Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches with Sherry Vinaigrette and Manchego on Ciabatta

A Bobby Flay Boy Meets Grill masterpiece! This grilled veggie sandwich makes for a meal that is summery and so satisfying! This is more of a Shea specialty because of the grill work required but I'm working on that. Our 3 year old couldn't get enough of this meal so it is also pretty kid friendly once sliced.

Ingredients:
3 Japanese eggplants, sliced in half lengthwise
3 red bell peppers
1 red onion, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
1 large beefsteak tomato, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
extra virgin olive oil or canola oil for grilling
salt and pepper
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves plus 2 to 3 tablespoons torn leaves, for garnish
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling bread
1 loaf of ciabatta, sliced in lengthwise
Sherry Vinaigrette, recipe follows
8 slices Manchego cheese

Directions:
Heat grill to high. Brush eggplant, peppers, onion and tomato slices with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill eggplant, tomato and onion on both sides until slightly charred and just cooked through. Grill peppers on all sides until charred, remove from the grill, place in a brown paper bag and let rest for 10 minutes. Remove skin from the peppers and cute into 1-inch slices. Cut the eggplant, tomato and onion into large dice.
Whisk garlic, 1/4 cup chopped parsley and 1/2 cup olive oil together in a large bowl. Add the cut vegetables to the bowl and let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Drizzle cut sides of ciabatta with 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill cut side down for 1 to 2 minutes. Brush grilled bread with some Sherry Vinaigrette and then layer on the mixed vegetables and Manchego. Drizzle with more vinaigrette and top with torn parsley. Place other piece of bread on top, wrap sandwich in foil and place on grill with 2 foil wrapped bricks on top (we've never done the brick part, never had the bricks laying around) for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from grill and foil and cut sandwich crosswise into 2-inch thick slices.

Sherry Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup aged sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Whisk all ingredients together in medium bowl. Season to taste, with salt and pepper.

Avocado and Yogurt Dip with Jalapeno and Cilantro

This dip is great for spring and summer. A nice alternative to the usual guacamole. The recipe doesn't call for lime but I think it needs the extra flavor because it is so creamy. Tastes great with chips, pita chips or veggies. Make sure to read directions ahead of time. It recommends straining the yogurt overnight. Recipe is from Epicurious.

Ingredients:
1 16 ounce container of Plain Nonfat Yogurt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 large avocado, peeled, halved pitted and coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons minced jalapeno
1 small garlic clove minced
1 lime

Directions:
Set strainer over medium bowl; line with double layer of cheese cloth. Place yogurt in cloth-lined strainer. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill over night.

Discard liquid drained from yogurt. Transfer yogurt to processor. Stir cumin in small dry skillet over medium-low heat, until fragrant. Add cumin to processor, then avocado, 3 tablespoons cilantro, jalapeno and garlic, process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer dip to small bowl. Can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead. Place plastic wrap onto surface of dip and chill. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro, squeeze lime over and serve.

Tilapia Soft Tacos with Chipotle Yogurt Sauce

The touch of cinnamon in this soft taco recipe, is really what makes the difference. Fish tacos always remind me of summer, I love them. We had these last night for Taco Tuesday. Delicioso!

Ingredients:
Mission Low Carb-Soft Taco size flour tortillas
1 lb. tilapia fillets
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cloves of garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
shredded cabbage

Chipotle Yogurt Sauce:
2 cans chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (minced and seeded)
1 cup Greek Yogurt, plain

Directions:
Mix the chipotle yogurt sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
In a skillet set on medium-high heat add the 7 ingredients from the olive oil to the cilantro. Saute for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, add the tilapia and cover. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until fish is done. Tilapia does not take long. Add in lime juice and cook for an additional 1 minute. Heat the tortillas on the stove burner, add cabbage, fish, top with chipotle yogurt. Serve alone or with a side of black beans.

Spicy Turkey Burger

This burger is the BEST turkey burger you will ever eat...if you like zesty flavor and a lot of spice! This is not for the faint of heart. My husband got a grill bug and felt like grilling last weekend. He went to the store and came home to make us this amazing tasting burger. We don't have burger's that often but I know what a good burger tastes like! In fact, I would even say this rivals a Five Guys burger. I had no idea it was ground turkey when I first sunk my teeth into it, it was so good. We had left over ground turkey so we fired up the grill again last night. It looks like a Valentine's Day meal with the hot pink mess on the side but that was actually roasted beets with Greek yogurt dressing. Recipe for roasted beets coming soon but for now, do yourself a favor and make this burger.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. lean ground turkey

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

2 fresh green chile peppers, diced

1 medium red onion, diced

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons, paprika

1 tablespoon ground dry mustard

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Preheat the grill for high heat. In a bowl, mix the ground turkey, garlic, ginger, chile peppers, red onion, cilantro, salt, soy sauce, black pepper, paprika, mustard, cumin, and Worcestershire sauce. Form the mixture into 8 burger patties. Place turkey burgers on the grill, and cook 5-10 minutes per side, until well done.

