CSA Week Three

Week Three gave us our first beans of the season, as well as our first carrots. I'd have loved more beans and my children would have loved more carrots.

Here is what we got:

1 head Broccoli
I head Bok Choy
1 bunch Onions

1 bulb Garlic
1 bunch Carrots
1 bunch Hakurei Turnips
1 bunch Radishes
1 bunch Basil
1 Cucumber
1 lb Zucchini
1/3 lb Beans
1 bag Salad Mix

As soon as we got home, I prepped a bunch of the veggies for a veggie platter, which we had for dinner with some dip and other appetizer type munchies, picnic style. Sometimes you just need an indoor carpet picnic with a good tv show (we were watching Tour de France together.)

Despite my picnic and platter, I had lots of zucchini left to deal with, and a couple of reluctant eaters in my children, so I decided to try making zucchini chips with a bit of a crunchy coating on them.

It didn't work, they still didn't like zucchini.

They did, however, really like the lamb sliders I served with the chips.

Zucchini "Chips"

1-2 zucchini, sliced in 1/4 inch coins

1-2 egg whites

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini with the egg whites, being sure to coat everything well.

In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, cheese and pepper. Toss the coated zucchini in the mixture, then spread on a single layer on a baking sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden and crispy.

Best served warm.

Kale, two ways

Week one of our CSA included some purple kale, a vegetable I've actually never used before.

Of course I made chips from them. Kale Chips are probably one of the most popular seasonal recipes around, so it seemed a good place to start.

I didn't take any pictures of those chips, however, as they were mostly overdone (and frankly, they aren't very photogenic.) The recipe I followed said 20-25 minutes in the oven, but after 15 minutes, I felt they were very overdone. If I were to make them again, I'd check them after 10 minutes.

Since I only used half the kale for the chips, I had some left over to use with another meal.

How about on pizza?

After a chop, I gave these a quick saute with some butter and garlic scapes, just enough to soften everything together. A little dough, given a quick prebake on the BBQ, tomato sauce, sausage crumbles, roasted red and yellow peppers, kale and cheese, then back onto the bbq for a few minutes.

This is what my kids though of kale.

Which was actually fine by me - I scooped up this kale and added it to my pizza.

What to do if no one likes radishes

Well we suspected, but have confirmed, that no one in my house likes radishes. My dad loves them, so if I get some in my share before we go visit him, I will bring them to him to enjoy.

In the meantime, I tried cooking them. I had heard that roasted radishes were a completely different taste from raw, which are too strong and peppery for all of us. For this batch, I quartered my radishes, and threw them into some foil with a bit of butter, some pieces of spring onions and a few garlic scapes, added in some salt and pepper, and let them slow roast on the bbq.

Not bad. Soft, much, much, much mellower than a raw radish in terms of bite and pepper. Still not our favorite vegetable, but if I cook them, then we stand a chance of eating the radishes we get in our CSA.

Menu Plan Monday: May 22

Happy 2-4 Weekend fellow Canucks! What a lovely weekend it is turning out to be, despite the constant threat of thunderstorms and rain showers.

My youngest son and I actually had the chance to plant a veggie garden this weekend, including this little container garden on my back deck.

In addition to a tomato plant, I have a square box with 3 different types of lettuce, and a long, shallow box with various herbs. The big head of chives is one of only two things from last years attempt at a garden that survived (the other being oregano, which I've moved away from all the other plants in an attempt to keep it form taking over). The chives actually belong to my little boy, who has been known to stop by the garden while playing in the yard to pick one or two as a little munchie.

We did plant another garden bed, but as most of it involves seeds, it is rather boring to look at, so I didn't take pictures.

Now on to the menu plan for the week!

Sunday: Dinner at in-laws. (As much as I like to cook, it is still really nice when someone else cooks for me.)

Monday: bbq steak with bbq baked potatoes, asparagus and mushrooms.

Tuesday: chicken fajita salad (I'm making this recipe up, but will post about it later.)

Wednesday: I'm at work today, going in early and staying late, so I'm leaving options for the hubby for tonight since it is also a school presentation night.

Thursday: Spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread.

Friday: Left over night. I'm doing early in/late out work again today.

That's it for the week. I'm submitting this to Menu Plan Monday.

