Garlic Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons

I've been making this garlic Caesar salad for years and it's so good. The dressing is Girard's lite and in my opinion the best Caesar salad dressing going! However, when you add raw minced garlic...it's even better. The key to a perfect Caesar salad is making sure the lettuce is perfectly dry before putting on the salad dressing. Any moisture on the lettuce waters down the dressing and the flavor.

 

Ingredients:

Grilled chicken breast
Romaine lettuce
Girard's light Caesar salad dressing
1 large or 2 medium cloves minced garlic
4 tablespoons fresh grated parmesan cheese


Preparation:
To make the crouton, take a french baguette and slice and dice into 1/2" pieces. Place the bread on a baking pan and drizzle some olive oil and toss. Add some salt and pepper and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Once golden brown remove from the oven and set a side.

   

Prepare you lettuce by cutting the lettuce into bite size pieces washing in a salad spinner. Make sure the lettuce is perfectly dry because if there is water on the lettuce, the salad dressing will get watered down and won't be nearly as good. Place the prepared lettuce in a large salad bowl.

 

Take the salad dressing and add to a small bowl. Add the minced garlic to the salad dressing and mix well. Add the salad dressing and parmesan cheese to the lettuce. Mix the salad very well so the dressing is evenly coats the lettuce.

 

To serve, place a portion of the salad on a plate. Top with the croutons, grate on a little more parmesan cheese and a grind of fresh ground pepper.

 

Street Taco's

Why would I be blogging again about a ground beef taco, well I'll tell you why. I found a new brand of tortilla's from Tortilla Land. They are uncooked corn tortillas and they are as authentic and good as any fresh tortilla you'll ever find! Now, add a little shredded lettuce, seasoned ground beef, diced yellow onion, chopped cilantro, salsa Americana, lite sour cream and topped with a little shredded cheese.......WOW Killer!

Ingredients:
Tortilla Land uncooked corn tortillas
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
Taco seasoning
Shredded lettuce
1/2 yellow onion
Chopped cilantro
Mashed avocado
Lite sour cream
Fresh salsa
Shredded cheese

Preparation:
Place the ground beef into a 10" sauté pan and cook on medium high to brown the beef. As the meat cooks, add the taco seasoning. I like Trader Joe's taco seasoning. The meat will be done cooking in about 8 minutes.

Heat a 12" sauté pan to medium high. Add 2 tortillas and cook for about 1 minute per side, no need for butter or oil. Place the tortilla's on a plate or taco rack if you have one. 

 

Start with a little shredded lettuce across the bottom of the tortilla. Next, add a couple tablespoons of the ground beef and top with diced yellow onion, chopped cilantro, fresh salsa, mashed avocado, lite sour cream and a little shredded cheese. Squeeze the lime over the taco and you're ready eat enjoy and awesome taco.

Tofu Blocks

This is so ridiculously good that you've got to try this. The key to this dish is to cook the tofu just with canola oil in a large sauté pan so all the sides of the tofu are browned. When finished your toss with sesame oil and soy sauce and then garnish with lots of green onion, dice red bell pepper, cilantro and sriracha sauce.

Ingredients:
1 package extra firm tofu
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon lite soy sauce
1 bunch green onions
1 /2 bunch cilantro
1/4 red bell pepper

Preparation:

Drain the water from the tofu and dry with paper towels. In order to get the tofu to brown up it's important that the tofu is dry.

 

Cut the tofu into 1-1/2" blocks. Heat a large skillet and add the canola oil. Cook the tofu until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.

Once the tofu is nice and golden brown, add the sesame oil and soy sauce and toss. Place the tofu blocks on to a serving plate and top with the diced green onions, diced red bell pepper and chopped cilantro. Garnish the dish with a few slivered green onions and sriracha sauce. 

Caprese Salad

I've been wanting to make this all summer and finally got around to it. This is a classic combination that is so good it deserves to be served more than once a summer. The key to this dish is the tomato. You want to look for a organic beef steak tomato that's ripe but still firm. Drizzle the whole salad with some olive oil and some fresh ground salt and pepper and you've got perfection.
 

Ingredients:

1 large organic beef steak tomato

Fresh mozzarella cheese
Basil leaves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preparation: Slice the tomato into 6 pieces and arrange on the plate. Add some olive oil on to the tomato's. Slice 6 pieces of mozzarella cheese and tuck in between the tomato's. Pick 6 nice basil leaves off the bunch and slide in between the mozzarella and tomato slices. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and a grind of  salt and pepper and your done.

Rappini aka Broccoli Raab

I'm at the store and I see this bunch of greens I've never seen before called Rappini. Looked like broccoli and greens and I tasted the leaf and it was very bitter, so I bought some to give a try. When I got home I looked online and found that rappini s also called Broccoli Raab which I have heard of. I chopped it up and sautéed with garlic and it was awesome, I'm so glad to have tried a new vegetable.

 

Ingredients:
1 bunch rappini
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 -3 chopped garlic cloves
Salt and Pepper


Preparation:
Take a 12" sauté pan and heat to medium. Add the olive oil and chopped garlic to the sauté pan and cook for one minute just to soften up the garlic. Rough chop the rappini and add to sauté pan with 1/4 cup water. Cover the rappini and steam cook. Once all the water is evaporated the rappini is done. Salt and pepper the rappini and serve.

