Recipe: Turkey Chili & Arugula

Winter = slow cooker; at least for us. There is nothing better than loading up up the ceramic bowl with a variety of greens, protein, and vegetables, and letting the ‘kitchen servant’ work its magic while we perform ours in the nutrition world. Coming home to a cooked dinner is a relief and a joy – even better when shared with loved ones!

We are huge fans of cooking once and eating twice. You’ll notice that the caramelized parsnips and turkey, made in advance, provide the benefit of 1. using leftovers wisely and 2. making preparation so much easier.

Prep time: 15 minutes (we made the caramelized parsnips and turkey sausage patties earlier; otherwise this recipe extends to about 40 minutes)
Cook time: 6-8 hours in the slow cooker

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground turkey (or use 3 leftover turkey sausage patties from this recipe!)
1 lb parsnips, caramelized
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 bunch dandelion greens, chopped
1 jar (25oz) tomato sauce
1 jar salsa
1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup arugula, rinsed

Instructions:
If you haven’t already caramelized the parsnips or made the turkey patties, start them. Once turkey is cooked, add to bottom of slow cooker, layer with chopped green bell pepper and red pepper flakes. Saute onion and set aside. Pour jar of tomato sauce and salsa on top of turkey mixture in slow cooker and greens. Then add caramelized parsnips and the sauteed onion. Set crockpot timer for 4-6 hours.
Serve turkey chili over fresh arugula. Enjoy!

Recipe: Turkey Breakfast Sausage

Oh my, how savory the turkey sausage patties! A perfect pairing with a over-medium egg and hot sauce. At this point, you have two choices: devour with your eyes or get cooking so you can devour them with your mouth.

Bonus: no scary ingredients from typical store-bought sausages with their nitrites and other questionable agents. We also added tons of garlic for the health properties related to winter wellness!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey (ours from MKM family farms at farmers’ market)
2 tbsp coconut oil (feel free to substitute olive oil)
4 cloves garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp oregano, parsley, and fennel seeds
1 tsp salt & pepper
2 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette for de-glazing pan
hot sauce

Instructions:
Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat and cook onion and garlic until golden-brown. Remove from heat and add onion to mixing bowl along with turkey and combine. Then add the oregano, parsley, fennel seeds, salt & pepper and mix thoroughly by hand. Form patties by hand to be about 3 inches in diameter and about 1/2″ inch thick. Cook in skillet about 5 minutes on either side or until inserted meat thermometer registers 165°F and meat is fully cooked. Add balsamic vinaigrette to de-glaze the pan and cook on a lower temperature so meat soaks some up.

Happy breakfast-ing!