Tomato Basil Panini

Keeping up with a blog is a lot of work I'm finding. I don't know how these people find the time to blog multiple times every day or even once a day or even once a week. My biggest problem is that I haven't had any WOW recipes lately, everything has just been 'eh.' I don't want to share 'eh' recipes with ya'll. I want WOW!

These sandwiches are pretty WOW.  I only made one change from the original recipe and that was to add a layer of pesto. Everything's better with pesto. 

1 loaf crusty bread, not the $.99 squishy French bread

3 Roma tomatoes

1 package fresh mozzarella

1/4 cup basil leaves

pesto (optional)

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

1. Pre-heat your countertop grill or panini press. Slice bread, tomatoes and mozzarella. Brush outside of bread with olive oil. Spread a thin layer of pesto on inside of one slice of bread. Layer mozzarella and tomatoes and top with basil leaves. Add salt and pepper. Drizzle balsamic over the inside of the other slice of bread. Place on top of sandwich. Grill for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Repeat with remaining ingredients. I ended up with 5 sandwiches. 

Review - Jay and I really liked these. I made a modified version for the kids with only tomatoes and mozzarella. The both picked apart the sandwich and ate the insides.  I think they have a hard time with the texture of the crunchy/chewy bread. I will definitely make these again.  I can't wait to try them with my own tomatoes from my garden. You could tweak the ingredients to your liking. Splurge on the fresh mozzarella though. It's worth it.

Black Bean Burger

I love black bean burgers. I love trying new recipes. I love trying new recipes for black bean burgers. These burgers have a ton of flavor and are super easy to prepare.

The original recipe makes a ton. Luckily you can shape the patties and freeze them. Toss them on a hot griddle directly from the freezer when you're ready to eat them.

4 cups black beans (2 cans, drained and rinsed)

1/4 medium red onion

1-2 cloves garlic

1/4 bunch of fresh parsley

1 Tbsp. sriracha

1 Tbsp. mayonnaise

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

1 cup bread crumbs or Panko

1. Add the beans to a food processor along with everything except the salt, egg and bread crumbs Process until everything is combined and the mixture looks pasty with a few chunks.

2. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and season with salt. Adjust other seasonings at this time as well. Make the mixture slightly stronger in flavor and saltiness than you want the burgers to be because once the bread crumbs and egg are added, the flavor will be diluted.

3. Whisk an egg and stir it into the mixture. Stir in the bread crumbs a little at a time. The resulting mixture should be moist chunks and crumbs. The mixture should stick together if squeezed in your hand. Form into patties.

4. Coat a skillet with a little oil and cook the patties for 7-8 minutes on each side. The patties should be brown and crisp on the outside and slightly firm to the touch. Be delicate when handling the patties, they are not as cohesive as meat patties but should hold their shape while cooking. Top with cheese if desired. Serve on buns.

Sorry this is a lousy picture.

Review - Excellent! We all loved these. Be careful not to add too much sriracha if your kiddos don't like spice. I added the full tablespoon and it wasn't too spicy for my monkeys. I froze the extra patties on a baking sheet and once they were frozen stored them in a plastic container.

Lentil-Bulgar Salad

I've been a bit of a slacker lately in the blogging department. I have kept up with my one new recipe a week goal, I just haven't gotten around to sharing those recipes with my little group of readers. I'm very sorry. 

This salad came from Moosewood. It's perfect for a hot summer day. You can whip it up in the morning and let it chill all day. The flavors intensify the longer it chills. The leftovers were great the next day too. 

1 cup dry lentils

2 cups water

1 cup dry bulgar wheat

1 cup boiling water

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 large cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. oregano

2 Tbsp. freshly minced mint (or 2 tsp. dried)

2-3 Tbsp. freshly minced dill (or 2-3 tsp dried)

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/3 cup chopped red onion

1 small bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup crumbled feta

1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced

1 medium tomato, diced or 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Place lentils in a medium saucepan, cover with 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and partially cover and allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes until tender, but not mushy. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl. 

2. While the lentils are cooking, place the bulgar in a bowl and add boiling water. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes.

3. Add everything to the lentils and mix thoroughly. Serve with pita chips and fresh fruit.

My little helper (or monkey)

Review - I really liked this salad. The fresh herbs added a lot of flavor. I think this would also be good stuffed inside a pita pocket. I honestly don't remember if the kids liked this or not. It's been a few weeks since I made it. I'm pretty sure they didn't hate it, didn't love it.

Easy Roasted Asparagus

You'll never guess where I found this recipe.....Budget Bytes. I think I'm slightly addicted to that blog. It's Spring time, at least it supposed to be Spring, it's almost 100 degrees here today (bleh, Texas), and that means asparagus area in season. Jay and I love asparagus. The kids seem to be hit or miss. I tweaked this recipe a little and omitted the lemon zest. I didn't want an overpowering lemon flavor. I served them alongside salmon and a spinach salad.

1 bunch of asparagus, thoroughly washed and trimmed

Olive oil

1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Salt

Pepper

Lemon

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Place cleaned, trimmed asparagus on foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Add crushed garlic, salt, pepper, and the 1-2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice. Toss to coat. Place asparagus in a single layer.

3. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip with spatula and cook for another 10 minutes or until tender.

