Tuna Hummus Melts

Perfect Pairing: Sabra hummus

My typical Saturday morning ritual is to clean my place with the Food Network on in the background.  If I glance up and see something interesting I will shut off the vacuum and tune in.  On one such morning I saw my favorite cook, Barefoot Contessa, make a tuna salad sandwich and she served it over a layer of homemade hummus.  Brilliant!  I loved that idea.  Of course, she made her own hummus and the tuna salad still had full fat mayonnaise in it, but it gave me a great idea.  Why not substitute hummus for mayonnaise in the salad?  Even though hummus still has some fat from the tahini it is a much healthier option. 

I made Tuna Hummus Melts for a small get together at my house and I really liked them.  You truly don’t miss the mayonnaise.  I used rye bread, a few slices of tomato, and havarti dill cheese melted on top.  My favorite brand of hummus is Sabra.  The classic variety was perfect in this recipe but you could use one of the flavored versions for an added kick.

There was quite a bit of leftover tuna after the party so I made my own version of tuna noodle casserole.  I made a basic white sauce, stirred in some cheese, cooked pasta, the leftover tuna, and frozen peas.  Voila!  It was quite tasty.  Just something to keep in mind if you have some leftovers!

 

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Un-Recipe Files – Simple Lemon Green Beans

I have been guilty of overcomplicating menus.  I think I am finally learning to focus on a few special items and keep the rest of the menu simple.  If I try to make everything fancy and special it rarely comes out the way I intended it, and I become a little overwhelmed.  These simple lemon green beans make a great side dish that is super easy to prepare.

I buy the pre-trimmed thin green beans (also called haricot vert) from the store and steam them until they are crisp tender.  I love to use my silicone steamer, which I wrote about on my ham, cheese, and asparagus croissant post. Once the green beans are cooked I toss them with a bit of olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.  Fresh and delicious!

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Greek Turkey Burgers

Perfect Pairing: Tzatziki Sauce

Back in early December Chicago had a freakishly warm day in the upper 60s.  It was the perfect day to put up my outdoor Christmas lights.  I figured since I was going to be outside all day I should finish the day with something on the grill.  I bought flank steak and let it marinate all day.  I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had spent about 90 minutes untangling lights and was up and down the ladder approximately 40 times before it was all said and done.  Everything looked great and I was excited for the programmable timer to kick in so I could see everything twinkling. 

When I tried to light my grill for dinner, nothing happened.  I let out a very loud sigh and hightailed it to Home Depot for a new gas tank.  I got the new tank on the grill and tried to light it again.  Nada.  It was right about this time that my nifty programmable timer should have been kicking on.  Nada squared.  Oh I was in a state.  I was dangerously close to having a super girly meltdown in my front yard. 

I pulled myself together and figured out the timer and enjoyed the lights for a moment before moving to the grill.  I spent about 30 minutes trying to get it going but had no success.  I gave it up in fear of blowing something up by leaving the gas on too long, and made flank steak on my grill pan inside.  I think that might be one of the most frustrating things to have a dinner planned on the grill and it will not work.

When my parents came for a visit in March I gave my dad the job of fixing this faulty grill.  I was convinced I was going to be buying a new one.  Nope.  My dad spent 20 seconds outside and got it going.  Farmers, they can fix everything.  I don’t even care now what happened, I’m just so glad it works! 

Now that we are entering grilling season, and I have an operational grill, I was excited to start cooking outside again!  My first spring dinner was Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce and grilled vegetables.  It was outstanding, if I do say so myself!  The burgers are made with lean turkey (I used 93% lean), frozen chopped spinach, and crumbled feta.  They are so flavorful and healthy! 

Rather than topping the burgers with the standard ketchup and mustard I whipped up a tzatziki sauce with fat free Greek yogurt.  It was the perfect accompaniment!  I will totally be making these again on my fully functional grill this summer. 

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Sweet Potato with Kale, Mushrooms, and Pancetta

Perfect Pairing – Deli Counter

Well I have stuffed potatoes with arugula and parmesan….

Fajita inspired ingredients…

And all of this stuff…

 

BUT I have yet to do anything with sweet potatoes.  Until now!

This was one of those random dinners you throw together to try to use what you have on hand.  In this case I had kale, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes.  I was thrilled with the result.  It was super hearty and healthy (ignore the small amount of pancetta).  Kale and sweet potatoes are powerhouse ingredients, full of nutrients.  It may not be beautiful, but it was darn tasty.

Freshly grated nutmeg is a great complement to dark greens, so I used that in my version but it is optional if you don’t feel like investing in nutmeg.  Personally, I love having a few whole nutmegs on hand and I grate them on my microplane.   

I topped the potato off with a dollop of ricotta mixed with parmesan and salt and pepper.  It kind of acts like sour cream here.  If you are following the paleo diet, which is incredibly popular right now, you could leave the ricotta off. 

One of my biggest annoyances is waiting at the deli counter at my grocery store. There is always a line and I swear they could move much faster.  I hate pulling my number out of that little machine and realizing I am 12 people from the front of the line.  Ugh.  I decided to stick it out when I was making this, because I knew I could save a fair amount of money.  I bought the pancetta and ricotta from the deli.  I was able to get the exact amount I needed and I think I saved about $7.  Totally worth the wait.  You could also use bacon if you are not feeling the pancetta.

If you have leftovers they are great repurposed for breakfast.  I chopped up the leftovers (potato, kale, mushrooms, and pancetta) and sauteed them in a skillet until lightly browned and topped it off with some ricotta and a fried egg.  Whoa.  It didn't suck.

