Mini Turkey Meat Loaves with Nutty Parsley Gremolata

This dish is one of my favorite ground turkey recipes!  Each loaf comes out to only 270 calories too!  The lemon flavor in the gremolata is a nice accent to this turkey mealoaf!  I am not a big fan of strong lemon flavor but it actually worked so well with in this dish as a delicious compliment!  Just go easy on topping each loaf as a little goes a long way!

I always double this recipe and use toasted pine nuts because they are my fave so I can just use the 16-oz packages of both the ground turkey and the lean ground turkey breast.  It makes 8 loaves this way!  The below instructions are for 4 loaves and 8 oz of each the ground turkey and ground turkey breast.

Ingredients:

Cooking spray, parchment paper, or tinfoil
2 egg whites
1-1/2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup finely chopped dried tomatoes (in pouch not in oil)
1/4 c finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
8 oz uncooked ground turkey
8 oz uncooked ground turkey breast

1/3 cup snipped flat leaf Italian parsley (I chop mine)
1/4 cup chopped toasted pine nuts, walnuts, or sliced almonds
2 tsp walnut oil or olive oil
1/2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a 15" x 10" x 1" baking pan with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl beat the egg whites with a fork and add in the mushrooms, rolled oats, dried tomatoes, onion, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper.  Add in the ground turkey and mix well.

Divide the meat mixture into four equal portions.  For me this comes out to about 6 ounces each (slightly more).  Shape each into a 4" oval that is about 2-1/2" wide in the center. Place in prepared baking pan so they are not touching.  Bake about 20 minutes or  until internal temperature is 165 degrees.

While loaves are baking, make the gremolata mixture.  Stir together the parsley, the nuts, oil, lemon peel, lemon juice and 1/8 tsp salt.

To serve, top each loaf with a serving of the gremolata.

YIELDS:  4 Servings
SERVING SIZE:  1 loaf

Nutritional Information:  270 calories, 12 g fat (2 g sat), 68 mg chol, 479 mg sodium, 10 g carb, 3 g sugars, 2 g fiber, 30 g protein.

Lemon-Pepper Tuna Nicoise Salad

This refreshingly light salad is a definite must-have again lunch in my rotation for only 247 calories!  I wound up using diced and seasoned refrigerated potatoes (by the hashbrowns in the dairy aisle) because not a single store had the refrigerated potato wedges the recipe calls for, but a potato is a potato and these had an extra kick of spice that really kicked up the flavors this time around!  I just fried up the whole bag and divided it up saving a serving for my youngest's breakfast and then put about 2 oz into each salad container.

(Only 3 servings pictured because I ate the 4th!)

Ingredients:

2 tsp butter

2 cups refrigerated potato wedges

6 cups mixed salad greens

3 2.6-oz pouches lemon-pepper or herb-seasoned chunk light tuna

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

2 Tbs white wine vinegar

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp Dijon-style mustard

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions:

In a large skillet melt the butter over medium heat and add the potato wedges.  Cover and cook about 15 minutes or until golden brown flipping or stirring occasionally.  Cool completely.

In four salad containers, if portioning out, evenly layer salad greens, tuna, tomatoes, egg slices and potatoes. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours. 

In a small bowl whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, mustard and black pepper. 

Divide among four small containers if portioning out in advance. 

Drizzle on dressing portion over the one salad portion.  Cover and shake or toss with a fork to combine.

YIELDS:  4 servings

SERVING SIZE:  ~1-1/2 cups greens, 1/2 c potatoes, 2 oz tuna, 1/4 c tomatoes, and 1 Tbs dressing

Nutritional Information:  247 calories, 12 g fat (3 g sat fat), 125 mg chol, 543 mg sodium, 14 g carb, 4 g sugars, 4 g fiber, 20 g protein

Turkey-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls-2 Rolls for 431 calories

The stuffing for these can also be used in baked stuff zucchini and tomatoes and peppers!  Basmati rice is so fragrant and good I highly recommend it!

Mr F said no Fewer than Five times "Wow. I'm surprised this is soo good!"  He didn't like the smell the cabbage gave the house as it baked and he was extremely nervous about it. 

Each serving is 2 rolls for 431 calories but can be one roll for 216 calories!  This is a very old WW recipe I used to make that clocked in at 8 Winning Points and it is Noom friendly because all of the ingredients are yellow and green foods!   If you want or need to switch to a less-lean ground turkey, then adjust the nutritional info accordingly!

