healthyfood

Turkey and Chorizo Burger

~ Food Loving Dad ~ Leave a comment

This post is long overdue. We as a family have been very busy in the recent months, relocating back to the UK from Jersey after living there for just over 2 years. It was not an easy decision and was not a easy move with a 6 year old in tow. One of the biggest challenge was to find a school place for our daughter and also to find jobs for ourselves. In the end things fell into place and we are settled. We as a family have focused on a slightly healthier lifestyle recently and we are watching what we eat and follow this up with a bit of regular exercise. So apart from cutting out some junk from our food we are looking into newer recipes and techniques. Its not too difficult but just requires a bit of advance planning. We are looking at ways to reduce our starch, fat and sugar intake. We have tried to incorporate Turkey meat in to our diet instead of red meat. Here’s a recipe of a Turkey Burger that I came up with. It can be prepared in the BBQ or inside the kitchen (grilled or fried as per choice). I added Chorizo to add a bit more flavour and it works well with the Turkey meat.

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Ingredients

Turkey Mince = 500 gms
Chorizo = 1.5 inch length (finely chopped)
Spring Onions = 2/3 finely sliced
Cajun Spice = 2 tsp
Fresh Coriander = 3 tbsp finely chopped
Black Pepper = to taste
Salt = to taste
Lemon Juice from half a lemon

Method
Mix all the ingredients well (ideally by hand) and shape into 4 generous sized burgers. Leave it in the fridge for an hour. Heat oil in a pan and cook the burgers on it for about 3/4 minutes on each side. Now place in a oven proof dish and put in a preheated oven (180 degrees C) for about 10 to 15 minutes depending on how thick you made the burgers. I served mine on a whole meal flatbread topped with salad and Apple Slaw (recipe to follow), instead of traditional burger buns. You can serve them any ways you like. They are equally delicious served on their own with salad. I drizzled mine with yogurt and Sriracha Sauce.

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Steamed White Fish with Vegetables

~ Food Loving Dad ~ Leave a comment

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With the Easter holidays, I have been slightly busier than usual and have not been able to spend time blogging as much as I would have loved. The weather is nice for a change and we have been busy exploring the outdoors with my daughter. During this time i have prepared many dishes but have not been able to perfect the dishes or take decent pictures to actually do up the blog. For my next post I have chosen to write about this easy fish dish with vegetables that’s steamed in their own juices. I know that a lot of recipe out there claims to be easy but this really is easy. You could rustle up this in no time and also be able to use fish from frozen. As for the vegetables you are welcome to play around too and use up what’s available. Most vegetables work well here. Over my many attempts, I have used peas, carrots, sweet potato, beans, peppers, sweet corn, baby corn, very thin sliced potato, chopped tomatoes, blanched cabbage, mange trout etc. I have also made this dish with just salt and pepper, with Chinese five spices, with Indian Curry spices and with Thai flavours. They have all worked well so you could use different flavours too experimenting till you come to like one or two. Most of the time I have added a spoon of tomato purée diluted with a tiny bit of water and poured over the top of the fish fillets. I have also semi defrosted the fish in a microwave but if you are using thin fillets then I have also cooked from frozen and have had great results.

Ingredients
2 fillets of any white fish (Pollack was used in the last recipe that’s in the picture)
1 medium carrot cut into medium pieces
1 medium onion sliced
2 cloves of garlic chopped
Handful of peas
5 baby corns cut into medium chunks
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tsp of Chinese five spice mix or Indian Curry powder or Thai 7 spice mix.
1 tbsp of tomato purée
If using Thai flavours add lime leaves or one chopped lemon grass (optional)

Method
Heat a frying pan that has a fitting lid. Add a about a tablespoon of oil. When hot add the garlic and after about 30 seconds add onions. Stir for a minute and add the rest of the vegetables. Stir fry for about 2 minutes. Now place the fish fillets on top and add the salt. Sprinkle the spice and top with the tomato purée diluted in about 5 tablespoons of water. Add black pepper (or chilli powder if more heat is desired) and add lemon grass or lime leaves if using Thai flavours. Now cover with a lid and cook till done. This usually depends on the thickness of the fish and if it was frozen or not. Just check after 10 minutes and then cover and cook more if required. Don’t over cook the fish as it will also continue cooking. drizzle with some fresh lemon juice and serve immediately.

ps. I have created a 13 second video highlighting the process and show you how easy it is to prepare this dish. Please follow the link to view it on my Instagram feed.