Healthy Burgers- Jalapeno Lime, Greek, and Bleu Burgers

It's bbq season!  Well, almost.  We are grilling though, because I can't wait for the actual season to be here.  The kids' favorite are turkey burgers; so why not?  It took a long time experimenting with recipes before I found one that was worth repeating.  Here is the basic, plus a few variations below.

Turkey Burger Patties:

1 pound ground turkey

1 egg (I used a farm fresh egg from my gpa's chickens- it's worth it!)

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs seedless jelly 

1 small yellow onion, chopped finely (I use my food processor)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 bunch fresh parsley leaves, chopped finely

3 tbs bbq sauce (I used homemade, so it was a balsamic/ honey flavor, but store bought would work)

salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and form into patties.  Make sure to cook completely.  You can use any type of meat you would like.  Sometimes we have elk or deer instead.  A few times this week I used 1/2 turkey and 1/2 beef (very low fat beef, if the percent is too high, the patties fall apart), which is cheaper and still healthy.  

Now for some of the variations I have tried this week...

Jalapeno Lime Burgers:

Substitute 1/2 the parsley for cilantro.  Add two chopped green onions.  Add the zest and juice of one lime.  Add 2 fresh jalapeno peppers (chopped finely in the food processor), and sub salsa for the bbq sauce.  Serve with pickled jalapeno peppers and avocado.

Photo Credit: Kalyn's Kitchen

Greek Burgers:

Sub lemon for the lime.  Add 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, and a few chopped sun dried tomatoes to the meat before forming into patties. 

Bleu Burgers:

Thinly slice a purple onion (only about 1/4 of the onion) and sautee it in a little olive oil and add it to the meat.  Also add about 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (or, substitute bleu cheese dressing for the bbq sauce).  Serve with pickled onions and bleu cheese dressing.  

Vegan Cabbage Rolls with Thai Peanut Sauce

I haven't posted in a long time- apologies. I was busy having a baby♡ We were surprised to have another boy! That makes #3... which means Dad and the boys share a bathroom and Queen Mama gets her own:-) Score!

On to more good news... since I have so much time off of work, I have been trying some new recipes and I've been having a blast! Tonight I decided to make stuffed cabbage leaves. I was craving Dolmas: a traditional Greek dish (grape leaves stuffed with a dirty rice and a lemon sauce), but grape leaves are hard to come by here in this small town. I had some coconut milk and cabbage, so I decided to do a Thai meal instead.   I served this with salmon, but next time I'm going to make this the main course- they're very filling.

Luckily, the cabbage dish was super yummy. Easy too, and healthy. It was pretty inexpensive- and even more so since I used what I had in my kitchen;-) It would be easy to add or substitute ingredients.

This is what I used:

1 head of green cabbage (I didn't use the whole thing, just the big leaves- two leaves per roll)
3 cups cooked rice (I like Jasmine rice)
2 carrots, peeled and sliced julienne
1 bell pepper, sliced finely (I used red)
1 onion, sliced
1 head broccoli, chopped
3 sticks celery, chopped
1 can coconut milk
4 tbs peanut butter (I used natural smooth, but chunky would work)
1 tbs soy sauce
Juice of one large orange
1 tbs dried ginger (you can sub fresh ginger... I would have but I didn't have any on hand)
2 tbs curry paste (you can sub curry powder instead, but I like the flavor of the peppers and lemongrass)

(I would have LOVED bean sprouts, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and snap peas, but I didn't have any at my house and grocery shopping was out of the question;-) Something spicy, like jalapeno, would have paired well, but kids were eating this too so I left it out.)

Cook the rice according to the directions and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all of the veggies. Add the rice and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine coconut milk,  peanut butter, soy sauce, orange juice, curry powder, and ginger and whisk together well.

Add 1 cup of the peanut sauce to the rice mixture and stir well.

Peel apart the cabbage until you have about 16 large leaves. Rinse them well in water. Spoon the mixture into the leaves and roll up tightly, the roll in another leaf (each roll will have two leaves). Arrange them in a casserole dish, like you would enchiladas.

Close up after baking.  The leaves should start to brown, but not burn.

Pour the remaining peanut sauce over the rolls. Bake at 400 for about 25-35 minutes.

If you aren't into vegan, you could add cooked chicken to the stuffing. Shrimp or tofu would also be yummy.  The vegan version is the perfect "meatless Monday" dish.

Orange Rosemary Shrimp

I can't take complete credit for this recipe.  My mom actually made it a long time ago, and it's been a favorite in the family ever since.

My kids, for some reason (because they're awesome) LOVE shrimp.  Stewart called it "fish" when he was little, and Knox thinks it's "chicken", but regardless, they would eat a pound each if I let them.  No contest, it's Stewart's favorite food (maybe toss up between this and my homemade truffled mac and cheese, but he usually opts for this).

Photo credit: unknown

The original recipe was supposed to be "lemon rosemary shrimp" but my mom has a disease where she can't tell the difference between lemons and oranges (lol sorry Mom! Love you).  So, this dish was made from oranges instead.  As I very well know, accidents make the best things sometimes!

I'm having this for dinner tonight! I will post the picture directions later.  For now, here's the recipe:

In a bowl or gallon size ziploc bag, add all of the ingredients:

Zest and juice of one large orange*
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary, the needles only, chopped
3-4 tbs olive oil or grapeseed oil
salt and pepper
1 pound of shrimp (raw, peeled and deveined)

*Learn how to properly zest an orange here.

 Let the shrimp sit in the marinade for at least 30 minutes before you cook it.  Whenever my dad makes shrimp of any kind, he soaks it in some milk before preparing it because he says it takes the "fishy" taste out.  I have no idea if this is true, but I do it out of habit, because that's what we did growing up.

