Recipe #184: Thai Tuna Kabobs

Here's another one adapted from my new cookbook Grill It!  It was so tender and came out just the right amount of cooked-ness.  Nick had seconds, too which was a good sign.  Next time I make this, though, I think I'll double the marinade, and marinate the individual pieces in it BEFORE skewering, so they sit more in the marinade and get the most flavor.  Otherwise, this was great over jasmine rice.  Healthy and citrus-y.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound fresh or frozen (thawed) tuna steaks, cut 1 inch thick
1/4 cup snipped fresh cilantro or to taste
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel or lime peel
3 tablespoons lemon juice or lime juice
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 to 2 fresh Thai, serrano, or jalapeno chile peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 medium zucchini, cut into 1 inch slices
1 medium red onion, cut into wedges
Lime wedges (optional- I just used lime in a little bottle)

DIRECTIONS:

Soak skewers in water for at least 30 minutes to prevent burning.

For marinade, in a small bowl, combine cilantro, lemon peel, lemon juice, vinegar, chile pepper, sesame seeds, and oil; set aside.

On 7-8 skewers, alternately thread fish (against the grain so the fish stays together), zucchini, and red onion, leaving 1/4 inch between pieces.  Place kebobs on a platter or in a shallow dish and brush marinade over kebobs.  Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours.

Preheat grill and reduce heat to medium.  Place kabobs on oiled/greased grill rack over heat.  Cover and grill, about 5 minutes per side, until tuna is flaky but still a little pink in the middle.

Garnish with lime wedges.

Recipe #183: Teriyaki Salmon

The last of my three new cookbooks is one of my favorite kinds-- one with minimal ingredients.  This one is 400 Recipes- Three & Four Ingredients by Jenny White and Joanna Farrow.  Nick loves salmon, so when I saw this recipe and how simple it was, I knew I had to try it.  I served it with a side of Uncle Ben's 90 second jasmine rice.

INGREDIENTS:

Salmon fillets, about 5oz each
Teriyaki marinade
2in piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
Sunflower oil

DIRECTIONS:

Put the salmon in a shallow, non-metallic dish and pour over the teryaki marinade.  Cover and chill for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, heat the sunflower oil in a small pan and add the ginger.  Fry for 3-5 minutes or until golden and crisp.  Remove and drain on paper towels.

Heat a pan until smoking hot.  Remove the salmon from the marinade and add, skin side down, to the pan.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, then turn over and cook for 1-2 minutes more, or until cooked through.  Remove from the pan and distribute on plates.  Top the fillets with the crispy ginger.

Pour the marinade into the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Pour over the salmon and serve.

Recipe #182: Buffalo-Style Turkey Wraps

New recipe from my new cookbook, Grill It! by Better Homes and Gardens.  This wasn't spicy at all once I grilled it, so if you want spicy, add more hot sauce as a topping.  The flavor was really great though- which led to me eating TWO wraps.  Tsk tsk...

Assembly time...

INGREDIENTS:

2 turkey breast tenderloins (1-1.5 pounds)

3 tablespoons bottled hot pepper sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons paprika

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

6 10-inch spinach flavor tortillas (I couldn't find spinach- these are chipotle pepper ones)

Thin carrot strips

Thinly bias-sliced celery

Shredded lettuce

Bleu cheese dressing

DIRECTIONS:

Cut each tenderloin in half horizontally to make 4 steaks.  Place turkey steaks in a resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish.  For marinade, in a small bowl (I just dumped mine in the bag) stir together hot pepper sauce, oil, paprika, salt, and cayenne pepper.  Pour over turkey in bag; seal bag.  Marinate in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Drain turkey steaks, discarding marinade.  Wrap tortillas tightly in foil.  Place turkey on grill and tortillas on rack, and grill turkey about 10-12 minutes, or until done.

Thinly slice turkey and assemble ingredients on warm tortillas.

Recipe #181: Asparagus-Mushroom Primavera

So excited this weekend.... got three new cookbooks for dirt cheap- one vegetarian, one for the grill, and one with 3-4 ingredient meals.  Here's one from the vegetarian book, and I loved it.  Straight out of Better Homes and Gardens, 365 Vegetarian Meals comes a very flavorful but simple recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

1lb asparagus spears (Nick doesn't think you need this much, so maybe .75lb?)
8oz dried multigrain linguine
1tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 8oz package fresh button mushrooms or similar, halved or in chunks
1/4c dry white wine or chicken broth
1/4 tsp salt
1 tablespoon butter (or vegan alternative)
1/4c shredded fresh basil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Snap off and discard woody bases from asparagus and cut into 1.5inch pieces.  Set aside.
2.  Cook pasta according to package directions and keep warm.
3.  Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and black pepper; cook and stir for 30 seconds.
4.  Add asparagus, mushrooms, wine/broth, and salt to skillet.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Cook, uncovered for 4-6 minutes until asparagus is crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat; stir in butter.
5.  Add cooked pasta to vegetables in skillet; toss gently to combine.  Top with basil and crushed red pepper.

