Asian Turkey Burgers with Hoisin Mayo

Turkey burgers are one of my favorite things to make during the week. They're quick, easy, healthy, and make great leftovers the next day for lunch. I'm always looking for new flavor combinations and this asian style burger just replaced the greek style burger as our new favorite.

The burger gets most of its Asian flavor from grated ginger, grated garlic, and hoisin sauce added to the meat. It was also one of the most moist turkey burgers I've ever eaten. These burgers are great plain since they have so much flavor. Just add a drop of hoisin mayo and they're perfect!

Asian Turkey Burgers
Recipe: Adapted from Eating Well
Ingredients:

• 1.3 lbs of ground turkey (I used 93/7, but I think turkey breast would be fine too)
  
• 1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
  
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 scallions, trimmed and sliced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• Salt & Pepper to Taste
• Hoisin Mayo (Recipe Follows)

Directions:

1. Combine the first 7 ingredients and mix well. Form the mixture into patties. (I made mine smaller than normal burgers and got 6 burgers. You should be able to get 4 - 5 regular sized burgers).
2. Sprinkle the patties with salt and pepper.
   
3. Heat grill or grill pan to medium high. Oil the grill and grill until browned and no longer pink in the center, about 5 - 7 minutes per side.

Hoisin Mayo
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mayonaise (I used light)
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• dash of sesame oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
   

Caprese Chicken & My Go-To Chicken Marinade

If you're looking for something quick, healthy, and delicious to jazz up some grilled chicken, this is it. This is a really light and fresh summer meal. And the best part is, you don't even have to turn on the oven! I threw together the bruschetta a few hours before dinner, then went outside to grill the chicken 15 minutes before we were ready to eat. To quote Ina, "How easy is that?". We love anything with tomato and mozzarella in the this house, so I know this would be a hit.


The marinade I used for this chicken is my standard grilled chicken marinade. I use it A LOT in the summer. It's amazing what a difference a little marinade makes. The recipe below was scaled down from the original quantities, I used this to marinade 3 boneless, skinless breasts, but it would probably be enough for 4.

Chicken Marinade
Recipe: Adapted from AllRecipes.com
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard (I used regular mustard)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, wine vinegar, and lemon juice. Stir in mustard powder, salt, pepper, and parsley. Use to marinate chicken before cooking as desired. The longer you marinate, the more flavor it will have.

Caprese Chicken
Recipe: Adapted from BakedBree
Ingredients:

• 1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 of a medium red onion, finely diced
• 1 cup of mozerella, diced
• 1/4 cup of fresh basil, chopped
  
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Add all the dry ingredients to the bowl. Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste and combine. Don't be shy on the salt, it really brings out the flavor of the tomatoes!
   
2. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar to taste and mix together. I probably used about 1/4 cup of each.
   

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Pineapple Cucumber Salsa

When the sun is shining and it's warm outside, I crave really light food and fresh flavors. This dish is perfect (not to mention quick and healthy). I usually stray way from cooking seafood because I'm always worried that I'll overcook or undercook it, but mahi is a pretty forgiving fish. Overall, this was really easy to put together. I just drizzled the fish with some olive oil, sea salt, pepper and lime and put on my grill pan for about 4 - 5 minutes on each side. The salsa absolutely made the dish. The sweetness of pineapple and the coolness of the cucumber completed the fish perfectly. The quantities of the ingredients in the salsa are really flexible so feel free to add more or less of whatever you want. I served this with a side of brown rice and it was a perfect meal. Enjoy!

Recipe: Grilled Mahi Mahi with Pineapple Cucumber Salsa
Ingredients:

• 2 mahi mahi fillets
• Salt & Pepper
• olive oil
• 2 limes
• 1 cup pineapple, chopped
• 3/4 cup cucumber, finely chopped
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalepeno (seeds removed) finely chopped
• 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. To make the salsa, combine pineapple, cucumber, juice of 1 lime, onion, jalepeno, and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.
   
2. To cook the fish, heat a grill pan to medium high. Drizzle the fish with olive oil, salt, pepper, and the juice of 1 lime. Cook for 4 - 5 minutes on each side.

Baked Falafel

I absolutely love falafel, but as I previously mentioned, I hate frying things. So when I saw a recipe for baked falafel, I knew I would have to make. It's always a gamble when you take a food that's typically eaten fried, and try your hand at making it healthier, but these falafels were a huge a success. I was really surprised at how crispy they got in the oven.

I basically just read a bunch of falafel recipes and pick and choose what sounded good from each one. The recipe is pretty flexible. Feel free to add or take away spices to your liking. I threw everything in the food processor, formed them into balls, squashed them down a little bit so there would be more surface area to get crispy, then baked them at 400 degrees. It's really important to flip these half way through so both sides get crispy.


