Terry Ambrose

Writing is like a good barbecue sauce, if it ain't bold, it ain't worth doing.

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Turkey and Bean Taco Enchiladas

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With a bit of inspiration from both tacos and enchiladas, these Turkey and Bean Taco Enchiladas are sure to please everyone.

Turkey and Bean Taco Enchiladas? This delicious combination blends a bit of both into an easy-to-make casserole. This was originally a beef and bean recipe, but I swapped the ground beef for turkey and tweaked a couple of ingredients to make it a bit healthier. Don’t be intimidated by the number of steps or ingredients. This really is an easy dish to make.

Best of all, you can even make the turkey and bean mixture ahead of time so all you have to do is layer, heat, and serve. Then, voila, a weeknight dinner everyone can enjoy!

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 Turkey and Bean Taco Enchiladas
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword Easy Dinner
Servings
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword Easy Dinner
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish.
  2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the ground turkey.
  3. Cook until slightly pink, then drain off excess fat.
  4. Season turkey with Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, cumin, oregano, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper.
  5. Brown the mean, breaking it up into smaller pieces, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
  6. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
  7. Add beans, salsa and 1/2 cup water.
  8. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the sauce thickens and coats the meat, about 5 minutes.
  9. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  10. Layer half the tortillas on the bottom of the oiled casserole dish.
  11. Spread half the meat mixture on top.
  12. Sprinkle half the cheese over the meat.
  13. Sprinkle half the green onions on top of cheese
  14. Repeat with remaining tortillas, meat and cheese.
  15. Bake uncovered until the cheese melts and the casserole is hot, about 20 minutes.
  16. Remove from oven, let stand for 5 minutes, and serve.
  17. Top with your favorites—sour cream, lettuce, and/or tomato. Serve with avocado, salsa, and tortilla chips on the side.
Recipe Notes

There are a lot of possible variations on this recipe. The first time I made it, I replaced the cooked regular onion with green onion. You could also add sliced olives as a layer. The original recipe called for 6 cups of tortilla chips instead of tortillas. If you don’t mind the added fat, that’s a tasty alternative. Have fun!

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Exotic Pad Thai

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Exotic pad thai recipe with a sweet ginger Chile sauce
This exotic pad thai recipe uses a sweet ginger Chile sauce for extra flavor.
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 Exotic Pad Thai
This pad thai recipe is a blend of different cultures. Made with easy-to-find ingredients, it’s a delicious dish with a sweet chili twist that makes it unlike any pad thai you’ll find in a restaurant. Check the recipe notes before you begin for some helpful hints.
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Asian
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Passive Time 15 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Asian
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Passive Time 15 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Slice scallions and place into two small bowls. Slice white and light green parts thin and put into one bowl, slice dark green parts cut into 1-inch slices in separate bowl.
  2. Peel, devein, and remove tails from shrimp, then rinse and pat dry.
  3. Combine the vinegar and chile in a bowl and set aside.
  4. Combine 1/4 cup water, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. sugar in a small bowl. Microwave until steaming, about 30 seconds. Add the radishes and let stand for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
  5. Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a large pot. Turn off the heat and add the noodles. Stir and let soak for about 6 minutes, stirring halfway through. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again, return the noodles to the pot, and toss with 2 tsp. oil.
  6. Whisk 3 tbsp. sugar into lime juice; set aside.
  7. Cut 4 shrimp in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 1/2 inch pieces. Toss with 1/8 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp, sugar. Arrange in a single layer on a plate. (Make sure the pieces are not touching or they will glue themselves together!) Microwave at 50 percent until the shrimp are dried and reduced in size by half, about 4-5 minutes.
  8. Heat 2 tsp. oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add dried shrimp and cook until golden brown and crispy, 3-5 minutes. Transfer to large bowl.
  9. Heat 1 tsp. oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add thin-sliced scallions (white and light green parts) and garlic. Cook about one minute and transfer to the large bowl.
  10. Heat 2 tsp. oil in now-empty skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add remaining shrimp (whole). Cook on one side for 1-2 minutes, then flip the shrimp and repeat on the other side. The shrimp should be brown around the edges and opaque.
  11. Turn down the heat, push the shrimp to one side of skillet, and add the eggs to the other side. Using a heat-resistant spatula (silicone is perfect), stir the eggs gently until set, but still wet. Combine the shrimp and eggs, breaking up any large pieces, until the eggs are completely cooked, about 30-60 seconds. Transfer to the large bowl.
  12. Heat 2 tsp. oil in now-empty skillet over high heat until oil is just smoking. Add the noodles and lime juice mixture to pan and cook until liquid is absorbed. Transfer to the large bowl.
  13. Add drained radishes, scallion greens, reserved chile slices, and bean sprouts to the large bowl and toss to combine.
  14. Transfer to a platter and sprinkle with peanuts for presentation or simply serve on individual plates.
Recipe Notes

Organization is key to making this dish smoothly. Ideally, you’ll have 8 small bowls and one large bowl. You’ll also need a large pot for the noodles and a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Prepare all of the vegetables first to make the assembly process easier. You’ll need small bowls for the chile, the radishes, shrimp, garlic, eggs, and peanuts (if using).

Ginger Chile sauce - this might be hard to find - we found one from The Ginger People that is a sweet and spicy marinade/sauce. We needed something that was both soy and gluten-free. If you don't have food allergies, about any sweet and spicy marinade/sauce should work.

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Spaghetti Carbonara

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The original recipe came from Gimme Some Oven. I’ve made a few changes to make this gluten-free, proportioned for two, and slightly healthier by replacing the pork bacon with turkey bacon. It’s a wonderful, quick dish and takes only about thirty minutes to whip this up.