Mixing up a salad

How much easier can you get with a salad that involves greens, corn, tomatoes and chunks of sausage? Sure, the recipe calls for grilling corn on the cobb, which is not in season yet, but is easily substituted for frozen corn. It also calls for making a dressing, another step I skipped, using bottled dressing instead. Oh, and I didn't slice my cherry tomatoes thin - I used grape tomatoes which were great as is (and made it easier for the kids to pick around so they didn't have to eat a "yucky" tomato.)

If I had actually followed every step of the recipe, this still would have taken very little time to make. It was such a nice change for a salad, a great new way to enjoy sausage, and yet still a good, filling dinner. I will make this again. Maybe with fresh corn, when it becomes available.

(Btw, how are the pictures? These were taken with my cell phone and I'm pretty pleased with how well they turned out.)

Sausage and Corn Salad

from August 2010 Chatelaine Magazine

4 cobs of corn
3 tbsp white-wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
4-5 hot italian sausages, about 500g
8 cups mixed salad greens
500 g cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced

Preheat barbecue to medium-high. Peel back corn husks but do not remove from cobs. Peel off and discard silk. Re-cover corn with husks. Soak cobs in water for 5 min.

Meanwhile, stir vinegar with garlic, cayenne and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in oil. Stir in cilantro.

Oil grill. Barbecue sausages and corn. Turn sausages occasionally until cooked through, 10 to 12 min. Turn corn frequently until tender, at least 8 min. Spray any flare-ups with water if necessary. When cool enough to handle, remove and peel back husk, then, using a knife, shave corn from cob. Thickly slice sausages.

Divide greens, corn, sausage and tomatoes between plates. Drizzle with dressing.

Menu Plan Monday: April 10

Last week's plan went pretty well as, well, planned. Except for Thursday, where I had planned to make panini sandwiches and ended up taking my two boys out for a nice dinner instead.

I did end up finding my old coil notebook for my menu plan, and have started to use it again. This notebook dates back to July 2007, and I am always fascinated looking back at what I'd planned for the week and how things were changed from the original plan. Somewhere on my cookbook shelf I have my original menu plan notebook, which took several years to fill up as well.

Either way, here is the plan for the week:

Sunday: Spaghetti and meatballs

Monday: Pork souvlaki with pizza and salad

Tuesday: Taco night (oldest son is taking care of dinner as I'm going to the dentist for some work and don't expect to be up for much after - what a nice boy he's being.)

Wednesday: Butter chicken with naan and rice

Thursday: Panini sandwiches (lets try this again!)

Friday: Bbq hamburgers with salad

And that's what I'm posting on Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday: March 27

The weather is slooooooowly getting nicer. Which means we are getting closer to bbq season, now that I can get at my bbq through all the snow. While my week's entire plan does not involve bbq'ing every day, I did try and schedule a few things in.

Sunday: Homemade make your own pizza

Monday: Fried chicken legs with potato salad and coleslaw

Tuesday: Steak and cheese subs with green salad

Wednesday: Bacon, egg and bagel sandwiches

Thursday: S&S chicken with rice

Friday: Left over night

Saturday: Rotisserie chicken with corn on the cob

There you go, menu plan for the week.

Menu Plan Monday: July 11

Been hot enough for you?

Food rather went off the radar for us last week, with temperatures soaring and the humidity making things even worse. No one was interested in eating, all we wanted to do was try and stay cool. So last week's 'something shrimp' turned into 'scrounge for yourself' (I think I had a sandwich) and Friday night turned into nachos while watching a movie, picnic style.

The weather forecast looks slightly improved for this week: still hot, but not frying pan, inside a steamer, hot.

One quick note before I get on to my plan for the week - my blog feeder seems to be getting lots of little errors from people's blogs lately, so I have missed a bunch of posts from people. I'm catching up, slowly, but not necessarily getting a comment in.

On to the plan, this weeks submission to Menu Plan Monday (one of the blogs that I'm getting errors for, bummer.)

Sunday: Jambalaya, special treat for the hubby and I finally get some shrimp.

Monday: Slow cooker bbq beef ribs with corn on the cobb.

Tuesday: Sugar crusted pork loin, with grilled veggies.