Teriyaki Marinated Grilled Strip Steak

Here's a good example of a re-do and improve dish. The steak marinated in teriyaki and grilled up beautifully. However, because I didn't have a few ingredients the end result and presentation was lacking. The next time I do this dish I will reduce a little teriyaki sauce and drizzle over the top of the steak and garnish with diced green onion and sesame seeds. 

 

Ingredients:

8 once New York strip steak

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

Basmati rice

Diced green onion

Sesame seeds

 

Preparation:

This is a really easy meal to prepare. Take your steaks and put them into a Ziploc bag with 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce and let marinate a few hours, but overnight is better.

 

Prepare the rice in your rice cooker according to the directions, which is usually 1 cup rice to 1 3/4 cups water, a little salt and press start.

 

Heat your grill to medium high. Take the steaks out of the marinade and set them on a paper towels dry. The teriyaki flavor is in the meat so you don't need the sauce on the grill, the sugar in the teriyaki will just make the steaks flame up and burn..

Brush each steak with a little olive oil and add salt and pepper. I always grill steaks by the 2/2 X 2/2 method as follows. Place the steaks on the grill facing 45 degrees to one side and cook for 2 minutes. Rotate the steak 45 degrees to the other side and cook for another 2 minutes. After the second 2 minutes, turn the steaks over and repeat the process. After a total cooking time of 8 minutes, check the temp. When the steak hits 125 degrees, remove to a plate and let rest 5 - 10 minutes.

To serve, place a helping of basmati rice on a plate. Take the steak and cut into slices and spread across the rice. Drizzle the reduced teriyaki sauce over the steak and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. 

White Pepper Grits with Fresh Corn

I made white pepper and cheddar cheese grits back April and that was so good. This is pretty similar but traded the cheddar cheese out for corn that I had in the fridge.  

Ingredients:
1 cup grits
 2 cups water
1 cup 1% milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup cooked corn

Preparation:

Heat the water and milk up in a large sauce pan. Add the salt and white pepper. You may want to add another dash or two of white pepper, but wait until your all done with the grits, taste and then decide.

 

Add 1 cup of grits to the sauce pan and stir frequently with a whisk. As the grits cook they will thicken up and stop thickening when fully cooked. You want the consistency of the grits to be like a thick pancake batter. If the grits are to runny or thin, add another dash of grits. If the grits are too thick, add a little more milk. 

 

Toss in the cooked corn and let that heat up. Now is when you check to see if you need more white pepper. You want to taste the pepper, but not be overwhelmed. Serve with a little butter and chopped parsley for garnish.

Marinated Grilled Leg of Lamb Sandwich

The Ed sandwich from the Left Bank restaurant in Larkspur Ca. One of the best things I ever had off their menu and I probably had it 20 times when I lived in Ca. The combination of the grilled lamb, rustic sliced and toasted olive bread, arugula greens, mayonnaise and fresh ground salt and pepper is just unbeatable.

 

Ingredients:
Grass fed leg of lamb
1 sprig rosemary, chopped
8 cloves crushed garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
Rustic black olive bread, sliced
Arugula
Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper

Preparation:

I like using grass fed leg of lamb because it's generally a smaller cut of meat. Start by rinsing and drying the meat. Place the meat into a large Ziploc bag and add the chopped rosemary, crushed garlic and olive oil. Marinate a few hours for best results.

 

Grill the marinated lamb over medium high flame to char the outside. Turn the meat on the grill every few minutes until the internal temp hits 145 degrees which should take about 25 minutes for medium rare. Remove from the grill and let rest 10 minutes. You can see I like my leg of lamb pretty rare so I took mine off the grill at 130 degrees. When the lamb is ready to serve, slice into 1/4" slices for your sandwich.

 

To prepare the sandwich, slice the olive bread and toast. Take the bottom piece of bread and add some mayonnaise. Next, add some of the lamb slices and give a nice grind of fresh slat and pepper right on the meat. Take a little bit of arugula greens and the place on the sliced lamb. Lastly, add some mayonnaise top piece of bread and complete the sandwich.

 

Serve with a simple salad. Enjoy!

Orzo Pasta with Chicken, Spinach and Peas

Many nights I just make use ingredients I already have in the fridge. Elin always give me a hard time because I'll take every vegetable and meat out of the fridge and lay it on the counter to see what I have to work with. I'll pick and choose and end up making something like this orzo pasta dish, simply delicious!

1/2 pound Barilla Orzo pasta, cooked
1 diced chicken breast
1 cup sliced cherry tomato's
1/2 cup cooked peas
1/2 cup cooked chopped spinach
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tablespoon olive oil
Parmesan cheese
Red pepper flakes

Preparation:

Heat a 12" sauté pan to medium high and add the olive oil. Next add the diced red and yellow onion and cook for 2 minutes then add the minced garlic.

After a couple of minutes, add the cherry tomato's, peas, spinach and chicken. Cook until heated about 5 minutes. Lastly, add the Orzo pasta and toss until heated, about another 5 minutes.

Place and portion on a serving plate and drizzle with olive oil and top with a grind of fresh black pepper and parmesan cheese.