Tag Archives: tomato

Lulu’s Chicken Burgers

29 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Burgers, Chicken, Grilling, LuLu's Classics, Main Dish

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Chicken Burgers

I can’t quite remember when our family started the summer tradition of grilling chicken burgers. Maybe my mom came up with it because a certain daughter of hers (cough cough) was always really picky about regular hamburgers. Or maybe we all just realized that these were better than any other homemade grilled sandwich out there. I rarely order grilled chicken sandwiches at restaurants, because nothing ever compares to Lulu’s classic summer chicken burgers.

Chicken Burgers

In the past, I’ve tried to recreate these chicken burgers myself, but I never can seem to get the marinade quite right. The secret is store-bought margarita mix. Now, this isn’t always something I have laying around, so I have used lime juice instead with sub-par results. As you probably know, margarita mix has added sugar that lime juice does not, and though we have tried with other sweeteners, nothing has ever compared to this marinade and how perfect it tastes on a toasted bun with all the fixings. Continue reading →

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Smoked Salmon BLT’s

03 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by in Easy, Main Dish, Sandwiches

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Smoked Salmon BLT's

Having in-laws that live in Alaska is awesome for many reasons, one of them being is they send you smoked salmon around the holidays! One can only eat so many smoked salmon bagel sandwiches for breakfast, and I wanted to get creative with our salmon, and these epic smoked salmon BLT’s were born.

Smoked Salmon BLT's

 

Smoked Salmon BLT's

A Wingin’ It Recipe
Smoked Salmon BLTs
Makes 2 Sandwiches

Ingredients

  • 8 slices thick cut bacon
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup whipped cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons capers
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill leaves
  • 4 slices multigrain bread
  • 6 – 8 ounces smoked salmon
  • 1 cup arugula, divided
  • 2 medium tomatoes, sliced
  • about 1/2 – 1/4 of a red onion, either sliced thin or diced small
  • 1 ripe avocado

Directions
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crispy, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels.

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, cream cheese lemon zest, lemon juice, fresh dill, and capers. Stir together to form a spread. A note of the amounts – you can use as much cream cheese and mayo as you like, doesn’t have to be 1/4 cup of each. Spread the mixture over 1 side of each slice of bread. Arrange the smoked salmon on 4 slices of the bread. Break the bacon in half and put on top of the smoked salmon. Top the bacon with tomatoes and arugula. Add sliced avocado and onion slices (if using). Cover with remaining slices of bread, spread side down.

Arrange the sandwiches on a platter and serve.

Black Bean and Cilantro Pesto Wrap

17 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by in Bloggerific, Easy, Healthy, Main Dish, Salad, Vegetarian, Weeknight Meals

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Compare my photo to the one at Thug Kitchen, and you will laugh.

Compare my photo to the one at Thug Kitchen, and you will laugh.

I recently found out about Thug Kitchen and couldn’t be more thrilled with a vegan recipe blog that simultaneously enriches my life with its wonderful teachings on not being an idiot about what you eat.

I highly recommend you go over there and check things out. If I swore as much on this blog as I do in real life, it would probably be close to what’s over at TK.

Thug Kitchen was recently nominated for Saveur’s Food Blog Awards as Best New Blog. Head over there and check things out, lots of blogs way better than this one are nominated!

Recipe
Black Bean and Cilantro Pesto Wrap
adapted from Thug Kitchen (Sorry TK, I’m not Vegan but sometimes I try to eat really healthy)

Ingredients

  • 1 large bunch of cilantro, chopped, about 2 cups
  • 2/3 cup slivered almonds
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest 
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup vegetable broth or water (I used chicken broth, oops)!

For the Wrap:

  • whole wheat tortillas
  • Veggies (spinach, tomato, cucumber, carrots, lettuce, corn, avocado, etc)
  • Cream cheese

Put all the ingredients for the pesto in a food processor and blend until desired smoothness/chunkiness. You can dice everything if you don’t have a blender or food processor.

