Turkey Sausage patties

I tried a modification of a friend of mine's recipe and really liked it. Today, I'm altering it again in an effort to make a good all around meat-base, for patties or balls.

I make a vegetable meat substitute using a recipe I got from my dear friend, Juanita Juchau's self-published cookbook: "Lean and Green Unleashed: The Peckish Pixie's Creative Approach to Low Calorie, Low Carbohydrate High Protein Fine Dining" (Get it: HERE). It gives me a GREAT way to make my veggies and my meat to go farther by using parts of the vegetable that often just get tossed in the compost. It's also a GREAT way to get additional vegetables in your daily intake.

You'll want to collect about 2 cups of mushroom stems, zucchini peels, celery tops, leek greens, broccoli stalks, onion tips, wilted carrots, even parsley and cilantro stems. Cut them into similar sized pieces and put in the food processor.

Process until you have fine ground veg.

Squeeze the juice out of the mix.

 Toss the lot in a microwaveable bowl with paper towel over the top.

Microwave for 4-5 minutes, stir and cook another 4-5 minutes. Let it cool.

GROUND MEAT BASE

1 lb. extra lean ground turkey
1 c. ground veg mix
1 small apple
1/2 c. hazelnuts
1/4 c. basil
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 1/2 t. Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning
1/2 t. smoked paprika
1 t. ground cumin
1 egg

In a large bowl, put in the turkey, the veg mix, the spices and the egg. Using a food processor, combine the apple, hazelnuts and basil until it is finely ground. Add the apple mix to the meat mix and you've got your meat base. I tried it as both meatballs and patties and it's quite tasty! I especially like the added crunch that the nuts give it.