Turkey & Roasted Vegetables with Curried Couscous

Looking for a health-conscious, yet flavorful meal for your entire family to enjoy? This simple, quick meal is packed full of nutrition. Low in fat, sodium, and calories, yet through the roof with flavor, this dish will become a fast favorite! It’s also a terrific opportunity to get everyone involved in the kitchen.

If you’ve never tried ground turkey before, this is the recipe for you! Ground turkey, much like tofu, will take on the flavor of the other ingredients. It’s not overpowering, it’s quick and easy to make, and is an excellent substitution for ground beef, when you’re trying to eat healthier!

Ingredients

-1 pkg Jennie-O Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast

-2-3 zucchini

-2-3 yellow (summer) squash

-3 bell peppers (assorted colors)

-1 white onion

-3 cloves fresh garlic, crushed, chopped or pressed

-1 TBS extra virgin olive oil

-2 tsp onion powder

-½ tsp kosher salt

-½ tsp coarse ground black pepper

-1 TBS Italian seasoning

-¼ C Mrs. Dash Lemon Herb Peppercorn Marinade

-1 TBS low or sodium-free soy sauce

-1 pkg couscous

-1 tsp curry powder

-1 tsp celery seed

-2 TBS fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, finely chopped

Preparation

Vegetables:

• Preheat oven to 375°
• Thoroughly wash vegetables
• Slice zucchini and squash into ¼-inch pieces
• Core, seed, and cut bell peppers into 1-inch strips
• Peel and cut onion into wedges (Cut in half, halve again, and halve each remaining piece)
• In large mixing bowl combine vegetables, onion powder, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic and olive oil
• Toss until vegetables are evenly coated with oil and seasonings
• Spread over large baking sheet
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring once for even roasting.

Turkey

• Begin turkey preparation as soon as vegetable are in oven
• In skillet, brown turkey on medium heat
• Once turkey is crumbled, after 5 minutes or so, add marinade and soy sauce, stirring well to coat meat
• Stir often for even cooking, and remove from heat when most liquid has evaporated, but don’t overcook, or turkey will be dry and hard.

Couscous

• While turkey is browning, start couscous.
• Following package directions, bring water to boil on high heat.
• Add curry powder, celery seed, and parsley to water as it heats.
• Once water is boiling, add couscous, and stir thoroughly to incorporate spices.
• Do NOT leave on heat, as couscous will boil and explode.
• Remove from heat, and cover. Let sit until ready to serve.

Presentation

You can combine turkey and vegetables, or plate them separately. However, roasted vegetables quickly lose heat so it’s best not to remove them from oven until you are ready to serve.

For an elegant presentation, use a small measuring cup (1/2 to 3/4) to mold couscous. Put couscous in measuring cup, place plate on top of measuring cup upside-down, and then flip, for a small, compact mold. Spoon roasted vegetables and turkey around and on top of couscous, and garnish with a few sprigs of parsley. Serve with soy sauce.

This dish serves four to five people. Very low in fat, yet packed full of flavor, this is a quick, easy and versatile meal that you can use often. For different variations, change up the vegetables used for roasting, use any other flavor of Mrs. Dash Marinade, or serve with sticky rice instead of couscous.