This recipe makes about 1 cup of pesto. You can mix the pesto with about 1 or 2 15 oz cans of black beans. Mix the beans together with the pesto and wrap it up with whatever vegetables you like: I took a whole wheat tortilla and added a little cream cheese (sorry vegans), spinach, tomatoes, carrots, and avocado. Other tasty options include cucumbers, red onion, lettuce, corn, salsa, black olives, lime juice.

The black bean pesto makes for an excellent next day lunch: I just mixed the leftover pesto with tomatoes, bell peppers, and then added fresh sliced avocado on top before diving in. Yum!

Tomato Basil Soup

15 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in Easy, Entertaining, Healthy, Main Dish, Side Dish, Soups, Weeknight Meals

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Homemade tomato basil soup, with a dollop of ricotta and some sourdough to dip.

Upon tasting this fresh homemade tomato basil soup, I thought to myself, “why haven’t I made this before?!?”

Fresh & Natural ingredients simmer together to make this soup.

It’s a question, after some un-publishably bad recipes, I wish I was asking myself more often. I recently had some high hopes for a vegan pumpkin bread, but it didn’t hold a candle next to my mom’s buttery non-vegan bread. Another disappointment was a favorable biscuit recipe on Pinterest that everyone seems to love, but I found I was trying to convince myself they were sooo good I wanted to go back for more.

Once the roasted tomatoes are added, it starts looking more like a soup instead of a chunky stew…And your house will start to smell really good.

Anyways, bombed-recipes tangent aside, I’m glad I’ve redeemed myself with this classic! Ina never fails. I love her. I am so excited to never buy canned tomato soup again. I’m already dreaming about how good this is going to taste tomorrow at lunch. Cause you know, most soups are always better the next day.

Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to your desired thickness. Ina uses a food mill to make a very chunky soup, but I don’t own one. This option still worked wonders.

Recipe
Barely adapted From The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
Makes 6-8 Servings

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise (I used a variety of tomatoes from my garden)
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
  • 4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed (I didn’t use quite this much basil, maybe only 2-3 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (I used dried thyme)
  • 1 quart chicken stock or water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Use a hand/immersion blender to lightly puree the soup. Make sure the immersion blender is at least an inch deep and close to the bottom of the pot – you don’t want soup exploding everywhere! Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold with grated parmesan, a dollop of ricotta, or crusty bread. Just about anything tastes good paired with this soup!

Tomato Basil Tart

30 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in Bloggerific, Easy, Main Dish, Weeknight Meals

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The easiest tomato basil tart you’ll ever make. Ok, it’s more like a pizza.

It’s almost October. It’s fall. Summer is over.

YET

Only a small portion of the bounty. As it turns out, I like to store my “summer” tomatoes in a festive winter bucket.

My tomato plants finally decided to ripen and give me TONS of tomatoes! After spending 2 months thinking all of my tomato plants had failed, Mother Nature apparently decided to give me some encouragement.

It is so ridiculously late in the season and I am little unprepared and blown away. So this super easy cheese, tomato, basil tart was the first thing I made. It’s essentially a pizza without tomato sauce, a spinoff of the classic margherita pizza, if you will.

Recipe

Tomato Basil Tart

from Polwig.com

  • 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
  • 1 cup of cherry tomatoes
  •  1 cup ricotta
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tbs chopped basil (more for garnish)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper
Directions
Grate the Parmesan Cheese and chop the basil. Place two eggs in a bowl and whisk.
Add 1 cup of ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 2 tbs basil to the eggs and mix well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slice the tomatoes to your liking. Place 1 sheet of puff pastry on a work surface and roll out to get rid of the fold marks. Once puff pastry rolled out to desired size, transfer to a baking sheet. Using your fingers, fold in a crust around the outer edges of the tart, about 1/4-1/2 inch. Use a fork to imprint onto the crust.

Spread the cheese mixture around and top with tomatoes.

Bake in a 400 deg oven for 20 minutes until risen and golden.  Sprinkle with Fresh basil. Then pair with a glass of wine!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

14 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in Bloggerific, Healthy, Main Dish

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Delicious toppings on Cauliflower Crust Pizza.

