From the Air

Why You’ll Love It

This is the turkey burger completely reimagined as a bold Spanish-style platter.

The thin patties are seasoned with smoked paprika, garlic and parsley, then smashed against a hot skillet for deeply browned edges and a surprisingly juicy center. Keeping them thin gives the turkey maximum crust without turning it dense or dry.

Underneath, sharply dressed cabbage brings the cold crunch the patties need. A smoky paprika yogurt adds cool creaminess, while roasted red peppers, green olives, shallot, parsley and a little anchovy create a relish with sweetness, acidity and savory depth.

The result is colorful, abundant and full of tapas-style contrasts—hot patties, cool cabbage, creamy yogurt and a bright briny relish in every forkful.

Recipe Details

Prep Time: 25–30 minutes
Cook Time: 10–15 minutes
Total Time: 35–45 minutes
Serves: 2
Serving Size: 1–2 turkey smash patties with cabbage crunch, paprika yogurt and roasted pepper–olive relish

Estimated Nutrition

Per serving: Approximately 470–620 calories
Protein: 43–55 g
Carbohydrates: 25–38 g
Fat: 22–34 g
Fiber: 5–8 g

Nutrition estimates are based on one-half pound ground turkey per serving, panko, restrained cooking oil, nonfat yogurt, olives, roasted red peppers, cabbage and the accompanying garnishes. Actual values will vary with the leanness of the turkey, number of patties served, oil, yogurt sauce, relish and any optional avocado or cotija.

Complete the Plate

Serve with Green Beans with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Marcona Almonds (VG-15). The crisp beans and toasted almonds continue the Spanish character of the platter, while the sun-dried tomatoes echo the sweetness of the roasted pepper relish without duplicating the cabbage already on the plate.

Why You’ll Love It

This is the kind of dinner that earns its place in the regular rotation because the little bit of work you do at the beginning actually matters.

Broiling the canned whole green chilis cooks away excess moisture and concentrates their roasted character. Browning the ground chicken in the broiler until its released juices are absorbed back into the meat builds another layer of savoriness, and the onion goes into that same pan to pick up the fond before everything heads to the slow cooker.

From there, Mexican oregano, freshly ground cumin and chicken stock have hours to work their way through the chicken and chilis before black beans turn the pot into a substantial, protein-forward meal.

And there’s a second payoff: prep it the night before and it becomes a genuine walk-in-the-door dinner. Add the beans, prepare the fresh toppings while they heat through, and half an hour later everyone is eating.

Recipe Details

Prep Time: About 20 minutes
Cook Time: About 5 hours
Total Time: About 5 hours 20 minutes
Serves: 8
Serving Size: Approximately 1½ cups

Estimated Nutrition

Estimated per serving: approximately 1½ cups, without optional toppings

Calories: approximately 300–330
Protein: approximately 35–40 g
Carbohydrates: approximately 30–34 g
Fat: approximately 3–5 g
Fiber: approximately 8–10 g

Estimates are based on one-eighth of the complete recipe using ground chicken breast, drained and rinsed black beans and 3 cups chicken broth. Optional avocado and Cotija are not included.

Complete the Plate

This one really doesn't need another side dish. Chicken, black beans and green chilis have already made it a complete bowl; what it wants is contrast on top, not more food alongside it.

Set out diced tomato, crisp red onion, avocado and a little crumbled Cotija and let everyone finish their own bowl. The tomato and onion bring freshness and crunch against the long-cooked chili, avocado contributes a cool creamy note, and Cotija provides concentrated salty richness without requiring much of it.

Why You’ll Love It

This is taco night without the compromise. Ground chicken, Gringo Salsa Verde, nopales, garlic, Mexican oregano and cumin are cooked down into a moist, cohesive filling with plenty of savory depth and fresh  green-chili character.

Then you build the wrap exactly the way you want it: cool crisp lettuce, warm green-chili chicken, creamy avocado, fresh tomato, jalapeño, red onion and tangy Cotija. The contrast of hot and cold, creamy and crisp makes the lettuce feel like part of the dish rather than a substitute for a tortilla.

The green profile is deliberate. Tomatillo, fresh chili, cilantro, nopales and oregano give the filling a brighter, fresher personality than heavier red-chili taco fillings while still delivering plenty of savory depth.

It’s so good you’ll want to make a double batch. Freeze half, and you may find yourself giving up fast-food chicken tacos forever.

Recipe Details

Prep Time: ~10–15 minutes
Cook Time: ~15–20 minutes
Total Time: ~25–35 minutes
Serves: 4
Serving Size: Fast-food-size Green Chili Chicken Lettuce Taco 

Estimated Nutrition

Calories: ~65–75
Protein: ~9–11 g
Carbohydrates: ~2–3 g
Fat: ~2–3 g

At roughly 65–75 calories, a fast-food-size Cravewell Green Chili Chicken Lettuce Taco delivers the chicken, Cotija and fresh toppings for well under half the calories of many fast-food chicken tacos — without a tortilla and without added cooking oil.

The large wraps shown on the site are more generously filled than a typical fast-food taco, so the direct comparison above uses a smaller, fast-food-style portion.

Complete the Plate

Serve with plenty of fresh lime and let everyone build their own.

