Sunday Special: Turkey Tetrazzini and Oven-Roasted Purple Beans

. "Don't judge a book by its cover."

Please remember to repeat this mantra as you scan through the pictures on this post.  Okay?

Okay, because from the rather neutral colors of this dish you would never guess how Mm. Mm, good it is!  It really is.  Especially those wonderful little purple beans that I know you've been wondering about.  So let's get to those first.

A couple of weekends ago I went to the local farmer's market with some college softball friends (i.e., my bestie, Bailey, and my former assistant coach, Jess).  It'd been ages since we'd all seen each other, let alone had a day to spend together, and we thought a little Saturday stroll through the market was a great way to start out our day.  And it so, so was.  As we were walking around, Jess [not me] spotted a unique little veggie in the midst of it all, purple [green] beans.  The vendor informed us that the purple beans, in his expert opinion, had a better flavor than our good ol' regular green beans and that's all it took.  I snatched up a pint of these babies and that's what our Sunday dinner was based around.  Please don't fail me now, Mr. Vendor Guy.

As for the main meal, I settled upon this Turkey Tetrazzini recipe.  To be honest, I had real clue what I was making.  I'd heard of Tetrazzini before but couldn't tell you the first thing about it, besides that it included noodles.  And carbs are always a must on my menus.

But this dish did not disappoint, it's healthy but you probably wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't know.  The pasta is encased in a creamy sauce and accompanied by chunks of juicy turkey, a few  choice vegetables, and a bit 'o' cheese.  Nom, nom, nom!  Put that together with my new-found-love oven-roasted purple beans and you have a winner, winner, Turkey Tetrazzini dinner [thanks, Guy!]! .

P.S. - don't forget to take a sec to click on over to Jess' blog, Blonde Ponytail, where you can also read about our girls day out and get to know this great lady!

My Notes:

• The above picture is of the purple [green] beans I found at the market.  However, you'll notice that in the pictures of the meal, they're all green!  Well when these beauties are cooked, they turn from purple to a light green, so don't be alarmed.  It's all part of the process ☺  Also, I only had about 1 pound of purple beans so I bought a pound of green beans as the recipe called for.
• The recipe below calls for 4 ounces of spaghetti and I don't know about you, but that would not have been enough for Robbie and I.  So I opted to use a bit more pasta than called for, but that's what cooking is all about.  Improv! 
• Our grocery store didn't have any red sweet peppers [not sure how that's even possible] so we had to get the green pepper.  Taste wise it was perfectly fine, but the red pepper would have given this dish that pop of color that it's missing.

Turkey Tetrazzini

From Diabetic Living

Ingredients:

4 oz. whole wheat spaghetti

2 c. sliced fresh button mushrooms

3/4 c. chopped red and/or green sweet pepper

1/2 c. cold water

3 tbsp. all purpose flour

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated fat-free milk

1/2 tsp. instant chicken bouillon granules

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

Dash of ground nutmeg

1 c. chopped cooked turkey or chicken breast (5 oz.)

1/4 c. finely shredded Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp. snipped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400°F.  Cook the spaghetti according to directions on package, except omit the cooking oil and only lightly salt the water.  Drain well.
2. Meanwhile, in a large covered saucepan, cook the mushrooms and sweet peppers in a small amount of boiling water for 3 to 6 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Drain well; return to saucepan.  
3. Combine the water and flour; stir very well until mixed.  Stir flour mixture into vegetables in saucepan.  Stir in evaporated milk, bouillon granules, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg.  Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.  Stir in cooked spaghetti, turkey, Parmesan cheese, and parsley.
4. Lightly coat 2-quart square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Spoon spaghetti mixture into dish.  Bake, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until heated through.

Yield: 6 1-cup servings

Nutrition Facts: Calories 202 ; Total Fat 2g (Saturated Fat 1g) ; Cholesterol 24mg ; Sodium 253mg ; Carbohydrates 32g ; Fiber 2g ; Protein 17g

Oven-Roasted Purple [Green] Beans

From MyRecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 lbs. purple and/or green beans, trimmed

4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425°F.  Place a jelly-roll pan in oven for 10 minutes.
2. Place beans in a large bowl.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss well to coat.
3. Arrange beans in a single layer on heated pan.  Bake 8 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Yield: 12 2/3-cup servings

Nutrition Facts: Calories 37 ; Total Fat 1.6g (Saturated Fat .2g) ; Protein 1.4g ; Carbohydrates 5.5g ; Fiber 2.6g ; Sodium 196mg