Turkey Lasagna

This is another recipe I modified from Eat Cheap but Eat Well. I debated posting it since I screwed it up the first time... but even though the noodles on top came out crispy, the rest of it was so good I thought I would post it anyway.

1 lb. ground turkey - I used the "Italian Flavored" kind
36 oz. spaghetti sauce - Whatever kind you want, but make sure to use that much. You might need 2 cans.
14 oz. ricotta (1 container) - I used the low-fat kind
8 oz. shredded mozzarella (1 cup) - I used part-skim
1/2 cup Parmesan
2 eggs
Dried parsley, salt & pepper
9 lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 350. Cook the turkey in a skillet and add spaghetti sauce. Turn down heat and simmer for 10 min. While that is cooking, in medium-size bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, eggs, and a dash each of parsley, salt and pepper. In a 9 by 13 pan, layer uncooked noodles, sauce, and ricotta mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 45 minutes.

To make this more successful next time, I plan to cover the noodles on top with sauce, make sure I get the right amount of sauce to start with, and use the "no cook" lasagna noodles!

West Indian Curry

This recipe is modified from a recipe in Charles Mattocks's new cookbook, Eat Cheap but Eat Well. This came out pretty well--recommended if you like mild curry with just a hint of spice. Serves two.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp Creole seasoning
2 tbsp ginger/sesame seasoning
2 tbsp curry
Dash extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 cups jasmine rice

Chop the chicken into 2-inch cubes. Mix uncooked chicken with garlic, Creole seasoning, and ginger seasoning, and set aside. Chop and add onion while oil is heating on skillet, then add chicken and onion mixture to skillet. Add 2/3 cup water and curry powder and saute until chicken is fully cooked. While the chicken is sauteing, begin cooking the rice as directed on package. Finally, add coconut milk, bouillon cube, and brown sugar to the mixture, turn temperature to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. When sauce has thickened and rice is done, serve together.

Taco Ring

This is a Pampered Chef recipe that I vaguely remembered from a party my mom had when I was in high school. I decided to recreate it from my memory and from various recipe sites I looked at. One of the reasons I believe the company sells this recipe is because they have a great baking stone you can use to make this (which I have) but you can use any sort of baking sheet.

Ingredients:
2 packages reduced fat crescent rolls
1 lb. ground turkey - You need only 1/2 lb. of meat, but I bought the lb. and had extra left over.
1 package taco seasoning
Sliced green pepper - about 1/2 cup - I used the frozen kind
Chopped onions - about 1/4 cup
Mexican cheese - about 1/2 cup or more if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brown the turkey, add taco seasoning, and chop the green peppers and onions--unless using frozen kind--then you can just heat them in a skillet. While that is going, unroll one package crescent roll dough out on your baking sheet or pizza stone. Form it in a ring shape. When the turkey is done, spoon it out onto the ring-shaped dough, and top with veggies and cheese. Unroll the second package of crescent roll dough on top of the other ingredients, and fold around so that they are covered. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the roll dough is brown.

I made two rings, one with Nacho Taco cheese and one with regular Mexican cheese. Both were very tasty--you can top with lettuce and sour cream if you like as well. There are also versions with pizza ingredients and chicken ingredients. We will be having this again!