I miss college.
I’m not stuck in the past or pining for my youth or anything (I am), but I just miss the days when my biggest worries were exams that would ultimately have no effect whatsoever on my career or future!
I feel like I excelled in college. I loved going to class & taking too many notes. I loved going to functions. I loved sitting in high traffic areas on campus to do as much people watching as physically possible (I also loved to be seen – sue me).
But I probably loved being in a sorority the most. This past week was recruitment & Bid Day for my chapter & it got me feeling all sorts of nostalgic. It’s the most torturous week of an 18-year-old woman’s life as she gets scrutinized and ranked against hundreds of other girls. But I LOVED IT!!!!! I knew exactly what sorority I wanted to be in & I was ridiculously obnoxious about it. Like, I wore my chapter’s colors every night & even had their name written on the inside of my hand for good luck……. I’m lucky they didn’t just cut me for being an actual stalker.
But I eventually became president & got to tell everyone what to do & that was the greatest year of my life.
Time: 2 hours (prep + cooking) | Serves: 3-4
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. of ground turkey
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 red bell peppers, halved
- 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed + drained
- 1/2 cup of frozen peas, thawed
- 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp. of dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp. of skim milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp. of olive oil
- 1/4 cup of fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tbsp. of crushed red pepper
- 1 tsp. of oregano
- 1 tbsp. of balsamic vinegar
- S+P, to taste
How to:
- Turn on broiler
- Place red pepper halves on a lined baking sheet, skin down
- Broil for 10 minutes
- Remove skin + dice two of the halves, set the rest aside
- Reduce heat in the oven to 350 degrees
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat
- Add onion + S+P, cook for 3 minutes
- Add chickpeas + S+P, cook another 3 minutes
- Add peas + garlic + S+P, cook another 2 minutes
- Add to a large bowl
- To the onion mixture, add turkey + diced red peppers + parmesan + milk + dijon mustard + basil + crushed red pepper + oregano + plenty of S+P + egg, mix well
- To a greased baking dish (or loaf pan, but I wanted it thinner), add the turkey mixture in a packed, even layer
- Bake for an hour or until golden brown + cooked through
- Meanwhile, add leftover red pepper halves + balsamic vinegar + S+P to a food processor
- Process until smooth
- When meatloaf is cooked, smother in the red pepper sauce + serve hot
- Slap each other with meat sticks