Herb Brined-Roasted Turkey

Herb Brined-Roasted Turkey

This deliciously moist roasted turkey is surprising in its ease of preparation. Exactly what you remember from Thanksgiving dinners of the past, but only better. While you can prepare this turkey recipe without the brining step, I highly recommend you give it a try as this process produces wonderfully moist, succulent meat.

Ingredients

1 (14- to 15- pound) turkey
Salt
1 tsp thyme, chopped
1 tsp sage, chopped
1 tsp rosemary
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
2 yellow onions, roughly chopped
2 cups gluten-free chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine 4 tablespoons
(1/2 stick) butter, melted
Pepper to taste

Method

Brine the turkey overnight (at least 12 hours) by submerging it completely in a salt water solution made from a ratio of 1/2 cup salt to one gallon water. (Alternately, you may brine the turkey for 4 hours using a ratio of 1 cup salt to one gallon water). Rinse the turkey well and pat it dry.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix thyme, carrots, celery and onions together in a small bowl. Stuff turkey cavity with the vegetable mixture and scatter any remaining vegetables around the bottom of a roasting pan. Pour broth and wine over vegetables in pan.

Arrange a rack over the vegetables in the pan and arrange the turkey on top of it, breast side down. (You may use either a flat rack or a V-rack). Brush half of the melted butter all over the turkey, then season with pepper. Reserve remaining butter for later use.

Roast turkey for two hours, breast side down, basting once. Remove from oven and turn turkey breast side up, being careful not to pierce the skin. Brush turkey with the remaining butter and season again with pepper.

Return turkey to oven and continue roasting until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165°F, about 2 hours more.

Set turkey aside to let rest for 30 minutes, then carve and serve, drizzled with the pan drippings.

Chicken Stuffed with Feta and a Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad

Chicken Stuffed with Feta Cheese

Ingredients
4 4-ounce chicken breasts, skinned and defatted
4 ounces feta cheese
4 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon canola oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly spray a baking pan with canola oil.
2. Cut a pocket in chicken breast by slicing horizontally 3/4ths of the way through. Stuff with a 1 ounce feta cheese and 1 teaspoon basil. Close incision with toothpick. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Heat canola oil in pan and sear chicken breasts for 1 minute on each side and place in oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Makes 4 servings, each containing approximately:

225 cal, 1 g. carbs , 10 g. fat, 98 mg. cholesterol , 30 g. protein, 479 mg. sodium, 1 g. fiber

Tabbouleh Salad

Ingredients
1/2 cup bulgur wheat
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh peppermint, optional
1 medium tomato, diced
1/4 cup diced scallions
1/4 cup chopped red onions
1/4 cup chopped cucumbers
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Place bulgur in a small bowl, add hot water, cover and let soak for 20 minutes.
2. Combine bulgur with remaining ingredients and mix well.

Makes 4 (1/2-cup) servings, each containing approximately:
75 cal, 8 g. carbs, 4 g. fat, 0 mg. cholesterol, 2 g. protein, 126 mg. sodium, 2 g. fiber

Lemon Raspberry Cookies

These cookies are really good and could be addictive. But with only 60 calories, heck, you can indulge and not feel too guilty! Let me know your thoughts!

Lemon Raspberry Cookies

Ingredients

¾ cup butter, set at room temperature
1 cup evaporated raw cane sugar
1 large egg
3 large egg whites
¼ cup lemon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp zest of lemon
3 ½ cups unbleached flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
½ cup fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs in stages. Mix in the lemon juice and zest. Combine the flour and baking soda, then add to the butter and egg mixture and mix until completely mixed together. Mix in white chocolate chips. Fold in the raspberries.

Portion the cookie dough on a sheet pan covered w/ a silpat or parchment paper. I use a 1 oz scoop, but you can use measuring tablespoon if you don’t have a scoop.

Bake 10 minutes, rotate pan and cook an additional 9-10 min until bottoms are golden.

60 cal, 1 g protein, 3 g Total Fat, 8 g carb, 10 mg cholesterol, 55 mg sodium

Good Old Chicken and Dumplings

Many Traditional recipes call for shortening, which adds trans-fat, which can negativley impact health and add unwanted calories. We omitted the shortening and added additional buttermilk, which not olny keeps the dumplings moist, but increases calcium intake.

The classic comfort food made healthy. Seve it with a green salad and you can keep this meal under 500 cal.

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into 1 in bit size pieces
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2 TBS canola oil
2 large carrots, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 TBS poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 qt low sodium chicken stock
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Dumplings

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk


Toss chicken in 2/3 cup all-purpose flour until completely coated. Heat 1 TBS oil in Dutch oven over med. high heat. Remove chicken and set aside remaining flour, and add chicken to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3-5 min. Remove chicken to a paper towel covered plate.

Reduce heat to medium, and as remaining oil to pan. Stir in carrots, celery, onion, 1 TBS poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and the bottom of the pot is dark brown, about 5-7 min. Sprinkle the reserved flour over vegetables and stir to coat. Stir in broth, water, peas and chicken, and bring to a simmer, stirring often.

To Prepare dumplings:

Stir together whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp poultry seasoning, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in buttermilk.

Drop in the dough, forming 1 TBS balls, 1 at a time, over the simmering chicken stew making about 18 dumplings. Adjust heat to maintain a gentle simmer, cover and cook until the dumplings are puffed, the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 15 min.

Makes 6 servings 1 1/3 cup stew and 3 dumplings.

463 cal, 15 g fat, 91 mg cholesterol, 45 g carbs, 34 g protein, 6 g fiber, 629 mg sodium

Pre-Diabetic Warning Signs