Recipe #180: My Favorite Salsa

This might be my new addiction.  Saw this Paula Deen recipe (and there's not even butter in it!) in enough time to be able to make this to take camping, and it didn't last one night!  I can't wait to make it again.  Make sure you  make it the night before and then let it sit in the fridge overnight to let the flavors blend.

Ingredients

• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (17-ounce) package frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
• 2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 large avocado, peeled and diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (I skipped this)
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. Cover and chill overnight. Taste and add salt, pepper or more lime juice as necessary. 

Recipe #179: Easy Pad Thai

I LOVE pad thai.  Perfect combination of spices and that delicious peanut flavor.  My favorite place to eat it is at Sweet Mango (locations in Strongsville and Berea), but of course I was interested in making it myself.  I looked here and there for recipes, but most involved ingredients that were just a little too exotic for my lazy self to go hunting for (especially for just one recipe).  Finally, I came across a recipe with all basic/common ingredients that had great ratings.  Looked good to me, although it didn't contain shrimp with the chicken, but that's easily remedied.

I went and got almost all of the ingredients.  Sadly, my little grocery store by me didn't have rice noodles, and I was quite unhappy about this.  I decided to get fine (very narrow) egg noodles and hope for the best.  This led to some modification on cooking times because these noodles cooked very fast, and definitely NOT a photogenic meal.  BUT!  Nick and I both had seconds and I can't wait to eat the leftovers.

If I ever get to a bigger grocery store (Giant Eagle, *sigh* you corporate giants) and get the right noodles, I'll remake this recipe and post the results.

No matter how you might think this looks in the picture, I promise, it's DELICIOUS.  It's just got the wrong noodles.  It's not restaurant-exact, but that subtle peanut flavor is there, with a little heat, and the texture and heartiness is spot on.

NOTE:  ADD PEANUTS!  DO NOT FORGET THIS!  Crush up some peanuts, and/or leave them whole, and put them on as a topping.  I think this is a very important addition to the texture and flavor, and I'm surprised the original recipe doesn't call for this.    ....another allrecipes.com find.  Maybe I should dust off my cookbooks and give them some love for once.

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 (16 ounce) package pad Thai rice noodles (I used fine/narrow egg noodles, or you could also use ramen)
• 1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts (I used more)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Season chicken with salt and black pepper; set aside.
3. Whisk sugar, cayenne pepper, white wine vinegar, fish sauce, and peanut butter together in a bowl.
4. Coat the inside of a large skillet or wok with olive oil and place over high heat.
5. Cook and stir chicken in the hot oil just until the meat is white outside but still pink inside, about 3 minutes.
6. Remove chicken and set aside in a bowl.
7. Lower the heat under the skillet to medium-low. Cook and stir garlic in the skillet until it becomes translucent, 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Cook and stir eggs into garlic until loosely cooked, 2 to 3 minutes.
9. Pour peanut sauce into the garlic and eggs, and stir to combine. Bring sauce to a simmer.
10. Stir rice noodles into the boiling water. Cook until noodles are still slightly tough, about 5 minutes.
11. Drain the noodles.
12. Return chicken to the skillet with eggs and sauce. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, stirring frequently, 5 to 8 more minutes.
13. Stir bean sprouts, rice noodles. and beef broth into the skillet. Bring to a simmer, and cook until noodles are tender and most of the broth has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.
14. Sprinkle with green onions to serve..  (AND PEANUTS!!)

Recipe #178: Asian Grilled Chicken

Another winner from allrecipes.com!  Amazing marinade, a good smokey teryaki combo with common ingredients.  I already had everything in my pantry- just had to pay five bucks for some chicken thighs!  The skin burned in the grilling, but that was perfect for me since I remove it anyways.  I definitely will do this again!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
• 1 tablespoon molasses  (I used waffle syrup since I didn't have molasses- close enough!)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic pepper
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/4 cup canola oil (I used olive oil- I prefer it)
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (I used bone-in, skin on!!)

Directions

1. Mix together Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, liquid smoke, and molasses in a resealable plastic bag until the molasses has dissolved. Add sesame seeds, brown sugar, paprika, garlic salt, garlic pepper, minced garlic, and canola oil; mix well. Coat chicken thighs with the marinade, seal, and marinate for 4 hours in the refrigerator, redistributing the chicken in the marinade occasionally.  (I marinated overnight)
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat.
3. Remove chicken from marinade and shake off excess. Grill on preheated grill until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (75 degrees C), and is firm and opaque, about 12 minutes per side. Discard any remaining marinade.

