Lemongrass and Ginger Turkey and Vegetable Medley

To start of the year, I’d like to share this recipe that I came up with last night. What happens when there’s only three people in your family and the organic turkey that you order is 3.8kg??? You have LOTS of leftovers!

We still have some left now and as my mum and Step dad are on holidays in Pt Lincoln at the moment, there are even less people around to help me finish it off. There were also lots of daggy veggies on their side of the crisper, that were starting to feel a bit limp (I’m annoyingly sensitive to chemicals and thus couldn’t help the non-organic vegetable cause).

Hmmmm … what to do? I had my dad over for dinner last night and am having one of my best friends to stay later in the week, so it was time to get creative.

As with most of my recipes, this recipe came about by me throwing this, that and everything into a pan and hoping for the best … well apparently this was ‘the best’ (and my Dad is very honest so I know he’s telling the truth). I can’t vouch for the taste but it smelled epic and looked pretty appealing too.

It’s a great way to use up any kind of roast meat or vegetable so don’t feel you need to stick to the recipe entirely. If you’ve got different veggies such as carrots, squash, kale, spinach, onion etc. these would all work beautifully. You could also change up the spices for a different flavour and use butter, tallow, ghee or lard instead of the coconut oil. Be creative and do what you can with what you have.

Lemongrass and Ginger Turkey Vegetable Medley

  • 250-300g of leftover roast meat (I used Turkey)
  • 1-2 cups chopped pumpkin (no need to peel)
  • 1 chopped zucchini
  • 1 cup cauliflower, chopped
  • 1 cup broccoli, chopped
  • 3 Tbspoons coconut oil (or stable saturated cooking fat of choice)
  • a pinch of turmeric
  • 3 pinches of mixed spice
  • 3 pinches of ground ginger
  • 3 medjool dates, pitted (optional but very tasty addition)
  • 2 pinches quality salt (I used himayalan salt spiked with dulse flakes)
  • 1-2 drops of lemongrass pure essential oil (I used Twenty8 – link to their shop in side bar)

Method

Heat oil in a large, cast iron (or other non-toxic surface) frying pan. Add all the veggies, spices and dates and put the lid on (I had the pan on medium high and the lid half steamed the veggies while the hot oil sauteed – this maximises flavour and speeds cooking time). Take the lid off every few minutes and give the veggies a good stir. When all the veggies are softened (not mush – you want them to retain their nutritients) add the meat, salt and the essential oil. Take off the heat and stir through. That’s it, dinner (or lunch, or even breakfast) is ready and it only took you 15-20 minutes from start to finish.