Cantaloupe, Ham and Bocconcini Salad

This was my inspiration for the following dinner:

1 ripe cantaloupe, scooped into 1-inch balls with a melon baller (about 3 cups)
8 ounces bocconcini (small fresh-mozzarella balls)
1 cup cubed ham
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
romaine lettuce, washed and torn into bite sized pieces


In a large bowl, combine cantaloupe, bocconcini, and ham. Shake olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve melon/ham combination over lettuce, pour dressing over top. Serve immediately.

Catch Up

So, this weekend was great. We spent Friday evening at the pool with a picnic dinner (excellent weather here in California this weekend...still 80 degree at 6:00 pm making a dinner poolside extremely pleasant). We spent Saturday afternoon at the beach and while I didn't feel like our usual bean and cheese burritos from Pedro's, I came home and made a thick veggie sandwich with cucumbers, avocado, tomatoes, cheese and shredded carrots. Delicious. And since I paired it with some snacks it was the perfect amount.

Sunday was spent at my parents. My mom made a great teriyaki salmon on the bbq with pad thai noodles and artichokes with a side of flaxseed ciabatta bread (had no idea there was such a thing, but it was good). For dessert that night we had vanilla ice cream topped with fresh raspberries from Costco. I guess raspberries are in season beginning right now because they were perfectly sweet and not too tart at all.

I've got some tasty meals coming this week, including the asian pasta salad I posted about below.

Question: Kitchen Aid

I have a question for you (all three of you readers). My bread maker broke (gasp!). I seriously couldn't live without it. I loved making homemade pizza dough and bread. I'm so sad. So, I'm on the search for something to replace it. In the meantime I will go without homemade bread and will be using Trader Joe's pizza dough. But, I'm curious about the Kitchen Aid mixers. I've read that you can make dough and bread out of it. Has anyone done just that? I'm not a huge baker (besides chocolate chip cookies) which I know is a big plus for the kitchen aid. Does anyone have it that can offer advice?

The "Rachel" Sandwich

Not the best photo, I was hungry, but I threw some chips on and the salad is in the background

I grabbed this recipe from This Week For Dinner. It's called the Rachel sandwich, sister to the classic Reuben sandwich and much preferred in our house!

Whole wheat bread
Deli turkey
Swiss Cheese
Thousand Island dressing
Coleslaw*

Get yourself some really good bread. I bought organic whole wheat, but a nine grain is sounding especially good right now too. Rye is a classic, if your taste buds agree to it.

Layer your sandwich with thousand island dressing, deli turkey, swiss cheese, and coleslaw. Grill on the stove and you're done. So easy. And they are really fresh and light so Devin ate two and I probably could have as well...

Served with pita chips and tomato, avocado, mozzrella salad (below).

*The recipe calls for coleslaw, but I only had sliced carrots and cabbage so I went with it and it turned out really tasty still.

Avocado, Mozzarella and Tomato Salad

Such a simple recipe and a fun change as far as salad's go. Slice up avocado, tomatoes and fresh mozzrella and top with lots of salt and some pepper. Delicious!

We had it tonight and I forgot how much I loved it -- I used to order it a lot when I studied abroad in London.

Tortellini Salad

I'm so proud of myself tonight. I made up a new meal (sort of)! I was inspired by this recipe, but changed it up a bit to my own liking and, well, it came out unbelievably good. It's just the thing I would serve at a baby shower because it was really pretty (picture may not do justice) and was just that good.

I served it with ciabatta bread and applesauce.

1 package fresh cheese tortellini (Trader Joe's)
3 cans chicken broth
1 chicken breast, grilled and chopped in bite size pieces
1/2 cup pine nuts
2-3 large tomatoes chopped
3 cups fresh spinach, steamed and chopped (I bought Trader Joes organic spinach leaves in the bag)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar dressing
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Boil tortellini in chicken broth (a tip from my friend Staci to make chicken dishes extra savory). Meanwhile grill chicken (or could be boiled just as easily). Once both are finished, toss in a bowl with pine nuts, chopped tomatoes, spinach and toss with balsamic vinegar. Top with Parmesan cheese.

*A plus is that I made it all by 10 am. I'm sure it's pretty good warm too, but it was very tasty as a cool pasta salad.

Salsa

If you know anyone in the San Diego region, have them pick you up this little number at the market (only sold in SD!). Devin's parents brought it up for Avery's birthday party and oh...it's the best kind of salsa. I would mail it to my friends, but it is all fresh ingredients and has to be kept refrigerated.

Asian Pasta Salad

One the menu for the weekend. I will let you know how it turns out, but it was given to me by my friend Kelli and every recipe she's offered has turned out fabulous. So...it seems like a guarantee.

1 lb. Pad Thai Noodles or linguine (I use Linguine)
1 large red pepper, cut, cleaned, julienned
1 cup sliced almonds
12 green onions cut on angle
1 large carrot, peeled, julienned
1/2 cup sugar

Cook noodles until al dente. Rinse with cold water to shock. To caramelize the almonds, put sugar in a teflon pan on medium heat with almonds on top of the sugar. Heat until sugar melts then stir almonds and melted sugar together. Remove from heat and spread out the almonds on parchment paper to cool.

Dressing:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T Rice vinegar
2 T sesame oil
1 t. ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil

To make dressing, combine brown sugar, ginger, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, vegetable oil in a bowl. Whisk until well mixed. Combine dressing with julinned carrots and red peppers, green onions, candied almonds and toss with noodles. Garnish with green onions.