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Creamy Edamame and Corn Succotash

Perfect Pairing:  Chipotle Cheddar Cheese

Airport food has come a long way.  During my youth I would fly out of the Moline International Airport.  I am not quite sure how they can call it an international airport, maybe someone went to Canada once from there.  It is a very small airport filled with very friendly employees, free parking (at least it used to be), and one baggage carrousel.  There was one restaurant option right before security that basically served diner food. They have totally remodeled the airport in recent years so I might be wrong on some of this information. 

Nowadays I fly out of O’Hare where there are endless food options.  Unfortunately, that also comes with about 10x the hassle when compared to flying out of a small airport.  San Francisco’s airport (SFO) has a new terminal that is filled with awesome options.  Cat Cora and Tyler Florence both of restaurants there, as well as an amazing candy store, and Pinkberry frozen yogurt.  You don’t mind killing time in that terminal.

I recently flew out of SFO after an amazing trip to California and had some time to kill in the new terminal.  I decided to get lunch at Tyler Florence’s restaurant.  It is a relatively casual place that serves pizza, salads, and rotisserie options.  I had a salad but I was really eyeing the creamy succotash side dish.  I decided to try my hand at it when I got home.  I think I waited a whole two days.

Google tells me that succotash is a dish of corn and lima beans.  Well, mine has one of those things.  I subbed lima beans for edamame, added roasted red peppers, and a spicy cheese sauce.  My original plan was to use shredded pepper jack cheese in the sauce but while grocery shopping I spotted a chipotle cheddar cheese and decided to go with that.  I loved the smoky flavor of the chipotle peppers, but pepper jack would also be great in this dish.  This is a great way to spruce up your standard veggie side dish.  I loved it!

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Blueberry Bran Muffins

Perfect Pairing: Single servings of unsweetened applesauce

Last June I posted about the “Best Ever Blueberry Muffins”.  Those muffins are really, really good, probably because of the streusel topping.  They are great for a special family breakfast or brunch.

 

I mentioned in that post that I have a favorite blueberry bran muffin recipe that I make all the time.  While this version is not as over the top delicious as the streuselfied version, they are still really tasty.  The best part is that you can feel good about having these as part of your normal breakfast rotation.  They are made with wheat bran, unsweetened applesauce, whole wheat flour, and just a half cup of regular flour and two thirds cup brown sugar.  They come out to about 100 calories per muffin with less than a gram of fat and over 4 grams of fiber.

I follow this recipe from AllRecipes.com exactly except I use a half pint of blueberries rather than measuring out one cup of berries.  I used to buy the jars of applesauce, use what I need for the recipe, and then inevitably throw it away a couple months later when I have not touched the jar again.  If you buy the single serving packs of unsweetened applesauce they typically come in 4 oz containers, which is perfect for this recipe.  I find I am much more likely to grab the leftover servings for my midday snack at work.

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Corn Casserole and a Tale of Two Lizards

Perfect Pairing:  Potluck

Oh the famous corn casserole.  I can’t even count how many times I have made this dish, definitely more than anything else I have ever made.  It makes an appearance at any dinner of importance at my parents'.  It is just so delicious and easy!  It literally takes under five minutes to prepare.  It is the perfect dish to bring to any potluck or family dinner.  There is one recent family dinner that I would like to focus on today.  Before I do that I need to give a little background…

My parents went on a trip to Hilton Head to visit some good friends.  While there my mom got super crafty with her friend and made all sorts of arrangements for their new house.  I guess she was inspired to bring back a little of the south.  On the last morning in South Carolina she picked up some Spanish moss outside of a breakfast restaurant.  Mom packed it up in the trunk and they were on their merry way.

A couple of days (and a thousand miles) later my parents unpacked the car back in the Midwest.  The Spanish moss was in a bag ready to go downstairs and mom noticed a twig that was not part of the moss.  She went to grab it to throw it away and it moved!  It was a LIZARD!!  Apparently I inherited my overwhelming fear of anything reptilian from my mother because I am told she screamed like she was face to face with a python.  Oh what I would give to witness that scene.  From a safe distance, of course.

After my dad stopped laughing he agreed to trap the little guy but said my mom had to help corner him.  Well, that was not happening.  She called the neighbor and the two manly men wrangled the lizard.  Here he is after being captured.  Not exactly tiny!

 

Fast forward a week to Easter Sunday.  I was home with my boyfriend and busy cooking a big Easter meal for the fam.  I commented to my mom how I could not believe I had never photographed the famous corn casserole, so before dinner I had an impromptu photo session with my boyfriend’s help (he was in charge of the spoon).  I even had an audience outside the window.

 

Apparently my audience was larger than I thought.  We were all enjoying Easter dinner and my dad said, “oh, Linda, there is another lizard on the window.”  My mom and I are VERY used to my dad making jokes like this so we giggled politely and went back to our dinner.  He laughed and said, “no, I am serious this time.”  Sure enough, there was another lizard on the window!  Cue the irrational screaming. 

 Easter dinner was put on hold while we (by “we” I mean the males in the room) dealt with lizard #2.  Once everything calmed down we had to laugh thinking about how the lizard must have been inches away from me while I was photographing the corn casserole.  Then we remembered my mom took a picture of me taking pictures. 

 Yep, there he is hanging out on the flower!  I can’t even imagine what kind of heart failure I would have endured if he jumped on the corn at that moment.

 We are all really hoping that lizards only travel in twos.  Yikes. 

 

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