Recipe for Stuffed Turkey Burgers with Goat's Cheese and Roasted Red Peppers

We love stuffed turkey burgers so I'm always trying to come up with a new "surprise" for the stuffing.  The answer is often as simple as what is in the fridge and pantry.  This week, goat's cheese and a jar of roasted red peppers.

Recipe for Cauli-Kale "Surprise"

Have you ever had colcannon?  It's mashed potatoes and cabbage, of Irish roots I believe.  There was a restaurant in San Francisco that served it frequently and I grew to love it-made me feel less guilty about eating potatoes!


When I was on the South Beach diet, a favorite was South Beach "Surprise", mashed cauliflower with Laughing Cow cheese.  We still eat a lot of it.  Mr. ELEB likes it and it is one of the only ways I'll eat cauliflower.  I have roasted some from time to time and can eat that.  Oh, and I love cauliflower soup! And I loved the cauliflower sformato I made a while ago.  OK, I guess I like cauliflower.


So, all that by way of introduction of how I came up with this recipe.  I had a head of cauli and some kale.  I had Laughing Cow, but opted instead to use herbed goat's cheese.

Recipe for Baked Goat's Cheese

I had baked goat’s cheese years ago in a tapas restaurant, probably in San Francisco, and have loved it ever since.  It’s easy to prepare and is delicious spread on crusty bread.  It is best bubbly hot out of the oven (be careful!) but is also good room temp.  The better quality of cheese you buy, the better the experience.

Ingredients:
4 oz. good quality goat's cheese
1/4 cup homemade or store bought pesto


Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Place goat's cheese on oven proof dish and pour pesto over cheese. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until browning and bubbly. 

Depending on the pesto you use, you may have to carefully pour off some of the excess olive oil that bakes out during cooking.  Before serving, stir any remaining oil back in to the pesto sauce.

Serve with crusty whole grain bread or crackers.

Printable Recipe

Recipe for Leek and Bacon Tart

I had 2 large leeks hanging out in my fridge from our week’s veggie delivery.  The rest of this came together in my head during my morning bike ride.  Great flavors, if I do say so myself!  This would be lovely for brunch.  We had it for dinner, room temperature, with some grilled sausages and then I had it cold from the fridge the next couple of days for lunch with a small green salad.

Recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash with Goat Cheese and Pine Nuts

A beautiful butternut squash has been sitting in my kitchen for about a week.  I keep thinking about cooking it but just never get to it.  Tonight I was determined to put my thinking cap on and create something yummy with it.  This recipe turned out pretty good, even if I do say so myself.  The roasted squash in and of itself is delicious with hints of rosemary.  Then add in the tangy goat cheese and the pine nuts and you end up with quite a rich and flavorful side dish.

Makes 3 servings, each approximately 278 calories, 17 grams fat, 32 grams carbs,  8 grams fiber, 5 grams protein; 8 WW Points +

Roasted Beets

Wednesday evenings are always fun as we open our veggie delivery to see what goodies have arrived for the week.  I was very pleased to see some fresh beets in a recent delivery.  I love the earthy, subtle flavor of beets and I have never met a beet salad on a menu that I passed up!