Review - Fast, easy, delicious. What more could you ask for?

Scheherazade Casserole

Um, yeah I couldn't pronounce it either, so I looked it up. My Google U degree tells me this:

1. Scheherazade - pronounced shuh-her-uh-zah-duh

2. The fictional wife of a sultan and the narrator of the tales in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments

What that has to do with this dish I have absolutely no idea. I found the recipe in my Moosewood cookbook. It's excellent! Everyone liked it a lot. I think Jay tolerates a lot of my meatless mains, but he really liked this dish. Eli ate two bowls full. Josie ate it, but she would have done better if the bell peppers were invisible. I've modified the original recipe because I wasn't able to find dried raw soybeans. I substituted canned chickpeas. I read a couple other versions of this dish online and some used white beans, but I think that would be too mushy. The texture of the bulgur and the chickpeas was nice. This was also my first time cooking bulgur. I'd heard of it before, but had no idea what it was. I'll hopefully stumble across another recipe for bulgur because I have a box full of it now. 

1 cup raw bulgar

1 cup boiling water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups minced onion

3-5 large cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 large bell pepper, diced

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes

3 Tbsp tomato paste

1/2 cup finely minced parsley

1 1/2 cups feta, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly oil a 9x13 baking dish.

2. Place the bulgar in a small bowl. Add boiling water, cover with a plate and let stand for 15 minutes.

3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute onion, garlic and seasonings for 5-8 minutes. Add bell pepper and saute about 5 minutes more.

4. Place chickpeas in a food processor. Pulse until beans resemble coarse crumbs. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the bulgar and sauteed vegetables. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste. Add 1 cup of the feta and the parsley. Mix well.

5. Spread mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining feta on top. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes more. 

Review - Excellent!!! This dish really shocked me. I've had a string of so-so dishes lately, you know the kind of dish that's good and everyone eats it, but you don't really have any motivation to make it again or type up the recipe and post it to your blog (ahem). Between the fish sticks and this casserole I feel like I'm back on track. Go me!

Tilapia Fish Sticks

If you haven't discovered Budget Bytes  yet you're seriously missing out. These fish sticks were a hit with the whole family. They were easy to make and the best part is that there are only six ingredients and you can pronounce them all (at least I hope you can pronounce them all), which isn't the case of the ingredient list on a box of frozen fish sticks. 

1 lb. tilapia fillets

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. cajun seasoning

2-3 eggs, whisked (I ended up needing three)

1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Slice each filet length-wise into two or three pieces (depending on width) and then horizontally to yield 4-6 sticks.

2. Prepare the breading station by collecting three bowls. In the first bowl combine the flour and cajun seasoning (or salt, pepper, any other seasonings). In the second bowl add the whisked eggs. In the third bowl place the panko bread crumbs.

3. Bread the tilapia sticks by first coating in seasoned flour then dipping in egg and finally coating in panko crumbs. Place the breaded sticks on a plate until all of the sticks have been breaded.
4. Heat a large skillet with vegetable oil over medium/high heat. When the pan is very hot it is ready for the fish (a drop of water will sizzle furiously when dropped in the skillet) . Place half of the sticks in the pan and cook on each side until golden brown in color. Drain the fish sticks on a plate covered with paper towel.  Cook the second half of the fish sticks the same way. Serve with tartar sauce. 

Sorry, no picture. We were hungry.

Tartar Sauce

1/2 cup mayonaise

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/4 chopped dill pickle

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp dill

Mix everything together in a bowl. Cover and chill.

Review - I was kind of shocked at how good these were. I was also shocked that both kids ate them. I usually  have to coerce them to eat fish. I'm pretty sure Josie thought it was chicken, even though I repeatedly told her they were fish sticks. I wasn't totally sold on the tartar sauce recipe. It was good, but it could be better. You can be the judge. The fish sticks were awesome and I'll definitely be making them again.

Sweet Potato Stir-fry

My good friend Erin shared this recipe with me. I was definitely intrigued. I'll admit I'm not really familiar with Asian cuisine. I like to eat it though, so that's something. The original recipe called for Thai chilies, which I omitted. I'm not sure if Thai chilies are hot or not, but I'm pretty sure if Josie (3) had seen me bring the chilies into the house she would have refused to eat dinner for a week. The kid hates spice. 

4 Tbsp. peanut oil 

2-4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and grated (I used the shredding attachment on my Cuisinart)

1/2 cup sliced green onion

2-3 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/4 - 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Splash of rice wine vinegar

3 cups cooked brown rice

1. Heat oil in frying pan or wok over medium-high. Saute garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add sweet potato and green onions. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Cook 5-10 minutes more or until sweet potatoes start to brown a little. Add a splash of rice wine vinegar. Serve over brown rice. 

Baby tested.

Baby approved. Oh and for the record, I served him dinner in a little bowl. He just didn't waste any time dumping it out and spreading his food all over the table. We're casual but we're not THAT casual.

Review - I'm actually surprised that the kids ate this because it turned out spicier than I thought it was going to be. It was really good though. We all enjoyed it. I'd like to add some more vegetables next time. Maybe only use two sweet potatoes and then bulk it up with other veggies (snow peas, broccoli, bell peppers). Or maybe I should just leave it alone as it was pretty darn good just the way it is.