Blog for Monday: Grilled Turkey and Orange Salad

January 19, 2015

If you're like me, Turkey is one of those often overlooked, except on Thanksgiving, kind of food. I find that I will buy the cold cuts, I will buy a club at a restaurant, but other than that who cares about turkey right?  Well, I am often surprised by how much I like Turkey.  Here is a recipe that grills turkey in a very tasty orange sauce that is delicious!  

Grilled Turkey and Orange Salad

GTLF: Grilling p. 12

Serves 4, working time 20 min., total time 55 minutes

1 pound small red potatoes

1/2 pound green beans, trimmed

1/4 C orange juice

2 Tablespoons orange marmalade

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp grated orange zest

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 pound boneless turkey breast, in one piece, butterflied

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 naval oranges peeled and sectioned

4 C red leaf lettuce

Nutritional Information: 1 g fat, 337 calories, 0.3 g sat. fat, 49 g carbohydrate, 33 g protein, 70 mg. cholesterol, 413 mg sodium.

1. Preheat the grill to a medium heat.  In a large pot of boiling water, cook the potatoes for 10 minutes to blanch.  Drain.  Tear off a 24 in. length of heavy duty foil and fold in half to form a 12 x 18 in. rectangle.  Place the beans and 2 tablespoons of water in the center of the rectangle and seal the packet.

2. In a large bowl, combine the orange juice, marmalade, maple syrup, salt, ginger, orange zest, and pepper.  Measure out 1/4 C of the mixture to use as a baste; set the remainder aside.  Spray the rack, off the grill with non stick cooking spray, place the turkey on the grill ad brush with some of the basting mixture.  Grill, covered, basting and turning occasionally, for 30 minutes or until cooked through.  Place the packet of beans and the potatoes on the grill next to the turkey for the last 10 minutes, turning the potatoes once, until the potatoes are cooked through.

3. Meanwhile, whisk the mustard and vinegar into the orange juice mixture remaining in the bowl.  Add the orange sections, tossing to coat.  Remove the turkey from the grill and thinly slice.  Add to the bowl along with the green beans, potatoes, and lettuce, tossing to combine.  Divide the salad among 4 plates and serve warm.

Tips:

1.  I had the special treat of working with my mom while making this recipe.  While preparing the dish she sectioned the turkey for easier grilling which surprised me since the directions specify to use one piece.  The turkey came out deliciously so I'm not convinced that it's necessary to buy a "butterflied" piece which is good because they are hard to find.  What I did find was a boneless turkey breast in the frozen section that looks like a miniature turkey you'd buy for thanksgiving.  They come with directions for roasting and a gravy pack.  Since the cut didn't make much of a difference in my opinion, I think I'll just look for Turkey cutlets next time since they're easier to find.

2.  My mom has many more years of cooking experience than I do and I liked her method for sectioning the oranges.  She cut just below the pith which left a naked little orange round and then she just cut it in half and half again until there were small sections of orange bites.  I thought this was ingenious since it's very bothersome and difficult to cut sections of oranges whose only purpose is for presentation.  My mom's sections were just as pretty and ten times easier!  Besides, there is so much color in this dish that all you have to do is slide it onto a colorful plate and that's all the presentation you need.

3. This recipe has both marmalade and maple syrup, but the dish itself is NOT too sweet.  Brian usually asks me to stay away from the recipes where this flavor combination is present because he gets overwhelmed easily with sweet... but here it works very well.