I haven't watched the Food Network in a WHILE. I used to watch it all the time when Andrew and I first got married. I haven't been feeling very inspired with my cooking lately, so I decided that I need to watch the Food Network more often. I grew up adoring cooking shows. I couldn't wait for Saturday afternoons when PBS would air cooking show after cooking show. I've always loved to watch people cook. So, with some newfound inspiration, I made grilled turkey breast burgers and a grilled watermelon and arugula salad.
I sliced the watermelon into steaks, brushed the sides with olive oil and placed them on the well oiled and very hot grill for about 3 minutes per side. Basically just until the grill marks showed up. I layered a salad bowl first with organic arugula, then crumbed goat cheese, then the watermelon and repeated. I also made a simple balsamic reduction for the dressing and topped it off with more olive oil and salt and pepper. It was very different from an ordinary salad and very tasty. I was a little bothered by how much liquid ended up at the bottom of the bowl, but I suppose it was only because the watermelon was so juicy. Ingredients: arugula, goat cheese, watermelon, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper. Calories: 171
The turkey burgers were just mouthwatering. I took a pound of ground turkey breast and mixed it with chopped onion, Italian parsley, an egg and salt and pepper. I made those into patties and threw them on the grill with the watermelon steaks. I also whipped up a garlic aioli out of light mayo, smashed garlic cloves and salt and pepper. I topped the turkey patties with white cheddar and let them melt on the grill. I toasted a few whole wheat hamburger buns and sliced up an avocado, tomato and onion to go on top of the burgers. When they came off the grill, we were ready to dig in. Definitely a hit with Andrew. Judah wouldn't touch his and Audrey was preoccupied with the mountains of fruit that she couldn't stop shoveling into her mouth. She also begged for more and more avocado. Oh well, it just means that I will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Ingredients: ground turkey breast, onion, parsley, garlic, tomato, avocado, light mayo, whole wheat bun. Calories: 489
Obviously you could cut some calories out of both recipes by omitting the olive oil, mayo or cheese and you could easily substitute the thick bun for those new lower calorie thin ones.
I decided to eat the full calorie version as a reward for spending two hours at the gym. The first hour was spent in a body pump (weight lifting class). The second hour was spent shaking my ass at Zumba. I have to say that even though I'm not super happy with how my body looks right now, I was really excited when I realized how great my arms look. We had to do tricep dips for body pump and while I was looking in the mirror at myself, I noticed that my arm muscles look pretty great! It made me feel good to know that even though I have some areas that need a lot of help, I have at least one area that looks awesome.
