What do you make when you've got a few small sticks of rhubarb, an apple that's seen better days, and some turkey cutlets you bought at the grocery store because all the "on sale" boneless chicken thighs were long gone? Well, I opted for Apple-Cranberry-Rhubarb Turkey cutlets. The cutlets are fast enough to prepare on a weeknight, low in fat and calories, savory-sweet, and good enough for company. If you'd like, you can make the easy sauce ahead and refrigerate it until you're ready to brown the turkey cutlets. Just heat the sauce in the microwave until it's warm and then add it to the pan with the browned turkey cutlets.
Apple-Cranberry-Rhubarb Turkey Cutlets -- Serves 4
2 teaspoons of canola oil, divided
2-3 tablespoons of flour
4 turkey cutlets (about a pound)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 large apple, chopped
1/2-1 cup of chopped rhubarb
1/3 cup of dried cranberries
2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar (depending on how sweet you like your sauce)
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
1 cup of reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Chopped parsley, optional
Heat a teaspoon of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Dust the cutlets on both sides with the flour. When the pan is hot, add the cutlets to it and brown them for about three minutes. Flip them, turn down the heat a little, and cook them for several minutes more. Remove the cutlets to a plate and tent them with a little foil. To the same pan you used to cook the cutlets, add another teaspoon of oil and the onion. Saute the onion for about 5 minutes until it begins to soften. Add the apple, rhubarb, cranberries, brown sugar, cider vinegar, chicken broth, cinnamon, and pepper and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring everything well to combine the ingredients. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the sauce cook until the apples soften, the rhubarb breaks down, and the sauce decreases in volume and thickens--10-15 minutes. Add the cutlets back to the pan, spoon the sauce over them, and turn off the heat. Let the cutlets sit in the sauce for a couple of minutes to reheat them and then serve the cutlets with the sauce. If you'd like, you can sprinkle a little parsley on top of the cutlets before you serve them.