Cooking a whole turkey requires patience and dedication. It can take days to thaw, and hours to baste and roast. You can shave time off that process by purchasing turkey that has already been cut into pieces like breast, thigh or leg.
Maple Leaf Foodservice takes convenience one step further and offers Turkey Breast Strips, Diced Turkey, Turkey Sausage, Sliced Turkey Breast and our new Turkey Burger, which boast the same high protein, vitamin-rich meat in a quick-to-cook and convenient way.
Make it moist
Turkey is a delicious and inexpensive source of iron, zinc, potassium and B-vitamins. Plus, it’s low in fat, but very high in protein. A 2.5 oz. (75 g) serving of turkey breast contains 23 grams of muscle-building protein, and just 3 grams of fat.
But, this low fat meat comes with a cost – sometimes it can be dry, especially when overcooked. If you’re cooking the whole bird, remove it from the oven when a food thermometer measures an internal temperature of 155°F. It will continue cooking outside the oven to reach a safe serving temperature of 165°F, and will be super-moist.
There is a solution if turkey gets overcooked! Simply place sliced turkey in a casserole dish. Cover with broth, top with foil, and heat for 10 minutes until the broth soaks into the meat. Add some gravy for extra moisture.
Another option is to serve any of Maple Leaf’s fully cooked turkey options that remain flavourful and juicy every time!
Nutritious and delicious
Maple Leaf’s Grilled & Ready Turkey Strips and Diced Turkey are low in fat, low in saturated fat, trans fat free and contain only 190mg of sodium per 60g portion making them healthy additions to your menu and they are each so versatile! The Healthy Selections Sliced Turkey Breast is low in sodium with only 49mg of sodium per 60g (two slices) portion. The added advantage to this fully cooked product is that it is already sliced into consistent 30g slices. Maple Leaf recently introduced three exciting new turkey sausage products that are controlled in sodium and boast far less fat than a typical pork sausage – Turkey Breakfast Sausage Links, Turkey 55g Dinner Sausage (both skinless) and the Turkey Sausage Patty. And last but not least is the brand new 85g, fully cooked Turkey Burger which contains only 462mg of sodium, 15g of protein and only 162 Calories!
Five delicious turkey ideas
Whether you have leftovers from a whole bird or want to use one of Maple Leaf’s many fully cooked turkey options, here are five innovative recipes:
Open-faced turkey melt
This sandwich blends turkey, sweet peppers and mozzarella in every delicious bite.
Mandarin turkey salad
Creamy turkey salad on greens is topped with almonds and sliced mandarins for a refreshingly different salad.
Turkey quesadillas
Moist turkey is sandwiched in a tortilla with onion, peppers, and gooey cheese, then topped with salsa and sour cream.
Turkey & Spinach Sausage Roll
Comfort food with a twist – 55g turkey sausage topped with sautéed spinach and onions wrapped in a tender pastry sheet.
Festive turkey burger
Topping this turkey burger with cranberry sauce makes it Thanksgiving in a bun!
Try turkey today
Turkey is generally comprised of about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat. That works out well at most dining tables, since white meat (turkey breast) tends to be most popular.
It’s estimated that about a third of the annual consumption of turkey takes place during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. But this lean, protein-rich white meat should be a staple in your menu rotation. Versatile, affordable and delicious, it’s time to put turkey at the centre of the plate today.