Raiding Laila Ali’s Kitchen!

Laila Ali, undefeated Super Middleweight Champion of the World is warm, witty, wonderful, and definitely the champion of her kitchen. She makes a valiant effort to keep things healthy with quite a few family obstacles: her teenage son only likes mac and cheese; her husband won’t give up his gazillion calorie frozen “slice and bake” cookies; her younger son is finicky when it comes to vegetables; and her daughter looooves chocolate. BUT even with all of these challenges, she prevails in a big way! She’s a first-class planner and the ultimate “super-sneaky” chef.

Laila uses "light versions of whatever she can to cut calories.
Think light cream cheese, light butter spread, light mayo, etc.

Laila and her husband each give themselves a weekly "cheat meal."
They look forward to it and it helps keep them on track during the rest of the week. 

Hahaha...Laila and I taking a dance break in the kitchen!
I love my job :-) 

Here's how she sneaks veggies into her kids' meals: she blends roasted,
pureed veggies into turkey burgers (see recipe below), and mixes carrot
juice and kale juice into her daughter's milk bottle. She even freezes
leftover pureed vegetables so they're ready to incorporate at a moments
notice. Well done, Laila! 

Laila's Sneaky Veggie Turkey Patties!

Laila’s Sneaky Veggie Turkey Patties 

• 1-1/2 lbs of ground turkey

• 2 slices of Ezekiel Bread (toasted) 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/2 green pepper
• 
2 celery stalks

• 1/2 yellow onion

• 4 garlic gloves (peeled)
• 
1 tomato

• 1 zucchini (peeled)

• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• 
1 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder (optional)

• 1 tsp onion powder (optional)

• 1 tsp paprika

• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• Few sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)
• Parsley (optional)
• Rosemary (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare all veggies by cleaning them and cutting into quarters.
Cover a flat oven pan in foil. Lay veggies (and optional herbs) flat on the pan. Season to taste with a little sea salt and pepper. Put in the oven uncovered and roast for about 20 minutes.

Put toasted bread in a blender or food processor and mix until you end up with fine bread crumbs. Put turkey meat and bread crumbs in a large mixing bowl. Add all of the seasonings. Set aside.

Once veggies are cooked, remove from the oven. Let them cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to blender/ processor used for bread crumbs. Mix on high until you end up with a smooth creamy soup-like texture. Add 1 cup of the veggie mixture to the mixing bowl with other ingredients. (You can freeze what’s left and use at a later date.) Mix together well.
Use your hands to make rounded meat patties.

Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add patties and cook for about 5-7 minutes. Flip on opposite side an continue cooking for about 5 minutes or until done to your liking.

Health Tip: Oilive oil can be subsitued with coconut oil for a sweet and healthy touch!

For more behind-the-scenes pictures, check out my Laila Ali Pinterest Board!