Quick and light, back on track

New Year is always started with good intentions and resolutions, and the one I hope to maintain this year is to eat healthier. In our case it means eliminating some food that is particularly harmful for my husband (he needs to be careful about cholesterol level and high blood pressure), so you're unlikely to see any red meat, cheese (unless it's fresh type like ricotta or mozzarella), butter or some high sodium stuff.
Don't get confused though, because I still have tons of recipes from last year, I'm so slow, I know. And, however, I will be making some sweet stuff for myself, how could I give up on that?
And here we go. I was about to post more cookies, fatties, and what not, but decided in the end to post the meal I prepared yesterday for dinner (by the way, I was feeling a bit tired lately and haven't been around much).
Delicious, indeed. Would you expect that from a recipe coming from a Light Recipes cookbook? There wasn't much nutritional information, but they claim every dish in the book is under 300 cal. I really recommend it, it's quick and easy to prepare, especially on a weeknight when you're tired after work and want something nice that you don't have to mess much with. They can also be served cold.

TURKEY MEDALLIONS WITH CARROT SAUCE
(4 servings)

600 g boneless, skinless turkey breast
4-5 carrots
2 cloves of garlic
2 TBspoons EVOO
50 ml dry white wine
1 lemon
Fresh thyme
Fresh chive
Salt and pepper

Peel and cut the carrots into small cubes. Boil 1/3 (or ½ ) and set the rest apart.
Cut the turkey breast into 1 cm thick medallions. Season them lightly with salt and pepper and dredge into flour.
Brown crushed garlic cloves in warm oil in a large skillet.
Remove the garlic, add the meat and brown lightly on both sides on medium heat.

Deglaze with white wine and let it evaporate.

Add the carrots (the part you set aside), cover and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes, adding little water that the rest of carrots are being cooked in, if it should get dry.

The carrots will be quite crispy at the end, so, if you prefer them soft, cook a bit longer, but pay attention to not overcook the meat or it will be dry. Check if the meat is seasoned to your taste and add more salt if necessary.

Drain the boiled carrots, add the juice from ½ a lemon and a few TBspoons of the sauce the meat was cooked in, and a dash of salt.

Purè with a stick blender,

to get a smooth, quite dense sauce.

Serve the medallions surrounded by diced carrots and put a little carrot sauce on each.
Sprinkle with thyme leaves and finely chopped chive (obviously, I didn’t have either). You can also decorate the plate with thin lemon slices.
Your easy, ½ an hour, light dinner is served. Feel free to add some (baked) potatoes and salad of your choice, like I did.
And for some extra calories, a glass of good wine. I had some white, Fiano of Avellino, that we brought with us from Avellino, of course, where we spent Christmas holidays.

*******************************************************************************



MEDAGLIONI DI TACCHINO CON LA SALSA DI CAROTE

600 g di fesa di tacchino
4-5 carote
2 spicchi d’aglio
2 cucchiai di olio EVO
50 ml di vino bianco secco
1 limone
Qualche rametto di timo
Qualche stello di erba cipollina
Sale e pepe

Pulite e tagliate le carote a cubetti. Fatte bollire metà o 1/3, e mettete da parte il resto.
Tagliate la fesa di tacchino a medaglioni di spessore di 1 cm. Salate, pepate e infarinate leggermente le fettine ottenute.
Sbucciate l’aglio, schiacciatelo con un batticarne e fattelo soffriggere in una larga padella con l’olio.
Togliete l’aglio e rosolate la carne nella stessa padella, 2-3 minuti per lato, bagnate con il vino e lasciatelo evaporare.
Aggiungete le carote tenute da parte, coprite e lasciate cuocere a fuoco basso per circa 20 minuti. Ogni tanto aggiungete qualche cucchiaio di acqua di cottura di carote perché non risulti troppo asciutto.
Scollate le carote bollite, aggiungete il succo di ½ limone, qualche cucchiaio di fondo di cottura della carne e una presa di sale. Frullate tutto fino a ottenere una salsa densa e omogenea.
Servite i medaglioni di tacchino con la dadolata di carote, mettete un po’ di salsa su ogni fettina e completate con le foglioline di timo e l’erba cipollina sminuzzata.


*******************************************************************************



PUREĆI MEDALJONI S UMAKOM OD MRKVE

600 g purećih prsa
4-5 mrkvi
2 češnja češnjaka
2 žlice maslinovog ulja
50 ml suhog bijelog vina
1 limun
Par grančica timijana
Par listova vlasca
Sol, papar , vegeta

Očistite mrkve i narežite ih na kockice. Staviti kuhati polovicu ili 1/3, a ostavite ostatak ćete dodati kasnije mesu.
Meso narežite na medaljone debljine 1 cm, posolite ih, popaprite i povegetite. Lagano ih pobrašnite i otresite višak.
U širokoj tavi popržite češnjak (koji ste malo zgnječili čekićem za meso). Izvadite češnjak i dodajte meso. Popržite ga 2-3 minute (na srednjoj temperaturi) sa svake strane pa ulijte vino i ostavite da ispari.
Dodajte nekuhanu mrkvu, poklopite i kuhajte na laganoj vatri oko 20 minuta, podlijevajući povremeno vodom u kojoj se kuhaju mrkve. Po potrebi dosolite i dodajte timijan i narezani vlasac.
Kuhanu mrkvu ocijedite, dodajte joj sok ½ limuna, par žlica umaka od mesa i sve smrvite štapnim mikserom da dobijete glatku i gustu smjesu.
Servirajte medaljone s kockicama mrkve i na svaki stavite malo umaka. Možete ih još dodatno ukrasiti tanko narezanim kriškama limuna.

Moram se pohvaliti i nagradicama koje sam dobila nedavno od dragih kolegica blogerica:
Od Vere


Od Tanje i Goce


Hvala vam što ste mislile na mene.