This year, Penny’s mom cooked a great ham AND a turkey breast for Christmas dinner. Somehow, we ended up with the whole half of the leftover turkey (which was GREAT!). So, after a few days of straight leftover turkey, dressing, gravy, etc., we decided to come up with some alternative creative ways to take advantage of that great gift of food to us. Here’s what we came up with so far…
Turkey Quesadillas: Easy lunch item. Chop the turkey slices into relatively small cube sort of shapes and saute in olive oil with whatever creative spices you have on hand… mine happened to be black pepper, cayenne pepper, jerked chicken spices, Mrs. Dash, blackened steak seasoning and a little powdered garlic. While that is sauteing, spray a little olive oil on a medium hot griddle, throw on the tortilla and your favorite shredded queso (mine is pepper jack, but I have to shred it myself – the girls like colby jack). Add the turkey on one side and any side items you may have, like sliced black olives or jalapeños. When the cheese is mostly melted, fold in half, flip once and you’ve got a great lunch. Serve with mexican rice, sour cream and hot taco sauce packets from Taco Bell. If you need some packets… call me — we have a bunch in our pantry, somehow.
Spicy Turkey Salad: Great for lunch or dinner. Over pure iceberg lettuce, cut into cubes, I add the following: the same sauteed turkey from the quesadilla recipe from above, diced or cherry tomatoes, shredded cheese, black olives, garlic croutons, sunflower seeds or cashews, real bacon bits, chopped broccoli if you like it, grapes actually add a nice sweet touch to the spicy stuff, and finally, a packet of Chick-fil-A Spicy Dressing (I confess that I ask for an extra packet every time I get a salad there, but my friend who owns our local CFA said it was A-OK.). Now, I should probably mention that even though this is technically a salad, which are typically considered a healthy meal choice, I cannot vouch that it is good for you or anything — but I think it tastes really great — and it MUST have less fat than say… a Big Mac.
Other ideas that need less explanation could be:
- Turkey and Broccoli Casserole
- Turkey Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
- Turkey Chili
- Turkey and Black Olive Pizza
- Turkey Salad with spicy mayo, sweet pickle cubes, a little diced celery and cayenne pepper… on your favorite toasted bread.
Let me know what you think and what ideas you have in the comments section. Enjoy!