BBQ Chicken Salad

After a Saturday FULL of hearty Italian food made by my father-in-law and carrot cake to celebrate birthdays, a salad was in order. I've made this a few times before and it's pretty easy to memorize as well as modify to your liking or whatever's in the fridge. It's pretty similar to Cheesecake Factory's BBQ Chicken Salad but I did get the recipe from Neda. Last night we forewent the avocado and it was still great.

Ingredients:

Romaine Lettuce

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, cooked and cut into small strips (I bake mine with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper or you can boil it)

1 Cucumber, peeled and chopped

Tomatoes, diced

1 can black beans

Corn, toasted

Avocado

French's Crispy Onion Strings

BBQ sauce

Light Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

Directions:

Put corn on a baking sheet and broil for just a few minutes, until nice and toasted.

In a bowl, mix equal parts ranch dressing and BBQ sauce to make dressing.

Toss the lettuce, corn, tomato, cucumber, black beans and chicken together.

Serve and top each bowl with dressing, avocado slices and a handful of crispy onions strings.

Kale Chips

I know, I know...this just looks like a bunch of leaves BUT, let me assure you that as the saying goes, you can't eat just one of these bad boys. They are pretty addicting. I 1ST heard of them from a couple of friends on FB who shared the recipe. We do love kale in our house, and we've had a lot of it in the fridge this week so I decided to make some use of it and try these chips once and for all. Glad I did! I have to admit, I didn't think the recipe called for enough salt for some reason so I did oversalt mine a little. Stick to the recipe and add more after you taste if necessary. This recipe is also on All Recipes and has many high reviews.

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon seasoned salt (I used Lawry's seasoned salt-I imagine sea salt would be good if you don't have seasoned salt)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.

With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner (I don't have a salad spinner so I just dried with paper towels).

Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.

Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10-15 minutes.

Authentic Pasta Carbonara

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! This is most definitely my favorite pasta dish of all time. It's so simple with only a few ingredients but it can be tricky. When it is done right, you end up with a delicious and flavorful pasta that is light yet salty and dense at the same time. This recipe comes from Cathe Laurie on the Virtue web-site. Photos are also courtesy of Virtue. I tried taking my own but with our horrible apartment lighting and my point and shoot camera, the pasta was just looking funky.

Ingredients:

1/2 box of spaghetti

Hunk of pancetta or thick cut bacon (I use the Trader Joe's Pancetta that is already cut into little matchstick size square pieces)

Extra virgin olive oil

2 eggs

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (love the nutty flavor of this cheese-one of our staples for pasta)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped Italian parsley to top, optional

Directions:

Put the pasta into a pot of lightly salted, boiling water.

Cut the pancetta into quarter-inch matchsticks and place into a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon or 2 of olive oil.

While the pancetta and spaghetti is cooking, break the eggs into a mixing bowl. Add half a handful of freshly grated Parm.-Reggiano and a pinch or two of black pepper. Beat the mixture together, just enough to combine everything evenly.

Since the pancetta will only take about 5-10 minutes to brown nicely, turn down the heat to low until you're ready to assemble the dish. Once the spaghetti is cooked, strain it and add to the egg mixture. Add a small handful of cheese and toss the mixture well with a couple of forks until the spaghetti is coated.

Immediately turn the heat back up on the pancetta for 30 seconds, until it's sizzling, then pour off half the fat. Add the pancetta and remaining fat onto the pasta and sprinkle with more cheese, and some pepper. Let it sit for about 30 seconds before mixing; if the pancetta is too hot, the sauce won't blend well.

Serve in a clean bowl. Traditionally, the bowl that the pasta was mixed in is served to your guest. This is the "originale", which has the good stuff at the bottom and is considered a special blessing!

No Need to Roast these Cherry Tomatoes...

I have no idea what this recipe is called but the hubby and I crave it at least once or twice a week! It comes from the kitchen of my BFF Elishia. She recently taught me how to make them when I was visiting her. They are to-die for and healthy! A great low carb side dish that you can fill your plate up with. These are so easy and quick to make. They also taste great with a little bit of blue cheese sprinkled on top but you have to be careful not to put too much because it takes away from the flavor of the tomatoes and their simple ingredients. We've had them both ways and prefer them w/out the blue cheese.

Ingredients:

1 entire container of cherry or grape tomatoes (you can use either but I prefer grape tomatoes because they are smaller by about 1/2 inch and easier)

about 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of fresh, minced garlic

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (the amount here is preference so just eyeball it)

Directions:

In a medium pan, "infuse" the olive oil with garlic and red pepper. To do this you just let the olive oil heat up on low and then simmer with the garlic and red pepper flakes in it for about 10 minutes or so. Add your tomatoes and cook on medium-low for 15 minutes or until they are all popped. You can tell when they are ready by touching them with a fork to see if they are nice and soft.

As you can see, it's not a difficult recipe and you can really make it your own. Try it. You'll like it!