Wednesday: Hubby's night to cook, spaghetti with meat sauce.

Thursday: Baked potato bar (probably with sandwiches for the children, who aren't that fond of baked potatoes). And when I say baked, I really mean cooked on the bbq, the best way to have a baked potatoe.

Friday: Left over night. If there is any. If not, we'll figure something out.

Notice a few recipes in this week's plan? That's because I have severely reduced my hours at work for the summer and have time to cook again!

I hope.

I'm back with something yummy!

It has been a bit turbulent around here the last few months, between work, school and the computer problems I've had, but things seem to finally be settled down and I have time to get back into the kitchen!

Or in this case, the bbq.

And when I finally have time to cook again, to whom would I turn for inspiration but the Pioneer Woman herself, Ree. This is my variation on Ree's CPK's BBQ Chicken Pizza.

So good and so simple to make, I only made a few tweeks to it.

The recipe starts with Ree's pizza crust, though you can make any crust you like, or use store bought. I used hers, as I have been for a few months now. It is a good, basic crust, with nothing fancy in it.

Then it moves on to cooking chicken breasts in bbq sauce.

I don't think so - this is BBQ chicken pizza, so I grilled my chicken on my BBQ, and then slathered it with sauce while still on the grill. The chicken was moist and flavorful, but also had a good sticky "skin" from the last minute saucing.

I admit, I also cooked my pizza on the bbq itself. If you have never done this before, it is very simple: stretch and shape your dough out then place it on your oiled grill, over medium heat. It will only take a few minutes to cook the bottom of the dough, which is all you want to start. When you pull the dough off the grill, you will only have cooked one side of it, which is exactly what you want - flip the pizza over so the cooked side is on top. Add your toppings then put the pizza back on the grill, uncooked side down, close the lid and wait just a few minutes for your pizza to finish cooking, your cheese to melt and pizza goodness to come together. Yummy!

(This method makes having a Make-Your-Own-Pizza-Party a breeze, since you can prepare everything in advance, precook the crusts in individual sized pizzas for people to customize, then pop several on the grill at once. Since the pizzas take minutes to cook in the closed, hot, bbq, no one wait for too long for their pizzas. Easy as can be and you don't need to heat up your house by turning on the oven!)

I added more bbq sauce to this pizza to the cooked top of my pizza before adding the chicken, red onion and cheese. A few quick minutes on the bbq for everything to come together and this was amazing!

I didn't have any cilantro to top my pizza with, but it would have been a nice touch. Instead, I served it with a salad consisting of mixed greens, oranges, strawberries, green onions and some shredded Cheddar cheese. Left overs did not make it to the next day.

I'm not sure if Food Fans of the Pioneer Woman is active right now, I hope it is. I'm going to submit this for Debby and Muneba, and whomever is co-hosting for the month.

Menu Plan Monday: May 16

I know, it isn't Monday.

Been a change in the last few weeks, the way I've been shopping and planning. Instead of my going out Saturday or Sunday and doing my shopping, I've been going Monday night, after work, while my son is still in tkd class. Upside to this is that I'm shopping without, "Mom, can we get some of this?" Downside is I'm doing it after work, so I'm usually quite hungry.

As a result, I have not been doing my menu planning on the weekend. It is still getting done, just not in advance.

Sunday: Left over night. We had so many different left over's in the house, it was foolish to cook.

Monday: Salsa chicken with rice (put frozen chicken breast in the slow cooker with a cup or more of a good, strong, salsa, cook on low for 6-8 hours, serve over rice.)

Tuesday: Sausages done on the bbq with corn on the cobb.

Wednesday: Chicken fried steak with smashed potatoes.

Thursday: Pasta with tomatoes, garlic and chili.

Friday: Grilled bbq chicken pizza.

And that's my plan for Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday: I think I forgot something

Yup, I forgot to write up my menu plan for the week.

I remembered, sometime Monday, but I was at work when I remembered. Which did my blog no good at all.

So here it is, Wednesday, and I'm finally posting my plan for the week for Menu Plan Monday.

Sunday: Mother's Day and I had a pj day, eating nachos while watching tv. The boys left me alone and went elsewhere for supper.

Monday: Hamburgers on the bbq.

