La Bamba Turkey Hotdish

Before I get into this week’s recipe, La Bamba Turkey Hotdish, let’s talk about ground turkey.

Have you seen or read about this week’s Consumer Reports’ research that looked at ground turkey and foodborne pathogens? I cringed when I read some of the hyped-up headlines, such as: “90% of Ground Turkey Contains Disease-Causing Bacteria”. Ouch. No, make that double ouch.

I’m here to tell you, however – do not be afraid of ground turkey. Consumer Reports sensationalized much of its testing results and you just need to dig a little deeper to read the actual truth and understand what this all means.

Fear vs. fact.

Which brings me to this awesome blog post from a mom and a turkey farmer in Iowa – she explains the truth in an easy-to-understand way. Please read it here. (It’s okay, you can leave my blog post and read it. I will understand.)

You can also read what the National Turkey Federation (the trade association that represents the U.S. turkey industry) says here, which was also backed up by the American Meat Institute.

For me personally, I think one of the best independent sources for information on this topic comes from Best Food Facts – which incidentally, is a great source of information for all kinds of food-related information and questions you might have.

And guess what I fed my family for dinner last night … yep, ground turkey, cooked properly and safely. It was delicious!

La Bamba Turkey Hotdish

Cooking spray

1 pound ground turkey breast

1 cup chopped onion

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained

2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed (canned corn is just fine, too!)

1 (16-ounce) can fat-free refried beans

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup chopped tomato

1/2 cup chopped green onions

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375°.

Coat an 8-inch square baking dish coated cooking spray.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add turkey, onion, chili powder, cumin, salt, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add diced tomatoes; cook 5 minutes or until liquid evaporates.

Spoon turkey mixture into baking dish. Top with corn. Carefully spread beans over corn. Sprinkle cheese over beans.

Bake at 375° for 30 minutes.

Let stand 5 minutes; top with chopped tomato and green onions.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, 2002