Turkey & Quinoa Skillet Dish

Happy Friday everyone!!!

I come to you today with one of the most simple, yet cost-effective and flavourful dishes I’ve made yet! Seriously though folks, ANYONE can make this meal – so read on.

With Chris being a commuter for work and me having post-work activities (ie. riding Chelsea), we usually don’t get home during the week until around the 7PM mark. Due to this fact, I am always on the hunt for meals that taste unbelievable, but in turn are completely simple and quick to put together. Several weeks ago while scrolling through some blogs, I came across a recipe that inspired me to throw this particular dish together. (unfortunately for the life of me, I can’t remember where I saw it!) When it comes to what meals I prepare, I never want to sacrifice on the health factor, or the budget factor. I take pride in the fact that I am able to continue to create healthy meals for us on a very low-budget. It’s a skill that has really helped us out thus far in our married life and a skill that will in turn, continue to help as time goes on. Anyway, this dish has pretty much become a staple on our weekly meal plan and I am actually really surprised that it took me this long to finally blog about it!! The dish packs a TON of fresh flavour and is just a complete rock star in the health department. The best part? It costs just over $5 to make.

Turkey & Quinoa Skillet Dish

What You Need:

1 lb extra lean ground turkey
1 can diced or stewed tomatoes
1/2 C (approx) quinoa
1/4 – 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2-3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
juice from 1/4 of a lime
fresh baby spinach
1-2 green onions chopped
cheese of choice

What You Do:

- gather up your ingredients

- preheat a nice shallow skillet and brown the turkey

- once the turkey is cooked, add in the can of tomatoes. You can used pre-seasoned, or plain. Completely up to you!

- stir it all up and now add the dried, uncooked quinoa

- stir up the mixture again and add your spices (do not add the cilantro yet!)

- now cover it up, set the temperature to low, and walk away!

- let the mixture cook away for about 8-10 minutes until the quinoa is cooked. It will soak up most of the tomato liquid and flavour.

- once it’s cooked you can add the fresh cilantro for that extra little punch

- followed by the juice from 1/4 of a lime

- mix it all up and serve immediately on top a bed of fresh baby spinach then garnish with your favourite cheese (montery jack works great) and some green onions.