Wild Turkey Sausage Recipe and a Late Fall Salad

Hunting wild turkey has never been Chuck’s favorite things to do. However, when you haven’t seen a deer all day and come across a turkey you might as well bring it home, right? I thought it was a good call anyway, and put the turkey on the menu for the next day.

Like with any wild game, there are some major differences in wild turkey vs domestic turkeys. The main thing here is the toughness. I find wild turkey breast to be insanely tough compared to its store-bought counterpart. However, the flavor doesn’t change much. To combat the toughness, I typically slice the breast in half lengthwise and marinated it for 24 hours at least. Even then, it’s still pretty tough. This time around I decided to try grinding it into sausage. I’ve made this turkey sausage plenty of times before, so it was an obvious choice.

As far as I’m concerned this might just be the best way to serve the breasts. Legs, wings, and thighs and be slow cooked or braised until they are tender and succulent, breasts usually just dry out with these methods. Besides the flavor of this turkey sausage was pretty amazing. You could probably make the sausage into patties and serve them as part of their own meal. However, I thought we were in need of a salad.

Halloween marks the beginning of the season of gluttony around here, so I like to try to keep our regular weekday meals as healthy as possible. It’s all about balance right?

This salad started with a bed of finely chopped and massaged kale (why massaged? Read on). A bed of cooked wild rice goes next then the amazing sausage. Final toppings include roasted butternut squash and pomegranate. We didn’t use any additional dressing for this salad, it totally wasn’t needed. There are so many flavors going on and the extra pop of juice from the pomegranate just make it unnecessary. If you absolutely require a dressing I suggest an apple cider vinaigrette.

Even Chuck liked this salad, and there was kale in it! That’s saying a lot. Honestly, though, its the Apple Turkey Sausage that really makes it all come together.

Wild Turkey Apple Sausage Recipe

2 lbs wild turkey breast (about 2 breasts, cut into chunks)
6 ounces thick-cut bacon
1 small apple (peeled & shredded, about 1 to 3/4 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Combine the all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to mix well.
Using the fine blade of a grinder, grind it all together and store in a sealed package.
The mixture will sit in the fridge for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.