Tuesday: Pizza (take out, the plan ahead did not work due to unforeseen circumstances.)

Wednesday: Pork souvlaki with tzaziki and pita, pasta salad.

Thursday: Chicken drum sticks, with whatever the hubby wants to make with them.

Friday: Something on the bbq, not sure what.

So last week Kara asked me an interesting question about regional differences for bbq'ing and grilling: Sorry Kara, it must be a regional thing - if someone invites me for a bbq, it can be anything from hamburgers to steak, veggies, fruit or anything really. No one say's they are going to grill, they just say bbq.

Menu Plan Monday: It's BBQ time!

Oh happy day! Happy, happy day!

Saturday morning saw me putting down all the seats of my car so my brand new bbq could be loaded up into it! Saturday afternoon/evening saw rain, rain and more rain but I did not care! I was bbq'ing even if it was a blizzard! A hurricane! A monsoon!


Yes, that is rain you see on my bbq, and steam you see rising off the grills, but I persisted and we had a bbq on Saturday.

And Sunday.

And likely will for the entire rest of the week!

(Go ahead, see me dancing around, bbq tongs in hand. Probably not far from the truth.)

Did I mention the weather forecast for this week calls for rain? Every single day of the week.

(So add me getting rained on while dancing around. Good image.)

Menu Plan Monday, here we go!

Sunday: Steak with bbq baked potatoes and garlic mushrooms

Monday: Hot dogs with fruit (I'm not home until after 8:30, hubby gets to decide if he's going to try the new bbq)

Tuesday: Chicken and apple salad (I bbq'd a whole chicken, butterflied, last night, to be used this week for salad and another night.)

Wednesday: Korean bbq beef with rice. Or pork chops with sticky glaze.

Thursday: Club sandwiches (using more of that chicken I bbq'd last night.)

Friday: No plans.

TFF: Worth killing my bbq over?

Remember last month when I killed my bbq after it set on fire? I never did say what I was cooking when it happened, did I?


Well don't hold this against Tyler, but it was his Ultimate BBQ Chicken I was making. Doesn't it look "ultimate" to you?

I made very few changes to this recipe. While the recipe calls for a full chicken cut into pieces, I used some chicken legs and cut them down to drumsticks and thighs instead. And that is the only change I made. I even went out and bought two packages of fresh thyme to make this. (Oh, I didn't have any kitchen twine, so I used a toothpick.)

I hadn't planned on finishing it in the oven, as Tyler's instructions say to do (please, Tyler, why, oh why, would I want to turn on my oven on a hot day, when making bbq chicken, when I can just let the heat of the bbq be my oven for me?) But the fire extinguisher forced me to do just that.


Despite my big pile of chicken, I had alot of sauce left over. Fortunately, I had kept more than was recommended aside for use at the table afterwards, so I had left over sauce that I was able to put into the fridge and use a few days later with some ribs. Yummy! (Sorry, forgot to take a picture of the ribs, sometimes that happens!)

Was the chicken worth killing my bbq over? Sorry, no. NOTHING would taste so good it would be worth the death of my summer kitchen. And despite that tragedy, this was still some very tasty chicken.

Before I direct you to the recipe, big congrats to Pam for being last week's winning Tyler Florence Friday entry, which has been posted over on Tyler's website. If you haven't seen Pam's selection, go see it, it is amazing looking and will be on my menu plan very, very soon.

The Ultimate Barbecued Chicken
by Tyler Florence, as found on Food Network

Brine:

2 quarts water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a large knife
4 sprigs fresh thyme
6 chicken legs and thighs, still connected, bone in, skin on, about 10 ounces each

The Ultimate Barbecue Sauce:

1 slice bacon
1 bunch fresh thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika if available
Freshly ground black pepper

For the brine, in a mixing bowl combine the water, salt, sugar, garlic, and thyme. Transfer the brine to a 2-gallon sized re-sealable plastic bag. Add the chicken, close the bag and refrigerate 2 hours (if you've only got 15 minutes, that's fine) to allow the salt and seasonings to penetrate the chicken.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Wrap the bacon around the bunch of thyme and tie with kitchen twine so you have a nice bundle. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the thyme and cook slowly 3 to 4 minutes to render the bacon fat and give the sauce a nice smoky taste. Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly without coloring for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, give the sauce a stir, and turn the heat down to low. Cook slowly for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. Once the sauce is done cooking, remove about 1 1/2 cups of the sauce and reserve for serving along side the chicken at the table. The rest of the barbecue sauce will be used for basing the legs.

