Pasta with Butternut Sauce, Sausage and Spinach

Recipe adapted from: 
Skinnytaste.com

Ingredients:

• 11 oz (4 links) Italian sausage
• 1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1 tbsp light butter
• 1 lb any fun shaped pasta, I used trulli 
• 1/4 cup shallots, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh shaved Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add butternut squash and cook until soft. Remove squash with a slotted spoon and place in a blender, blend until smooth.

Add pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions for al dente, reserving at least 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.

Meanwhile, in a large deep non-stick skillet, sauté sausage over medium heat until browned, breaking up with a spoon as it cooks. When cooked through, set aside on a plate.

Reduce heat to medium-low and melt the butter, sauté the shallots and garlic until soft and golden, about 5 - 6 minutes. Add pureed butternut squash, season with with salt and fresh cracked pepper and add a little of the reserved pasta water (I used about 1 cup) to thin out the sauce to your liking. Add baby spinach and stir in Parmesan cheese and seasoning. 

Toss in cooked pasta and sausage and mix until well coated.

Tips & Notes:

I thought this turned out really good. You can certainly customize this to your preferences, but I really enjoyed that the sauce didn't have cream in it, yet was still super creamy.  I served this with a salad and bread.

Turkey Chili Pot Pie

Recipe Taken From:
Good Housekeeping Magazine
January 2011

Ingredients:

1 package (8 1/2-ounce) cornbread or corn muffin mix
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large (1-pound) onion, finely chopped
1 pound lean ground turkey
Salt
Pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped pickled jalapeños
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cans no-salt-added fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained
1 can no-salt-added rinsed black beans, drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In medium bowl, prepare cornbread mix as label directs, but use only half of liquid specified. Fold corn into batter; set batter aside.
Place sweet potatoes and water in microwave-safe medium bowl. Cover with vented plastic wrap and microwave on High 5 minutes or until tender.
In deep 12-inch enamel-coated or well-seasoned plain cast-iron skillet, heat oil on medium-high. Add onion and cook 5 to 7 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Add turkey, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned, breaking up meat into small pieces. Add garlic, jalapeños, chili powder, cumin, and sweet potatoes with their liquid. Cook 1 minute, stirring.
Add tomatoes, beans, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Heat until bubbling, stirring occa­sionally. Dollop cornbread mixture over top, leaving 1-inch rim around edge. With spatula, spread mixture to cover most of surface.
Place skillet on foil-lined jelly-roll pan to catch any drips. Bake 22 minutes or until golden brown on top and bubbling. Garnish with cilantro.

Notes & Tips:

If your skillet isn't large enough to hold the chili and topping, transfer chili to a 3-quart shallow baking dish before topping with cornbread batter. Instead of ground turkey, I used ground venison, it is also very lean, but has a heartier taste. I liked this recipe, but I def. fell into the category of having a "too small skillet". Also, I omited the cilantro, because I didn't have any.

Nutrition Facts:
Calories 465
Total Fat 13g
Saturated Fat 4g
Cholesterol 82mg
Sodium 765mg
Total Carbohydrate 66g
Dietary Fiber 8g
Protein 25g

Cranberry-Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Recipe Taken From:
Midwest Living Magazine
April 2011

Ingredients:
1/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1-1/2 pounds uncooked ground chicken or turkey
1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. snipped fresh marjoram or 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed (or rosemary)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt or 1/8 teaspoon regular salt
1 to 2 oz. Parmesan cheese, shaved
4 thin slices fresh mozzarella cheese or 4 slices regular mozzarella cheese
4 Kaiser rolls or sesame hamburger buns, split and toasted
Lettuce leaves

Preparation:
1. In a small saucepan, bring orange juice to boiling. Remove from heat; stir in cranberries. Let stand for 5 minutes. Drain cranberries, discarding orange juice.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine ground chicken/turkey, bread crumbs, marjoram/rosemary and salt. Shape chicken/turkey mixture into 8 1/2-inch-thick patties. (The mixture may be sticky. If necessary, wet hands to shape patties.)

3. Place one-fourth of the cranberries and one-fourth of the Parmesan cheese on the center of each of 4 patties. Top with the remaining patties; press edges to seal.

4. For a charcoal grill: Grill patties on the greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 14 to 18 minutes or until no longer pink (165 degrees F)*, turning once halfway through grilling. (For a gas grill: Preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place patties on greased grill rack over heat. Cover; grill as above.) Top each burger with a slice of mozzarella cheese. Grill, uncovered, about 3 minutes more or until cheese begins to melt. Serve burgers on toasted rolls with lettuce leaves. Makes 4 burgers.

