True story: It was one night at the end of the month, funds were low and I didn’t want to go to the store (Sound familiar?) I still had to make dinner and I knew I had lots of “stuff” in the freezer and pantry, so I got creative. I pretty much always have a few staples: ground meat (turkey, beef, or chicken), rice and pasta, chicken or vegetable broth and many bags of frozen vegetables.
And yes I understand the absurdity of that fact that these staples are my “leftovers”. I am blessed in a million ways and am extremely grateful for it everyday!
I started tossing things together and came up with Turkey and Rice with Roasted Vegetables. It was a hit! It was such an easy, inexpensive and yummy meal, it is now a regular on our table 🙂
First brown you ground turkey (whichever meat you are using), add 1 cup brown rice and liquid (I used half water, half broth). Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and cover, cook for about 30-40 until rice is tender. This is basically cooking the rice, so you can follow the directions on the back of the rice container. While this is cooking, start on your roasted veggies.
In my opinion all vegetables are delicious roasted! So toss whatcha got onto a lined or greased cooking sheet and roast at 375degrees for about 30 min. I will give specifics of what I used in the printable recipe below, but I just want to make the point that you can use whatever you have or love and it will be delish!
You will know the turkey and rice are ready when all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Be sure to check this while it is cooking to make sure it has enough liquid and isn’t burning. I know some rice recipes stress not to lift the lid while cooking, but I do it all the time, because rice is not delicate and because I don’t like burned or crunchy rice 🙂
Roast your veggies in the oven for about 30mins, you know they are ready when they are tender and the light colored vegetables, like cauliflower are slightly browned.
Toss everything together and voila, dinner is served!
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 Tbsp EVOO (for cooking the lean turkey)
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup Chicken broth
- For the Roasted Vegetables:
- 1 TBSP EVOO
- 2 cups of frozen veggies, I used broccoli and cauliflower
- ½ bell pepper, diced (I used assorted colors)
- ½ squash and zucchini, diced
- ½ cup onions, diced
- 1Tbsp fresh Oregano, chopped (1tsp dried oregano works too)
- Salt and pepper to Taste
- Brown the turkey in oil. Add the Rice, water and broth to cooked turkey. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook covered on low for about 40 min until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
- While rice is cooking, put all your vegetables on a lined or greased cooking sheet, toss thoroughly with oil and spice.
- Roast in 375degree oven for about 30min or until veggies are tender (al dente) and slightly browned (caramelized, if you will 😉 )
- Gently toss roasted vegetables with the turkey and rice. Serve and Enjoy!