Preheat oven 375 degrees F.

Preheat a grill pan or an outdoor gas or charcoal barbecue to a medium heat. Take a few paper towels and fold them several times to make a thick square. Blot a small amount of oil on the paper towel and carefully and quickly wipe the hot grates of the grill to make a nonstick surface. Take the chicken out of the brine, pat it dry on paper towels. Arrange the chicken pieces on the preheated grill and cook, turn once mid-way, and cook for a total of 10 minutes. Transfer the grill marked chicken to a cookie sheet and then place in the oven. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and then brush liberally, coating every inch of the legs with the barbecue sauce and then return to the oven for 25 to 30 more minutes, basting the chicken for a second time half way through remaining cooking time. Serve with extra sauce.

Menu Plan Monday: My bbq is back to work

Ah I wish it were the weekend again. This one seemed to go by too fast, even though I managed to do alot and get many things done. The sun shone most of the time, it was warm, and I like sun and warmth. On a beautiful weekend like we just had, don't you wish that weekends were longer than 2 days? Not just sometimes, but all the time.

Oh well, at least today I have no where I have to go, no errands to run, and the only scheduled even for the day is meeting the children as they get off the school bus. I have the day to myself, which is good, because I have alot planned in the kitchen!

Sunday: BBQ'd pork chops with bbq'd cauliflower and snow peas. With some left over watermelon as well.

Monday: Spaghetti. (Yes, I know I said bbq'ing for my theme, but we are having spaghetti. I haven't made it in awhile, much to the disappointment of all my boys, big and little, and we are for sure having it because I made the sauce on Sunday and it is ready to go!)

Tuesday: Chicken enchiladas with spanish rice and refried beans. Happy Cinqo the Mayo! (I plan to roast the chicken on Monday and assemble the enchiladas as I won't be home until well after 7 on Tuesday evening and want dinner ready to go.)

Wednesday: Salt and pepper shrimp with seasame noodles.

Thursday: Ginger and soy grilled chicken with asparagus.

Friday: Daring Cook's challange. (No I'm not going to tell you what it is!)

And that's my attempt at a menu plan this week. How about you? Are you menu planning yet? If you are thinking of starting, head over to Menu Plan Monday and add your plan in. Or for ideas.

On a totally unrelated subject....

I recently installed a clothes line at my new home, something I did not have room for before we moved here. With the beautiful weather, and the very strong breezes we've had, I have managed to get alot of laundry done and up on the line. This weekend I took advantage of my children's absence to try and help reduce some of the allergens in our house by washing all the children's blankets (of which they each keep at least 4 on their beds, or floors. Mostly floors.) That done, I followed up on washing and hanging yet another set of items from their bedrooms that trap and hold alot of dust:


It's enough animals to start my own zoo!

Amazingly enough, there were 2 more later on down the line, with some clothes, and a few that didn't make it to the wash to begin with. I know I was missing at least one bird and a dog.

It just looked so funny up there, I had to share it.

Have a good Monday!

POM Winners and one more POM recipe

It has been fun, and tasty, messing around with my little bottles of POM juice. So before I announce my winners, here is one last recipe for you, not from the people at POM Wonderful this time, but from fellow Daring Baker and blogger Elle, of Feeding my Enthusiasms. It is her recipe for Rosemary and Garlic POM Steak.

Wow, was this ever nice and tender and flavorful! I grilled up a couple of steaks for company, and served them up with Caesar salad and rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes. What a great combination. We had very little in the way of left overs when we were done and had moved on to cake.

So good I am tempted to only give away one of my POM coupons and make this again soon, but I did promise two coupons and two coupons I will give away!

So the winners are:

Emily B, who entered by comment on my original post, and Jennifer, who entered by sending me an email.

To choose my winners, I went with the tried and true Breadchick version of writing names on paper, though I did not have a cat to have chase those little papers around, I had to pull them from a bowl to get my random winner. Low-tech, I know, but effective!

