Honey Dijon Chicken

This was a really great and simple marinade you could use on chicken, fish, or pork even.  I baked ours in the oven, but it would also be great on the grill too!  I served with a salad and carrots and sliced the leftovers over a salad for lunch the next day...very yummy!

Honey Dijon Chicken

via The Dough Will Rise Again

1/3 cup Dijon mustard
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T honey
1T lemon juice
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Chicken breasts

Combine mustard, vinegar, and honey in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Add spices and stir. Prepare chicken breasts and place in a large plastic storage bag. Pour marinade over the chicken, close bag and shake bag gently and squeeze to evenly coat chicken. Refrigerate one hour, or up to overnight.  Cook as desired.  I baked mine at 350 for 25 minutes (or until cooked through).

Shrimp Po Boys

This is an all-time favorite of Corey's and as soon as I saw the Pioneer Woman post a recipe with slaw I knew I had to make po boys!  The slaw was perfectly sweet, creamy, and crunchy.  I kept the shrimp really simply by just sprinkling with cajun seasoning and a little garlic powder and dredging in a thin layer of flour.  We added tomatoes & spicy brown mustard as well.  Maybe next time I'll try to come up with a fun voodoux sauce like Papa Roux!  These were super easy to throw together and went perfect with some red beans & rice and some sweet summer roasted veggies.

Shrimp Po Boys

serves 3

shrimp adapted from How Sweet

cole slaw adapted from Pioneer Woman

One loaf French Bread (we used Jimmy John's)

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

cajun seasoning

garlic powder

flour

olive oil

about 3 cups cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage & carrots)

1/4 cup fat free half & half

1/4 cup fat free mayo

1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1/2 tablespoon sugar
Salt & Cayenne Pepper to taste
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
spicy brown mustard, if desired



After peeling and deveining shrimp pat them dry with a paper towel.  Sprinkle with cajun seasoning and garlic powder.  Place about 1/3 cup flour in a shallow bowl and dredge both sides of shrimp to get a light coating.

Heat around 1/4 cup olive oil in a pan until hot.  Cook shrimp around 2-3 minutes per side until crispy.  Place cooked shrimp on a clean plate with paper towel to drain.

Assemble the po boys with shrimp, coleslaw, tomatoes, and mustard (or anything else you would like).  Serve right away while shrimp are still warm!

Mediterrean Roasted Veggie Sandwhiches on Foccacia Bread

I saw a similar sandwich to this one on the menu at Panera the other day and thought it would be yummy to recreate at home one night.  Their sandwich was grilled, but we unfortunately have had a bit of rain in Indy lately so mine ended up in the oven.  You could go either way, grill or roast the veggies.  I also intended on including eggplant but forgot to pick it up at the grocery, so make sure you switch up the veggies based on what sounds good to you.  I was trying to decide what type of bread I wanted to make these sandwiches on and my mind went straight to foccacia, so I decided to try making this bread again!  Get some really good feta cheese and you're set!



my veggies prior to roasting with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic



Mediterranean Roasted Veggie Sandwiches on Foccacia Bread

inspired by Panera

serves 3-4

Foccacia bread (recipe follows)

1 zucchini

1 red bell pepper

2 portobello mushroom caps

1 red onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil

salt & pepper

fresh spinach (or other lettuce greens)

1 tomato, sliced

Feta cheese

Preheat oven to 400.  Slice zucchini, red pepper, mushrooms, and onion and place on a baking sheet with minced garlic.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Toss to combine.  Roast veggies for about 15-20 minutes until tender.

Slice foccacia in half for sandwich if its thick.  Layer sandwich with roasted veggies, feta, slice of tomato, and spinach.  Serve warm!

Rosemary & Sea Salt Foccacia

adapted slightly from the Pioneer Woman

1-½ teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
1-½ cup Warm Water
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Olive Oil
Olive Oil, For Drizzling 
Sea Salt, For Sprinkling

Rosemary, For Sprinkling

 
Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a few minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.

Warm a non-metal mixing bowl in the microwave until warm. Coat it with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.

Remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough in half and roll each half into a large, thin oval/rectangle (not too thin, 1/2 inch at the thinnest). Place on separate sheet pans (or cookie sheets) drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle more olive oil on top of the ovals, then cover each one with plastic wrap. Put in a draft-free/warm place for one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the plastic wrap (dough will be puffy) and use your fingertips to press dimples all over the surface of the dough. Drizzle surface with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt & rosemary. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until focaccia is golden brown.  (Note:  I made mine too thin and it was done in about 20 minutes...start checking it at 20 just in case).  Cut into pieces with a pizza wheel or sharp knife.

Salmon Salad w/ Boursin Cheese, Roasted Tomatoes & Artichokes

So here is another one of those meals that I saw on the menu somewhere and decided to re-create it at home!  We had a work lunch at Mesh restaurant downtown which was very good, and while I didn't order this salad I of course kept it in the back of my mind along with another couple that I'll get around to making someday.  The salad was great and I'm sure it was majorly due to the fantastic boursin cheese.  The only change I made was to make a simple red wine vinaigrette instead of the creamy cucumber dressing listed on the menu paired with this salad.  I thought the vinaigrette went perfect.

