Mid-Week Meal: Turkey Burgers with Sesame Soba Noodles & Steamed Veggies

Turkey Burgers with Sesame Soba Noodles & Steamed Veggies

This is a healthy, quick and very tasty meal that you can easily put together in 20 minutes. It makes for a great meal to be made during the workweek when you don't have much time and energy to cook. I love using soba noodles, they are largely made of buckwheat, a grain that contains chiro-inositol which appears to help with blood sugar regulation. Additionally soba noodles cook in just 3-4 minutes and are really tasty.

Ingredients:

Olive oil spray, toasted sesame oil, soba noodles

  • 3 oz turkey per person, all white meat
  • 1.5 cups of veggies of your choice: I am using broccoli and carrots in this instance
  • Soba noodles
  • Toasted sesame oil
  • Sesame seeds
  • Bragg's amino liquid or soy sauce
  • Salt, pepper, paprika* (*optional)
  • Olive oil spray

Preparation:

  • Start with putting a pot of water on the stove, boiling it for the soba noodles
  • Mix salt, pepper and paprika (a tasty spice for meat, poultry and egg dishes) into the turkey meat and form patties
  • Spray grilling or frying pan ( I like using a cast-iron grilling pan) with olive oil, heat up on medium heat, put patties on and cook them, turning them after about 8 minutes, until fully cooked through.
  • Cut and put veggies in steamer and cook until done.
  • Add salt to boiling soba noodle water and cook noodles for 3-4 minutes, until al dente
  • turkey 1

  • Drizzle cooked and drained sooba noodles with toasted sesame oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds(optional, but very tasty)

    turkey2

  • Drizzle steamed veggies with bragg's amino liquid or soy sauce (optional)
  • Serve and enjoy!

turkey burger1

 

Lentils with Soba Noodles and Greens

lentils

Lentils with Soba Noodles and Greens (vegan)

This is a simple menu that you can put together in just 20 minutes. However, it does require thinking ahead: you have to soak the lentils. I just cover the dried lentils with water in the morning before I leave for work. Doing that significantly reduces cooking time.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of lentils, green, brown or black
  • Ginger (fresh is best), thumb size
  • Garlic, 4 cloves
  • Curry powder
  • Coriander powder (optional)
  • Turmeric powder (optional)
  • Cumin powder (optional)
  • Black pepper
  • Olive oil
  •  Soba noodles
  • Greens
  • White wine for cooking (2 buck chuck)
  • Sesame oil
  • Soy Sauce
  • Red pepper flakes (optional)

Preparation:

  • Heat water in pan for soba noodles.
  • Press garlic, use 2 cloves for lentils, 2 for greens.
  • Saute garlic for lentils in small pan with little bit of olive oil.
  • Add Curry powder (and other spices if you are using them) to warm oil.
  • Grate fresh ginger with lemon zester (very small grater) and add to pan.
  • Drain soaked lentils and add them to pan.
  • Add water (cover lentils well and add water as needed.
  • Cover and cook until tender, add salt or soy sauce to season five minutes before they are done, about 15 minutes
  • Saute garlic in little bit of oil in large frying pan for the greens.
  • Add greens.
  • Add white wine (about 1 cup), add soy sauce and red pepper flakes
  • Cook on low heat with cover on pan until done, about 5 minutes
  • Add soba noodles to boiling water (and a bit of salt), cook until done, about 3-4 minutes (do not over cook!)
  • Drain noodles and add a bit of sesame oil, for taste.

Serve and enjoy!