Turkey and Vegetables

While we have covered a lot of recipes with chicken in the past on the site, we haven’t done any with turkey in them. Turkey is simply a less common meat that people eat, but it’s up there with chicken as one of the healthiest meats in terms of calorie to protein ratio. You can make some really delicious meals with turkey, and a lot of them can be made really easily. We’ll take a look at one of our favorite ways to prepare turkey in this article.

We’re not getting a full turkey all dressed up for this meal - you can save that for your Thanksgiving festivities. Instead, we’ll be using ground turkey. Most forms of meat these days come in a turkey variety: turkey bacon, turkey hot dogs, turkey sausage, and turkey turkeys :). Turkey is simply a leaner meat than pork or beef, and so you see a lot of these meats replaced with turkey varieties (turkey is not necessarily better in terms of calorie or protein than other meats, but there are some health benefits). Some of these turkey replacements taste pretty much the same while others taste nothing like the original. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, just go into trying some of those items without expectations.

Replacing ground beef with ground turkey is one of those replacements that tastes basically the same. You generally are frying ground beef, so you really don’t taste the difference. In this recipe, we like to use ground turkey, but you can use ground beef as well - just make sure you are looking for a 93%/7% ratio on your ground beef. Ground turkey is generally sold in leaner varieties vs ground beef which is one of the reasons we gravitate towards it.

Making the recipe is about as simple as they come. Get your ground turkey or beef, and whatever other vegetable you like. We enjoy putting onions, carrots, and broccoli into this recipe. We also enjoy adding green beans as well. Put your meat into a pan and start frying it. Add onions as well at this time if you’re going to add them. Once the meat is ready, add in whatever other vegetables you’ve chosen to add. Add water (usually about two cups) and cover. You’re going to let the other vegetables cook.

Once the vegetables are soft, your food is ready. Drain the water that may be left over, and season to your liking - we really like this parmesan garlic seasoning that adds a nice hint of parmesan flavor without all of the added calories. This base of your meal is served with whatever you want to add. Oftentimes, we’ll put this over rice or pasta and add either pasta sauce, or simply some hot sauce. This recipe is great as a base for making larger meals, and it can be reused for a few days so you can make enough to cover you for the next several meals.

Making food and meals that are simple and healthy are great options as you can combine them with other foods to make it feel like you’re having a completely different meal while not having to prepare multiple meals. You get the healthy food, a slightly different flavor and taste each meal with less work. It’s a win-win all around.

The other benefit to a meal like this is that it’s flexible. You don’t like broccoli? Don’t add it. Want to include mushrooms? Go for it. You get to make the meal your own without having to do much thinking. It also allows you to deal with some of the pickier eaters that you may have in your house as well.

Give this turkey and vegetable recipe a try and make it the way you like it. Meal prep doesn’t have to be hard to be healthy.