March 31: Grilled Turkey Cutlets with Warm Cranberry Salsa and Sauteed Sweet Potatoes

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus some for drizzling
2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean, cut in half lengthwise, then thinly sliced into half-moons
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 cup cranberry juice
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chicken stock or broth
2 tablespoons honey or 1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 to 2 1/2 pounds turkey breast cutlets
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
2 limes
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Preheat an outdoor grill or a grill pan to high.

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. Add the thinly sliced sweet potatoes and spread them out in an even layer across the surface of the pan. Liberally season the potatoes with salt and pepper and let the first side brown up, resisting the urge to stir for about 2 minutes. Give the pan a good shake and stir, then continue to brown and cook the sweet potatoes, stirring frequently, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are browned and tender.

Preheat a small sauce pot over medium-high heat with the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the red onions, jalapenos, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add the cranberry juice, dried cranberries, chicken stock, and honey. Bring the mixture to a simmer, turn down the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the liquids have reduced by half.

Season the turkey cutlets with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Drizzle the cutlets with a little vegetable oil and add the cutlets to the hot grill. Grill the cutlets for about 5 minutes on each side, or until the turkey is cooked through. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the cutlets just before removing from the grill.

Remove the cranberry salsa from the heat, add the juice of the remaining lime and the cilantro, and stir to combine.

Once the potatoes are browned and tender, remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and parsley. Toss and stir the potatoes to melt the butter.

To serve, place a helping of the sweet potatoes on a dinner plate, arrange turkey cutlets on top of the sweet potatoes, and top them with a large dollop of the warm cranberry salsa.

4 SERVINGS

Last time I made this recipe, I wrote in the book: "good potatoes; the turkey wasn't that good." This time I made it I still really liked the potatoes (even though they were partially burnt), but the turkey was actually very good. I wonder if it has to do with how you buy the turkey. Last time I got pre-sliced cutlets, and this time I got 2 turkey tenderloins and sliced them myself. Maybe that makes the turkey more tender and flavorful. What do you think? I didn't use a grill, since I don't have one. I just used a large skillet. That's what I did last time too. Anyway, the turkey and potatoes were good. I thought the cranberry salsa would be too spicy, but I actually really liked it too. It wasn't really spicy at all! The only thing I would change about this recipe is to either a) reduce the amount of turkey to 1 cutlet per person, or b) increase the amount of sweet potatoes. The reason is because we ate up all the potatoes, but we still have lots of turkey and salsa left over. Other than that, I wouldn't change anything.