Turkey and Summer Squash "Stir-Fry"

So we’ve been over what I’ve been eating for breakfast (brown rice), what I’ve been eating for lunch (sweet potatoes) and now I’d like to share what I’ve been eating for dinner. I call it, Turkey and Summer Squash “Stir-Fry”. Why the quotations with “Stir-Fry” because typically, stir-fry is thought of as a meal with some kind of sauce, this stir-fry has none – It could probably be classified as a “clean stir-fry” so long as you use the best ingredients available (which I believe I did).  When available, I used organic vegetables, free-range turkey and a blend of organic brown rice. (Sometimes I used ground lamb but since this post is called TURKEY and Summer Squash Stir-Fry, I opted to leave that bit out.)

I’m telling you this dish is so good, the discovery of it made all of the food sacrifices I have had to make over the past few months completely bearable.  (Click here and then follow any other links provided if you need a refresher as to why I’m on a restricted diet) In fact once I got into the groove of how I liked this dish cooked; I even began to crave it. Boy liked it so well he would often take a smaller portion of the “family” dinner so that he could have some of what I was having.  Sometimes my kids would protest that I was making them eat something gross while I ate all the good stuff. (Usually they only argued that point when they didn’t particularly care for what I had prepared for them.) Turkey and Summer Squash “Stir-Fry” might not be much to look at but the taste and health benefits of this dish make how it looks completely forgivable.

Turkey and Summer Squash “Stir-Fry”

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Serves 2 adults

Ingredients:

3-4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 cups cooked brown rice

8 oz (or more or less) turkey tenderloin, turkey thigh or ground turkey

2 summer squashes (typically one banana squash and one zucchini)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cut your vegetables (I like to split my squash in long quarters and then cross cut the quarters into ¼ inch pieces)
2. If using tenderloin, cut the turkey into pieces that are longer (1”) and thin (1/8^th inch). Be sure that all the cuts are generally the same size so that it cooks evenly. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a 12” nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Once shimmering add cooked brown rice and stir to coat in olive oil (you may need to add more olive oil). Watch your rice and use your turner to move it around a bit so that it doesn’t burn. Cook rice for about 4 minutes until browned and toasty then  flip it with your turner and cook for another 4 minutes or so. Once rice is toasted and has a good crunch, transfer it to a dish and set it aside.
4. Oil your pan with another tablespoon of oil and then stir-fry your vegetables until they are browned but still crisp (4 minutes). When done, transfer to the same dish with the rice.
5. Finally, heat the last of your oil and stir-fry the turkey. Stir-fry until the turkey is golden (if using tenderloin) or browned (if using thigh or ground). If using ground turkey just place the turkey into the hot pan and break it up with the spatula as you cook it. Try to keep the ground turkey in chunks that are no smaller than ½-inch.
6. Once the turkey is done, add the vegetable and rice back to the skillet and mix it all together until entire dish is heated. Remove skillet from heat and serve.

Source: Apron Appeal Original

Gwenevere