Turkey Burgers

We're so excited about our newest book, COOKING LIGHT THE COMPLETE QUICK COOK. Given the number of interviews and such we've had in the last few days, it appears other people are, too.

One of my favorite recipes in the book is for turkey burgers. We're getting to the recipe, but if you want to see us in a video making these burgers, click here. (And what's with my hair?!?)

No matter how much I love turkey burgers, there's a problem. They can turn into hockey pucks, hard little disks without much juice at all. Yuck. They might be quick, but they're not good. And that's nobody's idea of dinner.

We've come up with a solution: add some rolled oats. Yep, the whole grain offers lots of great moisture to the burgers, keeping them tender and juicy.

Once you've got the burgers, all you need are toasted onion rolls, sliced tomatoes, and crunchy lettuce.

So here's the skinny:

Mix 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey, one 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, 1 cup finely chopped sweet onion, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 2 large, lightly beaten egg whites in a big bowl. Form this mixture into 6 equal patties.

Spray a large grill pan with nonstick spray and set it over medium-high heat. Add the patties and cook for 6 minutes on each side or until done.

And you're done, too. That's a great dinner! Quick and healthy. What could be better?

Peanut Butter Oat Cookies

Can you believe it's almost 2011? I've probably told you this before but one of my favorite quotes from Toni Morrison's masterpiece, BELOVED, is when Sethe tells her daughter this: "It's so hard for me to believe in time. Some things go. Pass on. Some things just stay."

Gorgeous, no? Just to be able to say "I don't believe in time anymore."

Still and all, it's the time of year when we all measure time's passing. And mostly, we do it by making resolutions. (Well, that and by drinking too much champagne. A pretty gorgeous thing, too.)

If I can be so bold, I'd like to propse a resolution for us all, me included: let's all nudge ourselves one step more whole in our food choices. Which means one step browner.

In other words, let's eat more whole grains.

We don't have to go nuts and chow down on millet the first week out. I said "browner," not all the way to Birkenstocks.

It's a simple resolution. There are plenty of whole-grain recipes on this blog. And great books by the likes of Lorna Sass and Robin Asbell.

Here's what I'm talking about: a recipe that sneaks the grain in without too much trouble. It's a great treat--and with whole grains, even better. Again, browner. You don't have to give up cookies. Just make better ones. As in these from our ULTIMATE PEANUT BUTTER BOOK:

Click to read more ...

Slow Cooker Steel-Cut Oatmeal

I love most hot cereals in the morning. OK, maybe not flaxseeds in my teeth at 8:00 a.m. But otherwise, most.

Naturally, I adore steel-cut oats. But I just can't stand how long they take to get tender. I'm not getting out of bed to stir for an hour. Not for oatmeal.

Yes, I've tried that other method: heat them the night before, let them sit, rewarm them the next morning. But I've always felt the texture was, to say the least, blech.

Enter the slow cooker, that church-supper fix-it machine. Did you know you can make whole grains in a slow cooker? And that because of its 1) exceptionally low heat and 2) moisture-rich environment, the whole grains will come out of the machine creamier and more tender than you'll ever get them on the stove.

Sold? Here's the shtick:

Click to read more ...

Cherry Oat Bars

Um, yum. Crunchy bar cookies, laced with jam. I ask you: what could be better?

But before we get into it, and because we're into real food, let's have the discussion. You know, THE discussion. The one about empty calories. The one about sweets.

Listen, anything like this is nutritionally void. Oh, sure, I could blather on about oats. But really? These are a treat. Period.

And should be. You need treats in your food choices, if only to vary them. But two things. 1) Despite any ad copy blather, any dessert should have a whole grain in it. Hey, let's not kid ourselves. We need to get in the grains where we can. And 2) we shouldn't have treats lying around the house for days on end. So here's a strategy. Make these, then cut them into squares and freeze them in small batches. There'll be ready to go when you are. Or share them. The very best way to enjoy treats? With others.

And you know the final rule: never make pans of dessert within two weeks of a relationship break-up. I'm just saying.

OK, enough. On to the bars.

Click to read more ...

Honey Granola

I do not enjoy women's softball. I do indeed groom all growths of body hair. Yet I love granola. Call me a modern paradox.

I start almost every day with my crunchy breakfast treat. And a café au lait--or un bol, as they say in Québec. A no-handle cereal bowl of coffee. Or more precisely, four shots of espresso and frothed skim milk. Let's just say that by the time I sit down to work, I'm good to go.

In THE ULTIMATE COOK BOOK, we concocted a "road map" for granola--that is, a basic formula into which you can plug ingredients at will. For example, under the sweetener, our road map tells you to add any of the following: honey, maple syrup, unsweetened apple juice concentrate (thawed), sweetened cranberry juice concentrate (thawed), cane syrup, Lyle's Golden Syrup (let's chip on to the Brits), or agave nectar. Combine that with all the other choices in the road map and there are about a zillion recipes for granola, give or take five.

Which means Bruce never makes it the same way twice. Which means I can say nothing definite, unlike as to matters of theology or politics. But just yesterday he cooked up a new batch, so here's how he did it this time:

Click to read more ...