Smoked Turkey with Saffron Red Rice

I made this meal for the hubs and I on Monday night. Because it made so much, it has been great for leftover meals during the week. This was super easy and healthy...my kind of meal. I had all of the ingredients on hand...except for the Saffron. If you haven't used Saffron before you are definitely in for a Special Treat. For you novice chefs here is some info. about saffron:

Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of the saffron crocus. A flower bears three stigmas, each the distal end of a carpel. Together with their styles—stalks connecting stigmas to their host plant—stigmas are dried and used in cooking as a seasoning and colouring agent. Saffron, long the world's most expensive spice by weight, is native to Southwest Asia.
Saffron's bitter taste and an iodoform- or hay-like fragrance result from the chemicals picrocrocin and safranal. A carotenoid dye, crocin, allows saffron to impart a rich golden-yellow hue to dishes and textiles.

As you can see Saffron is SUPER pricey, especially for the amount you get. I haven't cooked with Saffron in ages so decided it was time for a special treat. The hubs and I do a pretty good job of budgeting our food expenses by eating at home and rarely going out to eat. Therefore---we had some wiggle room to splurge on some saffron. ;)


Ingredients:
2 Cups uncooked basmati rice
3 Tablespoons grape seed oil (you can use olive oil if you need)
1 1/2 Cups finely chopped white onion
2 Tablespoons fresh minced garlic
1 lb ground turkey breast
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
2 15 oz cans green beans, drained
8 oz tomato sauce
1 Tbsp McCormick Gourmet Roasted Cumin
1/2 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Smoked Paprika
1/4 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet garlic salt
1 heaping Tablespoon McCormick Gourmet Spanish Saffron threads

Directions:
1. Cook rice according to package directions. Heat oil into a large 5 quart dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Saute onions for 5 minutes or until translucent and softened. Stir in garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add turkey, salt, pepper and cook until cooked through and crumbled. Stir in green beans, rice, tomato sauce, cumin, paprika, garlic salt and saffron threads. Stir until well combined. Taste and season according to your liking. Reduce heat to low until ready to serve.

12 servings

*If you click on the picture it is enlarged and you can see the food better :)

P.S.- If you are interested in reading more about budgeting for food and how to assess your kitchen by using what you have at home instead of buying more food---check this out. This is my new favorite blog...oh, and the blogger has a pug...enough said :)