Turkey Mango Picadillo

I like to try things with unusual ingredients and different flavor combinations. That's why I really wanted to try this Turkey and Mango Picadillo. The combination of cinnamon, ground turkey, and mango was very intriguing.

Turkey and Mango Picadillo (Freezer-friendly) (4 servings at 5 points a piece)

Ingredients

1 pound uncooked ground turkey breast
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup scallion(s), sliced
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 cup salsa, thick-and-chunky style
1 large mango(es), cubed (or 15 oz unsweetened, frozen mango chunks)
2 cup cooked brown rice, kept hot

Instructions:

Cook turkey in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes; drain off any fat.

Add oil to skillet and heat until sizzling. Stir in scallions, garlic, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, oregano and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Gently stir in salsa and mango; cover and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes more. Serve over brown rice. Yields about 3/4 cup of stew and 1/2 cup of rice per serving.

Freezing and thawing instructions:

Prepare the recipe and place the cooled product in a freezer-safe container; cover tightly and freeze. When ready to eat, thaw the dish in the refrigerator and then reheat it in a large skillet over medium-heat for about 10 minutes. (You may need to add more salsa to prevent dryness.) Or you can reheat the thawed dish in the microwave.

The planets must have been aligned strange or something, because while making this recipe everything went severely wrong. First off, my mango went bad. I didn't have it long at all, but sure enough it was bad. And unfortunately, I have a feeling it's the mango that helps tie all of these flavors together. But I opted to continue on without the mango and see how things turned out. The second problem occurred when I didn't have ground coriander, and decided to grind some coriander seeds myself (without the proper tools). While opening the coriander seed I managed to "explode" the container, and these little tiny seeds went EVERYWHERE. So I just decided to leave the coriander out, which made two ingredients missing from the dish. Well I managed to finish the rest of the dish without incident, and things seemed to be looking up...but then I tried it. I thought the cinnamon was too much. I have a feeling the mango would have helped balance it out, but as prepared I wasn't a fan. The husband wasn't into it either, so we didn't eat it, and ended up having bean roll ups for dinner instead :)

So the dish was a loss, but I'm determined to get a fresh mango and some coriander and try it again. Hopefully when prepared properly it will be better.