Turkey Squash and Mint Masala

 

Serves 2

I was thrilled to receive a box of goodies from the lovely people at
Loyd Grossman to try out their new Limited Edition Mint Masala curry sauce. Mint struck me initially as a little strange to have in a curry as I would usually use coriander, but then of course you get cooling mint raita in Indian restaurants, so it does have an affinity.

I used half a jar for 2 portions which with bread or rice was enough for me. The mint was not overpowering – it is very different to our common garden mint. Much more delicate and fragrant.

Decided to use turkey breast and tenderstem broccoli as they needed using up. Plus jazzed it up with some extra spice, not because it was needed, but because I have so much in my cupboard!!

I really liked the sauce as it made a nice change from the usual tikka and korma.

1 turkey breast fillet (about 350g), sliced thinly

1 tsp oil

½ onion, sliced

½ tsp mustard seeds

Pinch nigella seeds

Handful of frozen butternut squash, chopped into bitesize chunks

4 tenderstem broccoli stems, chopped into bitesize lengths

½ jar Loyd Grossman Mint Masala Curry Sauce

10 curry leaves (optional)

½ tsp garam masala powder

1 handful spinach (actually it was spinach, rocket and watercress salad leaves in this instance!)

Naan or rice to serve
Fresh mint to garnish if liked

Heat the oil in a non-stick wok or frying pan and fry the onion and seeds together. Watch out as the will pop and spit!

Once softened and lightly golden, add the squash and broccoli and stir fry until the squash has thawed and soft and the broccoli is cooked but still with some crunch.

Add the turkey strips and fry for 2-3 mins until sealed and almost cooked through. Then pour in the curry sauce, curry leaves, garam masala, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. I needed to add a little water to loosen the consistency to my liking.

Stir in the spinach and turn off the heat. It will wilt down really quickly.

Serve with naan or rice, and sprinkle with chopped mint if using.

Turkey stir fry

Turkey stir fry

Serves 1

Did a fridge raid and cleared out some of my vegetables that have seen better days – this calls for a stir fry! I usually add the aromatics – garlic and ginger near the end so it doesn’t burn over the high heat at the start, and also it retains a fresher flavour. Just make sure you cook out the rawness. The sweet chilli sauce had also been hanging around in the fridge too long than I’d care to admit, but it all tasted nice :)

1tsp oil

Half a small onion, sliced

¼ yellow pepper, roughly chopped

¼ courgette, sliced

½ carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks

1 field mushroom, sliced

Leftover cooked turkey strips

2 spring onion, sliced on the diagonal

½ clove garlic, chopped

1 tsp grated ginger root

1 tbsp Kikkoman soy sauce

1 tbsp sweet chilli stir fry sauce

Heat a wok or frying pan with the oil and throw in the onion, pepper and  carrot and stir fry over a high heat for 2 mins. Add the mushroom and cook for another minute until the hard vegetables are starting to soften slightly.  Add the turkey strips, spring onion, garlic and ginger and mix well – stir fry for a minute until the garlic is fragrant and cooked, then add the soy sauce and chilli sauce, stir and serve immediately.

Curried Turkey Pilaff

Curried turkey pilaff

Serves 1

A great quick dinner using just a few ingredients and some leftover cooked turkey. Some coriander, mango chutney, fresh chillies, a squeeze of lemon and anything else you fancy would be very tasty additions but this is simple and very filling – not to mention cheap as chips!

1 tsp oil

Half an onion, finely chopped

2 tsp curry paste

Few strips of cooked turkey or chicken breast

½ tsp tumeric

½ pouch Tilda white basmati microwaveable rice

1 tbsp frozen peas

2 tsp flaked almonds

1 tsp sultanas

Few pumpkin seeds (optional)

2 pinches nigella seeds (optional)

Sprig of fresh mint, chopped

Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion for a couple of minutes until starting to soften. Add the curry paste and cook for a min or two more to cook-out the spices. Add the turkey and turmeric and stir fry for a minute to heat through.

Open the rice and squeeze half a pouch into the pan and stir to break up any lumps and coat in the paste. Add the peas, almonds, sultanas and pumpkin and nigella seeds if using. Add a splash of water to help coat everything nicely and to stop the rice from being dry.

Tip into a bowl and add the chopped mint and eat!

