Sunday, March 24, 2013

Light and Healthy Turkey Keema

 This morning I went shopping for a bathing suit.  Enough said, right?

This turkey keema is a great meal to make if you're watching your waistline.  Ground turkey breast is seasoned with lots of spices, bay leaves, onion, garlic, and ginger then mixed with peas and little cubes of steamed potato.  This makes for a substantial meal all on it's own with a little slice of naan bread on the side.  However, this keema can also be served over rice or used as a filling in lettuce cups.  I really enjoyed it and would make this again.

This recipe, for turkey keema, is my final recipe to round out my six months of cooking with Madhur Jaffrey.  Next week is our final week and I will be wrapping up my six months by showcasing my top five favorite Madhur Jaffrey recipes.  Stay tuned because that is a post you simply don't want to miss!  Many of my new favorite recipes will be shared on that post.

Starting in April our cooking group, I Heart Cooking Clubs, will be cooking the recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi for the next six months.  Ottolenghi is red hot right now with amazing cookbooks like Plenty and the brand new cookbook Jerusalem.  We are very excited to be cooking his recipes and encourage all of you who love his recipes to join in!  I Heart Cooking Clubs is a very carefree group.  Participants are welcome to join in as they wish.  There are no hard and fast rules.  So, if you plan on cooking up any Ottolenghi recipes in the next six months please head over to our site and share with us! We'd love to have you!


Light and Healthy Turkey Keema
Adapted from Quick & Easy Indian Cooking
by Madhur Jaffrey
About 240 calories per seving
Serves 4

1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
 4 cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon turmeric (optional)*
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 pound ground turkey breast (99% lean)
1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 russet potato, peeled, cut into 1/2" cubes, and steamed until soft
1/2 water or chicken stock
1/2 -1 teaspoon salt
black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
 
Put the oil in a wide nonstick skillet and set over medium heat.   When the oil is hot, put in the cardamom, bay leaves, cayenne, cumin, garam masala, and turmeric (if using).  Take a step back when you do this or the spices will cause you to cough quite a bit.  Stir for a few seconds.  Put in the onion.  Stir and fry the onion until some of the pieces turn brown at the edges.  Add in the garlic and stir for a few seconds.  Add in the ginger and stir for a few seconds.  Now put in the ground turkey.  Stir and fry until all the lumps are broken up.  Add the peas, cubed/steamed potato, and water or stock.  Stir to mix and continue to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring as you do so.  Taste for seasoning and add in more spices if needed.

Be sure to remove the bay leaves and cardamom pods before serving!

Theme: One Pot Wonders

11 comments:

  1. Sounds good and I want to make it soon!

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  2. I've decided that bay leaves are my new favorite thing to cook with. This dish looks really good--especially like the idea of serving it in lettuce leaves. Just the sort of thing I'd want for lunch. I better get crackin' looking through some Ottolenghi recipes!

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  3. Hi Kim,
    Keema is a dish that I have not tried cooking before! Your turkey keema looks delish, I've got to sub with chicken as I have never seen ground turkey being sold here before! I wonder why!!
    I'm doing a round-up too for MJ!

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  4. This looks so light and good! I am especially coveting that napkin!) ;-)
    Looking forward to your recap next week.

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  5. Oh man I can't even think about bathing suits right now...oy. This keema sounds so wonderfully flavorful! And I can't wait for ottolenghi...I'll definitely be participating!!

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  6. Kim this sounds yummy!! I've been cooking your creations for a couple of weeks now and my daughter said my food is better than ever. Thanks!

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  7. ugh, swimsuits! who created such an evil in the first place! i definitely need a dish like this, there is nothing better than a healthy dish that is so flavorful that you don't even realize it's light. i should really join a cooking club, i need to quit being such a commitaphobe!

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  8. I make a point of never shopping for a bathing suit (laugh). The turkey Keema sounds really flavorful. I think I have said it before, I really enjoys Indian flavors.
    Awesome dish.

    Velva

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  9. Kim, your turkey keema looks and sounds wonderful. There's some great flavourings there (especially bay and cardamom) for turkey, which can tend to otherwise be a bit bland. Love your idea of serving this in lettuce cups to really lighten things up and get swimsuit ready :-)

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  10. I’m in crockpot heaven…i am bookmarking this page and will go through these recipes. I just used my crockpot today (chili) and I’m always looking for new crockpot recipes to try. thanks.
    Harold Burton

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  11. I make something very similar and freeze it. The trick is to reheat it in the oven and not the microwave (which makes it weird and soggy.
    Joseph Donahue

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