Salmon Salad w/ Boursin Cheese, Roasted Tomatoes & Artichokes

inspired by Mesh on Mass Ave.

serves 2

Mixed greens

2 salmon fillets

boursin cheese

pistachios

1/2 - 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes

1/2 can artichoke hearts

Red wine vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Place salmon in a baking pan and surround with tomatoes & artichokes.  Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until salmon flakes easily with a fork.  (Optional: cut up artichokes into bite size pieces, I did not do this but wished I had while we were eating).  Top mixed greens with salmon, crumbled boursin cheese, tomatoes, artichokes, and pistachios.  Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve!

Red Wine Vinaigrette

via Giada

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1.5 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoons honey

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoons salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

Mix the ingredients well, taste & season if needed.

Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I had these pinned for quite some time, but hadn't gotten around to making them yet since Corey isn't the hugest (is that a word?) fan of mushrooms.  I finally decided to go for it and just made two portobello caps and two stuffed chicken breasts.  But Corey ended up liking both of course, I think he just "thinks" he doesn't like mushrooms :)  I think YOU should make these with the mushrooms, they were so good!  I think there was too much ricotta, so I adapted the recipe for you below based on what I would do next time.  These took a total of 5 minutes to throw together and about 15-20 in the oven. 

Spinach And Ricotta Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
via Babble

4 portobello mushroom caps
olive oil
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella or Italian blend shredded cheese
9 oz bag fresh spinach
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub olive oil all over the outer part of your portobello mushrooms.
2. Preheat a large skillet and drizzle with olive oil. Add onions, red peppers and spinach. Add salt and pepper. Saute until spinach is wilted.
3. Spoon 1/4 ricotta cheese in each mushroom cap. Top with 1/4 of the sauteed spinach. Then 1/4 of the shredded cheese.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and mushrooms are tender.

Crockpot Barbacoa Beef Tacos

I've been on a bit of a crockpot trend lately!  Its so nice to know you have dinner cooking away while you are at work.  Even though this day I was home sick from work, I felt good enough to get up and throw this together in the am since it was so easy (and I knew the beef needed to be cooked before it went bad).  Oh my gosh were these tacos so good.  The beef had so much flavor and was perfectly tender.  You can use whatever toppings on your tacos & we even used leftovers for nachos another night.  I think I used a 2 1/2 pound roast and ended up freezing a ziplock baggie with the leftovers for another time since it made so much.

Barbacoa Beef Tacos
via the Kitchn
yields over 8 tacos

2-3 pound beef roast (you can use whatever kind you wish, mine was around $13 I believe)
5-6 chipotle peppers (from a can) plus half the adobo sauce it sits in (use less if you don't want spicy, but it wasn't too bad)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 red onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
1/2 head garlic, peeled and cloves smashed
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 can beef broth + 1/2 can water

Fixings as desired (we used):
tortillas
shredded cheese
sour cream
lime wedges
cilantro
lettuce
diced red onion
tomatoes


Stir together chipotle peppers and sauce, cilantro, red onion, garlic, clove, salt, lime juice, and cider vinegar in the insert of a slow cooker.  Place the beef on top of this mixture.  Add broth & water and put the lid on.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Once finished, turn crock pot to WARM and let sit until ready to eat.  Shred beef with two forks in the sauce.  Serve with tortillas and other toppings as desired.

Green Chili Burgers w/ Carmelized Onions, Pepperjack, & Avocado

Whew!  Quite the long title, but sometimes I feel like its necesary for you to know what's all in there!  These were absolutely the best burgers I've made, but it wasn't all do to the toppings.  I know many people know of this secret, but in case you don't I'm here to share it with you since I just found out!  Onion Soup Mix!  All you have to do is mix it into your ground beef and you will have the most flavorful burgers.  I don't know where I ran across this idea of Green Chili Burgers.  I know I've seen it somewhere, but I can't remember.  The combo was so good though.  A little bit of a kick from the chilis (but not too spicy) and the pepper jack and the sweetness of the onions & the avocado. 

I also made these pretzel rolls which were great buns, but I'm not sure if they were worth the trouble.  I just don't think mine turned out right, so I probably won't post the recipe, but feel free to follow the link if you would like!

Green Chili Burgers w/ Caramelized Onions, Pepper jack & Avocado

1 pound ground beef

1/2 packet onion soup mix

4 slices pepper jack cheese

4 buns of choice

1 7 oz can diced green chilis

1 or 2 onions (I used both white & red)

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1 avocado

mayo (optional)

Preheat grill.  Slice onions and cook them over medium low heat with butter & sugar until caramelized (usually about 20 minutes.)  Mix onion soup mix into ground beef and form into 4 patties.  Grill burgers until medium.  A few minutes before burgers are done top with cheese so it has time to melt.  At this point I also place buns cut side down on the grill to toast them a bit.

Once burgers are done remove from grill and place on buns.  Top with green chilis & onions.  Cut avocado in half and get rid of the pit.  Carefully slice each half long ways then spoon out to get slices.  Spread mayo on top half of bun and layer with avocado slices.  Serve!