Kind of Mediterranean Pasta Bake

Mediterranean Pasta Bake

Serves 1

Leftover turkey and pasta sauce to use up! Pasta bake is a-calling! I tend to go through phases of eating pasta quite a lot and then don't use it again for weeks. No one said I'm normal :)

60g pasta e.g rigatoni

Olive oil

½ turkey or chicken breast, diced

50g smoked bacon lardons

½ clove garlic, chopped

½ stick celery, diced

Few olives, sliced

1 tsp capers

¼ jar tomato and basil pasta sauce

2 tsp parsley, chopped

1 tbsp grated Parmesan

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water for about 15 mins until tender.

Meanwhile fry the turkey or chicken, bacon and celery in frying pan for a few mins until cooked. Add the olives, capers, pasta sauce and parsley and simmer gently for 3-5 mins to heat through.

Mix with the drained pasta and transfer to an oven-proof dish. Sprinkle over cheese and cook under a grill until toasty and bubbling. Eat!

Breaded turkey escalope with rosemary and garlic roast potatoes

Breaded Turkey Escalope with Rosemary and Garlic Roast Potatoes

Serves 1

I had an Italian dinner party at the weekend and decided at the last minute I couldn’t really be bothered to cook! So I bought ready-made breaded escalopes and needless to say they were pretty awful! So this is the made-from-scratch version and not only were they so easy, they were ten times tastier! It was inspired by my favourite dish from Strada.

1 turkey breast fillet

Salt and pepper

1 beaten egg

 Dried breadcrumbs

1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

2 large-ish new potatoes

1 large garlic clove, halved

Olive oil

1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped

1 shallot, sliced into half moons and separated out

Few green beans

¼ jar tomato and basil pasta sauce

Preheat oven to 200C. Flatten the turkey fillet a bit and season. Put the beaten egg in a bowl. In another bowl add the dried breadcrumbs and Parmesan. Dip the fillet in the egg and then the breadcrumbs until well coated. Set aside.

Cut the potatoes into chunks and tip into a baking tray with the garlic. Coat in oil and season well. Sprinkle over the rosemary and bake in the oven for 8-10 mins.

Put a bit of oil in a frying pan and sear the turkey fillet until lightly golden on both sides. After the potatoes have had 5 mins transfer the turkey to the baking tray. Cook for another 12-14 mins, turning halfway through. Toss the potatoes halfway and sprinkle over the shallot.

Boil the green bean for 7-8 mins until tender and gently warm the pasta sauce in another pan.

Rest the turkey for a couple of mins and then serve with the roast potatoes and frazzled shallot and  drained beans and  the pasta sauce on the side.

Creamy pesto turkey, asparagus and spinach pasta

Creamy pesto turkey, asparagus and spinach pasta

Serves 1

More asparagus and spinach to use up! This is such a quick and comforting dinner – using just a little cream cheese and adding the pasta water makes a fab low fat sauce. Love it! Sprinkle with parmesan if you have any.

50g rigatoni

Salt

5 asparagus stalks, cut into 2in lengths

Handful spinach

1 tsp oil

1 turkey breast steak, sliced into thin strips

2 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 tsp pesto

1 tsp cream cheese

Black pepper

Boil the pasta according to instructions in salted water. Add the asparagus for last 4 mins and the spinach just before draining.

Meanwhile heat the oil and fry the turkey breast strips until just cooked – about 2-3 mins. Throw in the cherry tomatoes and add the pesto and cream cheese. Loosen with a few tsp of pasta cooking water until you have sauce. Season with black pepper and then add the drained pasta and vegetables. Toss to coat then serve. Mmmm

Super-fast Sweet Chilli Turkey Wraps

Super-fast Sweet Chilli Turkey Wraps

Serves 1-2

Ok, so this is a recreation really of a lunchtime dish I had in a wine bar! It came with curly fries, but at home I served it with a plain green salad, only to then ruin my virtue by tipping the leftover turkey stir fry on top of the salad instead of saving it for lunch tomorrow – see 2^nd pic! Well, I hadn’t eaten any lunch and it tasted bloomin lovely…

1 turkey steak or chicken breast, flattened if it is thick and sliced into thin strips

1 tsp olive oil

1 small carrot, cut into matchsticks

¼ red pepper, sliced into matchsticks

1 spring onion, shredded

Half a jar of sweet chilli stir fry sauce, such as Sharwoods

1-2 tortilla wraps

Salad leaves

Season the meat and stir fry in the oil on a high heat. After a couple of minutes add the carrot and peppers and continue to cook for another minute or so until starting to soften. Add the spring onion and then add the sauce, stirring continually – it will only need 30 secs to heat through otherwise it will go too thick and burn.

