• Posted February 27, 2019

Easy Recipes for Your Food Processor

Your food processor can help you get a healthy and hearty dinner on the table with a quick flick of a switch. Here are two taste-pleasers.

Love making meatloaf, but don't like handling raw meat? All the healthy ingredients can be combined in a food processor -- ground turkey, which is high in protein and low in fat; oats, high in heart-healthy fiber; mushrooms, high in B vitamins; and an egg, rich in iron and B vitamins.

Chunky Mushroom Meatloaf

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup small mushrooms (white button or cremini)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup low-sugar, low-sodium BBQ sauce, plus an optional 1/4 cup for glaze

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place all the ingredients except the optional BBQ sauce in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Transfer to a loaf pan and smooth with a spatula. Spread on the additional sauce, if desired. Bake 35 to 40 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings

For an easy and delicious meat sauce, try this Bolognese packed with low-calorie veggies that you chop in your food processor.

Easy Bolognese

• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 cup pearl onions, peeled
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 cups kale, rinsed
• 8 ounces lean ground beef
• 28-ounce can diced peeled tomatoes

Place carrots, onions, garlic and kale in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to rough chop.

Heat a large skillet over high heat and add the ground meat, breaking it up as it cooks. After a minute, add the chopped vegetables and the tomatoes with their juice. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

Serve over whole grain pasta or pearl barley.

Yield: 4 servings

More information

Need a new food processor? Consumer Reports has a wealth of buying tips to help you get the most from this appliance.

SOURCE: The Lancet Oncology, news release, Feb. 26, 2019