Thanksgiving Burgers

Thanksgiving on a bun any time of year! Use stuffing mix and cranberry sauce to turn ground turkey into an easy and delicious dinner. Serve with sweet potato fries with chipotle ketchup.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup butter

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• ½ cup finely chopped celery

• 3 pounds ground turkey breast

• 1 (6 ounce) package chicken-flavored dry bread stuffing mix

• 2 eggs

• 16 hamburger buns, split

• 1 (16 ounce) can cranberry sauce

• whipped cream cheese

Directions

• Step 1

  Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil the grate.

• Step 2

  Heat the butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook and stir the onion and celery until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

• Step 3

  Place the cooked onion and celery in a large bowl with the ground turkey, stuffing mix, and eggs; mix to thoroughly combine. Form the mixture into 16 patties. Unlike hamburger, these patties will not change shape while cooking, so make them even in size.

• Step 4

  Grill the turkey burgers on the preheated grill until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 5 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Place each patty on a hamburger bun, and top with cranberry sauce and a dollop of whipped cream cheese to serve.

Tuna Curry in a Hurry

A fast and easy tuna dish with a creamy curry sauce. Serve over rice.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• ⅓ cup chopped onion

• ⅓ cup chopped green bell pepper

• 1 (5 ounce) can tuna, drained and flaked

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1 teaspoon curry powder

Directions

• Step 1

  Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan. Add garlic, onions and green pepper. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft.

• Step 2

  Stir in tuna, sour cream, curry powder, salt and pepper. Heat until warm and serve.

Tomato Mozzarella Salad

With fresh tomatoes and basil in your garden now, this dish is the perfect summer treat.

Ingredients

• 3 large tomatoes, sliced

• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced

• ¼ cup olive oil

• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

• ¼ cup minced fresh basil

Directions

1. Gather all ingredients.

2. Place tomato slices, alternating with mozzarella slices, on a large serving platter.

3. Combine oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper in a jar with a tight-fitting lid; shake well.

4. Drizzle over tomatoes and mozzarella; sprinkle with basil.

Easy Garlic-Lemon Scallops

In this simple scallop recipe, large sea scallops are sautéed in butter and garlic and served with a lemon-butter sauce. They will melt in your mouth!

Ingredients

• ¾ cup butter

• 3 tablespoons minced garlic

• 2 pounds large sea scallops

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ⅛ teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook for a few seconds until fragrant.

2. Arrange scallops in a single layer in the skillet; cook until golden brown on one side, about 2 minutes. Turn scallops over using tongs and continue cooking until firm and opaque, about 2 minutes more. Transfer scallops to a platter, reserving butter in the skillet.

3. Whisk lemon juice, salt, and pepper into butter; pour sauce over scallops to serve.

Zucchini Roses

I have a confession to make. I’m a guy that watches British fashion vloggers. Well … my wife does, and I’m just there for the gardening bits. One of the vloggers she follows recently posted a video making Courgette Roses. (“Courgettes” are what Brits call zucchini and summer squash. They have some weird names for veggies. Aubergine? Really?) Anyway, I found a version of the recipe with the temperatures and measurements converted to US units. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (about 8 ounces)

• All-purpose flour, for rolling out dough

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

• 1 small summer squash (about 6 ounces), cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced diagonally

• 1 small zucchini (about 6 ounces), cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced diagonally

• Nonstick cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll the puff pastry out to a 12-inch square on a floured work surface.

2. Brush lightly with the olive oil and sprinkle evenly with the cheese, thyme and lemon zest.

3. Cut into 6 even strips.

4. Shingle alternating yellow and green slices of squash and zucchini along the length of each strip of dough making sure to leave half the dough strip uncovered and allowing the green and yellow skins to hang over one edge slightly.

5. Fold the uncovered dough over the squash and pinch together at the two ends.

6. Starting at one end, roll each strip into a spiral.

7. Lightly press the rolled tarts into a muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray.

8. Bake until the crusts are browned and crisp on the bottom, the top is dry and crisp and the squash is tender and browned on the edges, about 40 minutes.

9. Remove to a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm.

Presto Dill Pesto

Dill pesto is one of my favorite ways to kick up the flavor on broiled or baked fish. It's also very good served over grilled or roasted veggies. I use a small bunch of dill from the garden or my hydroponics system during the winter.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

• 1 tablespoon walnuts

• 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• ½ lemon, zested and juiced

• 1 clove garlic, peeled and quartered

• ⅛ teaspoon salt

• freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 pinch red pepper flakes (Optional)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

• Step 1

  Place dill fronds (a few stems are OK), walnuts, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes into the bowl of a food processor. If you have a mini or small food processor, it will be large enough for this recipe.

• Step 2

  Pulse until everything is minced well, scraping down the sides as necessary. With the machine running, drizzle in the olive oil, blending for a few seconds until smooth.

• Step 3

  If not serving immediately, store the pesto in an airtight container and chill until ready to use.