Smokin' Hot: Grilled Corn & Black Bean Salad with Pepperoni

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine. And, as usual, I will only write about products that I really love! 

Those mid-August days are creeping up on us, and while it's easy to think that in a few weeks summer will be winding down, I'm firmly planted in the here and now. There are still so many things I want to do before the nights get cooler and the leaves start turning yellow. Road trips! Picnics! Backyard barbecue feasts! These are the days that need to be sucked of all their marrow. Go out there and live your best late-summer life! And bring snacks!

Turkey and Black Bean Slow Cooker Burrito Bowls

I'm popping in to say a quick hello while I unpack from my trip to Montreal.  I had the best time, ever.  More on that in a later post, but today I wanted to tell you about these slow cooker burrito bowls I made recently with turkey and black beans.  Super easy and super good.  Just what we want for a weeknight meal, amiright?

Apricot and Pecan Stuffing for Turkey

Oh my gosh you guys.  It's October.  Already.  Which means there are only three months left in this year.  Holy cow.  Time has slid on by, hasn't it?  Usually I'm all melancholic about the upcoming fall and winter, but this year I'm embracing it.  For the first time in my life I get to devote my career to writing.  Like, come over here and pinch me already.  My seasonal pastry chef gig ends in a couple of weeks (that's right, no one golfs in Saskatchewan in the winter) which means my focus will shift to working on the cookbook as well as my regular food writing gigs.  I'm super pumped.  Not because I get to work in my pyjamas and sleep in past 5:30, but because I'm pretty much living out my dream.  That's a pretty big deal.  I'm also traveling to Montreal later this month, which I'm crazy excited about.  The annual Food Bloggers of Canada conference is taking place, and it couldn't happen in a prettier town.  Given that I used to live there 20 years ago, Montreal holds a special place in my heart, and it will be fun to revisit it with old and new friends.  And the food.  Oh lord the food.  Bagels, croissants, poutine - I'll pretty much be carb loading all week.  And I can't wait.  If you know of any must-visit places to eat and drink while there, let me know in the comments! 

Turkey Egg Rolls with Cranberry Chili Dipping Sauce

Most of you have recipes that only come out at the holidays.  Maybe because they are more involved and time consuming, or maybe because you just want to keep them special.  If you made The Most Amazing Crab Dip every month of the year, it just wouldn't have the same significance as it does at Christmas.  Same in my family.  Around the turn of the century (how fun to say that - I sound like I should be wearing petticoats or something) my mom started making egg rolls.  Like, really really good egg rolls.  She probably clipped the recipe out of the newspaper and thought she'd give them a whirl.  Remember clipping recipes out of newspapers?  Does anyone still do that?  The first year she made them for us at Christmas, we were freaking out they were so good.  Better than many Chinese restaurants in fact.  I would tease my mom and say she must have been a Chinese grandma in a former life.  She just smiled at me.  "Oh, Renee" she would say.  

Turkey Soup with Butternut Squash & Wild Rice

 If you enjoyed turkey at your Thanksgiving dinner (in Canada) last weekend, then no doubt you had a pot of turkey bones bubbling away on your stove at some point this week.  My mom hosted the feast this year, and for a change she did a bacon lattice on top of the 22 pound bird.  I repeat.  Turkey, covered in bacon.  It was a glorious sight to behold.  I was so smitten I forgot to take a photo.  And that's saying something.  The bacon infusion could be detected throughout the meat, and oh sweet lord, the gravy.  So good.  So, if you want to switch things up this year for the holidays, you can't go wrong with slathering turkey in bacon.  Of course, the next day, she brought out her soup pot, tossed some of the bones in (I got a freezer bags worth too - them being lots of bones in that big bird), covered them with water, onion, celery, carrot and simmered them the day away.  Given my thrifty nature, ahem, I save my vegetable scraps from whatever meal prep I'm doing and just tuck them away in a freezer bag as I go along.  That way when it comes time to boil up some bones, you already have your veg, no need to chop up fresh onions, celery, carrot, etc.  Also, fresh parsley, garlic, peppercorns and a pinch of whole cloves are my musts for stock.  Let it simmer long and slow, with bubbles just breaking the surface.  You'll get a nicer flavour than just boiling the crap out of it for one hour.  Remember, most good things in life take a good, long while.  

Sweet & Smoky Turkey Sloppy Joes

Mid September means most of us are back to school, back to work, back to reality, as it were.  I don't know about you, but every once in a while I close my eyes thinking it's still a lazy summer afternoon and all is just so right in the world.  This is a month of transition, in so many ways.  Work, weather, relationships.  There's lots on the go here, as I'm sure there is where you are, too.  Meals need to be thrown together faster than you can say "New episode of The Mindy Project! Hooray!".  And that's where these sloppy joes come to the rescue.  They are full of flavour and the sauce comes together while you whip up a quick coleslaw on the side.  Be sure to grab some fresh rolls, and there you are.  Dinner under thirty minutes, leaving you time to chauffeur the little ones to their activities, or get back into that yoga class (hey there yoga mat, nice to see you again) or just settle in for the night, because all of your favourite shows are back.  Can I just say thank goodness they finally adapted the wonderfully smutty Outlander series for TV.  Thank you Showtime for making my Sunday evenings that much better. 

For full recipe, please head on over to the Turkey Farmers of Canada website.  

Turkey Lasagna with Ricotta & Basil

Hey you guys.  How are things in your neck of the woods?  Just popping in today to say hey, and also to tell you about this crazy good lasagna I made over on the Turkey Farmers of Canada website.  I'm so proud to have partnered with them, so stay tuned for more yummy things turkey coming your way.  While this recipe is made to be kid-friendly, rest assured the adults in your household will likely love it equally.  I added in a little baby kale for extra nutrition, who in their right mind doesn't love basil?  Hop on over here to get the full recipe.  Okay, back to regular summer programming, i.e. the raspberry patch that needs picking, lawn mowing and general sloth-like behavior afterwards.  I'll pop in soon with a summer salad that I can't stop eating.  Until then, enjoy these late summer days. 

Grilled Turkey & Mushroom Pesto Burgers

 

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post, but you know I wouldn't tell you about 

something unless I thought it was completely and utterly fabulous.

Summer may be winding down (I don't believe it either) but grilling season sure isn't.  I'm so pleased to have partnered up with Mushrooms Canada and Turkey Farmers of Canada on their e-cookbook Get Your Grill On With Turkey & Mushrooms.  Inside are 20 recipes from really great Canadian food bloggers and I'm thrilled to be among them, sharing my Grilled Turkey & Mushroom Pesto Burgers.  You may remember the incredible Thai Turkey Salad Rolls with Enoki Mushrooms and Peanut Sauce I created earlier this summer to help kick off this great campaign.  Happily you can find this burger recipe there too!  It's got great built-in mushroom and pesto flavour and it's been a huge favourite all summer around here.  Grill On! 

For this and other delicious recipes you can download the free e-book from the Tasty Turkey facebook page here or the Mushrooms Canada facebook page here.