21 Day Fix Dinner: Mexican Turkey Burgers

Day one is in the books, y'all!! It feels like such an accomplishment to set a plan and actually follow through with it. With a very-soon-to-be 7 month old (WHERE HAS TIME GONE????), I can't say that I always am able to cross off all my "to-do" list, but today worked beautifully.

Couple of notes about day one:

• First time making Shakeology with only water and ice. Was scared I'd hate it (which would stink considering it's my go-to breakfast on workdays), but it was surprisingly good!! Today was chocolate, so I'm excited to try other flavors this way soon :) 
• Sweet tooth *almost* got the best of me after lunch (when we usually bust out cookies in the teachers' lounge), so I went ahead and had the banana part of my afternoon snack early. Rice cake and PB was still awesome after school!! 
• Dinner was delish! And ready to eat in about 25 minutes!! Here are the details...

Mexican Turkey Burgers with quinoa-black bean side 
*This made enough for two adult servings, with lots extra of the quinoa-black bean side dish. Plan to use that later in the week!

Ingredients:
2 pre-shaped turkey burgers (I used Jennie-O patties that came in a six pack. They're super conveniently packaged in two patty freezer bags, so I can easily thaw enough for dinner for D and I. Since he's busy with work this week, I'm using the second patty for lunch tmrw) 
3 teaspoons cumin, divided
1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (regular chile powder would be A-ok as well!) 
1-2 teaspoons EVOO, divided
1 each red and green bell pepper, sliced thin
1/2 large onion, sliced thin
1/2 avocado, sliced thin
1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lime (will use zest and juice!)
2-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (totally forgot this during the grocery store trip yesterday. I blame the little one for causing distractions. She's just too cute for me to focus sometimes!!)

Start quinoa first--mix water and quinoa together in sauce pan set to medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons of cumin, garlic powder, and lime zest to mixture. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook time will be about 15 minutes (you're looking for the little white pieces to spiral away from the seed). Stir in black beans and remove from heat. Stir in cilantro, if using.

Sprinkle remaining cumin and chipotle chile powder on both sides of the turkey burgers. In a saute pan, heat a teaspoon of EVOO over medium heat. Add turkey burgers. Mine were very thin and cooked super fast--maybe 3 minutes per side. Watch for ALL pink to disappear (USDA recommends turkey burgers be cooked to an internal temp of 165 degrees!). Remove from pan and cover with foil to keep warm. Using the same saute pan (because let's be real...I hate doing dishes), add the remaining EVOO and the bell peppers and onions. I like to crank the heat way up so they get a little black on the edges, but medium/medium high will give you a more gentle cook. To plate, make a cozy bed of the onions and peppers, add your turkey burger, and top with a few avocado slices. Serve the quinoa-black bean mix along side and squeeze a lime over everything for good measure!!

Notes: If following 21 Day Fix, use a GREEN container for the onion/pepper mix, and a yellow container for the side dish. The turkey burger contains as red, and the avocado (I only used 1/2 of Autumn's guidline at dinner so I could have some at lunch, too!) counts as a blue.