I have always been a big fan of meal prepping and packing my lunches for work. I make healthier food choices, am kinder to my wallet eating out less and it saves me time during the week when I can just grab a container from the fridge and go. Coming home from my first trip to Japan 10 years ago, my luggage was filled with cute bento boxes, little sauce containers, fruit picks and molds to turn hard boiled eggs into bunnies. These days, while my lunches are less decorated, Stephen has seriously stepped them up in terms of flavour since taking over in the kitchen.
My favourite dishes to pack for lunch is a tasty stir fry that can be served with rice (if I need extra energy for an afternoon yoga class), or a bed of lettuce (for those days when I’ve eaten too much pie). They’re easy to cook, loaded with vegetables and delicious. This recipe for Sichuan Eggplant with Ground Turkey is perfect, loads of flavour and can be adjusted to personal taste for spiciness and meat to vegetable ratios. Recently, I’ve liked the taste of ground turkey in this recipe as it’s a milder flavour, not oily and light in calories.
One challenge I’ve had with preparing meals for an entire week is boredom. By Thursday, I’m tired of eating the same thing as the three previous days and my favourite sushi spot near work beckons to me. To combat this, on Sunday nights, we will make 2 large stir fries so I alternate them in my lunches and I still let myself go out for lunch once a week. Other recipes that would work great cooked in bulk for lunch is Mapo Tofu, great with ground turkey, or this recipe for Thai Basil Turkey Fried Rice.
For other delicious recipes featuring turkey, visit www.ThinkTurkey.ca
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Turkey Farmers of Canada. All ideas and opinions expressed are wholly mine.
- 1 lb lean ground turkey
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1-2 tbsp red chili oil (depending on level of spiciness)
- 5-6 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp spicy bean paste (Doubanjiang) (optional)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorn crushed
- 4 cups of Chinese eggplant, cut into segments
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1-2 dried red chili peppers
- 1 stalk green onion
- Cut eggplant lengthwise into 1/2 inch by 3 inch segments
- Wash and chop cilantro roughly, slice green onion into thin shreds, mince garlic and dried red chili peppers together
- Add the cornstarch, water, rice wine, red chili oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce, spicy bean paste, sesame oil and crushed Sichuan peppercorn into large a cup and stir to combine
- Heat the oil to 300 degrees F and fry eggplant until golden brown, remove and drain excess oil
- Heat wok on high and add canola oil, when the oil begins to smoke, add the ground turkey and stir fry
- When turkey is 3/4 cooked, add minced garlic and chillies and stir fry until fully cooked
- Turn the heat to medium, add eggplant and combined sauce from step 3 while stirring, cook until sauce thickens
- Top with cilantro and green onion, serve with rice
- To test the oil temperature, dip a bamboo chopstick into the oil and look for bubbles
- Make sure the oil is at the right temperature before frying or the eggplant will soak up too much oil
- Make sure the sauce is well combined before adding to the wok to avoid clumps
- For the red chili oil, you can use a store bought version or try this recipe https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/chinese-chili-oil/
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