Turkey Burgers with Bacon & Avocado

Since I work full time, I'm a big fan of easy cooking. Not TV-dinner easy or processed-ingredients easy - there's a way to work 40 hours a week and eat well. 

Here's how to cook up some yummy turkey burgers with bacon & avocado. You'll need:

(Ingredients)

1/2 - 1 lb of ground turkey (depending on how many people you're feeding)

1/4 cup finely diced red onion

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or cheese of choice)

1 avocado

center cut bacon

1 tsp garlic powder

dash of salt & pepper

hamburger buns (I used potato buns)

handful of spinach

Put your meat, cheese, onion, and spices into a bowl and mix with your hands. Roll a handful of the mix into a ball and flatten into patty size of choice, repeat. Heat a skillet and add bacon strips, cook to desired crispiness. Remove from pan. I like to leave a little bacon grease in the pan and cook my patties in it - gross or DELICIOUS? You decide. 

Throw those patties onto your skillet, cook and flip until done to desired readiness. If you want some extra cheese (I did), lay some sliced cheddar on top when your burger is almost finished and let it melt. 

Slice up your avocado, lay it on top of your patty and bacon, top with spinach and desired condiments, and you have a good burger:

Om nom nom.

Easy Pesto Pasta Salad with Tortellini and Spinach

I was tired from work today, so opted for an easy cooking night. I made a pesto pasta salad using my favorite basil pesto recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen. That stuff is amazing on so many, many things, especially baked chicken. Yum.

(Ingredients)
1 packet of fresh spinach tortellini
1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 cup chopped spinach
Kalyn's Kitchen Lemon Basil Pesto

Boil your tortellini and then set out or refrigerate until cool. Add tomatoes and spinach, then mix in your basil pesto. So good! And if you have leftovers (I did), it'll be a good lunch for work the next day.

Easy Individual Blackberry Crumbles

Blackberries are my favorite fruit (next to blood oranges - those are amazing).

I like making easy desserts, and this blackberry crumble recipe is pretty much as easy as it gets. You could definitely make it in a pie-sized dish, but I opted to make individual-sized portions in a cupcake tin for easy eating and storing. The measurements in this recipe will make about 6 individual portions, so double your measurements if you want more.

Ingredients:

(Crumble Topping)
1 cup cooking oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 stick butter (8 tablespoons), softened
dash of cinnamon

(Blackberry Mixture)
1 1/2 to 2 cups of blackberries
1/3 cup of granulated sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Blackberry Mixture - In one bowl, stir your blackberries and granulated sugar together until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture looks a little saucy.

I'd probably be fine just eating this...but it's even better when it's hot and combined with the crumble topping. 

Crumble Topping - Mix oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together. Then mix in the softened butter. Mixture should be thick with no excess butter - if it's not, add some more oats. 

Pour a small amount of the crumble topping into the base of the cupcake papers - roughly a tablespoon full. Then pour some of your blackberry mixture on top, then another layer of crumble topping. Don't overfill the cup, or else it will likely spill over into your oven while it's cooking and bubbling.

I could also happily eat it like this too...but it's even better warm!

Pop into the oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until your oats are browned on the tops.

Now that you're finished, top it with ice cream or whipped cream. Drooling:

Bacon and Cheddar Dog Biscuits

These are my dogs, Lulu and Tessie. Lulu is from the Service Dog Project in Ipswich, MA, and she is one of Dog Bless You's office dogs (we're practically a doggy daycare). Tessie is a rescued pittie and general love bug.

They'll do anything for food. Lulu is a notorious lunch thief; once I caught her dragging a sandwich off a co-worker's desk by the corner of its wrapper. 

Since I'm often cooking her favorite meat (chicken) and never offering her a portion, I thought I'd satisfy her penchant for human food and bake some homemade dog biscuits. Now my dogs might never let me alone in the kitchen again.

Cheddar and Bacon Dog Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup of cheddar cheese
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup of chicken stock (make sure there's no onion in it - it can be toxic to dogs)
2-3 slices of center cut bacon

Chop the bacon up into tiny, cubed bits and cook in a small pan until browned. Strain and pat the bacon dry.

Mix the flour, vegetable oil, chicken stock, cheese, and bacon in a bowl until you have a workable ball of dough. Roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter to create desired shape for each cookie. 

Lay the cookies onto a greased cookie sheet and cook at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. 

At this point, my dogs don't have any inkling that I'm making something for them. I shooed an inquisitive Lulu out of the kitchen while browning the bacon, but that's a pretty standard day in my kitchen.

Make sure to let the cookies cool before allowing your dogs to have one.

Lulu's had 1 1/2, and she keeps wandering to the kitchen to look for more. She's going to have to wait until tomorrow...

Saucy Chicken Stir Fry with Ramen Noodles and Bok Choy

Does anyone else stock up on goodies from 99 Ranch or a local Asian-influenced market? I keep a few ingredients around the house that I can't always find at a popular chain like Ralph's or Albertsons.

Tonight I tried my hand at a stir fry with my own sauce - I like my sauce rich, dark, and spicy, and I've had trouble finding a recipe that fits that criteria!