If I were to eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would probably be pizza. Not because pizza is so damn delicious, but because you can do so much with it. There are so many possibilities – thai pizza, mexican pizza, greek pizza, buffalo chicken pizza, veggie pizza, meaty pizza…I could go on and on and on. I even had gyro pizza once, and it was phenomenal.

Then there’s the crust. Thin crust, thick crust, flatbread, chicago style, deep dish, STUFFED CRUST! SO.MANY.CHOICES.

Cauliflower Crust – lots of flavor and added kick in there!

But wait…Cauliflower crust?!? Seems immoral. Not okay. But at the same time, you realize you are instantly intrigued. Pizza that is…somewhat healthy? Practically guilt-free? A vegetable crust? No way. You just have to try it for yourself.

Cauliflower Crust – Super flavorful and surprisingly delicious.

You wouldn’t even know this pizza had a healthy crust!

Recipe

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Recipe from Eat.Drink.Smile.

Serves 2-4 (depends on if you want leftovers!)

ingredient

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp garlic salt
olive oil (optional)

pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings

directions:

To “Rice” the Cauliflower:
Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater). Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes (some microwaves are more powerful than others, so you may need to reduce this cooking time). There is no need to add water, as the natural moisture in the cauliflower is enough to cook itself.

One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

To Make the Pizza Crust:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a 9″ round. Optional: Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).

Enjoy!

*Note that toppings need to be precooked since you are only broiling for a few minutes.

Always Perfection @ Auntie Tricia’s

21 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Boozy, Easy, Entertaining, Healthy, Main Dish, Salad, Uncategorized

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Probably one of my favorite things is being invited over to my Aunt Tricia’s house. She is the Master Entertainer, her husband is the Ultimate Bartender, and her dogs are always ready to “clean” the dishes for her…if you know what I mean!

She always executes the perfect menu and everyone always has so much fun. Needless to say, I’m pretty proud to be related to her, and I hope one day I will be able to entertain like she does.

Below is a look at last week’s dinner…Recipes included!

Recipe
The Perfect Manhattan

Fill cocktail shaker 1/2 full with ice.

  • 2 shots knob creek bourbon
  • 1/2 shot red vermouth
  • dash of bitters…there are all sorts of flavors out there these days…
  • Shake 10 times and strain into a frozen martini glass. (I leave a little water on the glass before freezing, so I get a nice frost on the glass)
3 Luxardo brand cherries on a pick.  Add and enjoy!
Both Recipes below are from Ina Garten’s How Easy is That? Cookbook.

 

Recipe
Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

  • 10 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
  • 1 pound ripe tomatoes, seeded, cored, and 1/2-inch-diced
  • 1 hothouse cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded, and 1/2-inch-diced
  • 1 can or jar (12 to 16 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
  • 1/3 cup julienned fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup good olive oil
  • 8 ounces good feta cheese, 1/2-inch-diced
  • Toasted pita bread, for serving

Directions

Place the scallions, tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas, parsley, mint, and basil in a large salad bowl and toss to combine.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour the dressing over the salad, tossing gently to coat all the vegetables. Add the feta, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss gently. Serve the salad with the toasted pita bread.

Recipe
Lemon Chicken Breasts

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup good olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)
  • 1 lemon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don’t allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish.

Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn’t browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.

Greek Quinoa Salad

13 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by in Easy, Healthy, Salad, Side Dish, Weeknight Meals

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I first found out about Quinoa a few years ago when a friend was always making it because she had to start eating Gluten free. All I could remember thinking was, “Man, this stuff is so good, I can’t believe there isn’t any Gluten.”

There are so many different ways to use quinoa, literally, endless. Get on Pinterest right now, search for “quinoa” and get ready for your head to explode. Some of the possibilities seem insanely unique and delicious. You can compare it to rice or couscous, but many out there would obviously agree there is something special about quinoa. Maybe the craze is a fad, but one thing’s for sure – I’m gonna try as many quinoa recipes as I can.

