Grilled Enchilada & Brussels Sprout Pizzas {Giveaway Closed}
Once the sun begins to set and the cool air begins to blow in, I just can’t resist going outside. Grilling may seem miserable on a hot summer day sometimes, but it is perfect for cool summer evenings. I have definitely been noticing the temperature drop little by little in the last week. I think the heat of summer might finally be wearing down (I don’t want to jinx it though!). This week I was also lucky enough to receive a reserve kit of Muir Glen Organic Tomatoes to try out- see below for your chance to win one too! Muir Glen caught my eye when I heard that, unlike other canned tomatoes, their tomatoes are all taken from their vines to their cans within EIGHT hours! That is pretty impressive.
Roasted Tomato & Goat Cheese Risotto
I was watching a Next Food Network Star rerun the other day and got a good laugh out of Wolfgang Puck bringing one of the contestants back inside the house to show her how to make risotto. I am sure many of you saw this episode too. I was amazed that a person would make it that far on a show like that without knowing how to make risotto! I guess that shows that TV is not always as realistic as we may think. Come to think of it, I also watched a 24 Hour Restaurant Battle where the girl who was going to be the head chef had never even worked in a restaurant before!
Tequila-Lime Salsa & Homemade Tortilla Chips
For one of my appetizers at my Foodbuzz 24×24 party I made homemade tequila-lime salsa and tortilla chips. This salsa has a beautiful array of colors and a nice spicy kick at the end. I baked homemade tortilla chips seasoned with garlic, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper; such a simple thing to make and so much healthier than fried chips from the store. I also like these homemade flour tortilla chips because they are softer and kind of crumble away in your mouth with the salsa. Usually salsa is hardly touched at parties, but this one got devoured by my guests along with every last chip. I think they might have liked it?
Zucchini & Yellow Tomato Fritters
Fritters had been on my list of things to make for a while before this, but I just never seemed to be able to find the time to make them. When I was invited to my first stage at SALT, the restaurant I now work at!, I was freaking out about it. I had never done a stage before; for those of you who do not know what that is, it is a working interview in a kitchen. The day before my stage, I looked over the SALT lunch menu and decided I would make anything that I hadn’t made before or thought I could use work on. I ended up making fritters and risotto and decided I could cook the rest of the things on the menu without practice. The funny part about this was that my stage did not involve hardly any cooking! I just made salads, made po’ boys and prepped food. I was so nervous for nothing!
Spicy Adobo Shrimp Cocktail
This spring I worked at Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage for a few months before heading to Africa. After being in restaurants for so long, this job seemed unbearably slow at times. In order to pass the time, I would read through all of the cooking magazines at the registers for recipe ideas; probably not what I was supposed to be doing in my down time, but nobody ever said anything. Over these few months I accumulated a giant stack of torn out magazine pages and recipe notes. I am still trying to work my way through them without adding too much to the stack.
Feta-Basil Bison Burgers
Poolside grilling is always a good time. I like to make burgers when grilling at the pool because they are easy and don’t need a plate. I have made these bison burgers a few times in the last week and they have been a hit each time. Bison has a higher protein and mineral content per calorie than many other meats. I like bison burgers because they are a little bit healthier than regular beef burgers, but still give you a similar flavor.
Sun-Dried Tomato, Flank Steak & White Bean Stew
I feel the need to start this post by saying that this was supposed to be a recipe for Mexican Posole. Of course, I had a bit of trouble with the one ingredient needed to make an actual posole- the hominy. I have heard many people say that they usually used canned hominy, but I decided to use dry hominy since that was what was in the pantry. Recalling my artichoke disaster, I am noticing a trend that apparently canned food works better for a lot of things. Luckily, I had a feeling the dry hominy would take a long time to cook and decided to cook it separately, rather than cooking it in the stew. I must have refilled the pot with water at least four times, but the hominy still wasn’t getting soft. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I had to improvise from there. I decided that white kidney beans would be a good substitute for the hominy, since they kind of have a similar texture.
Throwback Thursday: Butternut Squash Gnocchi w/ Moroccan Lamb Sauce
I am laughing while writing about this week’s Throwback Thursday recipe. Don’t get me wrong, the dish was delicious, I just had a few mishaps while trying to prepare it. This meal was my first time eating butternut squash. I spent ages trying to find a recipe that I thought would be a good intro for the new veggie. Finally, I decided to make gnocchi, something else that I had never made before. I ended up making the gnocchi way too wet and struggled to make well-shaped pasta. At the time I had no idea that the pasta was too wet and was dumbfounded on how people made their gnocchi have the cute little fork marks in them. To this day I have still not made gnocchi again. It is something I should probably think about doing in the near future.
Baked Lamb & Spinach Manicotti Bundles + Awards!
While continuing my quest for unique Italian meals that aren’t pasta dishes, I came across an article in Clean Eating magazine on ways to make hearty Italian food a bit healthier. Although I didn’t take their advice on using fish instead of red meat, I did take their advice on using low-fat dairy products and whole wheat pasta. For this recipe I was sure to add lots of spinach for added nutrients.
Baked Shrimp w/ Tomatoes
This week the weather has gotten nicer and it is starting to feel a bit more like summer, finally! The sunshine and warm weather has caused a shift in my food cravings; I’m sure many of you experience the same thing each season. For me, warm weather makes me crave light food and summery flavors, such as citrus.
These individual dishes are light, and not to mention kind of cute! They are great for a dinner party. It does not take long to make and the individual gratins make serving much easier. This recipe is very light and healthy, perfect for summer. The balsamic vinegar gives a great tangy kick to the dish as well. I also baked some extra tomato slices to drizzle with balsamic and serve with the dish. These go great served with roasted asparagus with lemon or a nice salad.