Emily and Jennifer, emails going out to you right now to get your mailing addresses! Please respond within 48 hours.

And in the meantime, here is Elle's wonderful recipe:

Rosemary and Garlic POM Steak
from Elle of Feeding my Enthusiasms

Your choice of grilling steak (I had 3 decent sized marinating steaks and fed 6 adults and 2 kids, plus one baby with ours)
8 oz. POM Wonderful pomegranate juice (I had a bit less)
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped roughly
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 4)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place the marinade ingredients in a gallon size zipper lock plastic bag. Shake well to mix. Lay the plastic bag in a large baking pan, carefully un-zip and place the steaks in one layer in the marinade. Close plastic bag. Let marinate at room temperature for an hour, then turn the bag over and let the other side marinate for an hour.

Remove steaks from the marinade and discard the marinade. Grill the steaks to the degree of pinkness you desire. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting on the bias. Serve at once.

Menu Plan Monday: Delay posting is helpful!

I'm away today, no where near my computer, and not really interested in trying to type out a post on my ipod. The idea of that gives me finger cramps! Fortunately, I wrote this post early and scheduled it to post at another time, so I can still take part in Menu Plan Monday even when I'm not here. (It is really too bad I didn't do this last week for TFF, which I have before, but I didn't have the chance to do last week. Oh well.)

So last week was iffy. I pushed back my Wednesday to Thursday and my Thursday to Friday. It had to do with time management and a few errands I had to get done but had no extra time to do it. And that's okay, things worked out well. Let's see how I do this week.

Saturday: Company over, a belated Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law, so I made marinated steak with garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes with salad. And a decadent dessert. But dessert doesn't need to be part of my menu plan, does it?

Sunday: More company, again family, but this time from my side instead of my husbands. On the menu, hamburgers, quinoa salad, guacamole and tortilla chips.

Monday: I'm away, not sure what my hubby is making. Probably pasta.

Tuesday: I'm back but back late with no time to get home before the kids and I do our usual Tuesday routine, so chances are this will be take out pizza.

Wednesday: Its bbq time (please, no rain!) so spareribs with broccoli and apple slaw.

Thursday: Chicken cutlets with some kind of salad. Whatever looks good at the time.

Friday: I'm away again, this time with one of my children, so again hubby is in charge. My oldest and I are off in Montreal so he can compete in a rather large Taekwon-Do tournament. Wish him luck!

It is almost time for the local farmer's markets to open around here, which I am very much looking forward to, so expect to see more items on the menu that have inspiration from what I can find at the markets. And for menu's to change because of what pops up at the stands.

Turkey Burgers My Way

When I planned, last week, to make Turkey Burgers for our Friday night dinner, I had a recipe for them. It had been pulled from a magazine and I was going to make it a Magazine Monday entry.

Then I started making the burgers. And things took a detour.

The final result was a very different burger from the recipes, so it becomes my recipe. And hopefully I remember everything that I did to it!

Turkey Cheeseburgers

1 lb lean ground turkey breast
1/3 cup shredded zucchini
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons bottled Ranch Dressing (I used Hidden Valley, my first time buying this kind.)
1/4 cup bread crumbs (you might need a bit more, depending on how much moisture is in your zucchini and dressing.)
kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
4 cheese buns
4 slices Cheddar cheese
small bunch of baby watercress, washed and spun dry
guacamole, your choice of homemade or store bought (I made mine)
ranch dressing for spreading


Preheat your grill to medium - high heat.

In a medium sized bowl, gently mix together, with your hands, the ground turkey, zucchini, cilantro, dressing, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. If the mixture feels too wet, add a touch more bread crumbs, but only a little as you want the patties to still have some moisture in them, you just don't want them so wet that they stick to everything. Divide into 4 equal portions, then gently shape these portions into patties, leaving an indent in the middle of each patty.

Grill 4-5 minutes per side, until the burgers have cooked through but are not dried out. Place a slice of cheese on top of each burger in the last 2 minutes. When the burgers are cooked through, remove them from the heat and let rest for 3 minutes, tented under foil. This will also help melt the cheese a bit more.

Split the cheese buns and then toast them on the grill briefly.

