Greek-style "Sloppy Joes"

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Last week I decided to create a meal based on things I already had around the house. Like my skillet chicken parmesean, it's all about getting creative and working with whatcha got. There's nothing more fun than working with a stocked pantry and Shaun and I try to eat what we have before hitting up the grocery store to replenish our goods. I had a freezer full of various meats and a crisper full of veggies. Since I always try to keep things fresh around here for TAA readers (and let's face it, it's just not fun to eat the same things over and over again), I concocted a new recipe using a package of ground turkey, some veggies and my new favorite ingredient, Greek yogurt.

Put all of that together and what do you get? A delicious, fresh 'sloppy joe' style sandwich that's hearty and packs some major flavor. I changed up a few traditional Greek flavors, though, to make this work for me. For example, instead of cucumbers which never seem to sit well in the tum despite the fact that I love them, I substituted fresh diced zucchini for a bit of crunch, health value and gorgeous green color. Isn't it pretty? Served up on a potato roll or sandwich thin, this meal is a bit messy but full of flavor thanks to some crumbled Feta cheese and diced tomatoes. Oh and don't forget the simple yogurt sauce that holds it all together!

Greek-style ‘Sloppy Joes’
1 lb ground turkey (or lean beef if you prefer)
1 large can diced tomatoes (I use Red Pack)
1 zucchini, diced, with skin on
1 small onion, diced
1 C crumbled Feta cheese (I used reduced fat)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 C Greek yogurt
1 clove garlic, minced (I use the jarred kind)
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp kosher salt + more for seasoning meat
olive oil
Rolls or sandwich thins

Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet. Saute onions until soft. Add ground turkey, season with salt (and pepper if you like) and cook through, adding the Worcestershire sauce. Meanwhile, make the yogurt sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, paprika, garlic and salt until combined.

Add tomatoes, Feta and zucchini to skillet, along with the yogurt sauce. Mix altogether and cover. Cook for about 5 minutes or until zucchini is tender, but not too soft.

Serve on a roll with the top on or open faced. Enjoy!

Doesn't that look good enough to eat? I imagine that this dish would be equally as delicious over rice or quinoa as well. Heck, I had leftovers the next day for lunch and just ate the turkey mixture, sans carbs and it was divine! So what do you think? Have you ever whipped up something using only ingredients you had in the house? Without having to run out for fill-ins? Do tell!

PS - If you like what you see on The Avid Appetite, and you're intrigued by my Coconut Shrimp Curry, please vote for me to advance to Round 3 of Project Food Blog!

Four Cheese Mac 'n Cheese at Mac Bar

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While I typically try to bring my lunch to work 4 out of 5 days per week (saving money + eating healtheir = good, plus Shaun often packs my lunch for me which equals a triple score!), Fridays are always reserved for ordering in. A few of us usually order sushi, but this past Friday we veered off course a little and ordered from SoHo's Macbar. Located just a short ways north of the office, Macbar is a restaurant dedicated solely to serving up delicious mac 'n cheese. Oh New York how I love you so. Never underestimate the power of taking one dish and running with it, all the way to creating a restaurant around it. Like Rice to Riches in NoLiTa, there's nothing more fun than a themed joint serving up variations of one delicious dish. Especially when it's yummy comfort food like mac 'n cheese.

With a plethora of options to choose from, including mac lobsta', mac stroganoff and mac reuben, I went with the old standard, Four Cheese. Chock full of gouda, queso fresco, emmental and fontina, this dish was cheesy yet not overly heavy. It seems couterintuitive to call this dish light - because it wasn't - but it also wasn't sittin' heavy after devouring a small container of it, which many a mac 'n cheese tends to do. While it was delicious, the smokiness of the gouda overpowered the dish a bit. I could have gone for more of a gruyere twist rather than the gouda.

So what do you think? Are you a fan of mac 'n cheese? Do you have any specialty store or restaurants near you that make you happy?

PS - If you like what you see on The Avid Appetite, and you're intrigued by my Coconut Shrimp Curry, please vote for me to advance to Round 3 of Project Food Blog!

Coconut Shrimp Curry, for PFB Challenge #2

I'm so happy to report that I was selected to move past the first round in Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog and onto Challenge #2, where you can now vote for me in round 2 here. Thanks to everyone who voted for me and get ready for some copious begging this week for votes to launch me into round 3! And if you missed the first post that got me to Round 2, check it out here: Why me?

When I read that Challenge #2 would include cooking a classic ethnic dish, I immediately thought of one of my favorite cuisines - Indian.

While I'm a pro at ordering up naan, tandoori chicken and palak paneer, whipping up something like tikka makhani in my own apartment kitchen hasn't exactly been a weeknight staple. After all, Shaun and I live a few blocks away from Jersey City's Little India and the food is seriously authentic, so why bother whipping it up in my own apartment kitchen? But since I'm always up for a challenge, I concocted a shrimp curry dish that's upped the ante with the addition of some additional Southeast Asian flavors including coconut milk and bamboo shoots. Oh and I should mention that I have never cooked with these ingredients before. Until today.

Fragrant and extremely flavorful curry lightened up by the fresh flavor of coconut milk really pulls this dish together and keeps the strong curry at bay. The bamboo shoots add just the perfect bit of crunch while the shrimp is the meat of the dish, if you will. And if you're not of the shrimp eating nature, I could see this working just as deliciously by substituting veggies for the shrimp - fresh string beans and bell peppers would really shine here. But let's get down to the details, shall we?

Coconut Shrimp Curry
1 lb shrimp, cleaned, deveined and lightly cooked
1 onion, diced
3 tbsp olive oil
2 cinnamon sticks
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
kosher salt
1/4 C Greek yogurt
1 can coconut milk, unsweetened
1 can bamboo shoots, drained
1 sprig basil, for garnish
For the rice:
1 C dry basmati rice, I used brown
2 C low sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp butter

In a small saucepan, combine the rice, broth and butter and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer, cover and cook for 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saute pan, heat the olive oil and add the onion. Cook for a few minutes to soften (is there anything better than the smell of sauteeing onions? Nope, there isn’t). Add cinnamon sticks, bay leaf and garlic and cook for about a minute.

Add the curry powder, cumin and about half of the coconut milk.

Whisk together to get rid of the lumps with the stove on low heat. Stir in the Greek yogurt and bamboo shoots and add a bit more coconut milk. The mixture thickens very quickly, so I kept adding more coconut milk throughout the cooking time. Toss in the cooked shrimp.

(Note: if your mixture is too thick, you can add a tablespoon of water to thin it a bit).

Serve over a bed of basmati rice.

Since this dish can be a bit brown, I added a sprig of basil to keep it all looking fresh. In hindsight, white rice would have been best for presentation purposes, however, I was overjoyed that our local bodega had Basmati rice so I scooped it up! This dish can also pack a bit of a kick. If you want to tone it down, try halving the amount of curry powder. Doesn't it look good enough to eat? Admittedly I did devour this gorgeous meal...and it may or may not have been for breakfast. The result was nothing short of warm, delicious and pretty authentic to boot.

 

If you like what you see, please feel free to vote for me to advance to Round 3 of Project Food Blog! So what do you think? Have you ever tried whipping up something outside the realm of your comfort zone?