Anti-Thanksgiving Turkey Tacos

It's the week after Thanksgiving and the last thing you want to do is think about eating more turkey, carb-loading, or the flavor of sage (the most overused Thanksgiving flavor). You also loathe the idea of grocery shopping, but you've grazed through the leftovers and are sadly out of food, so alas, a trip to the grocery has become a necessity. Head out to the store, sanitize the cart handle, keep your head down refusing any unwanted eye contact and stroll through the aisles to pick up the ingredients to make my Anti-Thanksgiving Turkey Tacos. Turkey!? No way, I've just plowed through a gallon-sized zip-lock baggie of leftover turkey, the last thing I want to do is eat MORE turkey. That's just it, turkey isn't just for elaborate Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners - ground turkey is easily substituted for any recipe that calls for ground beef or pork. In addition, it's leaner and all around healthier than red meats. Another twist, I take a note from the poor people of yester-years and cook in chopped lettuce which is something people did to stretch their food dollar and make a more filling meal after they fell below the poverty line. Creative and resourceful, none-the-less.

I would also like to mention that I am not following the food trend of "Street Tacos". Firstly, I would like to establish that I don't eat ANYTHING with the word 'street' in it. There is nothing I want to eat from the street. No, no, no thank you. Second, I've been making tacos for years. In fact, I'm fairly certain my neighbors in college thought I was a Mexican with the 2001 Civic in the drive-way, the constant smell of cumin wafting from the air-ducts, and the number of empty Tecate, Corona, or Dos Equis bottles that would fall from my balcony on any given weekend night. I'm from Texas, so that means I am incredibly over-exposed to Mexican food, or "Tex-Mex" (which is basically dumbing/blanding down traditional Mexican flavors). Here's my thing, Tacos are easy to infuse new and creative flavors into something that is familiar to almost everyone. We all love a good taco - unless you're eating that sixty-nine cent "taco" from Taco Bell which really only consists of food chemicals and ground up cat tails - not the cat tails you find blowing in the wind in ponds or lakes, I mean literally cat tails. Meow. If that's your idea of a taco, you might have a hard time digesting the organic and natural mexican flavors I've thrown together. Hopefully your appetite is still with me and you can make it through this recipe because it's really one of my best yet - they'll have you giving thanks in a whole new way.

Anti-Thanksgiving Tacos

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup organic chicken stock

1 pound ground turkey

1 red onion - sliced

1 bunch organic romaine hearts

1 palm full cumin

1 palm full chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic

salt and pepper to taste

half a lime

salsa and organic sour cream to top

organic whole wheat tortillas

In a deep-sided skillet, bring extra virgin olive oil to med high heat. Add garlic, red onion, salt and pepper and saute for 3-5 minutes until the onions have browned just a touch. Reduce heat to med low, let the onions develop their sweetness and their sugars to caramelize. After 15-20 minutes have past, scoot the onions to the edge of the pan leaving the majority of the pan's surface area clear and on direct heat. Bring the heat back to med high, add a touch of extra virgin olive oil to lube up the pan and add the ground turkey. Brown the turkey until fully cooked. Add the organic chicken stock, cumin, and chili powder and stir in the reserved red onions. Reduce the heat to low, add the chopped lettuce and cover so the meat simmers and the spices infuse the meat concoction. After 10-15 minutes, squeeze the lime over the meat, add salt and pepper to taste and get ready to assemble. Take a warm organic whole wheat tortilla, fill with taco meat, top with sour cream, salsa and any remaining lettuce. (Cheese optional, just please pick a real cheese, not that pre-shredded pasteurized chemical mess in plastic baggies.)

Enjoy.

Leftover Thanksgiving Soup

So, it's the day after Thanksgiving and if the hangover from getting 'holiday drunk' isn't bad enough, you're also full and bloated from the amount of sugar, carbs and starches you consumed in 24 hours time. The last thing you want to do is eat, but you've got a pounding headache and nausea that is prohibiting your Black Friday shopping. So what can you eat that is substance enough, but light enough that it won't send you straight back to the food coma you came out of? Soup. Turn leftovers into soup and not only prevent leftovers from sitting in your fridge for weeks after Thanksgiving, but also fill your shopping fuel tank so you can get out with the rest of middle America and hunt down promos and deals that are sure to reappear before Christmas. 

2 cups low sodium organic chicken stock

4 cups water

2 cups organic whole wheat pasta (any shape)

1 large yellow onion (sliced thin)

salt and pepper to taste

4 cloves garlic (minced)

5 leaves fresh sage

extra virgin olive oil 

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

leftover Thanksgiving turkey

2 tablespoons parmesan 

In a soup pot, bring extra virgin olive oil and minced garlic to medium high heat. Add thinly sliced onion, salt and pepper and drop heat to low. Let the onions caramelize for 25-30 minutes until soft and browned. Next, add chicken stock, dijon mustard, and water and increase the heat to bring to a boil. Add whole wheat pasta and cook until just before 'al-dente'. Next, add leftover turkey that you've shredded by hand and tear sage into the soup base. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Finally, ladle soup into bowls, top with additional sage and parmesan sprinkle. Enjoy.