Serve each burger with a bunch of water cress, a heaping tablespoon or so of guacamole (mine was one ripe avocado, mashed with 2 green onions, 2 tablespoons of minced cilantro, salt, pepper, and a good squeeze of lime juice, basically what I had on hand at the time), and a dollop of Ranch dressing. And plenty of napkins.

Fire + Meat = Good

It is a cold and dreary, rainy day outside. So what better day to tell you all about a nice recipe for the bbq?

I have a nice gas bbq. Four burners, a side burner, a good sized grilling surface, in need of cleaning. Lots of room for my grill basket full of marinated flank steak, part of the Vietnamese Grilled Steak Wraps.

Now this recipe came from a cookbook I've had for a few years, a gift from one of my children, but rarely used. The recipes are supposed to be used with a charcoal bbq, preferably one lit with Kingsford briquets, but I like my gas grill. Some decent enough recipes in it, but recipes that might be a bit adventurous for some of my eaters. I love the idea of stuffed cheese burgers, but could never get away with one that had chopped, canned black olives in it. So this book has largely sat unused, on my shelf, for quite awhile.

The steak was the filling for the homemade tortillas I made with my youngest child. It had been marinated, then grilled, then served with some fresh herbs and a syrupy sauce, wrapped in the tortillas. The meat was tasty and tender, though not authentic Vietnamese. Everyone enjoyed the meat and the tortillas, but the fresh herbs were pulled out of the children's wraps, to be left limping at the sides of their plates.

Vietnamese Grilled Steak Wraps
From Great Barbecues with Kingsford

1 beef flank stead(about 1 1/2 pounds)
grated peel and juice of 2 lemons (or limes)
6 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 (8 inch) flour tortillas - we used more than that
6 red leaf lettuce leaves - or one for each tortilla you use
1/3 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves

Cut beef across the grain into thin slices. Combine lemon peel, juice, 2 tablespoons sugar, sesame oil, 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper in medium bowl. Add beef; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Combine water, vinegar, remaining sugar and salt in a small sauce pan; bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes without stirring until syrupy. Stir in red pepper then set aside.

Remove beef from marinade; discard marinade. Thread beef onto metal or soaked wooden skewers (I skipped this part and used my grill basket instead.) Lightly oil hot grill to prevent sticking. Grill beef over medium-hot heat, about 3 minutes per side, until cooked through. Warm tortillas over grill.

Place lettuce, beef, mint and cilantro on tortillas, drizzle with vinegar mixture. Roll tortillas to enclose filling.

Better in theory than in practice

I can't remember where I got the idea for this, turkey kabobs with a little ball of mozzarella cheese tucked in the center. Such a nice idea, some Italian style seasonings in the meat mixture, the moist creaminess of the cheese inside.

What a bummer that these ended up boring and bland, and that most of the cheese bubbled out of the kabobs.

Since this ended up being a dud for me, I didn't bother keeping my notes on what I put into it. I know there was garlic, salt and pepper, probably an egg and a handful of break crumbs. I think some dried oregano. Whatever it was, it wasn't enough to give the meat any moisture or flavor.

Now the yellow beans, on the other hand, were a nice bright punch of flavor and texture. Good thing I made alot of them, since they ended up being the centerpiece to our dinner.

Punchy Yellow Beans
serves 4 as a side (or 2 as a main when your kabobs don't work)

1 1/2 pounds trimmed yellow beans
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
juice of 1 lemon, divided
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the garlic, oil and the juice of half of the lemon in a large bowl, along with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Place the beans in a sauté pan with 1/2 a cup of water. Cover and bring to a boil, letting the beans steam slightly, for 2-3 minutes. Remove the lid and toss the beans to make sure none of the beans is over cooked. You want a slight bite to the beans, not mush.

When the beans are tender but still firm, drain any remaining water and add the beans to the bowl with the garlic and oil. Toss well to coat, then taste. Need more lemon? Add another squirt. Need more salt? Add a bit more. Enjoy as a side, or a main. Good cold too.

Yes, we do eat more than dessert around here (and a meme)

I know it doesn't look like it lately, what with all the flour, butter and sugar seen on my blog in the last week.