Overall these were a huge hit. I served them in pitas with some chopped up cucumber, tomatoes, feta, and homemade tzatziki sauce. I also threw together a rough chopped salad with my favorite greek dressing. Enjoy!

Recipe: Baked Falafel

Ingredients:

• 15 oz can garbanzo beans drained
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (I used panko)
  
• 1/4 of an onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup of parsley
• 1/4 cup of cilantro
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp corriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp baking powder
  

Directions:

1. Place garlic, onion, cilantro, parsley or mint, chickpeas, and bread crumbs in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to chop and blend ingredients.
2. Sprinkle lemon juice and olive oil over chickpea mixture and pulse a few more times. Sprinkle baking powder, salt, and spices over mixture and pulse until the chickpea mixture reaches a workable paste-like consistency. Add additional lemon juice or olive oil if it seems to dry.
   
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. While the oven is getting hot, line a baking pan with foil and brush with olive oil. Scoop balls (about the size of a golf ball) of dough into your palms and form them into patties. Set aside on work surface while you form the remaining mixture.
4. Arrange falafel patties on oiled baking sheet and brush them with olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 20 - 25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and crispy. Turn once midway through baking.
5. Remove from oven and let falafel cool on pan for a minute or two before removing to plates or pitas with a spatula.

Black Bean Turkey Chili

Okay, so I know that for a blog called "SugarCooking" I've had a serious lack of sugar related posts lately. I've just been craving really hearty, healthy foods lately. So I figured instead of not blogging at all, I'd just blog about all the healthy things I've been making. (I know, boring). But fret not, I promise to return with some sugar laden, full fat treats soon.

So about this chili. It's easy, it's delicious, it's filling, and it's healthy. I found this chili to be just about perfect. It has a little heat but it's not too spicy. If you like things really spicy feel free to dial up the cayenne or even add in some chopped jalepeno. This is a perfect meal for a cold, snowy night; it will warm you right up. Enjoy!

Black Bean Turkey Chili: Adapted from AllRecipes
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1.3 lb ground turkey (I use 93/7)
  
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 3 cans black beans, undrained
• 1 1/2 tbls chili powder
• 1/tsp cumin*
• 1 tbls dried oregano
• 1 tbls dried basil
• 1 tbls red wine vinegar
• 1 tbls worchestershire sauce
• 1/2 tbls brown sugar
• 1 tsp cocoa powder ** (see note)
  
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp cayenne peper
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat; cook onion and garlic until onions are translucent.
   
2. Add turkey and cook, stirring, until meat is brown. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 60 minutes or more, until flavors are well blended.
3. Serve with sour and cheese, if desired.

Notes:
* I find cumin to have a very overpowering taste so I always reduce the amount called for. Feel free to add more if you like the flavor.
** I've seen a few recipes add cocoa powder to them so I tried it because I was curious. I don't know if there was a noticeable difference. I don't think I used enough to actually taste it.

Chicken, Spinach, Goat Cheese Quesadillas with an Avocado Sour Cream

These quesadillas are delicous, quick, and healthy... what more can you ask for? I recently got a new grill pan because I've been seriously missing the summer time grilling. All this snow is just too much for a Florida girl to get used to! I figured I'd try out the grill pan with this quesadilla recipe.

Since I pretty much love anything with spinach and goat cheese in it, it's no surprise that I loved these quesadillas. They really came out perfect. The cheese was melting and gooey on the inside and the tortilla was crisp on the outside.

I can't remember where I first read this (although I wish I did so I could give you credit!), but I remember someone suggesting to toast the inside part of the tortilla on the pan for about 30 seconds before you put the fillings on. That way is crisps up just a little bit; enough to prevent the cheese from making the inside of the quesadilla soggy. Brilliant, right?

This recipe is obviously quite adapatable to your likes and dislikes. I also put in some monterey jack cheese to give it that gooey melty texture. I think caramelized onions would be great in here, as would roasted garlic. All the recipe quantities are approximate, but just common sense and put them on in quantities that look right.

Chicken, Spinach, Goat Cheese Quesadilla
Ingredients:

• Flour Totrillas (whole wheat would work fine too)
• Chicken (cooked and sliced)
• Garlic (1 tsp., minced)
  
• Baby Spinach (1 pre packaged bag)
• Salt, Pepper, & Cayenne Pepper to taste
  
• Goat Cheese (4 oz, crumbled)
  
• Reduced Fat Shredded Monterey Jack
• Non-Stick cooking spray or olive oil

Directions

1. Heat the spinach with the garlic, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper over medium-low heat in a pan until just wilted. Remove from heath and set aside.
   
