How brilliant does this look? Cooking healthy doesn’t mean your food has to lack imagination, presentation or taste. Nor does it have to be hard to make. I know this looks difficult but all it takes is a little practice and you’re on your way to rave reviews from the fam bam.
Let’s talk turkey for a sec. Did you know that the skin contains the most calories and fat? You can save yourself calories and fat by simply removing the skin on any cut. Many lean proteins have a tendency to dry out easily so cooking with the skin on, such as cooking a whole turkey or cooking a recipe such as this, will help the moisture stay in the bird. But removing the skin before eating will help cut the junk in the trunk. The breast is the healthiest cut of meat. A 3 1/2 oz portion of turkey breast w/o skin (we’ve all heard this-it’s the size of a deck of cards) has 161 calories, 4g total fat and 30g of protein. Compare that to with skin which has 194 calories, 8g total fat and 29g of protein. That’s double the fat so you see what I mean.
This recipe is all-in-one (you can thank me anytime now!) You’ve got your lean protein, carbs and leafy greens. Even the mushrooms are a good source of Vitamin D. We’re talking a healthy and delicious well balanced meal.
RECIPE:
3 lb. Boneless turkey breast
Stuffing mix:
4 Swiss chard leaves – blanched in boiling water for 20 secs. and refreshed in ice water for 10 secs. Drain on a kitchen towel.
1/4 lb. button mushrooms – sliced
1/4 lb. oyster mushrooms – sliced
2 garlic cloves – minced
1/2 cup uncooked rice (white or brown)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp. fresh tarragon – chopped
1 lemon – zested
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
cooking twine
1 cup chicken broth for roasting turkey
DIRECTIONS:
When you buy a boneless turkey breast in the supermarket it will usually come trussed or tied together, as did the one I bought. If you have a nice local butcher he may stuff the turkey for you if you bring him the filling and tie the bird for you. Otherwise when you’ve put the stuffing in the breast get someone to help you tie it up.
Begin by preheating a large saute pan on medium heat. Once hot add olive oil and mushrooms along with a pinch of salt and cook for 3-4 minutes tossing occasionally. The salt will help extract the water from the mushrooms as well as get a little flavor in them as they’re cooking. Add minced garlic and cook for another minute. Add in your uncooked rice to mushroom mixture and saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. I like to cook the rice with the mushrooms to get some additional flavor into the rice as opposed to just adding the cooked rice to the mushroom mixture.
Add in 1 1/2 cups of broth to rice and mushroom mixture. Cover pan with foil or lid and simmer until rice is cooked, stirring occasionally. Check rice after 10 minutes to see if it’s done. If not, continue to cook until ready. Once rice is cooked add fresh tarragon and lemon zest. Taste and season with S&P. Spread out on an oven tray to cool.
To Assemble: Lay untied turkey breast on a clean surface, skin side down. Season with S&P. Lay blanched and cooled Swiss chard leaves on each breast. (See photo above.)
On top of the chard lay a nice layer of your stuffing (rice mixture) on the entire area on the breast. Lay 5 pieces of twine horizontally on your work surface parallel with each other 2 inches apart. Very carefully fold the stuffed turkey breast in half and lift it onto the twine. This is where an extra pair of hands is handy, so to speak. You can even get the kids involved.
TIP: Start tying at the ends first working your way towards the center so you’ll keep the filling actually in the breast, otherwise as you keep tying the twine you’ll end up pushing some of it out the other end. Not so good.
Take the ends of one of the pieces of twine in your left and right hands. Tie this sting like your tying shoelaces as tightly as you can, and knot it to keep it in place. While you tie each piece of twine tightly around the breast have your assistant help. Continue until all strings are tied and knotted around the turkey. Cut a longer piece of twine and tie end to end to reinforce the roll.
There you have it. Now preheat oven to 400F. Also preheat a large saute pan on high heat. Season the turkey with S&P. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to pan and sear the turkey on all sides, including top and bottom if possible, until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes each side.
Once all sides are browned place on a foiled roasting tray with 1 cup chicken broth. Pop in the oven for 1 1/4 hours or until internal temp. of 160.
Let rest for 10 minutes before carving so as to let the meat relax and to retain the juices in the meat.
Let me know how you get on with this recipe. And if you have any requests or questions, please leave a comment! To see more of my recipes and learn about me and my healthy food philosophies head over to thehealthyirishman.com.
The Healthy Irishman Fueling your body with healthy food. Fueling your mind with the wealth of health.
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Guess you could say it’s a modern twist on the classic turkey & stuffing. I came across Persimmons in my CSA box and though I don’t have much experience with them after one bite I knew I had to use them. In November and December persimmons are at their peak. I kept expecting the fruit to soften like a peach but as it turns out this type of persimmon, the Fuyu, is eaten like an apple. The taste of the flesh inside reminded me of a sweeter cantaloupe with the texture of a firm pear. The persimmon’s delightful flavour and texture turned out to be lovely addition to this dish.
