Monday, June 2, 2008

Heads It's Chicken...Tails It's Turkey

Tonight was our first bite of turkey meatloaf. Though I cooked the meatloaf on Saturday and the roast chicken on Sunday, we hadn't feasted on either all weekend. We went to the SOFA exhibit yesterday, but ventured to Chelsea Market first and ate lunch at a deli. The corned beef sandwich my husband ordered was as big as his head, while I had a huge fried chicken breast sandwich. So it was no surprise that when I made the roast chicken last night, after it cooled it went straight into the refrigerator, uneaten.

Tonight, we're deviating from the menu (again). For dinner: 4 to 5 ounces each of turkey meatloaf, some smashed potatoes, and the ever-yummy asparagus.

The turkey meatloaf is straight from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten, except that we make it with only 3 lbs of ground turkey (she calls for 5 lbs) and halve all the other ingredients. (The ground turkey in our supermarket comes in prepackaged amounts: 1 lb and 3 lbs only.) According to my serving sizes (no more than 5 ounces each), the recipe (using 3 lbs of ground turkey) makes enough for 10 servings. Right now, the recipe is available from Food Network at http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_21615,00.html. I won't recreate it here since, except for making a smaller batch, I follow the recipe faithfully.

Turkey Meatloaf
10 servings, 2 slices each (4-5 oz.)

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

The turkey meatloaf slices were reheated in the microwave (about 2 minutes total time) after being moistened with some chicken stock (a few drops per slice). The asparagus spears were quickly blanched in boiling water (no more than 2 minutes) and served with a bit of butter. The smashed potatoes (one of my favorites) took the most time by far to prepare tonight (the fresh herbs were already on hand because of the chicken I made last night).

Smashed Potatoes
6 servings

4 very large potatoes washed (unpeeled)
2-3 medium to large scallions, chopped (white and large portion of green sections)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fresh minced dill
1/4 teaspoon fresh minced flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Boil potatoes for about 12 to 15 minutes or until cooked through.
3. Drain well.
4. Add chopped scallions, olive oil, herbs, salt, pepper, and olive oil to potatoes.
5. Mash all ingredients together well with a potato masher.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Note: Tonight I plan to take apart the chicken (and try to take pictures without getting the camera all greasy). Most of the breast meat will be eaten this week. I'll post a revised menu later to take into account all the changes for this week.

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