Why You’ll Love It

This is weeknight chicken with real swagger.

Butterflying the breast creates an even surface that cooks quickly and browns from edge to edge. A lean coating of chili powder, cumin, garlic, black pepper and chile de árbol blooms directly against the hot pan, forming a deeply aromatic crust without requiring a heavy breading or sauce.

Fresh lime is added at the end and covered immediately, flashing into steam as it loosens the browned pan fond and gently finishes the chicken. The result is dark and savory outside, tender within, and sharpened by citrus rather than weighed down by richness.

Fast, bold and highly versatile, it is equally at home as a plated dinner or chilled for wraps, salads and next-day lunches.

Recipe Details

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10–15 minutes
Total Time: 20–25 minutes
Serves: 2
Serving Size: 1 butterflied chicken breast

Estimated Nutrition

Per serving: Approximately 250–320 calories
Protein: 42–58 g
Carbohydrates: 3–7 g
Fat: 7–14 g
Fiber: 1–2 g

Per ¼ chicken, mixed pieces, with skin and lacquered glaze 

Complete the Plate

Serve with Multi-Crunch Slaw (SA-08). Its cold cabbage crunch and crisp vegetables provide a refreshing counterpoint to the dark spice crust, while the slaw’s brightness reinforces the lime finish without repeating the chicken’s heat.

Why You’ll Love It

The romaine isn't being asked to impersonate bread. Its cold snap is one of the reasons this works.

Lean turkey is treated like kofta rather than a burger. A small yogurt-panko panade keeps it tender while garlic, oregano, paprika, lemon, parsley, dill and mint build the aromatic character you expect from a great Mediterranean wrap. Shaping the kofta small and flat gives them plenty of browned surface while keeping the centers juicy.

Then comes the Olive Tapenade Yogurt. Nonfat Greek yogurt gets transformed by olives, lemon, garlic, anchovy and parsley into something creamy, briny and deeply savory without requiring a heavy sauce.

Pile on cucumber, tomato, red onion, dill and feta and every bite moves between hot and cold, tender and crisp, rich and bright. Nothing tastes like a compromise—which is exactly what you want when the alternative was ordering that gyro in the first place.

Recipe Details

Prep Time: 25–30 minutes
Cook Time: About 10 minutes
Total Time: About 35–40 minutes
Serves: 2, with leftover kofta
Serving Size: 1 generously filled romaine wrap with 4 kofta

Estimated Nutrition

Estimated per serving: 1 generously filled romaine wrap with 4 turkey kofta, Olive Tapenade Yogurt and cucumber-tomato crunch

Calories: approximately 230–260
Protein: approximately 24–28 g
Carbohydrates: approximately 12–15 g
Fat: approximately 7–9 g
Fiber: approximately 2–3 g

Estimates are based on approximately one-fifth of the turkey kofta recipe with a serving of Olive Tapenade Yogurt, cucumber-tomato crunch, feta and romaine. Actual values will vary primarily with the leanness of the ground turkey and the amount of sauce and feta used.

Complete the Plate

This one already is the plate.

The kofta bring the protein, Olive Tapenade Yogurt provides creamy savory depth, cucumber and tomato bring freshness, feta supplies a salty accent, and romaine delivers the crunch that makes the whole thing eat like a meal rather than a collection of substitutes.

Put extra Olive Tapenade Yogurt and lemon wedges on the table and call it dinner. And save those leftover kofta—because tomorrow's lunch is already halfway made.

Why You’ll Love It

The secret isn't taking things out of meatloaf. It's putting the right things back in.

Spinach, dry-seared mushrooms and fire-roasted tomatoes bring moisture, texture and savory depth to exceptionally lean chicken and turkey. Garlic and oregano provide the familiar Mediterranean foundation, while fresh thyme, parsley and mint lift everything and keep those substantial slices from becoming heavy.

But technique may matter even more than the ingredients. The meat is handled almost delicately—lifted through the fingers rather than kneaded, then gradually shaped without compacting it. That trapped air is deliberately preserved all the way into the oven, giving the finished loaf a remarkably tender texture rather than the dense, rubbery result lean ground poultry can so easily become.

It's comfort food that still feels like comfort food. It just learned a lighter vocabulary.

Recipe Details

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Rest Time: 1 hour minimum; overnight preferred
Cook Time: About 65–75 minutes
Total Time: About 2 hours 15 minutes, plus optional overnight rest
Serves: 8
Serving Size: 1 slice, about 8 oz

Estimated Nutrition

Estimated per serving: 1 slice, about 8 oz

Calories: approximately 350–390
Protein: approximately 43–47 g
Carbohydrates: approximately 11–14 g
Fat: approximately 13–16 g
Fiber: approximately 2–3 g

Sodium will depend heavily on the final seasoning and the canned fire-roasted tomatoes.

Complete the Plate

Serve with Ya-Ya’s Greek Salad — SA-09. Ripe tomato, crisp cucumber, red onion, torn basil and feta bring a cool, raw contrast to the warm, tender meatloaf, while fresh lemon and just a touch of Greek olive oil echo its Mediterranean character without adding another heavy element.

It also makes the plate feel unmistakably Greek rather than merely Mediterranean—juicy, crisp and lemon-bright beside a thick slice of herb-filled meatloaf.