Turkey Pot Pie

WARNING! This recipe (if eaten with the crust) is not low GI friendly. But it is really good so sometimes I have to make a pot pie and just deal with it. I can't eat nuts and berries all the time, can I?

So this year hubby and I decided to go out to Thanksgiving supper. I love Thanksgiving and all of the cooking, but when there are only 4 of us it seems a waste to cook all morning and then clean all afternoon. So out we went. But I couldn't not make something Thanksgiving-y, so a few days before the actual event I roasted a turkey breast for supper. We had loads leftover so I made this with some of the leftovers. I actually made the filling, froze it and then pulled it out when I was ready to use it. When you freeze pot pie filling, be sure that before you top it with the crust that it is heated thru (that's right, thaw it and heat to bubbling before you top your pie).

Turkey Pot Pie (serves 6)

1/4 C butter
1/2 C onion, chopped
1/2 C mushrooms, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 C frozen peas
1 T garlic, minced
1/3 C flour
1/2 t dried sage
1/2 t dried thyme
1 1/2 C prepared turkey gravy
1/2 C turkey stock (or chicken stock or water)
1/2 C milk
2 T dry sherry
3 C cooked turkey, cubed
S & P to taste
1 recipe Single Crust Savory Pie Dough (follows)

Preheat oven to 425.

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in all veggies except peas and saute until tender but not browned (about 5 minutes). Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in flour, sage and thyme. When well blended, add gravy, stock and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in turkey, peas and cook until veggies are tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sherry. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Pour mixture into a deep dish pie pan or other baking dish as desired. Top with pastry. Seal and crimp the edges. (Note: If you like lots of crust - like I do - do not trim the excess pastry from the pan. Simple turn the pastry under, press to seal the edges and crimp as you normally would). Pierce the crust with a fork or cut slits in the pastry to allow for steam.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 - 40 minutes or until browned and bubbling. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Single Crust Savory Pie Dough

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 t salt
4 T shortening, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
8 T butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
4 T water

Add flour and salt to food processor. Pulse a few times to evenly distribute salt. Add shortening and butter. Using 1 second pulses, process until the flour is pale yellow and resembles course meal. Sprinkle water into bowl. Pulse 4 or 5 times or until the mix comes together. Turn out on plastic wrap. Form into a disk, warp tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).

When filling is ready, roll the pie dough into a sheet large enough to cover your pie and proceed as directed above.

Hot, steamy and soooooo yummy!

The SG Challenge: Turkey Black Bean Burgers

After my last post of how to cook black beans, my friend, SG, asked what I did with them once I cooked them. I pointed her to a number of recipes on this blog; Lentil and Black Bean Salad, Quick and Easy Turkey Soft Tacos, even The Amazing Black Bean Brownies. I started thinking about these recipes and the other that I make using black beans and I decided I needed to try something new. It was time to break out of my black bean rut and find some new and interesting recipes. I have dubbed this recipe search (drum roll please.......) The SG Challenge.

I found this little gem on the Taste of Home website. I made it tonight and it was a hit. Even the kids ate them, although they both initially resisted because they could see the red bell pepper in it (shame on me - I thought I diced it finely enough). Chris and I both loved them too. One note on the TOH recipe, theirs makes 4 servings. I found that with one lb of turkey I got six good sized burgers. As we ate them, these come in at 335 calories (including the whole grain sandwich thin and all of the toppings) and only 247 m of sodium.

Turkey Black Bean Burgers (makes 6 patties)

3/4 C black beans
1 egg white
1/2 C zucchini, finely shredded
1/2 C red bell pepper, finely diced
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t salt
1 pound ground turkey
1 T olive oil

In a small bowl, coarsely mash beans. Add all remaining ingredients and mix lightly. With a wet hand, shape lightly into 6 patties. In a large skillet, cook burgers over medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side or until a meat thermometer reads 165 and juices run clear.

Serve as desired (we served on sandwich thins with mayo, mustard, chili sauce (Chris), lettuce, tomato and onion. Yum!)

Smoky Turkey Patties a la Saucy Mama

This is a recipe I have promised for awhile. It's a take-off of a Rachel Ray recipe that I have made many times. Rachel serves her patties on generously buttered white toast. I serve mine on buns (for guests), in a low carb warp (for me), or just plain (for the family). I had some patties frozen from the last batch I made, so tonight I served them in a whole wheat low carb wrap with some spring greens and a quick sauce made from some of my Saucy Mama goodies. Enjoy.

Smoky Turkey Patties a la Saucy Mama

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 T paprika
1 T grill seasoning (I use Montreal Steak Spice)
1 T dry parsley
1/2 small yellow onion, grated fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T extra virgin olive oil.

Heat griddle or non-stick pan over high heat. While pan is heating, mix all burger ingredients gently. Form 4 patties with the mix. Place patties on hot pan and cook until no longer pink, approximately 5 minutes per side. Serve as directed above or in a whole wheat tortilla with a dollop on Saucy Mama sauce and spring greens.

Saucy Mama Sauce (makes scant 3/4 cup)

1/2 C good quality mayonnaise
3 T Saucy Mama Chipotle Mustard
3 T red pepper jelly

All all ingredients to a small bowl and mix to combine.

Here's the sauce with some carrots as a dip - yummy.

A shout out to Wendy - a quick and easy healthy dinner

My friend Wendy is looking for quick and easy healthy meal ideas. Here is my shout out to her. This is actually what we ate for dinner last night. It was quick, easy and healthy. I served it to the kids with a quick, fresh fruit freeze (one peach, one cup strawberries, 1 1/2 cups chopped ice and 1 cup no sugar added fruit juice, all whirred up in the blender). They are yummy.




Quick and Easy Turkey Soft Tacos
(makes 8)

1 lb. ground turkey
3 heaping T homemade taco seasoning
1/2 t salt
1 C cooked black beans (if you use canned, rinse well)
3/4 C prepared tomato or marinara sauce
1/4 C water
8 low carb or whole wheat tortillas (I used Carb Balance by Mission)
Taco toppings as you like (we used shredded cabbage, no-salt added salsa, yogurt - the kids got shredded cheese)







Brown turkey in large skillet over medium high heat. Add taco seasoning, salt and black beans. Stir well to combine.










Once well mixed, add tomato sauce and water. Simmer for 10 minutes or until flavors are well combined.

Serve as directed above with your favorite taco toppings.