for 15-20, or until bubbly. Top with the remaining cheese and return to the oven. Bake again until the cheese has melted, and remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Top each slice with a little cilantro, and your choice of extras. A little avocado and sliced jalapeno was nice! Hope you enjoy!

 

Salmon with Dill Cream Sauce

Salmon with Lemon Dill Cream Sauce

 



Salmon is one of my favorite fish, and my favorite way to prepare it is with lemon and dill. This time I've simply baked the salmon, and finished it with a lemon dill cream sauce. This dish is simple, quick, and completely satisfying!

Ingredients:

4 salmon filets
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp AP flour
Zest of one lemon
2 Tbps fresh dill
1 1/2 cups milk
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350*f

Place the salmon on a baking sheet, and place on the middle rack in your oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the fish has reached an internal temperature of 140*f.

While the salmon is baking, melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in the flour, and simmer until slightly darkened. Add in the milk, adjusting more or less, depending on how thick you want your sauce, and stir slowly until thickened. Stir in the garlic, dill, and lemon zest, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring often. To serve, simply place the filet on your plate, spoon some on the sauce over the fish, and top with a small sprig of dill. Creamy.. Flaky... And with just the right amount of tartness from the lemon zest! I hope you enjoy!

Mushroom and Swiss Turkey Burgers

Mushroom and Swiss Burgers

 

With grilling season in full swing, it’s a perfect time to highlight some different choices to the typical grilling fare. I give you mushroom and swiss burgers. Yes, you read that right. The trick is using ground turkey breast instead of beef, thus cutting out tons of fat and calories, while still packing a ton of flavor, and protein. Sargento® also now sells thin slices of regular cheeses, which are a mere 40 calories per slice. These help keep it simple to make the swap for healthy items, without missing out on great taste!

1 pound ground turkey breast

1 yellow onion, sliced into rings

4 portabella mushroom caps

4 whole wheat sandwich thin rolls

4 slices Sargento thin swiss

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried thyme

Baby arugula

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Combine the turkey, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and oregano in a large bowl, and form the mixture into four 3 ounce patties. Place the patties, onion slices, and mushroom caps on the grill. Grill the onions and mushrooms until they have softened, and the burgers until cooked through. Top each burger with a slice of cheese, a mushroom cap, an onion slice, and a small handful of arugula, grab some napkins, and serve!

 

Hope you enjoy!

Corn Casserole (Slightly) Lightened

Now, this is not the healthiest side dish by far, but it can be lightened a bit and still be delicious!! The usual recipes call for more corn, but I don't like that much in mine. It also usually calls for more sour cream and twice the butter, and no egg, thereby the slightly lightened! 

1 8.75oz can of whole sweet corn, drained

1 8.75oz can of creamed corn

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

4oz fat free sour cream

1 package Jiffy corn muffin mix (Yes, I used premade. It was faster.)

Preheat your oven to 400*f.

Combine both of the cans of corn with the butter, sour cream, and egg. Add in the corn muffin mix, and combine well. Pour into a baking dish, I used a glass square, and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool before cutting. Hope you enjoy!

Shrimp and Pasta with Tomatoes and Peppers

A friend was telling me about a dish he had with fettuccine and a buttered wine sauce. I had some shrimp on hand, and some frozen pasta dough, so I made my own version of it!

1 pound cooked fettuccine noodles

1 1/2 pounds fully peeled shrimp

3 small orange peppers, sliced thin

1 cup diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 Tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by melting the butter in a large deep pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the oil and allow it to warm for a few moments. Add the garlic and cook until it has softened, then add the peppers and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and cook the until they have softened. Add the shrimp and cook until they are pink and firmed. Remove the pan from the heat, add the basil, and toss some to combine.

To plate, place some of the pasta on your plate, and top with some of the shrimp, peppers, and tomatoes. Top with some fresh grated parmesan if you wish, and eat!! Hope you enjoy!!

Cherry Limeade-rita

I'm not going to try to hide it. I enjoy tequila, and I especially like the combination of lime juice and tequila, better known as a margarita. I've tried various ready to drink mixes, and order one on occasion when we go out (the most recent experience resulted in a *clear* margarita, and was about 90% tequila...), but I have yet to find one that rivals my own!

I'm always looking for a new twist to something old, and while making tequila lime chicken tacos, I saw a jar of cherries in the fridge. Wheels: start turnin'!

3oz sour mix
1 lime, juiced, save one empty half
1/2oz maraschino cherry juice
1/2oz Cointreau
1-2oz tequila
1Tbsp granulated sugar

Select your glass, and rub the empty rind around the edge of the glass. Pour the sugar in a ring in a flat plate, then dip the wet edge of the glass into the sugar until well coated. If you wish, zest the lime into the sugar prior to coating the glass. In a bar shaker, combine ice, sour mix, Cointreau, and tequila, and shake to combine well. Add ice to your glass, then nearly fill it with the margarita. Pour in the cherry juice, which will mostly settle to the bottom, and serve! Stir before drinking of course. Hope you enjoy!

Arctic Char with sautéed White Swiss Chard and Mashed Potatoes

It's always fun to try new things, and even more so when you've never cooked the item before! Enter Arctic Char. Publix had several beautiful fillets recently, so I grabbed a couple!

Fish
2 6-8 oz fillets Arctic char
1 Tbsp shallots, minced
1 tsp fresh dill
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 Tbsp white wine
2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups cream, or more if you prefer it to be more thin
Salt and pepper to taste

Potatoes
2 Lbs potatoes, quartered and boiled
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 Tbsp milk or cream
4 cloves garlic, roasted (peel garlic, place on foil, drizzle with olive oil, enclose in foil, bake at 350 until soft)
Salt and pepper to taste

Chard
1 bunch white Swiss chard, chopped to bite size chunks
1 clove garlic, sliced very thin
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Start by checking the fish for loose scales, bones, or any bits from the butchering. I steamed the fish in my new favorite bamboo steamer, but frankly and way you prefer to prepare it here is fine, short of drowning it in seasoning. To prepare the sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium low heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for a minute or two. Stir in the cream. Once thickened, add the lemon juice, dill, shallots, and wine, and combine well. Add more cream if you feel the sauce is still too thick. Allow to simmer for a few more minutes, taking care not to allow it to burn.

Meanwhile, place the boiled potatoes in a large bowl. Add the cream, butter, salt, pepper, and roasted garlic, then mash well with a potato masher. Don't over mash though, or they will become paste-like. No one likes pasty potatoes! Cover, and set aside.

The chard takes a short time. Start by heating the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook very briefly to warm them, then add the chard. Toss often and cook until wilted and soft.

To plate, start with a bed of the Swiss chard, and place a fillet on top. Top with a helping of the wine sauce. Add a serving of potatoes (several options: piped, scooped, plopped... Piped looks prettiest.), and serve! Hope you enjoy!