Saucy Chicken Stir Fry with Ramen Noodles and Bok Choy

Ingredients:

(Sauce)

2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

2 tablespoons corn starch

1/4 a cup of dark soy sauce (not to be confused with regular soy sauce)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup of sugar

1 to 3 tablespoons of sriracha (or preferred hot sauce) depending on how spicy you want it

(Chicken Mixture)

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (sliced in cubes)

1 egg

2 tablespoons cornstarch

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

(Ramen)

2 packets of ramen noodles or noodles of choice (any long noodle will work here, you guys - udon, soba, flat)

1 onion, sliced

1/2 cup minced garlic

1 bell pepper

1 cup chopped scallions

1 bunch of bok choy

2 tablespoons olive oil

Start with the sauce - Pour your chicken or vegetable broth into a saucepan, bring to a simmer, and then whisk in the two tablespoons of corn starch until it is dissolved. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and stir on low about 20 minutes until thick and tasty. 

Make your chicken mixture - Whisk the egg and coat cubed chicken. Sprinkle corn starch over the chicken and coat completely. Salt lightly. Heat olive oil in a skillet and toss in chicken until cooked. Remove chicken from heat and place to the side.

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil for your noodles while you prepare your vegetables. 

Cooking the vegetables - Heat olive oil in a wok and sautée onions until translucent. Add sliced bell pepper and garlic. At this point, you can add a little of your sauce mixture to flavor the vegetables.

Next, add your bok choy and green onion. Cook for about 5 minutes, add more sauce, then add your chicken. Every time you add something new, mix a little more sauce in. Trust me, you'll have plenty of sauce to do this!

Lastly, add your cooked noodles to the wok, stir in with the vegetables, and add sauce until you're satisfied with the sauce to noodle ratio. Serve in a bowl and feel free to add more hot sauce (I did).

The boyfriend loved it and I got my Asian fusion fix for the week. Definitely something I'd make again.

Chicken Pot Pie

Today's recipe was inspired by multiple pot pie recipes across the Internet. I know making pot pie isn't rocket science, so I decided to try my own combo of ingredients:

1 pie crust (I made mine from scratch using Martha Stewart's recipe)

1 lb of cooked, shredded chicken (I baked breast filets in prep)

3 small potatoes, peeled, diced, and steamed or boiled

1 onion, chopped

2-4 carrots (depending on size), diced

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

1 1/2 cups of whole milk

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp flour

1 tsp fresh thyme 

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp ground black pepper

salt to taste

In a large sauce pan, sautée chopped onion and carrots until vegetables are soft and onions are browned.

Add butter, melt and mix, and then add 1 tbsp flour and spices. Pour in chicken broth and milk. Bring to a nice simmer, and stir about five minutes until thicker. Then add peas and potatoes, stir another five minutes until your broth is nice and thick.

Then add your shredded chicken. Give it a minute to simmer in the yummy mixture, then pour it into your pie crust. Don't forget to slit the pie crust topping to let the pie breathe!

Delicious, flaky crust and delicious, creamy filling - I was pretty happy with how this came out! If I'd change anything, it would be to use half and half instead of milk to make it even creamier.

The Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories

Tonight Chase and I had the pleasure of attending a couples cooking class at The Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories in Santa Monica. The class theme was New Years appropriate: "Healthy and Light," for all those ambitious, health-conscious resolutions that will last at least a week. Luckily we like to eat healthy anyway (most of the time). On tonight's menu:

• Kale & Apple Salad with Ginger Dressing
• Quinoa with Confetti Vegetables
• Fish en Papillote (Tilapia)

Chase was concerned that the Gourmandise School would ask him to wear a "beard net" to cover this winter behemoth he's growing. It's 70 degrees in Los Angeles, you guys! 

I dig the beard, I guess.

Kind of.

They didn't make him wear a beard net. 

Starting with the kale salad: 

Easy and yummy. 

Kale Salad & Ginger Dressing:

Ingredients:

(Dressing)
1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

(Salad)
1 bunch kale, stemmed, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
2 tablespoons white raisins
2 tablespoons almonds
1 apple, chopped (we used green, but Fuji might be better!)
fresh pomegranate seeds for garnish

To make the dressing, whisk together ginger, honey, and olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Combine kale and dressing, massage the dressing into the kale gently. Add remaining ingredients.

After that yumminess, we cooked up the highlight of the evening - quinoa with veggies. There are a lot of good quinoa recipes out there, but this one is high up on my list.

Quinoa with Confetti Vegetables:

Ingredients:

(Quinoa base)

1/2 cup red quinoa, rinsed and drained

1 cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cub diced carrots

1/4 diced bell pepper

1/4 cup diced celery

1/4 cup diced red onion

Herbs of choice - we used thyme and basil

(Vinaigrette Sauce)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon of rice vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Combine quinoa and 1 cup of water in a 2 qt pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to simmer. Cover and let cook low for roughly 20 minutes. Heat skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil, sauté carrots, bell pepper, celery, onion, and herbs until soft, add salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, whisk Vinaigrette ingredients together in a bowl. When the quinoa is fully cooked, mix in the sautéed vegetables and then the vinaigrette. 

The tilapia was also quite good, but no more inspiring than any basic fish recipe. My favorite fish recipe is by far Grilled Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos with Mango Pineapple Salsa. This week I'm going to try out this attractive-looking recipe for Brown Sugar Chili Rubbed Salmon with Avocado Crema. 

I learned two new recipes today - does one of them count for tomorrow?