A chuck-wagon skillet dinner even a young cook can master
This one-skillet recipe is not fancy cooking, which makes it a good candidate for the occasional weeknight meal you can hand over to a young or beginner cook in your family.
Prep-wise, there are only four ingredients that call for chopping or knife work, but a few kitchen lessons can still be gleaned here. When you allow tomato paste to cook for a bit in a cleared part of the pan, its flavor deepens. A package of refrigerated corn tortillas almost always has a few that are torn or a little dried out; those are the ones we turn into a crunchy counterpart by toasting them in the oven. And we’re using canned beans, which, when rinsed and drained, should override the need for seasoning with salt.
If you want to bump up the seasoning in this dish, you can sprinkle the tortilla strips — after they’ve been hit with a spray of cooking oil — with smoked paprika or flaky sea salt. The ground turkey could stand to handle a pinch of dried oregano.
TURKEY TORTILLA SKILLET
Six 6-inch corn tortillas 1 medium white onion 3 cloves garlic
One 15-ounce can red
kidney beans 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 tablespoons tomato
paste
2 tablespoons Sriracha or other hot sauce, plus more for serving
1 pound ground turkey,
preferably dark meat 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken
or vegetable broth 2 scallions
Sour cream, for serving
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the tortillas into 1-inch strips and spread those on a baking sheet. Give them a light coating of cooking oil spray; bake for about 8 minutes, until lightly browned and crisp. Watch closely so they don’t burn.
Meanwhile, cut the onion into small dice. Mince the garlic. Rinse and drain the beans.
Heat the oil in a medium cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, stir in the onion and garlic; cook for 5 or 6 minutes, until softened.
Clear a space at the center of the pan; add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes until it’s fragrant and slightly darkened, then stir in the Sriracha or other hot sauce and the ground turkey. Cook until there’s no trace of pink left, then pour in the broth.
Once the mixture is bubbling at the edges, add the drained beans. Cook just until they are warmed through, mashing half the beans with a potato masher, for more texture. Turn off the heat.
Cut the scallions into thin slices (white and green parts).
Stir the crisped tortilla strips into the skillet mixture, then scatter the scallions on top. Top with small dollops of sour cream and drizzle with more Sriracha or hot sauce. Serve warm. Serves 3-4. Per serving (based on on 4): Calories: 500; Total Fat: 23 g; Saturated Fat: 5 g; Cholesterol: 90 mg; Sodium: 350 mg; Carbohydrates: 45 g; Dietary Fiber: 12 g; Sugars: 4 g; Protein: 32 g.