Flavorful Ground Turkey and Asparagus Stir-Fry: A Delightful Recipe

Oh, the day before grocery run day... the most dreaded day of the month if you live in this cottage. It's the day where you open the fridge and stare at the contents and realize there is not much in there to create a meal. Then you turn to your best friend, the freezer and find, well, they're not your friend afterall since it appears to be pretty barren in that cold wonderland too.

So what's a gal to do when the cupboards are bare? Get creative! It's what we do. I have been told a time or two I can make a meal with very little and so that is exactly what I did.

Not that anything changed from the five minutes prior, but I decided to take another peek at the freezer, and came up with one lonely package of ground turkey. Then I said ok, fridge, show me your worst, and came up with one bundle of fresh asparagus.

Can you tell one of us really does not like asparagus which was the reason why it was still in the fridge. During the week, I make meals I know we will both like (or try to get him to like), but the weekends? Well, it is a free-for-all around here.

What you will need:

1. 1 lb ground turkey
2. 1 bundle fresh asparagus, washed and prepped and cut into 1 inch pieces (see tip below for prep instructions)
3. 2 t Worcestershire sauce
4. 1 T garlic powder
5. 2 t minced garlic
6. 2 T real butter
7. Salt & pepper to taste

What you will need to do:

• Place ground turkey into skillet and cook on medium heat until golden brown
• Place turkey to the side, add butter, asparagus, spices, and Worcestershire sauce to pan
• Cook asparagus until it is tender
• Mix ground turkey and asparagus together if desired or keep separate, that is up to you. I liked mine all mixed together
• Plate and serve

Now if you are anything like me from the past, you may think yuck asparagus! I felt that same way until one of my coworkers shared with me how to properly prepare and cook asparagus.

Tip: Hold fresh asparagus in both hands and bend it to break. When the asparagus breaks, keep the section above the break up to the flowered end. Throw the remaining section away (it's the grainy, yucky part that ruins it for most folks). Cook asparagus until it is tender, adding salt, pepper, and garlic is my favorite way to cook it.

Once I began following his tip, then I was in love with fresh asparagus from that point forward. The thing I did not like was the stringy, chewy ends. It seemed there was always a piece in each bite, and I would think yuck, why do people like this? I thought it was the way I was cooking the asparagus and so I think like most people, I gave up and broke up with asparagus.

But now? Oh my goodness, I love it so much! I like to cook it in a skillet with a bit of olive oil and add garlic powder to it along with salt and pepper. Today I was a bit on the wild side and decided to use real butter. There is just something about real butter that adds so much flavor.

Sometimes when you are working with bland protein like ground turkey, you really have to work to make it flavorful and yummy. Since I was not working with a lot of other spices like I normally do, I decided to throw in the real butter. I loved it, but since there was asparagus, you can count on the fact Mr. VS would not even look at this dish. Ahh, welcome to the weekend. The place where he can make his own dinner if he doesn't want to try something.

Do you still plan dinners on the weekend, or do you like the free-for-all approach we have adapted? I love it since I can be creative, no time constraints of when dinner needs to be made by, it just is what it is. If you have never tried it, I highly recommend it. It's where you just get to let your hair down, and give something you never thought you would a try like this dinner, so simple, yet really flavorful. I will definitely be making it again, and maybe, just maybe I will get my other half to give it a try.

Ciao,

Cara

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