I am partial to a super basic greek quinoa salad since it is one of the first ways I ever ate it. Adjust the recipe to your preferences –  this one is all about wingin’ it and going by taste.

Recipe

Greek Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 cup quinoa, cooked
  • 1 large cucumber
  • 2 tomatoes, diced, or 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
  • half of 1 red onion, diced
  • 1 green pepper, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups halved kalamata olives
  • 1 4 oz block of feta cheese, cubed
  • splash olive oil
  • splash red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp. dried or fresh oregano
  • 1 tbsp. dried or fresh parsley
  • dash of salt and pepper
  1. Cook 1 cup of quinoa according to package instructions. Usually the rule is 2 parts water, 1 part quinoa. So, usually you cook 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups of water. Bring it to a boil, then simmer, covered, for about 12-15 minutes until you can fluff quinoa with a fork. Add a spalsh of olive oil and salt and pepper, set aside and let cool.
  2. Add the chopped veggies to a large bowl. Dress with a splash of olive oil and red wine vinegar. Add more salt, pepper, oregano, and parsley to taste.
  3. Add the feta and kalamata olives. toss the mixture, then add the quinoa and toss again.
Makes a large salad that can serve about 6 as a main. Also good as a side and as leftovers.

Chili and Baked Potatoes

15 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in Easy, LuLu's Classics, Main Dish, Soups

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Chili with ground turkey and pork sausage, beans, beer, and my favorite addition: black olives.

A few weeks ago, this super awesome guy I know mentioned he really wanted Chili and Baked Potatoes. He said he found some “healthy” recipe online, and I stopped him right there. No. We are making my Mom’s Chili. End of discussion.

It’s actually quite healthy. Except for maybe the bottle of beer. But that all cooks out, right? Whatever. Beer makes just about everything better.

Keep in mind that I am well aware my food photography is not going to win any awards anytime soon. Maybe one day I will get a fancy camera and take a food styling class and buy matching dishes – but for now we’re not even close to that. You just gotta trust this stuff is delicious.

Recipe

  • 2 – 4 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 onion, copped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 package ground turkey
  • 1 package ground sweet sausage
  • 1 bottle of beer
  • 1 Tbsp. chili powder
  • 1 Tbsp. cumin
  • 1 tsp. oregano
  • 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can pinto, black, or white beans, drained and rinsed
  • sugar to taste
  • 1 can petite cut tomatoes
  • 1 small can of tomato paste
  • spicy salsa (optional)
  • fresh diced jalapeno (optional)
  • 1 can sliced black olives (optional)

Pour about 2 tbsp olive oil in a large soup pan and add turkey and sausage. Cook until done and then remove to a large bowl.

Add a little more olive oil to the pan and cook the onions until soft. Add chopped garlic and cook another minute or two.

Add the cooked meat and herbs along with the tomato.

Stir together and add the beer. At this point, the sauce might be a bit thin, so add some tomato paste to thicken it up. Sometimes you can use a whole can, sometimes less. Since tomatoes tend to be acidic, add a little sugar to tone them down. Start with about a tbsp. and then taste.

If  you want more kick, add some jalapenos and/or some spicy salsa.

Let simmer for about 30 minutes and taste again.

Add the beans and olives (totally optional, since I am olive obsessed). Stir, let simmer for a bit longer to let the flavors blend together and serve.

serve with baked potatoes or jalapeno cheddar cornbread. Chili was made for them.

Basic Baked Potato

I don’t drown my baked potatoes in chili (like someone I know) I keep it simple: sour cream, chives, cheese, salt & pepper.

use 1-4 potatoes, however many you want to make!

Preheat oven to 375. Scrub and clean the potatoes with hot water. Poke some holes in the potatoes with a fork to let air escape. Lay potatoes and a sheet pan, directly on the rack, or wrap in foil. Let cook in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Test potatoes for desired softness, cut open and serve with sour cream, chives, and cheese. Enjoy!