Burger Time!

Tonight's Burger was:

Grilled Burger
Bacon
Sharp cheddar cheese
Jalapenos
Toasted Kaiser roll
Special sauce (Hellman's mayo mixed with Melinda's Habanero Ketchup)

Served with Salt & Pepper Kettle chips and blue cheese cole slaw

Pizza Time!

Sometimes it's fun to try a really different kind of pizza combo. Tonight it's Chicken, Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato!

Pizza ingredients:
Store-bought whole wheat crust
A cup of broccoli heads
Some olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 lb chicken tenders
1 cup part skin ricotta cheese
10 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Red Pepper flakes (optional)
Thinly sliced fresh basil would be nice but I was too lazy

Directions

Steam broccoli and chop
Sauté chicken in olive oil--add garlic toward the end-season with salt and pepper
Chop chicken into bite size pieces

To assemble pizza: dot crust with broccoli and chicken and garlic. Dot crust with spoonfuls of ricotta and spread gently with back of spoon. Scatter sun-dried tomatoes and top with mozzarella and red pepper. Bake 12 minutes or so at 450

Top with basil (if you have it)

Yogurt Dill Sauce

Having salmon tonight  and wanted to do something a bit different so I decided to rely on an old faithful recipe which I made up.  It's a variation/combo of the Greek Taziki Sauce and Indian Raita Sauce. It's pretty tasty on salmon and the husband says it's not a bad dip for potato chips either!

Menu

Broiled Salmon with Sara's Sauce
Smashed redskins with leftover chimichurri (will I ever use this up???)
Green beans tossed with a little soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds (yum!)

Sara's Sauce

1 small container Greek non-fat plain yogurt
1 t minced garlic
some red pepper flakes
1/3 of a cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped small
A couple slices of onion chopped small  (also good if you have scallions-I didn't)
1 T dill ( I didn't have fresh but good anyway)
salt and pepper
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
a couple T of apple cider vinegar
Mix all that together and put in fridge. Good to make several hours ahead.

Delicious Side Dish!

Menu:

Tenderloin Steaks with Chimichurri Sauce
Roasted Cauliflower
Laura's Syrian Green Beans

Steaks

I just pan sautéed two small fillets and garnished with leftover chimichurri sauce (see earlier post for recipe) that I had in the fridge.

Roasted Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower broken into pieces. Toss with juice of a lemon, some olive oil, garlic salt and pepper. Spread on baking sheet and roast at 450 for 20 minutes, then turn the cauliflower pieces for another 15 minutes. Throw some Parmesan cheese on before serving.

Laura's Syrian Green Beans

The following recipe is from a fantastic local cook and you can find her very cool cooking blog at:

http://allfoodallthetime.blogspot.com/

Recipe......and directions are in her words from her blog:

Laura's Syrian Green Beans

1 lb green beans
1/2 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil (don't skimp here)
couple fat pinches sugar
salt and pepper to taste
half a lemon

Ok, it looks like a lot of olive oil, but trust me. Heat the olive oil in a big pan. Add the onions an cook for a few minutes until softened. Add the green beans, cook a few more minute, then the garlic, and cook yet a few more minutes. Now add the tomatoes, juice and all, and the sugar. Cook over fairly low heat for about 35 minutes, or until the green beans are soft, and almost starting to fall apart. You are not looking for crunch here. It should all be melded together, stewing in delicious olive oil. Mmmmm. Trust me and make it, it is like crack. You'll keep going back to fridge to sneak more bites, and it is even better the next day.

She is SO right—these beans are addictive!!

Roasted Lemon Chicken

We eat a lot of chicken at our house and I'm always on the look out for a new taste. After perusing a few cookbooks and a few blogs I decided to give this a try and wow was it good! This dish is pretty rich so I just did a simple grilled vegetable mélange of squash and peppers to round out the meal.

Roasted Lemon Chicken

12 thin lemon slices, cut from 2 lemons
olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
about 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
fresh ground black pepper to taste
2-3 T olive oil
1/2 cup sliced pitted green olives (I used garlic stuffed ones!)
2 T drained capers, rinsed
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 T butter, cut into small pieces
3 T chopped fresh parsley-this would look nice—I didn't have any tonight

Preheat oven to 325 F. Cut two lemons into thin slices Brush lemon slices lightly with olive oil and arrange on baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Roast until lemons are slightly dry and barely beginning to brown, about 25 minutes.

Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken breasts. Combine flour and poultry seasoning and add desired amount of black pepper. Lightly coat chicken with flour. Heat oil in heavy pan just large enough to hold the chicken in a single layer. Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes per side. Add olives and capers and pour in chicken stock. Bring to boil, scraping off any browned bits from bottom of pan. Boil until liquid is reduced and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add butter, roasted lemon slices, and 2 T of the chopped parsley. Simmer until butter is melted and chicken is cooked through, 2-3 minutes more. Transfer chicken to serving platter, pour sauce over, and sprinkle remaining 1 T parsley. Serve hot.

Grilled Vegetables

Slice squash in thick lengthwise slices. Cut red and green pepper in large wedges. Marinate the veggies in Italian salad dressing in a ziplock bag for a couple of hours.

Preheat grill to high. Once I put the veggies on the grates I turn the heat down. Grill five minutes and then turn. Grill another five or so.