Personally, I like to get all of my prep work out of the way first because it makes the cooking part of the process go smoothly.


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Spaghetti Carbonara

Course Main Dish
Cuisine Italian

Servings


Ingredients

Course Main Dish
Cuisine Italian

Servings


Ingredients


Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, parmesan and black pepper until well- blended. Set aside.

  2. Bring a big pot of generously-salted water to a boil on the stove.

  3. While waiting for the water to boil, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-heat.

  4. Add the turkey bacon and onion and cook until bacon is nearly crispy and onion is tender. Stir every few minutes.

  5. Once the pasta water is ready, add the spaghetti and cook according to package instructions until it is al dente.

  6. When the pasta is ready, carefully and quickly drain out the pasta water, and return the pasta to the hot pot immediately. With heat on low, stir pasta while pouring egg mixture into the pasta. Continue to toss until the egg mixture is cooked into the pasta. (You may see a few tiny clumps, but in general, the eggs will just coat the individual pieces almost like a sauce.)

  7. Add in the bacon and onion mixture and toss until mixed. Garnish with extra parmesan and/or chopped fresh parsley. Serve immediately.


Recipe Notes

If you don't keep regular milk around, substitute nonfat dry milk. I found making the nonfat milk with 2 tbsp. powder to 2 tbsp. water worked well.

Photo from gimmesomeoven.com.


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Southwestern Turkey Salad

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This Southwestern Turkey Taco Salad is easy to prepare and can be made with an endless variety of condiments.

The original recipe for this southwestern turkey salad came from a cookbook called Today’s Turkey Favorites which we sent away for in 1990. This book was only thirty-five pages long, but it contained a number of good recipes. “Today” is always a relative term because the original recipe is now nearly thirty years old. However, with a few little additions, this recipe is better than ever!

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 Southwestern Turkey Salad
This is a colorful way to create a turkey salad without using lettuce or tomato. It's very tasty and can be modified to be "hotter" very easily by modifying the spices or using a different salsa.
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Slice the zucchini 1/8" inch thick, shred the cheddar cheese, and chop the cilantro.
  2. Bring a pot containing 4 qt. water to a boil. This will be used to blanch the zucchini. If the water comes to a full boil before you're ready to blanch the zucchini, just turn the heat off and leave a lid on the pot.
  3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, add the olive oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the turkey and cook until turkey is barely pink. Add the chili powder, lime juice, taco seasoning and stir together well and cook until turkey is no longer pink.
  4. Add the salsa and simmer the turkey mixture for 5 minutes. While the turkey mixture is simmering, it's a good time to slice the avocado.
  5. When the turkey has about a minute to go, blanch the zucchini by putting the slices in boiling water for about a minute. Drain the zucchini and place zucchini slices in a circle on a plate.
  6. Spoon the turkey mixture on top of the zucchini, top with avocado slices and cheddar cheese. Serve with tortilla chips.
Recipe Notes

I like to get my prep work done in advance. This sometimes means I wind up with more dishes to do, but it relieves so much stress while you're in the "assembly phase". When we make this, we make individual plates, but you could make one large plate if you prefer.

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Spaghetti and Meatballs

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Use this spaghetti and meatballs recipe over your favorite pasta. We use a gluten-free pasta, but whatever you prefer will come out well. Prepare the pasta according to the package directions, unless you are extremely adventurous (or skilled) and are making your own! The longer the sauce simmers, the better it gets.

Want to try “spaghetti” without the pasta? Cook up a spaghetti squash and use that in place of the pasta.


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Spaghetti and Meatballs

This spaghetti and meatballs recipe is sure to be a hit with any spaghetti lovers. The meatballs are more work than a meat sauce, but they are well worth the effort! Plus, this recipe has no added salt, so for those on a low -sodium diet, it works well. You can easily make this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free bread crumbs.

Course Main Dish
Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1-2 hours

Servings
servings


Ingredients
Sauce

Meatballs

Course Main Dish
Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1-2 hours

Servings
servings


Ingredients
Sauce

Meatballs


Instructions
Sauce
  1. In a large pot, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and sauté onion until soft.

  2. When onions are soft, combine the rest of the sauce ingredients over medium heat. Stir occasionally and then simmer on low for at least one hour.

Meatballs
  1. In a large bowl, combine all meatball ingredients except oil

  2. Heat oil in large skillet.

  3. Roll meatballs by taking a small amount of meat and rolling between your palms. A good size is about the size of a golf ball. Add this batch of meatballs to oil. Turn regularly to avoid having them flatten. Brown on all sides.

  4. When all meatballs have been browned, add them to the sauce to continue cooking.


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Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas can be made gluten-free

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 Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
These chicken fajitas can be made gluten-free by making one substitution. Use corn tortillas instead of flour and voila, this yummy crock pot recipe from food.com is gluten-free. http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-chicken-fajitas-308987
crock pot chicken fajitas
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 4-6 hours
Servings
servings
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 4-6 hours
Servings
servings
Ingredients
crock pot chicken fajitas
Instructions
  1. Place chicken and onions (and peppers, if using) in crockpot.
  2. Sprinkle spices over all. Add the lime juice and stir well.
  3. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. If you start with frozen chicken breast, you might need to cook for longer than 6 hours.
  4. Serve in warm tortillas with your favorite fajita toppings.
Recipe Notes

This is such an easy way to make chicken fajitas. Serve with Mexican rice and refried beans and you'll have an winning meal without a lot of hassle. Nutrition Calories: 299.8 Fat: 12.9 Saturated Fat: 3.6 Cholesterol: 72.6 Sodium: 267.4 Carbohydrates: 17.9 Fiber: 1.4 Sugar: 1.5 Sugar: 1.5 Protein: 26.5

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