Tomato Basil Turkey Burgers

One of the best parts of summer is having tomatoes at the ready for whenever I feel like having something with tomato. Simple enough, no?  So when I picked up some turkey burgers to cook on the grill this Labor Day weekend, my first thought was “hmm… what do I put on them?” because well… turkey can be kind of bland.

My tomato crop in the garden has been rather lacking, but I managed to find a couple, and pulled a few basil leaves off the basil plant.  I was then ready for dinner!

I had bought the 93% lean turkey, and knew I’d have to watch them carefully because there’s not a lot of fat in there to burn off.  As soon as I put them on the grill, I sprinkled them with a McCormick’s roasted garlic and red pepper seasoning, sort of as an insurance policy.  Then I sliced my tomatoes, washed the basil and sprayed the buns with some non-stick spray.  After I flipped the burgers, I put the buns on the top level of the grill. 

After a few minutes – long enough to toast the buns a bit, I placed the basil leaves on the burger patties, and then placed the tomato slices on top of them – to keep them on there.  I closed the grill, ran in the house for the cheese.  I then topped the burgers with a slice of provolone cheese. 

On the bun, I just used some Kraft Olive Oil light mayo and this thing was TO DIE for.  Like, it was so good, I’m making them again tonight good.  Neglible amount of fat, huge on taste, and at about a buck a piece, not TOO bad on the wallet. Especially when you consider what a restaurant charges for something like this!

Yay me!

Italian Grilled Chicken & Mrs Dash

One of the toughest part of getting older is, for my husband and I at least, to cut down on the things that we've always enjoyed.   Salt, of course, is one of those things that makes EVERYTHING taste better, but does NOT do nice things for things like blood pressure – and of course, we’re both heavily cursed with family histories. So that means that we have to be especially mindful of our salt intake on a daily basis as well as educating our children about the dangers of excess so that they grow up healthier than we have.

Mrs. Dash has helped us do that.   Creating flavorful low-sodium meals for our family, without having them reaching for the salt shaker the minute the food hits their mouths, is made much easier with the variety of products that Mrs. Dash has available.  My favorite – or I should say, ONE of my favorites, is the italian medley, which I use in any manner of ways, including this one.

Grilled Italian Chicken

• 1 lb (or more) boneless chicken breast
• Mrs. Dash Italian Medley

Heat your grill up at least 5-7 minutes to be sure the grate is nice and hot.  While it’s heating, sprinkle the Mrs. Dash Italian Medley seasoning blend over the chicken breasts, both front and backside.  Once the grill is hot, place the chicken on the grill.  Leave it there for at least 5 minutes – do not mess with it.  Leave it alone!  After about 5 minutes, the chicken will have seared well on the grates and should be readily released when you grab it with your tongs.  Flip it and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F.

Enjoy! 

I serve this with a salad and everyone just LOVES it.  You could also serve it with some nice (no salt added) pasta sauce and pasta.  Let it cool and throw it in a salad.  There’s no limit!

I know I can be assured that the Mrs. Dash seasoning blend I choose for whatever I’m cooking will be safe for us to use, and it’s one less thing I have to worry about.  Win Win!

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I wrote this blog post while participating in the Mrs. Dash and TwitterMoms blogging program for a chance to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.  Thank you!

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Flavorful, Family Meal IdeasMore Mrs. Dash Recipes

Food trip Friday PLUS Photo Friday

I like doing memes from time to time, and these are both pretty new to me.  Food Trip Friday is where you post a food – any kind of food.   Photo Friday is where you post a photo that represents the word of the week – this week’s word is PLEASURE.  Food is pleasure to me, AS IS photography.  Two of my favorite things – food and photography!  So here ya go!

If you are new to my blog, welcome!  Please take a moment to click on the “follow” or join my facebook fan page if you like what you see.    The more, the merrier!

I chose this photo because of the colors in the photo, which I love, but also because it demonstrates the complexities of cooking, which I love as well!  A twofer!

And, of course, because this IS a recipe blog, afterall, the recipe that this came from!

I decided to (re)do another of my favorites from my blog, the Grilled Southwest Chicken recipe that I’d gotten from an old blogging friend, Karen – formally of Pediascribe – but now blogging at Forgiven & Loved.

 

In any case, it was a hit then, but not so much of a hit this time.  I think it’s because I tried to tweak it by adding a new favorite of mine, LIME, and doubling the spice/oil mixture.  IT didn’t work – do NOT try it. LOL  Follow THIS recipe instead :)

 

Grilled Southwest Chicken

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp each cumin, oregano & chili powder
3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon(ish) lime juice.  DO NOT USE LOL
salt & pepper to taste

Mix the spices in a bowl together with the oil.  Poke chicken breasts with a fork. In a zipper-type bag, place chicken breasts and spice mixture. Mush together so that each breast is coated. I let mine sit for about 10 minutes while the grill heated up.

Grill the chicken approximately 10 minutes on one side, flip and another 5 on the other.

Be sure to visit my other blog, Coming to a Nursery Near You, for my other take on the photo friday theme as well :)  Thanks for visiting!

Grilled chicken salad, redux

I don't think it gets much easier than this, truly.  I've made grilled chicken salad before, but this may be my new favorite.

Sunday morning, I woke up and knew it was going to be a busy day. My son's first hockey game of the year was Sunday afternoon, and I had errands to run, shopping to do, and my husband did too.  So I took a package of McCormick's Grill Mates Baja Citrus Marinade, mixed it (per the directions) and threw in 4 boneless chicken breasts, which I'd poked a few times with a fork.  It all went into a large zipper bag and into the fridge for the rest of the day.

8 hours later, at 6 pm, I had turned on the grill to a medium flame.  Once it was heated, I put the chicken on and closed the top.  I went to work assembling my salad, which was (admittedly) lacking in ingredients.  But a half a head of iceberg, some croutons and some Roma tomatoes later, and it looked good anyway.  Not very exotic, but it had been a LONG day.

The chicken took at least 20-25 minutes to cook.  But ALL I had to do was turn them, and once they registered the appropriate 165 on the thermometer, they were ready to go.  I sliced them up, placed them on our salad, topped with some spray on salad dressing (vinaigrette, actually) and mmmmMMmm - combined with another version of my new favorite flatbreads, it was a delicious and SIMPLE dinner!

The chicken came out so juicy and so full of flavor - my kids loved it as well.  Next time, I'll make it and slice it for wraps - Yum!

A+ Southwest Chicken, courtesy of Pediascribe

I made such a delicious dinner last night, and it was SO HEALTHY! This recipe came from Karen over at Pediascribe.com and really was excellent. Even the kids liked it, and they're always so IFFY about things. Just a note to Karen - I did do things slightly different, i.e. the ziplock thing & making the paste but still - YUM :)



Anyways, here's how it goes:

A+ Southwest Grilled Chicken

Ingredients

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp each cumin, oregano & chili powder
3 cloves garlic, crushed
salt & pepper to taste

Mix the spices in a bowl together with the oil. In a ziplock-type bag, place chicken breasts and spice mixture. Mush together so that each breast is coated. I let mine sit for about 10 minutes while the grill heated up.

Grill the chicken approximately 10 minutes on one side, flip and another 5 on the other.

If you have leftovers, (which you probably won't!), throw it in a salad the next day - YUM!


Nutritional Info

* Servings Per Recipe: 4
* Amount Per Serving
* Calories: 266.1

* Total Fat: 3.1 g
* Cholesterol: 136.9 mg
* Sodium: 154.7 mg
* Total Carbs: 1.2 g
* Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g
* Protein: 54.8 g

I served this along with This and it was a huge hit!