Meanwhile heat the tortilla(s) for 30 secs in the microwave and pile in the stir fry mix. Roll up and serve with salad on the side. 

Turkey, Asparagus and Baby Vegetable Risotto

Turkey, asparagus and baby vegetable risotto

Serves 1

So, having some of Sunday night’s leftover cooked turkey breast and lovely fresh asparagus to hand, I thought a risotto would be nice. Be careful with the seasoning – I found it didn’t need any salt.

5 stalks young asparagus, thick end trimmed off and set aside

1 tbsp frozen baby broad beans

1 tbsp frozen petit pois

3 spring onions, finely sliced

1 tsp olive oil

Half a garlic clove

50g carnaroli risotto rice

Splash of white wine

1 pint boiling chicken stock – I used fresh from a tub

Two thick slices cooked turkey breast, diced

Half a lemon

1 tsp fresh chopped mint, finely chopped

Parmesan cheese for grating over

Slice the thick ends of asparagus into 0.5 cm rounds. Bring a small pan of water to the boil with a little salt and blanch the sliced asparagus and broad beans for 3 minutes. Then add the peas and asparagus tip and cook for 1 minute more. Drain and refresh under cold tap. Leave to drain. I decided to peel the broad beans as their vibrant green colour inside are more visually appealing, but must admit I didn’t bother doing every single one. It’s up to you.

Gently fry the spring onions in the oil in a wok and add the garlic clove to help flavour the oil with a mere hint of garlic. Once the onions are soft, pick out and discard the garlic and add the risotto rice. Stir to coat in the oil and then add a splash of wine. Bubble away until it is all absorbed.

Then add a little of the stock at a time, stirring continually until it is all absorbed and the rice is almost tender. I think it depends on what brand you use, but mine took about 20-25 mins and it still had a bit of bite. Use some hot water from the kettle if you run out of stock.

Add the turkey and a squeeze of lemon and stir in the mint. Stir to heat through, and add the vegetables. You may need a little bit of water to stock it being too dry at this stage. Taste for seasoning, a bit of pepper is probably all it will need, and then pile into a bowl and scatter over as much parmesan as you like. 

Yup, a regular roast... for 1!

Turkey roast dinner

Ok, I wouldn’t usually post something quite as simple as a roast, but this is a demonstration as to how my meal planning works. So on a Sunday, I decided to cook a roast turkey breast joint that I have had in the freezer as a standby for far too long. But I thought, I am going to have leftover meat and it got me thinking of all the dishes I could make over the next few days. So I will probably try a risotto tomorrow with unused British asparagus left from the roast, possibly risotto and maybe make some wraps for lunch too.

I don’t often cook a roast just for me, but seeing as I haven’t been eating my veggies this weekend I told myself it would be good for me! This makes rather a lot as you can see from the picture, but I was going for a lot of vegetable consumption!!

Roast turkey for 1

1 475g ready to roast turkey breast in a foil tray

2-3 baby new potatoes, halved

1 small carrot, cut into chunky batons

1 small parsnip, cut the same thickness as the carrots

½ tsp dried mixed herbs

¼ small pack Paxo stuffing mix

3 runner beans, trimmed and sliced

About 5 thin asparagus spears, fat ends sliced

2 tsp Bisto gravy granules, mixed with 2 tsp of water to a paste in a jug

Preheat oven to 180C and cook turkey according to instructions (Mine actually took about 40 mins instead of an hour)

Half an hour toward end of cooking, place the potatoes, carrot and parsnip in a baking tray. Spray with low cal cooking oil and season. Sprinkle with mixed herbs and toss about to coat. Put on the top shelf of the oven and cook for 20-25 mins, turning the veg halfway through.

Put ¼ small pack of Paxo into a ramekin and add a couple of splashes of boiling water, until rehydrated but not sloppy. Put in the oven for 10-15 mins until a bit crunchy on top.

Rest the turkey on a board.

Meanwhile bring a small pan of water to the boil, Add salt and throw in the runner beans and fat stalks of asparagus. Turn down to a simmer. After 5 mins are up add the asparagus tips and continue to simmer for 3 mins.

Pour some of the hot water into a jug of bisto, stirring until you have the consistency you like.