#54 :: Avocado Salad

I realized at the last minute that our Poblano peppers should probably have some sort of a side dish served with it. I wanted to keep it light, and I had an extra avocado, so avocado salad was my first thought.

Ingredients

• 1 avocado, halved, pitted and sliced
• 4 leaves of Romain lettuce
• 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• A sprinkle of fresh cilantro
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Lay the Romain on the plate as a base for the salad. Cut the avodado in half, remove the pit, then score the avocado into slices while it's still in the skin. The slices can easily be peeled back from the skin this way. Layer them over top of the lettuce. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime over the avocados, this will keep them from turning brown so quickly. Mix in a few slices of Roma tomatoes and top it all off with a sprinkle of chopped fresh cilantro and salt & pepper.



Makes 2 servings.

Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

#52 :: Skirt Steak Tacos

This steak taco just didn't have a lot of flavor. It wasn't bad by any means, but I guess that it pales in comparison to the other dinners we've prepared lately. Oh no, I've become a food snob! :)

Ingredients

• 8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 head romaine lettuce, thinly shredded
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, halved and diced
• 8 ounces sour cream

Directions

Heat grill to high.

Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil and on the top rack of the grill while the steak is grilling.

Heat grill pan over high heat. Brush steak with oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill on one side until golden brown and slightly charred, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the steak over and cook to medium-rare doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes longer. Let rest 5 minutes then slice against the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Fill each tortilla with some lettuce, 3 to 4 pieces of meat, onion, sour cream, and avocado.

Makes 4 servings.

Recipe from Boy Meets Grill on Food Network

Star Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

#34 :: Wilted Greens w/ Bacon Vinaigrette

Jamie had the honors of setting off our smoke alarm for the first time this evening. He was cooking bacon for the salad, and I asked him to cook it until it was really crunchy. Well, he cooked it until it really got to smokin'! But the best part was.....just as he was explaining to me that he wasn't burning it, and it's normal for bacon grease to smoke....the smoke alarm started blaring. It couldn't have been better timing.

Anyway, the dressing and the bacon turned out great, nothing was burned. I was surprised at how much I liked it, because I'm not usually a vinegar person. I even bottled the extra dressing to keep for another meal.

Ingredients

• 4 hearts romaine, chopped
• 4 slices bacon
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup vinegar (we used balsamic)
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place romaine in a serving bowl. In a skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and crumble over greens. To the pan, add sugar and vinegar, and simmer until sugar is dissolved, scraping up bacon bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour hot dressing over greens and toss. Serve immediately.

*We also added some cheese to our individual salad bowls. I had shredded Asiago and Jamie had chunks of blue cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

Recipe from Cooking for Real on Food Network.

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

#21 :: Orange Viniagrette Salad

We needed a side salad and didn't have any dressing...... so I got to mixin'!

Ingredients

For the salad:

• Romain lettuce
• Orange slices
• Shredded Gruyere cheese

For the dressing:

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 medium-large orange
• 1 tsp. White Wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1 tsp. Basil
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Zest the orange first, and reserve the zest for later.

Pour olive oil, orange juice and vinegar in a small bowl and whisk. Add the orange zest, basil and salt & pepper then whisk again until everything is mixed.


Makes 4 servings.

Recipe from Me. :)

Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

#14 :: Mushroom Gruyere Burgers

I got brave tonight and tried something with our left over ingredients from other meals! No recipe required! :) The mushroom sauce was incredible!

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1 pint baby Portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp. oregano
A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese
2-4 strips bacon
2 sirloin burgers
2 thick slices of Gruyere cheese
Lettuce, tomato, Dijon mustard for garnish

Directions

First, saute the mushrooms in HALF of the olive oil (1/4 cup). Add the heavy cream and oregano and stir until mixed. Add a few sprinkles of Parmesan cheese to thicken the sauce. Once it starts to thicken, remove it from the heat. It will thicken more as it sits.

In another pan, fry the bacon in the other half of the olive oil (1/4 cup). Once the bacon is cooked, put it on a paper towel lined plate to drain. Then cook the burgers in the same bacon grease/olive oil pan. After cooking both sides of the burger, add the slices of Gruyere cheese to the top at the last few minutes of cooking so it will start to melt. Adding a lid to the pan helps it melt, too. Top it with warm mushroom sauce. Garnish with the rest of "the goods".


Makes 2 burgers.

Recipe from Me!

Star Rating: 4.5 out of 5

#7 :: Blue Cheese Burgers

This is my recipe for Blue Cheese Burgers. I read so many different recipes, and with the exception of a few burgers that contained everything but the kitchen sink, they all called for the same basic ingredients. So, I'm not following one certain recipe. I'm going to wing it!



Ingredients

• (4) 1/3 pound sirloin burgers
  
• 1/2 cup of bacon, cooked & chopped
• (1) 6 oz. tub of blue cheese crumbles
• (1) Plum Tomato, sliced
• Romain lettuce
• Dijon mustard
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Directions

Press blue cheese crumbles and chopped bacon into one of the sirloin burgers. Season with salt & pepper. Add a bit more blue cheese and chopped bacon to the top of the burger.

Place another burger on top of that, then press and seal the sides to hold in the blue cheese and bacon. Season both sides of the burger with salt & pepper. Cook over medium heat for 5-8 minutes per side, or until done. (They're done when the blue cheese starts to bubble out the sides and/or top).

Makes 2 burgers.

Recipe from Me. :)

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars