Inspired! Tandoori turkey burgers!

Oh blogging, how I've missed you!! Hello, friends.

I've found some inspiration, via our friends at Everyday Foods on PBS (woohoo public television!). If you've ever seen this show, you'll know it isn't particularly entertaining (the hosts are quite... monotonous, in my opinion), but I have frequently found their recipes inspiring and easy. I was watching a recent episode all about burgers, and with summer just around the corner, it seemed to be a good fit!!

These burgers are Tandoori-Style Turkey Burgers with Cumin Yogurt Sauce (the original uses chicken, but I used turkey). I just adore Indian spices, and this burger sounded very refreshing and tasty!

I started with a combination of ground white turkey, and ground dark turkey. I added the lemon juice, spices, ginger, and scallions, and combined with my hands. The spices included cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper (the original calls for cardamom, but it was too expensive so I omitted it). Yuck, I hate the feeling of raw meat, especially when it gets stuck underneath my fingernails!



I used a 1/4-cup measuring cup to approximate the size of the patties, and formed them into these mini-size patties. They are so cute!


Onto the grill pan they went... smells good...


And flipped them to get lovely grill marks. These little guys cook up faster than bigger burgers, so you don't have to wait as long to eat them :)


As a cool accompaniment, the yogurt sauce consists of nonfat Greek yogurt, cumin, salt, and pepper.


I put two mini-burgers in a whole-wheat pita half, along with the yogurt sauce, thinly sliced cucumber, and fresh cilantro leaves. The spices add a deep and exotic flavor to these burgers, and the coolness of the yogurt and cucumber are a perfect compliment. Not to mention, the cilantro, which I cannot get enough of!! Overall, I am very happy with this recipe. It's simple, quick, and full of flavor and interesting depth. I think you'll love it as much as I did!!

High five for inspiration!



Tandoori-Style Turkey Burgers with Cumin Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground white turkey meat
0.75 lb. ground dark turkey meat
4 scallions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp chopped or grated fresh ginger
Juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
S&P
whole-wheat pitas, halved
1 cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro sprigs

For the yogurt sauce:
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
S&P

Directions:
1. Combine turkey meat, scallions, ginger, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, and S&P into a large bowl. Use hands to combine thoroughly.
2. Using a 1/4-cup measuring cup, form mini-patties (I ended up with 18).
3. Heat a grill pan, or grill, to medium-high heat. You can brush/spray some vegetable oil, if you'd like.
4. Place burger patties on grill. Do not touch the patties until you are ready to turn. Cook for about 7-8 minutes on each side, or until there are nice grill marks and the meat is cooked through.
5. Make the yogurt sauce by combining the yogurt, cumin, and S&P.
6. Spread the yogurt sauce on one side of the pita.
7. Place two mini-patties into the pita pocket. Add cucumber slices and cilantro.
8. ENJOY your tasty creation!

Big Thanks

I am eternally grateful to each of you in the blogging community. Truly, I am amazed at the kind words and thoughts of support. Thank you so much!! I am back, but havn't gotten back to blogging quite yet for a few reasons...

-I can't seem to find the battery charger for my camera, so it is basically a dud right now. Bummer.
-I seem to be losing inspiration for cooking and baking! Maybe it's just laziness, or just trying to recover from a rough week. Plus, my summer semester just started. It definitely is NOT due to the lack of inspirational content out there (thanks to each of you), but probably rather due to me still feeling tired and worn out.

It was indeed a rough week, and just after I came back from NY for funeral stuff, I took a plane down to Maryland for a wedding (quite a whirlwind of emotions that week!). The wedding was beautiful, outdoors, and the food was great. This wasn't a surprise, since the bride and groom are quite the food lovers. Here's a photo of our appetizer:


Huge, plump mussels in a broth of unknown ingredients. It's irrelevant what the broth was made from, because it was DELICIOUS!!

And, being the French food lovers that they are, they decided to forgo the traditional wedding cake, and opt for a beautiful (and tasty) French macaroon tree! They also had an accompanying dessert bar, which I appreciated. Deeply appreciated.


It was a beautiful, fun, and memorable wedding. Congrats to Olivia and Mike!

Hopefully I'll find that darn camera battery charger and get some inspiration to cook and blog. I shall return!

Thanks again!

Hiatus

Hi my friends.
I'll be taking a short break, maybe a week or so. Unfortunately, there's been an unexpected death in my family, so I'll be out of town for a bit.
You are all wonderful, thank you for all your support.
Love,
Christina

Soba Noodles, a quick easy dinner

We're all affected in some way by this crappy economy. For me, I've been having a lot of difficulty finding an RN job here in Boston, because all 100040030 major academic hospitals in Boston are on hiring freezes. As a result, I am trying to make food that is cheap, quick, yet still delicious! I have been making this soba noodle dish for quite some time now, and D and I just love it. It's very simple, and comes together quickly. The ingredients are relatively inexpensive, and it makes a lot of noodles, which is perfect for lunches for several days.

I started by boiling some water, and cooking some soba (buckwheat) noodles until just al dente. You can find these noodles in an Asian food market, or Whole Foods. You will find that the more expensive versions of soba noodles have higher buckwheat content, while the cheaper ones contain a higher ratio of wheat flour. As you can see below, I got the cheaper kind! Sure, it's less nutritious, and has less fiber, but it will do.


While the noodles were cooking, I made the sauce to toss the noodles in. It consists of soy sauce, sesame oil, Korean red pepper flakes (gochu garu), fish sauce, and some furikake (Japanese seaweed/bonito flake/sesame seed seasoning).


I whisked it all in a large bowl.


Then, I added some sprouts and thawed edamame to the sauce. When the noodles were done cooking, I drained them, and added the hot noodles on top of the sprouts/edamame. This allows the sprouts to slightly cook, and the edamame to further thaw.


I used tongs to gently mix, bringing the sauce from the bottom to the top.


I sliced some scallion for garnish, and for a little bit of onion-y bite.


I served the noodles up with some pieces of light silken tofu, which I love for its smooth texture and protein content. You could use any kind of tofu you like, but I think the silken tofu has a very creamy and lovely texture. I think you'll really like this dish -- it is simple and very tasty. It has quite a bit of protein from the tofu and edamame, as well as fiber from the soba and edamame. The sauce is simple and provides a nice Asian flavor. Next time, I might add some rice wine vinegar to the sauce to shake things up a bit!



Soba Noodles with Tofu

Ingredients:
2 packages of soba noodles (8.8 oz each), cooked according to package directions
5 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sesame oil
4-5 dashes of fish sauce
1/2 Tbsp Korean red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp furikake
1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
2 cups sprouts
1 package light silken tofu
3 scallions, sliced

Directions:
1. Boil water, and cook the noodles. Drain, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, Korean red pepper flakes, and furikake. Whisk to combine.
3. Add the sprouts and edamame to the sauce.
4. Add the hot noodles on top. The heat from the noodles will slightly cook the sprouts and further thaw the edamame.
5. Using tongs, gently mix thoroughly to ensure complete coverage with the sauce.
6. Serve with some tofu slices. Garnish with sliced scallions, and more furikake.
7. Enjoy your Asian creation!

Ooh ooh, pick me!

I am still a novice blogger, or at least that's how I feel. I was so pleased to discover that people actually give things away on their blogs! I am amazed at the kindness and generosity.

Anyway, one of my favorite bloggers, Ambitious Delicious(ness) (yes, she really is one of my favorite blogs, I'm not just saying that because of her giveaway!) is having a giveaway -- honey and chocolate, with an environment-conscious twist. Yum.

Since I am very good at following directions and rules (as D knows very well... I always follow the rules), I am blogging about the giveaway, as instructed.

You should enter, too! Who doesn't like free stuff? Us Korean people love free stuff, especially the napkins and ketchup packets at McDonald's (or "Mac-don-al-deu" in Korean), and those disposable chopsticks from the Korean restaurants.

Summer grilling -- chicken burgers!

(sorry for the terrible lighting. i need help with my photography.)

It's 90-plus degrees here in Boston, very rare for April! This weather makes me want to spark up the grill and throw some burgers on. Okay, so in my case, it's heating up the grill pan, because we don't have an outdoor patio to store an actual grill. But nonetheless, summer here we come!

I decided on some ground chicken breast (1.5 lbs total), to keep it somewhat healthy.


We all know how dry chicken breast can be, so I had to think of ways to keep the meat moist. I grated up about 1/4 of a large sweet onion, then added some cumin and worcestershire sauce for nice smoky rich flavor. Of course, salt and pepper as well.


As I incorporated the ingredients into the ground chicken breast, I realized how wet it was, and how difficult it was to form the meat into patties. So, I decided to add some whole wheat bread crumbs to make the meat less wet.


This made the chicken much easier to form into patties. I used a 1/2 cup measuring cup to ensure even patty sizes, and the 1.5 lbs turned into exactly 6 patties.


As an accompaniment to the burgers, I decided on some caramelized onions. I thinly sliced the rest of the sweet onion, and slowly cooked them in some olive oil until they got nice and caramelized.



I also sliced up a package of creminis, and sauteed those to add to the burgers as well.



The burgers went on the grill (pan), and I put a cover on to ensure they cooked through. Lovely grill marks!


As a side dish, in lieu of french fries, I sliced up a sweet potato using a mandoline. To ensure they did not stick to the baking sheet, I brushed on some olive oil.


Then, I laid the sliced sweet potatoes in roughly a single layer, brushed with more olive oil, then sprinkled with salt, pepper, and a bit of cumin. They went into a 375 degree oven for maybe 15 minutes or so, until they started getting crispy.


I toasted up some wheat buns, slapped on the chicken burger, threw on some caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, and also added some fresh arugula. The arugula added nice color, crunch, and lovely slightly bitter flavor. I served the burger with some of the sweet potato fries/chips (some were crispy and more like chips than others), and we were ready for a great summertime dinner! The grated onion definitely adds much-needed moisture without being overwhelmingly onion-y, and the cumin adds just a hint of smokiness. In fact, in retrospect, I probably would have added a bit more!



Chicken Burgers with Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs ground chicken breast (or turkey breast)
1 large sweet onion
3 to 4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
S&P
1 package cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 sweet potatoes, thinly sliced into rounds
sprinkling of cumin
arugula, washed and dried

Directions:
1. Grate 1/4 of the sweet onion. Thinly slice the remaining onion.
2. Add the sliced onion to a pan with some olive oil. Keep the heat on medium-low to allow the onions to caramelize and not burn. Stir occassionally. Add S&P.
3. Add the grated onion, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, breadcrumbs, and S&P to the chicken. Combine thoroughly with hands. Form into patties, using a 1/2 cup measuring cup as a guide.
4. Arrange the sliced sweet potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet with some olive oil, S&P, and just a touch of cumin. Put in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through and slightly crispy.
5. Grill the burgers until cooked through.
6. While the burgers are cooking, add the mushrooms to a pan with some olive oil, and cook until they are softened and any moisture from the mushrooms is cooked off. Add S&P.
7. Toast your buns. Who doesn't like toasty buns?
8. You are ready to assemble your burgers! Add a chicken patty to the bottom of the bun, add some caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms, then a bit of arugula. Top the burger off with the top of the bun. Serve with the sweet potato fries/chips, and some ketchup.
9. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars. What a mouthful!

I know, the name of this recipe is quite long. But really, I don't think there's any easier way to describe it! This is yet another recipe from Andrea's Recipes for her Whole Wheat Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars. They are indeed as tasty as they sound!!! It's like a Reese's peanut butter cup melted on top of an oatmeal cookie crust. Amazing!!

I kind of screwed up the recipe at first... when making the cookie crust, I forgot to add the eggs and peanut butter (oops!). In Andrea's recipe, she makes a note that the dough for the cookie is really really sticky. Well, mine wasn't so sticky and I thought, "hmm that's funny..." So, just before throwing it in the oven, I took another glance at the recipe and realized, EEK! I forgot to add the egg and peanut butter, the ingredients that would indeed make the dough sticky. Phew!

Anyway, I creamed the butter, sugar, and brown sugar together. Then added the egg and peanut butter (after I screwed it up initially). In a separate bowl, I combined the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt, and then added this to the wet mixture.


See, this is how it looked before I added the egg and peanut butter... it's not sticky!!


You may realize by now, my love for Smart Balance. Oh yes, it even extends beyond buttery spread. I used Smart Balance peanut butter for this recipe, with omega-3s!!


Once I corrected my mistake, I pressed the dough into a 9x13 pan (greased).


While it was baking, I put together the glaze.... peanut butter, confectioner's sugar, and milk. Oooh, look how it drizzles...


After the cookie came out of the oven...


I added a 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips on top... they started to melt!!



Then, I drizzled the glaze on top.... or in my case, globbed it on.


At this point, the chocolate chips were melting all over the cookie, the glaze was dripping everywhere, it smelled amazing, and I just wanted to dig in right there!!!


I had to wait for it to cool before cutting into it.... I HAD TO!!!!! But could I? Really?


I decided to actually stick it in the fridge so the chocolate and glaze would cool down enough to make it easier to cut. I couldn't wait any longer!!! If you're a fan of peanut butter at all, this will be your favorite dessert. And with the whole wheat flour and oats, plus the omega-3s in the peanut butter, it can't be THAT bad for you, right??? Yeah... riiiight...



Whole Wheat Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
from Andrea's Recipes

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3-4 Tbsp milk (depending on how much it takes to make a drizzle-able glaze consistency)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add the egg and peanut butter. Stir to ensure everything is incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the butter mixture and stir until completely combined.
4. Press the dough into a greased 9x13 pan using wet fingers. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.
5. While it is baking, make the glaze by combining the last three ingredients, adjusting the amount of milk to make a smooth consistency that can be drizzled.
6. Remove pan from oven, and add the chocolate chips to the top. They will start melting!!
7. Drizzle the glaze on top of the chocolate chip layer.
8. Let it cool completely before cutting into pieces. THEN YOU WILL DIE AND GO TO HEAVEN!