Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Posted on by aurorameyer

This easy meal takes less than a half an hour including cooking time. It’s perfect for one of those rushed, weekday meals.

Ingredients:
6 ounces ground turkey breast
4 green or red peppers
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup shredded carrot
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced onion (red or white)
1/4 chopped baby spinach
1/2 cup wild rice (precooked)
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions:
Cut the tops off the peppers. Take out the seeds and membranes. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet, over medium heat, heat the oil. Add and brown the ground turkey. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Add the garlic and onions. Cook about 4 minutes, or until the onion in translucent and the garlic fragrant. Add the cooked rice, carrot, spinach. Heat through. Stuff the mixture into the peppers. Add stuffed peppers to an oven safe dish (we used a bread loaf pan). Cover with foil and cook 15 minutes. Remove foil and cook five more minutes.

My Opinion:
This dish was easy, filling and delicious. The only thing I’ll change is next time, I’ll add more Italian seasoning. The meat was well seasoned, but the rest of the dish needed a little more.

Modified Garlicky Chicken and Barley Soup

Posted on by aurorameyer

Monday was a bit chilly and perfect for a crockpot soup. We tried a new one that come highly recommended. However, only after I started making it, did I realize we only had about half the ingredients, so we modified it. It was excellent. I can only imagine how great the original recipe will be!

Ingredients:
3 cups chicken broth
1 large chicken breast, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 carrot grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 can whole tomatoes with juice
Italian seasoning
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup barley

Directions:
Sautee the chicken, garlic and onions in the olive oil. Cook until garlic is fragrant, chicken is cooked and the onions translucent. Pour the tomato juice and chicken broth into the crockpot. (Note: Our crockpot is small. If yours is larger, you might need another cup of chicken broth.) Add the shredded carrot. Put the chicken, garlic and onion in the crockpot. Add the whole tomatoes (should be about 4 or five) to the same pan the onions and garlic and chicken were in. Sautee with Italian seasoning while mashing them. Allow the mixture to cook down. Add to the crockpot. Add 1/2 cup uncooked barley. Turn the crockpot on medium. Cook 6 to 8 hours.

My opinion:
The original recipe called for Italian diced tomatoes and celery. I think those additions would have made it a bit more like soup instead of stew, but this was still super tasty. It would even be good served chilled in the summer.

Lemon Thyme Scallops

Posted on by aurorameyer

I was a bit surprised at just how delicious this recipe from Cynthia Sass’s Cinch! book was. It smelled wonderful cooking and tasted even better.

Note: this recipe feeds one. Double if serving two.
Ingredients:
4 ounces (between 5 and 7) sea scallops
1/2 cup wild rice, cooked (we were out and I substituted white, not as tasty)
1 cup spaghetti squash (already steamed)
1 cup grape tomatoes (We used cherry tomatoes because grape wasn’t available at the grocery store)
1 tbs olive oil
2-4 cloves minced garlic
1 tbs lemon juice
about 2 tsp thyme
optional: crushed red pepper and/or black pepper

Directions:
Divide olive in half. Put 1/2 tbs into a skillet and heat to medium (if you like a bit more sear on your scallops try medium high, but keep a close eye on the scallops). Add garlic and scallops, sprinkle with thyme (you can also add a bit of freshly ground black pepper or red pepper). Cook about 4 minutes per side. Flip. Sprinkle with thyme (and more black or red pepper, if you want) and cook about another 4 minutes. Scallops will turn opaque.

Add the rest of the olive oil (should be about 1/2 tbs) to another pan. Heat to medium. Cut the tomatoes in half. Sautee in olive oil until fragrant. Mix the steamed squash and rice together. Plate the squash rice mixture. Top with tomatoes. Remove scallops from the skillet and place on top of the tomatoes. Drizzle with lemon juice. Enjoy!

My Opinion:
I’ll probably add a bit more garlic and definitely the red pepper next time. The dish was flavorful and filling. I even had enough squash left over for lunch the next day!