Recipe #177: Bierocks

The other day, I was looking for a good recipe for burger (which you can see became #176), but as I was looking, stumbled across something called a bierock (or, runza).  This beef, onion, and cabbage-filled dough treat was apparently created by the Russians, adopted by the Germans, and brought to America.  Intrigued by both the ingredients and the German history, I had to try it.  Sort of a high-quality Hot Pocket...

SO, as usual, I hunted for a good recipe.  Most of them involved using dough (made from scratch, or frozen), but then I found a recipe that used crescent rolls.  It had good reviews, so I happily bought the ingredients listed.

Fast forward to tonight.  It dawned on me VERY quickly that the one pound of ground beef, whole onion, and half a head of cabbage would absolutely in no way fit into ONE tube of crescent rolls, no matter how I tried.  Miffed, I sent Nick to the store at the end of our street to pick up more crescent rolls.  How could I have been so stupid?  Immediately I became skeptical of the rest of the recipe.

Then there was the issue with the super vague instructions, which left me fighting with really thin sheets of raw dough and how to assemble the giant mess this was becoming.  Nick returned victorious (he HATES shopping) with more dough for me, and I promptly sent him away in case I felt like having a melt-down.  I don't deal well with all-out recipe disasters, especially if it was something I was really looking forward to making.... and ESPECIALLY if I'm already hungry.

I made a huge messy lump of a... something.... it looked horrible.  Tried another way- only marginally better. Eventually, I just decided to use the scored triangles in the dough and just put a little meat into each triangle and roll it up like a regular crescent roll.  This was proving to be more aesthetically pleasing, and I could feel my blood pressure return to normal.

I put them in the oven and hoped for the best.  The results were actually surprisingly good.  The buttery rolls went well with the beef, onion, and cabbage, and Nick went back for seconds (always a good sign).  Since I made them into little rolls instead of something the size of a Hot Pocket, we agreed they might make better appetizers than a whole meal, but we're both fat dumb and happy now.  Crisis averted.

Just a tip:  if you find a recipe on a website that's made up of users posting recipes rather than, say, Food Network or something sponsored, read it carefully and also read the reviews.  Not every one will be a culinary masterpiece if followed exactly.

So here are some pictures, followed by MY version of the recipe, which, I promise, will result in some cute little rolls with tasty filling.

As you can see on the right, it took a bit before I decided to just make them into small rolls.  Nick ate the two big disasters, though.  They all taste the same- I'm just picky about making them LOOK pretty for my blog!

Delicious result.  Looks like a proper mini bierock!

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. salt (more or less, to taste)
1/2 head cabbage
3-4 tubes refrigerated Crescent rolls

Brown beef with onion and garlic; drain. Thinly slice the cabbage, as you would for cole slaw. Add it to the drained beef.  Heat through and allow the cabbage to soften a little.  Season with salt, to taste.
Using crescent roll dough, place about 1 tablespoon of the mixture on the wide end of the scored triangle, then roll towards the narrow end, bringing the wide corners in and pinching to seal as much as possible.
Place pinched side down on greased baking sheet.
Bake at 375°F for 15-20 minutes, or until brown.

Recipe #176: Delicious Burgers

I wanted to make some burgers on the grill for my friends, and I didn't want them to be bland and boring.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it's a keeper!!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds extra-lean ground beef (I used 1lb 97/3, 1lb 85/15)
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce  (this doesn't make the burgers spicy- just adds flavor)
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup rolled oats (I used 1/2 cup of bread brumbs)

Directions

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium high heat and lightly oil grate.
2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, onion soup mix, egg, hot sauce and oats. Shape into 6 patties.
3. Grill patties over medium high heat for 10 to 20 minutes, or to desired doneness.

Recipe #175 Pasta With Corn

I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed when Food Network's picture of this recipe stopped me dead and had me drooling.  Right away I collected the recipe and made plans to pick up the ingredients for dinner.  It was everything I hoped for!  Nick had seconds, too.  The tomatoes are so juicy and it's so fresh.  The original recipe called for pappardelle pasta, but the store didn't have it.  Instead, I used whole grain linguine, which is healthier anyways.

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 2 ears corn, shucked (I used 3 ears- I like corn!)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 cups grape tomatoes (I used two of those packaged pints)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup white wine (I used chardonnay)
• 12 ounces pappardelle pasta (I used whole grain linguine)
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 small bunch scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan, plus more for topping
• Torn basil, for topping

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the corn and cook until slightly tender, about 3 minutes. Remove with tongs, reserving the boiling water. Let the corn cool slightly, then cut off the kernels.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook until the tomatoes soften, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pappardelle in the corn water as the label directs. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Add the chicken broth and corn kernels to the skillet and bring to a simmer.

Add the pasta to the skillet; add the scallions, parmesan, the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Toss to combine, adding the reserved cooking water as needed. Season with salt and pepper. Top with more parmesan and basil.