Make sure you make this earlier in the day because it cooks long and slowly for up to 2 hours so they come out fork tender.  You can also shorten the bake time a bit by throwing the ground turkey into the pan with the mushrooms and onions and cooking up a bit before stuffing the cabbage leaves.

To reheat any leftovers, you should steam or microwave them.

 (I like extra sauce on my plate to drag each bite through!)

Ingredients:

1 (1-1/2-lb) Savoy cabbage(can use regular green cabbage as well)
1 cup bastmati rice or long-grain white rice
2 tsp olive oil
1/2-lb white mushrooms chopped coarsely
3/4-lb ground skinless turkey breast
1 large egg
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 (26-oz) jar marinara sauce

Instructions:

Fill a large pot with water about 2/3 full.  After getting the cabbage leaves carefully separated, dip each cabbage leaf individually into the boiling water for about 30 seconds with tongs.  Thinly chop/slice up the remaining cabbage head.

Place the chopped cabbage at the bottom of a glass, coverable, baking dish large enough to hold 8 rolls-about lasagna pan size.

Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a medium sauce pan.  Add the rice and bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. About 20 minutes.  (Boil in bag Basmati rice can cook in about 10 minutes too!).  Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large, nonstick skillet and add in the mushrooms and onion cooking until liquid evaporates.  Add the mushroom and onions to the rice bowl.  Now add turkey, egg, and salt and pepper to the same rice bowl and mix until well blended.

Divide the turkey mixture evenly amongst the 8 cabbage leaves.  Roll up the rolls and place them seam-side down on the bed of chopped cabbage in the baking dish. Cover with the whole jar of marinara sauce and place lid on top.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

SERVES:  4
SERVING SIZE:  2 Rolls
POINTS:  8 Winning Points

Nutritional Information:  Calories 431, Total Fat 8 g (2 g saturated), Cholesterol 104 mg, Sodium 1.187 mg, Carbs 62 g, Dietary Fiber 7g, Protein 31 g, Calcium 151 mg

Chicken Carne Asada Tacos

In the past I've always made these tacos by sets of 2 for 413 calories, but this time because I found these super cute teeny street taco shells, I went with 3 teeny tacos for 300 calories!  This saves you 113 calories!!  Two of the regular size corn tortilla shells is 100 calories and you add more of everything into each compared for even more calories, but there are only 90 calories for three corn tortilla shells into which you fill less as well!

Instead of assembling in the below-listed quantities/measurements, I put 1 oz of chicken in each tiny shell, divided up a Tbsp of the Cotija cheese between all 3, and put in one thin slice of avocado in each as well, which didn't even amount to a whole ounce of avocado overall.

Ingredients:

Marinade:

1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 tsp sugar 1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium red onion thinly vertically sliced

Meat:

1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into thin strips
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray

Fixings:

8 (6") corn tortillas (or do the 3 small street taco size as mentioned above)
1 cup diced peeled avocado
1/2 cup (2 oz) crumbled Cotija cheese

Instructions: 

Marinade: Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl stirring until sugar dissolves. Place onion in a small saucepan; cover with water. Shock the onions by bringing to a boil, then drain and plunge into ice water to quickly cool and stop the "cooking" process. Drain onion and add to juice mixture. Chill until ready to serve.

Meat: Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Sprinkle chicken with oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned and done, stirring occasionally.

Tortillas: Heat tortillas according to package directions. I heat using nonstick spray in a skillet and browning both sides.

Assembly for 2 tacos: Divide chicken evenly among tortillas. Drain onion and divide evenly among tortillas. Top each tortilla with 2 tablespoons avocado and 1 tablespoon cheese and fold.

 ***Assembly for 3 street tacos: 1 oz of chicken per taco, 1 oz avocado thinly sliced and divided between all 3 tacos, 2 tsp of Cotija cheese divided between all 3 tacos and a couple of pickled onions per each taco. 294 calories here!

Yields: 4 servings
Serving Size: 2 Tacos

Nutrition Info (2-Taco version): 413 Calories; 17.1 g  Fat (sat 5.2 g, mono 7.1 g, poly 2.7 g); 33.4 g Protein; 33.6 g Carb; 4.9 g Fiber; 123 mg Cholesterol; 3.2 mg Iron; 825 mg Sodium; 237 mg Calcium