Fall turkey loaf

Here is a recipe of an extremely easy, lean, healthy and bread-less meat loaf I often make on weekdays. It is very tasty and makes the vegetables appetizing. It features the classic Fall vegetables and makes a colorful meal my family enjoys.

Fall turkey loaf

Ingredients:

• 800 gr of lean ground turkey
• 2 tablespoon of fresh sage, cut in small slices
• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut in large slices
• 1/2 large butternut squash, peeled and cut in large cubes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 2 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Blender large enough to fit all the vegetables
• 1 cooking pan with lid

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Place the carrots, the butternut squash and the onion in the blender and cut until the vegetables are in very small pieces, but not in puree (see picture below - Before cooking).

Place the ground turkey, the eggs, the cut vegetables, the sage and the salt and pepper in the cooking pan. Mix with your hands until you have a uniform meat dough. Fashion into a loaf (see picture below - Before cooking).

Cover pan with the lid and place in the oven 1hr or until the juice bubbling out of the loaf is clear.

The resulting meat will be most and lightly sweet from the vegetables and the color will make you smile! Eat with mash potatoes, salad or any other sides you love!

Stuffed peppers with turkey and spinach

Here is a recipe I use often, for weekdays diner. It is very economical, and makes both a earthy and healthy meal for the whole family. My son, who is now 3 years old, eat it with gusto and gets a fair dose of spinach from it without really knowing it, which makes me say it is also a kid-friendly meal! As a mother, I know a lot of you out there are looking for some simple ways to get the young ones to eat vegetables more regularly, so I hope your little fussy one will love those stuffed peppers as much as mine does.

Here are the ingredients (for 6 stuffed peppers):

• 6 large peppers
• 1 can of tomato sauce
• 800gr of lean ground turkey 
• 1 pack of spinach of 6 Oz
• 1 medium onion 
• 4 garlic gloves (adjust to taste)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of dried or fresh tarragon
• 2 tablespoon of grated pecorino romano
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 large pan with sides high enough to hold the peppers up straight
• 1 blender

Cut the onion in 4 parts and place it in the blender, add the spinach (yes, you will have to push on it to pack them in), the egg, the garlic, the tarragon and the salt and black pepper. Blend everything to a liquid puree (this is very important to make a uniform texture). Add the grounded turkey and blend again until you get a very uniform paste of vegetables and meat.

Blending the ingredients to a uniform paste is the key to the squishy texture that makes the success of this meal in my family. I actually have the one pictured below, and even if it is a bit expensive, I do not regret its efficiency and I use it whenever I need something powerful to blend ingredients to the perfection.

Prepare the peppers by removing the top and the seeds. Pour the meat paste into the peppers one by one with a tablespoon. Place them open side up in the cooking pan side by side. Pour the tomatoe sauce around the peppers. Sprinkle the pecorino romano on top of the stuffed peppers. 

Place in the oven and cook at 350F for about 1h30 or until clear liquid pour from the top of the peppers and the tomato sauce boil abundantly. 

Place each pepper in a plate and pour tomato sauce around them (or serve with some rice or pasta).