I have also let the shrimp sit in the orange marinade overnight in the fridge.  The longer it sits, the less fishy it tastes.  Also, adding more orange will cut the fish flavor out.

Saute the shrimp in a large skillet.  You may add more oil if you need, and can add more of any of the other ingredients if you feel the need to.  The amounts aren't rules, just guidelines.  I like to add a little dry white wine towards the end, only about 1/4 cup or so... then drink the rest;-)

Saute until the shrimp is pink and curled, but not too long because it will become rubbery in texture.

I always serve this with either a pasta dish or potatoes and steamed vegetables.  I also like to pair it with this recipe for Asparagus, which could also be broccoli or Brussels sprouts, too..  It's great because of the different flavors and textures.  Also, if you grill everything (grill basket is the best thing ever) instead of broiling or frying, it makes a great bbq dinner (something different from traditional burgers and chicken).  Be careful adding wine if you grill!

There is always an easy way to change this recipe.  Changing the acid is easy:  substitute a lemon or lime for the orange, or use balsamic vinegar instead.  If you are like one of my crazy friends that dislike rosemary, try fresh parsley, fresh cilantro, or dried oregano instead.  Marjoram and basil together are AMAZING too!

I have made this with scallops, too!  I love them mixed: half scallops half shrimp, but Kevin isn't a big scallop fan.  Boo.  I only make it with scallops when I'm mad at him.

If you love shrimp but aren't a big fan of this recipe, try my recipe for Shrimp Florentine.  It's seafood but without the acidic/ herby sauces.  Plus it has bacon:-)

Pair this with the wine you used in the recipe, like Chardonnay and for those who want to live outside the rules a little, Pinot Grigio will work too.

Meat and Veggie Soup *then magically* Beer Stew!!!

It's freezing outside, so it's time for some soup recipes.  I love soup because 1. It warms everyone up. 2. It's filling. 3. It's usually fairly easy and inexpensive to make. 4. It's easy to make it healthy and "hide" vegetables and other things in it. 5. Leftovers! 6. You can make it in a stockpot or a crockpot, which requires hardly any effort and almost no cleanup. 7. Easy to make adjustments, like omit pepper and add eggplant, for example. 8. SO EASY to make allergy friendly!  I have so many friends and relatives that can't have gluten, dairy, sugar, etc. Soup is easy to make without pesky ingredients that your family can't have.

Oh yeah, and you can freeze the leftovers for a quick dinner someday when you don't feel like cooking (I'm stocking up for maternity leave).  I did it when I was pregnant with my son and it was SO worth it.  Brilliant.

This recipe is pretty basic.  It follows the Paleo diet too, which wasn't on purpose, but can't hurt, right?  My grandfather makes a version of it, but usually uses lamb and adds barley.  I love potatoes right now, so skip the barley and sub the elk meat that I have in my freezer, and this soup is almost free:-)

You'll need:

1 quart of canned tomatoes (I used more- one quart plus some more.  I can my own tomatoes so I always have extra in the fridge.  You can also use fresh if you'd like)
2 quarts broth (I used beef broth because that's what I had.  Again, I usually make my own and freeze it, so I have used vegetable stock and chicken stock in place and it tastes fine).
About 1-2 pounds of meat of your choice, chopped into bite size pieces.  I LOVE lamb, but I don't always have it.  Beef is great, as is deer or elk (the other flavors get rid of the "gamey" taste.  You could also omit the mat for a vegetarian/ vegan soup).
5 potatoes of your choice, diced (I used medium sized Yukon Golds, so if you use larger potatoes like Russets, or smaller ones like Reds- my fav- just adjust to how much you want).
3 cups of green beans (This is a guess, as I used frozen beans from the garden, so I'm not sure exactly how much it was.  You can use fresh or frozen, but keep in mind the frozen don't take as long to cook).
1 bell pepper, diced (I like green and Kevin likes red.  It doesn't matter which you choose)
2 carrots, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
1 or 2 onions, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
Salt, pepper, oregano, parlsey, and a little thyme (I used all dried and just added until I though it tasted right)

Per usual, saute the carrots, celery, onion, pepper, and garlic in a little olive oil until softened.  Add the potatoes and meat and saute until browned.  Add all of the rest of the ingredient except the beans and spices.  Bring to a boil then simmer for about an hour, covered.  Add in the beans and spices and simmer until the beans are done.

Turn down to low and cover.  Keep warm until you are ready to eat.

You can also do this in a crockpot, although you may have to half this recipe if you don't have a large crockpot.  Just add everything except the beans and cook on low for about 4 hours.  Add the beans and cook for another hour.  I like this method because i can get it ready the night before and have it cook while I'm at work during the day.  Dinner is ready when i get home and there is hardly any cleanup.

Now comes the exciting part.... TA-DA!!!

The next day, instead of having the same thing again, make it into something even cooler by adding a few things.

Warm the soup on the stove and add (what I call) "butter balls".  I call it that mostly because it's funny, and parlty because I don't know what these things are actually called.  What you do is you take equal parts butter and flour and roll it together in your hand until it forms a tiny ball.  You can add these little balls to anything to thicken it, which is what we are doing to this soup.  If you used marble size butter balls, you will probably add between 7 and 12, depending on how much soup you have leftover.

Of course, this is the perfect opportunity for some trickery:  Puree steamed vegetable like spinach, kale, zucchini, red pepper, and add them in as well.  Your kids won't know that its extra- healthy and you score mom points for preventing illness;-)

Then, add half a can of beer.  It doesn't matter which kid as long as it's not some weird flavor, like pumpkin ale.

Serve this thickened stew with shredded cheddar cheese (or smoked cheddar) on the top.  YUMMMMM...

And of course, the leftovers will pair well with.... beer! The first one will pair well with a red wine like merlot.