Mongolian Ground Turkey Stir Fry
Do you know what comes before New Year’s resolutions?
I like to call them “Current year illusions”.
These are the aspirations and promises we make to ourselves, stamped with a start date of next year.
You know, goals like exercising more, saving more money, or losing more weight. But, in labeling them as next year’s tasks, we inadvertently create illusions in our minds that the perfect time to start is in the future.
This often leads to a lot of wasted time and missed opportunities as we wait for a new year to come, thinking it will magically jumpstart our aspirations.
Take me for example. I told myself just last year I’d start going to sleep earlier and start this very newsletter next year.
And guess how long it took me to even start working on any of those goals?
5 months and 3 months, respectively. Pretty much a quarter of the year gone before I even began.
This time, I want to take a different approach, especially with anything related to improving health like my diet. Take it from an ex-pro unhealthy eater, the best approach I’ve found is to immediately implement the behaviors required to make the change. That means eating healthier now and not later.
Nevertheless, I know it’s the holidays, I know there’s probably going to be traditional food you love to eat, and you probably just want to relax anyway. I’m not suggesting to forego enjoying yourself for the rest of the year, but instead, start or continue eating healthier going into the new year.
Because let's face it, January 1st isn’t a magic wand that transforms our habits overnight. It’s the small, consistent changes we make every day that lead to big results.
To help kickstart that effort, I’m sharing a quick and easy 15-minute stir fry that’s like getting Mongolian beef at your favorite Chinese takeout restaurant. It has a balance of sweet, salty, and light-tasting flavors that make it irresistible. This is the perfect meal to have once you get tired of eating a ton of heavy holiday food and kick off a new habit at the same time!
Here are some notes about making this:
Feel free to substitute the ground turkey for ground beef or chicken.
Dark soy sauce can usually be found at Asian grocery markets.
Serve your stir fry with no more than 1 cup of cooked rice for similar calories.
A printable PDF of the recipe is below. Let’s dive into the recipe!
Ingredient List
1 lb 93% lean / 7% fat ground turkey
High-temp cooking spray (like avocado oil)
2-3 green onions
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ginger, minced
5 tbsp water
4 tbsp sugar-free maple syrup
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sriracha
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp chicken bouillion powder
1 tbsp cornstarch
3 cups of cooked jasmine rice (for serving)
Cooking Instructions
In a bowl, mix the water, sugar-free maple syrup, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sriracha, chicken bouillon powder, and cornstarch until well combined.
Chop the green parts of the green onion into long strips and the whites into fine pieces.
Heat a pan to medium-high and coat with cooking spray. Add the ground turkey, let it cook for 1 minute undisturbed, then break into bits to cook until fully browned.
Remove the turkey from the pan and add more cooking spray. Toss in the garlic, ginger, and the finely chopped white parts of the green onions.
Sauté for about 45-60 seconds, give the sauce in the bowl a quick stir and pour into the pan.
Let the sauce bubble and thicken then add the ground turkey back into the pan. Toss in the sauce and coat well.
Turn off the heat and add in the green onion strips to mix with the meat.
Serve the ground turkey over jasmine rice and enjoy!
Don’t forget to check out the archive here for other gourmet high-protein recipes.
Eat Well,
Marcus Matkins
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