2. Heat the grill pan (or regular pan) over medium-high heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray or drizzle with olive oil. Toast the inside of the tortilla for about 30 seconds.
3. Take the tortilla off the grill pan and assemble as follows. Over half the quessadilla sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of monterey jack cheese, following by a few slices of chicken, then the spinach, then the crumbled goat cheese.
4. Add to the grill pan and cook for about 1 - 2 minutes. Carefully use a spatula to flip the empty half of the tortilla onto the loaded half. At this point I like to let the quesadilla cook for about 30 more seconds, then flip it over. Give it another 1 -2 minutes, then remove from the pan and enjoy!

Avocado Sour Cream
Ingredients

• 1 Avocado, chopped
  
• 1/3 c. sour cream
• 1 T maynoaise
• 1 lime juice
• 1/4 t onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Use a fork to mash the avocado as much as you can. (You can put it in the food processor if you want a smoother dip, but I just use a fork and a spoon).
2. Combine it with all other ingredients and stir together.

Note: If you want a thinner dip, stir in a few tablespoons of buttermilk. If you want a smoother dip, throw everything in the food processor.

Perfect Pizza Crust and Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza

I've been wanting to make my own pizza crust for a really long time, but for some reason I've been hesitant. I've never been much of a bread beaker and I tend to avoid recipes that deal with kneading or rising. Yesterday, though, Ross and I decided to be brave and try making our own pizza dough for Valentines Day dinner. (On a side note: I absolutely love when Ross gets involves with a cooking project. It makes it a lot more fun. Ross, if you're reading this. Hint, Hint!)

If you're going to start making pizza dough I figured that a recipe called "Perfect Pizza Crust" was the place to start. I cannot express to you just how impressed I was with this recipe. It had a big name to live up to, and it did. The crust really is pefect. It's the perfect thickness and it's crispy yet chewy at the same time. The pizza that came out of the oven was one of the best pizzas I've ever eaten. I couldn't stop marveling in our accomplishment and that made every bite taste better! I can't wait to try this recipe again subbing some of the white flour for whole wheat.

If you're at all thinking about tackling pizza dough from scratch, search no further. This is the recipe you want.

I chose to throw some roasted garlic, pesto, chicken, mozzarella, and parmesan on mine, but with this dough I'm sure you could put anything on it and it would still be amazing!

The Perfect Pizza Curst
Source: Annies Eats (great blog!) orginally from Baking Illustrated
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp.) instant yeast
• 1 1/4 cups water, at room temp
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plug more for dusting
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• Cornmeal
  
• olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing bowl
  

Directions:

1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.
2. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.
3. To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
4. Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza Adapted from Annies Eats Ingredients:

• 1 perfect pizza crust (recipe above)
  
• 1/2 cup prepared pesto (store bough or homemade)
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked
  
• Mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. To roast the garlic: Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed. Remove garlic gloves and smash with a fork.
2. Spread roasted garlic over pizza dough. Do this to taste. I used almost the whole (small) bulb, but I LOVE roasted garlic.
   
3. Spread the pesto on the pizza.
4. Add the sliced, cooked chicken.
5. Sprinkle with mozzarella.
6. Top with fresh grated parmesan.
7. Bake on preheated pizza stone for 8 - 12 minutes.
   

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

After people see my blog/receive a plethora of baked goods from me, I get asked the same question a lot. "How are you NOT 300 pounds?". Well the answer is actually pretty simple. I don't eat dessert for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Well it's little more complicated than that. For one, I go to the gym at least 4 - 5 days a week for about an hour. Second, I try to give away about 98% of what I bake. Usually I'll keep a couple of whatever I make in the house and send the rest out of the house as soon as possible. At the very least, I put it in the freezer (but let's be honest, that's not gonna keep me away for too long). I also (try) to limit my baking, and desserts in general, to once a week. Obviously, there are exceptions to this but I do well with guidelines so that's what I tell myself. And finally, and most importantly, I actually eat really healthy when it comes to non-dessert related items. I do the whole shebang. Whole grains, lots of fresh fruit and veggies, and lean proteins.

Sugar is my weakness. I go all out when it comes to sugar. Everything I bake is usually all the way. I give myself that liberty because of the above reasons and because when it comes to savory stuff I have no problems going light. I use reduced fat/non fat items on a regular basis. I swap out lean ground turkey for ground beef whenever I can. (I can't even remember the last time I ate a cheeseburger). You could tell me that I'm not allowed to eat another french fry for as long as I live and I'd be okay with that; but if you were to tell me no more cookies or ice cream then we'd have a problem.

