Dave's Special Ground Turkey Cacciatore

Dave's Ground Turkey Cacciatore Recipe. This dish will stand up against anything Rachael Ray's got and make Giada De Laurentiis look like a short order cook at Mel's Diner!

This Ground Turkey Cacciatore is a dish I'd like to dedicate to my mother. It's not often that I cook it and I like to save this one for special occasions because when I prepare it, the main ingredient is love.

My mom used to make Chicken Cacciatore. It was juicy, succulent and full of flavor and also thoroughly prepared with love. She also used Chicken Thighs and white pasta on the side. So if you're looking to decrease the unhealthy fat content and insulin spike, try this version. It is quite the tasty yet healthy spin off to an old favorite...

Here's what you'll need for 2-3 people:

• 48 ounces of lean ground turkey
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 Garlic Cloves
• 1 Red Onion
• 1 Green Pepper
• 1 Yellow Pepper
• a nice Tomato Basil Marinara
• shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of Brown Rice

If you're looking to go big and serve a group of 4 - 6 (or more) double up on everything and have an extra pot ready to go too.

Put about 2-3 tablespoons of Olive Oil into a largeskilletand gently warm the oil. Slice the garlic real thin and put it in the skillet. You'll want the garlic to "melt" into the oil.

While the garlic and oil are becoming one, take half a red onion and slice it into thin strips. Set it aside and repeat with the yellow and green peppers. Set those aside for now as well.

This will be a good time to fire up the rice cooker and put in 1 to 1 and half cups of the brown rice.

Now put the turkey in the skillet with the oil and garlic. Bring the temp up a little over medium heat and cook the turkey until medium well.

Next strain the oil out into a large pot and let the turkey go into a strainer. Begin to heat the large pot to medium-high. Add the sauce, about half the jar and mix it with the oil and garlic.

From here you'll put the turkey into the pot and continue mixing them all together

Toss in the onions, then add the peppers and toss them up in there too. Bring this up to a light simmer and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Get your 2-3 large pasta bowls and divide the rice up evenly.

Then with a straining spoon scoop the turkey mixture and place it a top of the rice. Then tablespoon as much sauce as you want. You can make it as saucy as you want!

Top if off with Parmesan cheese, serve and enjoy!

Antipasto dish to start: If you're doing this right, nothing starts off a nice Italian dinner like an antipasto dish. Get some fresh raw zucchini and yellow squash sliced into spears, Roma tomato wedges, olives both green and black. Layer up some pickeld veggies like red and yellow peppers, cabbage maybe and then lay out some nice cold cuts to go with it. Based on what kind of meat you are willing to eat, you can get pretty creative with this or go hard core traditional. I like to mix it all up and celebrate flavor with the antipasto dish and get the taste buds and stomach warmed up and ready to take the main course.

Before The Main Meal: Toss a light Caesar dressing with baby greens or spinach, crumple on some turkey bacon, a little diced up hard boiled egg and organic croûtons before hand and serve that up as a starter dish.

Wine: This dish will go well with a nice Merlot or Cabernet, if you're a wine drinker. Me? Not so much. However, if you're not a wine drinker either, you can serve this with a organic flavored iced tea. Especially a tea that has cinnamon in it. Apple/Cinnamon tea or tea from The Good Earth. Not sure why this flavor complements the meal so well, but it does. Take my word for it, it's very refreshing any time of year, but especially enjoyable as summer wraps up and fall takes the lead.

For dessert: In a chilled bowl, add two scoops of lemon sorbet and then top it with mixed frozen berries. Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and boysenberries. You can get a nice berry mix at Trader Joe's of your local market.