CurrentMom: Healthy and Flavorful Turkey Taco Recipe: All in One Pot

Meal Monday

I love food and I love cooking. I especially love cooking for my family and friends. I'm not huge on presentation – much to some of my guests' chagrin, I'm sure – but I love thinking about how to make a healthy, substantial meal that is universally appealing, easy to make and relatively cheap. I used to lie awake at night challenging myself to design new menus that met those criteria.

Now that I'm a working mom up in the middle of the night for a new set of reasons, the criteria for a perfect meal have become even tougher. Make it in 20 minutes (who has more than that?!); make it good not only for dinner, but also for the next three lunches (gotta save money!); do it in one pot (washing dishes takes forever!); and try to get protein, veggies and flavor all in a single dish (side dishes are not an option!).

Here's a turkey taco recipe I've been making for a while. It's simple, but it gets the job done, and contains lots of lean protein and some veggies. You may even already have all the ingredients on hand.

Turkey Taco Recipe:

Serves 4 adults, with leftovers.

Ingredients:

(Taco meat and veggies)

½ TB. canola oil

1 lb. ground turkey breast

1 onion, chopped

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn

1 tsp. cumin

½ tsp. coriander

½ chili powder

¼ tsp. oregano

1 tsp. tomato paste

2 TB. chicken broth or water

2 tomatoes, chopped, divided

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Accompaniments:

Avocado, peeled and sliced

6-8 blue corn taco shells (yellow corn is fine, too, but blue corn really works well)

Sour cream (optional, and I'd make it with reduced-fat or fat-free to keep up with the theme)

Shredded cheese (optional)

Shredded lettuce (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat sauté pan to medium-high heat and add ground turkey and onion. Cook, breaking up the turkey with a wooden spoon, until the onion is tender and turkey is cooked through, usually 7-9 minutes. I try to leave the turkey alone a couple minutes at a time between stirring so it caramelizes a bit.

2. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and ground pepper onto the turkey. Stir.

3. Clear the turkey and veggies from the center of the pan, and add cumin, coriander and chili powder in the cleared space. Stir spices together in the center of the pan until they become a bit fragrant, just a few seconds.

4. Stir the spices in with turkey and onion mixture to coat evenly. Add the oregano and stir.

5. Add in beans, 1 chopped tomato and corn. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato has disintegrated a bit and is spreading throughout the mixture, 5-7 minutes.

6. Mix tomato paste and chicken broth together in a small bowl. Add the broth mixture to the turkey and vegetable mixture. Continue to cook on medium-high for 2-3 more minutes then reduce to low while you continue to prepare the rest of the meal.

7. While the turkey simmers, toast the blue corn taco shells in a toaster oven or a standard oven, at about 250 degrees. Watch them carefully: they will seemingly go from not being at all ready to almost burned in seconds. They should take only a minute or two to toast perfectly.

8. Get ready to eat! Dish out cheese, avocado, remaining tomato, and sour cream and lettuce (if using). Distribute turkey taco mixture and taco shells and serve with desired accompaniments.