Notes & Tips:
Well the orginal recipe was for chicken burgers, but I don't know about you but where in the world do you get ground chicken? So I subbed turkey. Also I didn't have any marjoram in my cabinet so I used rosemary. I think these turned out great. Since it was raining out I used my little indoor electric grill and they came out great. Mat even said he'd love to have them again. My one pice of advice is to make sure you have big enough buns...mine were tiny haha.

Nutrition Facts:
552 Calories
22g Fat
47g Carbs
3g Fiber
42g Protein

Turkey Tenderloins with Squash

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c Orange juice
• 3 tb Honey mustard
• 1 tb Worcestershire
• 1 lb Turkey breast tenderloin
• 3 md Yellow squash
• 1 1/4 c Chicken broth
• 1 1/4 c Quick cooking rice

Preparation:
Combine the orange juice concentrate, honey mustard and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Set aside 1/4 cup of the mixture.

Spray a skillet with cooking spray. Heat over medium heat and add the turkey tenderloin steaks. Brown for 3 minutes on each side. Add the sliced squash and 1/2 cup of the oj mixture to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 8 minutes until turkey is tender and cooked through.

In a small sauce pan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Remove from heat and add the quick cooking rice and the 1/4 cup of reserved orange juice mixture. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir before serving. Serve rice with the turkey and squash.

Notes & Tips:
I didn't really love this dish. I liked the way the sauce flavored the turkey, but I didn't like how it tasted with the squash. I didn't make the rice the way the recipe calls for. I used only 1/4 cup of broth with 1/4 cup of the sauce to make couscous. I liked the way it tasted with couscous, but the squash really kinda ruined it for me.

Gorgonzola Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground turkey
• 4oz. crumbled Gorgonzola
• 1 1/2 tbsp. garlic salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients, form into patties, spray grill with nonstick spray and grill 7-9 mins, or until cooked through. Serve on buns with lettuce and roasted red pepper strips.

Notes & Tips:

I served this on those thin wheat buns. The patties aren't too big so that size bun is perfect. You can purchase roasted red pepper strips in the pickle aisle at the grocery store.

Nutrition Facts:

360 calories, 22g Fat, 0g Carbs, 37g Protein

Turkey Sausage Skillet

Ingredients:

• 1 turkey sausage kielbasa, sliced
• 2 yellow squash, halved and sliced
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 5 small red potatoes, quartered
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• water
• 1 tbsp Mrs. Dash, original
• salt
• pepper

Preparation:

In cast iron skillet (or electric skillet), on high, saute potatoes 3 mins. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash. Add onions, saute for 3 more minutes, add squash and 1/4 cup water. Put lid on pan and turn down heat to medium/medium low. Cook for 5-7 minutes until squash cooks down. Add sausage, cover and simmer on medium low for 10-15 minutes. Uncover and cook 5 more minutes on medium. Serve hot.

Notes & Tips:

I like the turkey kielbasa but you can substitute regular pork kielbasa or hot sausage if desired. I ate this with toast.

Nutrition Facts:

Serves 4, Calories: 338, Fat: 16g, Carbs: 32, Protein: 19g

Turkey Breast Cutlet with Lemon & Wine Sauce

Recipe taken from:
cooks.com

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. flour
• 3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. white pepper
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1/2 c. skim milk
• 1 lb. raw boneless turkey breast
• Flour
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1/3 c. dry white wine
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
• Lemon wedges
• Capers

Preparation:
In shallow bowl combine flour, cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add egg and milk. Beat until blended. Skin turkey breast and cut crosswise into 6 slices. Pound with meat mallet until thin. Dredge lightly in flour. Heat butter in large skillet. Dip turkey in batter and cook until golden. Remove from pan; keep warm.
When all turkey is cooked, add wine to the skillet. Cook over low heat 2 minutes, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Add lemon juice; mix well. Pour sauce over turkey cutlets and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with lemon wedges and capers. Makes 4 servings.

Notes & Tips:
This reminds me alot of chicken piccata. I had to add more wine to the sauce since it cooked down way too much. I liked the batter on the turkey. Also, I used pre-cut turkey breast cutlets to save time.

Nutrition Facts:
323 Calories, 14.5g Fat, 10.5g Carbs, 33g Protein