(Salad) Sandwiches

Tuesday are Devin's late nights going from work to mutual and then home around 9:00. So, we did a simple dinner of egg salad sandwiches. I was vegetarian for several years and have never really enjoyed eggs, but for some reason I can't pass up an egg salad sandwich. They always look tasty to me. Chicken salad for that matter too. Anyone have a good recipe for those?

White Bean Dip

My friend Tara got this recipe out of a magazine and made it as "dippers" for a dinner with her two kids (husband was working late that night). Doesn't it look yums?

2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
pinch thyme
3 T. olive oil
2 T. lemon juice
1 large clove garlic, pressed

A Success!

I made these tonight. It was a total success. They were fantastic. I bought wild caught, fresh mahi mahi and I think it might have made them just that much better. Paired the dinner with some fresh, white corn and we were all happy (Ave actually had a bean and cheese taco).

Artichokes

I can't help myself every spring when the artichokes come around at the market. Delicious! I had my menu for the week planned, grocery list in hand when I walked into the store and saw buckets full of artichokes at 89 cents a piece. They were the perfect olive-y green color with yellow tips and full of fresh leaves that I got 4, wishing for more. We'll be having artichokes at least once a week this spring. I love them.

I grew up with artichokes and mac & cheese for dinner. It was the meal that went together so I'm passing it onto my family. We dined on mac & cheese, artichokes and sweet, wheat bread tonight for dinner. One of my favorite meals.

Sunday Afternoon

My baby girl is taking a nap and Devin is watching golf before he has to leave for some meetings. I've got three ripe bananas so decide to make a few batches of banana bread. Not much better on a cool Sunday afternoon than warm banana bread!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup ripe mashed bananas (I use 3)
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
chopped nuts (optional)
chocolate chips (optional)

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, lemon juice and banana. Add flour and baking powder. Mix well and add the rest of (optional) ingredients. Pour into loaf pants and bake at 350 for approx 35-40 minutes. Test with tooth pick inserted into center for doneness. Remove from pan and cool before slicing.

Pizza, Again

I know, pizza again? Two nights in one week? Not totally strange, but still, we usually mix it up more than that.

See, Devin had his duathlon (5K run, 30K bike, 5K run) today and after all three of us enjoyed an afternoon nap I thought about making fish tacos for dinner when he said, "I actually really feel like pizza." So? Any man of mine who does a race deserves his dinner of choice.

We made a different kind though: fresh dough, fresh mozzarella (yes! I finally found the real mozzarella), basil, pine nuts with fresh tomatoes atop.

It was tasty. And we paired a green salad with it. Yum.

Two Nights Dinner

So, these aren't recipes but it is a food blog.

I always have a hard time deciding what to make for dinner. It is my goal to jot down what we eat so I can come back to it. And maybe a comment or two will pop up and offer me an idea too. I'm totally open to them.

Last Night was "on the go" since we spent the late afternoon/evening at Disneyland. Great on the go meals are burritos/taquitos, easy sandwiches, fresh veggies (snap peas, carrots, grape tomatoes and cucumbers) and fruit. With Trader Joe's cats cookies for a late evening snack while riding Autopia.

Tonight is a carbo load since Devin is racing in a duathlon tomorrow morning (run, bike, run). We're having spaghetti, fresh french bread and a salad.

Dinner

Dinner tonight: bbq chicken pizza, green salad (romaine, cucumber, tomatoes and avocado) with mini carrot sticks.

Sundance Tortilla Soup

If we are ever in Utah, we make sure to stop at the Sundance Foundry Grill for dinner. Everything on the menu is tasty, but our favorite is the tortilla soup. Lucky us, we got the recipe last time we were there. It really is especially tasty.

3 TB olive oil
1 jalapeno, fresh, minced
1 red onion, medium sized, chopped
3 Cups roma tomatoes, diced
3 Cups corn kernels, preferably fresh
1 TB cumin seed
2 Quarts chicken stock
2 TB fresh cilantro
3 Cups grilled chicken breast, diced

Garnish: Avocado, Lime, Tortilla chips/strips, salt, pepper and tabasco

In a large saucepan heat the oil over medium heat. Add the jalapeno, onion, tomato and corn. Cook about 15 minutes, stirring until all the vegetables are soft. Add cilantro and cumin and cook another 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the grilled chicken breast and anymore fresh cilantro, heat through and serve. Garnish each bowl with avocado, lime and tortilla chips/strips.

Dinner

Tonight's dinner: deli turkey sandwiches, fresh steamed brocolli, strawberries and potato salad. My potato salad is simple. It consists of potatoes, hard boiled eggs, pickles, celery, mayo, mustard, salt and pepper.

Fish Tacos

It's been a while, but I'm back. I got this recipe from my friend Kathryn's blog and it's on my menu this week. Doesn't it seem very Rubios-ish?

1 lb. firm white fish
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
2 cups finely sliced cabbage
1/2 cups chopped green onions
1/2 cup sour cream
8 (6-in) corn tortillas
extra lime wedges
salt and pepper
Mango salsa (for garnish)
Grated cheese (optional)

Heat oil and saute fish on medium high heat until cooked, about 7-10 minutes.
Combine taco seasoning, lime juice and orange juice. Add coked fish, and toss to coat.
Combine cabbage, onions, sour cream and salt and pepper.
Warm tortillas. On top of warm tortilla, add cheese, fish, then cabbage mixture.
Top with mango salsa and fresh squeezed lime juice.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

2 c. cottage cheese
1 c. flour
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c.vegetable oil
1/4 c. wheat germ
8 eggs

Put all ingredients in a blender. Mix until smooth. Cook on a very hot, lightly oiled griddle until lightly browned. Flip and brown the other side. They cook a little slower than regular pancakes.