So how come all you've seen so far is the sweet stuff? Well for one the blog is called "SugarCooking". But more realistically there are actually a few good reasons. 1) It gets dark around 6:00 at this time of year and that makes it hard to take pictures when we're sitting down to dinner. 2) Even if there was enough light to take pictures, I'm sometimes slow and I'd feel bad letting the food get cold so I could take pictures of it. 3) I actually eat a lot of the same foods (whole wheat pasta with a turkey bolognese, this pasta dish, grilled chicken with veggies, turkey and black bean chili) on a weekly basis and that would just be boring to blog about.

So why am I telling you about all this? Well, I'm going to make an effort to start blogging about more of the savory stuff I make. I've gotten a little faster at taking pictures and I have a good lighting set up now so that will take care of reasons 1 & 2 above. But the real driving force is I think this will inspire me to broaden the dinner repertoire in my house. So, I present to you the first of hopefully many healthy, savory dishes. This thai style pineapple fried rice is delicious. I was so impressed with how it came out. It was fragrant and flavorful and really hearty.

It came together really quickly. Just make sure you have all your ingredients prepped and measured before you start because everything goes into the pan pretty quickly so you won't have time to be running around measuring stuff in between steps. I chose to use brown rice instead of white rice. I also added tofu (quick, easy, and healthy) but I think chicken or shrimp would be a great addition too. The pineapple is absolutely the star of the meal though. It adds such an unexpected brightness and sweetness to the dish that really balances with the spices.

Thai Style Pineapple Fried Rice Recipe: Adapted from Closet Cooking
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 shallots (thinly sliced)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 red chili (optional, I omitted it because I was scared)
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 3 tablespoons chicken stock (or vegetable broth)
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce (or soy sauce)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup cashews (roasted)
• 3-4 cups cooked brown rice (preferably a day old)
• 1 cup pineapple cut into bite sized pieces
• tofu (or any protein) (drained and cubed)
• soy sauce
  
• 1/4 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1/4 cup currants (or raisins)
• 2 green onions (sliced)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the shallots, garlic, chillies and stir-fry until fragrant, about a minute.
3. Add the egg and stir-fry for a minute.
4. Add the chicken stock, fish sauce, curry powder and sugar and stir-fry.
5. Add the cashews and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
6. Add the rice, break up any clumps and stir-fry for a few minutes.
7. Add the tofu and soy sauce to taste (I used about 1 tbls),gently stir.
8. Add the pineapple, peas and raisins and stir-fry to mix them in.
9. Remove from heat and serve garnished with chopped green onions.

Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce

These turkey burgers are packed full of flavor. They have onions, garlic, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and feta inside. And a generous helping of tzatziki sauce piled on top. This is not your average , dry turkey burger. This guy is moist and flavorful. You won't be missing beef burgers any time soon!



The quantities, and ingredients, in this recipe are incredibly flexible. I'm just starting to acquire a taste for sun-dried tomatoes and olives so I decided to go a little easy on them, but feel free to add in more if want. If you're running short on time you can ditch the onions and garic in place of a litlte onion powder and garlic powder, and use frozen spinach.

I chose to cook mine under the broiler. If you want to throw them on a grill I would add in egg to help bind so they don't fall apart. Also, do not use 99% lean turkey breast. Make sure you go for the 93/7 ground turkey, otherwise your burgers will be really dry! Now go make these! They are easy, delicious, and healthy!

Recipe:
Makes 4 - 5 burgers

Greek Turkey Burger
Ingreidents

• 1.3 lbs lean ground turkey
  
• Half an onion, finely chopped
  
• 2 - 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  
• Olive oil
• Spinach (Fresh or frozen)
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  
• 1/2 teaspoon corriander
• 1 teaspoon paprika
  
• 1/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/3 cup chopped kalamata olives
• 4 oz crumbled reduced fat feta
• Salt & Pepper to taste
  
• Tzatziki sauce (recipe follows)
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Whole Wheat Buns
  

Directions

1. Saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are tender and transulcent.
   
2. Add in the spinach and cook until it is wilted.
   
3. Combine the ground turkey with the onions, garlic, and spinach. Add in the spices, sundried, tomatoes, olives, and feta and combine.
   
4. Form into patties.
5. Place in the oven on the middle rack and broil for 15 minutes, flipping once half way through cooking.
   
6. Assemble with lettuce, tomato, and tzatziki sauce.

Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients:

• 6 ounces plain greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup cucumber, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt & Pepper to taste