People who've read my blog for awhile now know that I usually have a menu plan for the week. It's been a little off lately, but essentially the plan is still there, though it has been only 1-2 days ahead lately - for example I know what I'm going to make on Thursday for dinner (pre soccer game) but still don't know what I'm going to make tomorrow night.

Last week was a bit like that - I knew I was going to make some kind of "fajitas" using pork for Thursday's dinner, but that was it. If I'd have been thinking a bit further ahead, I'd have marinated my pork the day before. Instead I looked at my plan and remembered to take the tenderloins out of the freezer the day before.


Hey at least I remembered that!

I remembered to write down what I put into my marinate, and would strongly recommend that if you make this that you let the meat marinate for a good full day. I only ended up with 5 hours, and it was still good. But it would be sooooo much better if it had time to penetrate further.

I served this tasty pork on flour tortillas with Montery Jack cheese, fresh cilantro, a homemade guacamole, green onions and a bit of sour cream. The kids added salsa to theirs and skipped the guacamole.

Guacamole doesn't look pretty but sure tastes good. Especially homemade guacamole.

So bonus to everyone today - two recipes from me! But you have to read after the meme to get to them. (Is that cheating?)

My new friend Megan tagged me for this 5 Things about you meme, so here goes!

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing ten years ago?
Sick as could be with my firstborn child. Morning sickness is a myth - try all day sickness instead. For 9 1/2 months.

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

1. Write up and publish TWD recipe.
2. Get Subway orders organized and delivered for the school lunch next week.

3. Laundry, laundry and more laundry.

4. Pick up something to make for early dinner since it is a soccer practice night. And for fyi, steak sandwiches with home made sweet potato "fries."

5. Clean downstairs bathroom.

5 Snacks I enjoy:

1. chips and dip

2. asian pears

3. chocolate

4. popcorn with extra butter

5. marble cheese

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Culinary school and cooking vacations from around the world. After I’d done all the practical things first.

Places I have lived:
Calgary, Alberta; Germany (army bases); Brampton, Mississauga, Ottawa, North Bay, Pembroke, all in Ontario

Jobs I have had:
Burger King and McDonalds, as well Dairy Queen, as a teenager.

Cashier at a corner store, doing both opening and closing shifts in the same week.

Temp agencies, doing this and that, including one where I spend several days cleaning up someone’s files, and one for Canon where they paid me to load paper into printers over and over again.

Direct Mail facility. Yes, I sent out addressed and unaddressed junk mail. And learned a bit about how to deal with my children’s temper tantrums by having to deal with sales rep temper tantrums.

Stay-at-home-parent. Still mostly doing this, though with a part time job now, and a lot of volunteer work with the school. (Does laminating slave count as a job?)

Play-leader. Silly title for a preschool program. I do crafts with kids, and sing songs and do finger plays in circle with them. I get to color and play playdough as well, and I make a very good Lincoln Logs house.

Now I'm supposed to tag 5 people. Not sure if I can find people who haven't been tagged yet. So I'm going to go back to some of my first blogging friends and hope I didn't retag them.

Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict
Lis of La Mia Cucina
Mary of The Sour Dough
Helen of Tartelette
Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas

Now for recipes!

Guacamole

3 ripe avacados, chunked
1/2 red onion, diced small
big handful of fresh cilantro, chopped fine
1 tsp minced garlic
big sprinkling of kosher salt
heaping tablespoon salsa (I used a fresh made kind, but use whatever you have)
juice of half a lime (zest too if you want.)

Place everything together in a bowl and mush it together with a spoon. How mushy depends on how you like your salsa. Leave it chunky if you like it chunky, or mush it fine if you like it smoother. Mine was somewhere in between.

Pork Fajitas

zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon of honey
juice of 3 limes
2 tablespoons finally chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pork tenderloins

Mix marinate ingredients together and place in a large ziploc bag. Add tenderloins and allow to marinate, turning occasionally, for at least 12 hours. The longer the better.

Preheat bbq to medium heat. Grill tenderloins, turning frequently, until desired doneness. I wanted a touch of pink left in mine for moisture.

Allow to rest for 10 minutes under a foil tent before slicing thinly on the diagonal. Serve with guacamole on flour tortillas with choice of toppings. Good toppings are more fresh cilantro, green onions, cheese, salsa, sour cream, sauted onions.