Thai Inspired Ground Turkey and Veggies

You know how I've been recently raving about all the great recipes from Just a Pinch, well here's a new one I made earlier in the week that came from Stephanie Morris. She did a great job capturing the sweet, spicy, salty and sour flavors we expect from Thai cuisine, and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry or fridge. Plus it's a quick fix.

Thai Ground Turkey with Vegetables
Inspired by Stephanie Morris

1-1/4 pounds ground turkey or any ground meat you prefer
1 clove garlic minced
12 oz fresh green beans- I bought mine in a pre-washed bag
1 red pepper sliced
4 scallions chopped

Sauce
1 T peanut butter- I used 1-1/2 T
1 T Thai red curry paste- I use Thai Kitchen, it comes in a 4 oz jar in the International aisle of your grocery store
1 T fresh ginger grated
1 tsp fish sauce- I might use another 1/2 tsp next time- see what I think at the time
2 tsp Splenda sweetener- regular sugar is fine as well
1/2 -3/4 cup lite coconut milk- also found on the International aisle of your grocery store

To Make the sauce: Combine all ingredients in a large measuring cup and whisk until incorporated. Doesn't that look good already? And the aromatics are heavenly. I was tempted to eat it with a spoon. Set aside.

Brown meat in a large sauce pan over medium/low heat and add garlic soon after meat starts to brown.


While meat is cooking, microwave green beans and peppers for 2 minutes. Remove from the microwave and let sit until they're ready to go into the mix.

When meat is cooked through, drain any fat from the pan and add the vegetables. Now pour the yummy sauce over the meat and veggies and simmer until vegetables become hot again.

At this point everything is cooked, so you just want to make sure the vegetables come back up to temperature. Sprinkle with cool, sliced scallions, and maybe a shot of red pepper flakes, and enjoy. I enjoyed mine with perfectly cooked brown rice thanks to Uncle Ben, and a teaspoon of Sambal Olek. It was delicious.

I re-heated a portion at work today, and wished I had brought some lettuce leaves to make a nice little wrap or two. I'll keep that in mind if I decide to serve this as an appetizer someday. Love this recipe Stephanie. Thanks for sharing it with us.