Kid-friendly Seasoned Turkey Fingers

Last week, I tried making my own turkey “fingers” for dinner, thinking that if they went over well, they’d be a good future lunch option for L. There was a humorous moment when I handed E his plate. He picked up one of the “fingers,” looked at it skeptically, and took a bite.

“Well?” I said after a moment. “How are they?”

“They’re good,” he said. “It’s just too bad they look like . . .”

Uh huh.

I had to laugh, because he was right. And I don’t know how you’d avoid it. But they are tasty. Delicious, in fact.

Actually, we figure the meat mixture would make a really good turkey burger, so next time, I’ll make burgers for us and “fingers” for L.

You can make a whole batch and freeze part of them to be cooked later (great if you have a toaster oven) for lunches, or even make a double batch.

Note: These are already dairy-free. To make them gluten-free, use GF bread crumbs.

Kid-friendly Seasoned Turkey Fingers

1 pound ground turkey (get the kind with the higher fat-to-lean ratio, so it’s not dry)
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher or fine grain sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray or brush the surface with olive oil.

Place 1/2 cup of the breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, the remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, garlic, salt, black pepper, cumin, and cayenne.

Use your hands to mix well, as you would meatloaf.

Form the mixture into “fingers,” each one a couple of inches long. (Tip: I used a cookie scoop to portion out how much meat mixture to use; this helped me keep the “fingers” uniform in size.)

As you finish shaping each “finger,” roll it in the reserved breadcrumbs so that it has a light coating. This will become nice and crunchy as they bake.