Wednesday, February 22, 2012

turkey and black bean skillet

Hello lovely followers, long time no see!

I could make excuses, or I could make it up to you and post a delicious recipe. Sound good? Okay!! I've listed special diets this can apply to as well, the recipe is pretty easy to tweak.

Turkey and Black Bean Skillet
(serves 4-ish)
Special Diets: gluten free, vegan/vegetarian (just double the black beans and take out the turkey, and no cheese for vegans!), kosher (if using kosher meat and don't garnish with cheese)

1 tsp of olive oil
1 medium red onion chopped
5 cloves of garlic diced (you can use more/less to taste)
~1.5 tsps of chili powder (or more to taste)
`.5 tsps of ground coriander
.25 tsps of ground cumin (or leave out if you're like me and you think cumin is too stinky)
1 red pepper chopped
1 package of ground turkey (I used Empire All White Meat)
1 can of black beans, rinsed/drained
salt
water, as needed
~4 c. cooked, warmed, brown rice

Optional garnishes: hot sauce, chopped cilantro & scallions, grated cheese of some kind

1. Cook the onions with a pinch of salt until they soften in a large, non stick skillet on medium heat, you can cook them for longer if you prefer, I cooked mine 7-8 minutes.
2. Add the spices and garlic, cooking for one minute, adding water if the pan starts to look dry.
3. Add the peppers and turkey, and a couple more pinches of salt. Break up the turkey into manageable pieces as it cooks, again, adding a little water if the pan starts to look dry.
5. After ~5-6 minutes, add the beans and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes.
6. Serve over the rice and garnish as needed, or in my case not at all, it was still completely delicious!!

A note on my "pinches of salt" and spice measurements: I highly recommend adding salt in layers (so not all at once, and definitely not only at the end). I tend to cook without measuring, but I also know when to stop for seasoning/salt. So add at least a little salt, in the beginning, and a little bit more in the middle. Then you can wait until the end and see if it needs more. Same with seasoning; I sometimes think I have enough, and then I try/smell it and realize it needs more.

turkey and black bean skillet
I didn't have the time or energy to take a fancy/nice picture, so this is the best I could do with Picnik and my not so great camera phone. Either way you should take my word that it's more delicious than it looks!