Grilled Mozzarella Sandwich

B an is sick of the same old lunches when we are home on the weekends, so trying to find some new alternatives to mix it.  This was DELICIOUS!!!  and it's super quick and easy!!!

Ingredients:

4 slices sourdough bread

Pesto

4oz mozzarella cheese, sliced

1 large tomato, sliced

2oz roasted red peppers, jarred

Spread the pesto equally on the 4 slices of bread and place two slices of bread on the panini maker or in a toaster oven for 2 minutes.

Then place the mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and roasted red peppers on top of two bread slices and allow the cheese to melt and the veggies to soften, keeping the panini maker open.

Once the cheese starts to melt, add the second slices on top to close the sandwiches, then close the panini maker for 2-3 minutes. Remove, slice in half and serve immediately

Caramelized Onion Dip

It was Lori's 50th Birthday party tonight and we each brought an app!!  I always scarf this down when my neighbor makes it, so had to try it for the party!!!  It was a HUGE hit!!!!

Makes 12 servings - great for party!!!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 medium size yellow onions
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 2 teaspoons each salt and sugar
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 12 ounces sour cream
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 clove fresh garlic, grated (optional)
• fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced, to taste
• a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce (!!) to taste
• 2 bags Ripple Potato Chips

1. Prep: Peel the onions and slice them very thinly.
2. Sauté: Heat the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, sprinkle with salt and sugar, and saute for 10-15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Pour a little bit of wine in and let it sizzle out. Stir, add wine, sizzle, etc. After about 30 minutes, your onions should be deeply golden brown and fragrant.
3. Chop the onions: Transfer onions to a cutting board and chop coarsely into small pieces – or just use a kitchen scissors and snip them up right in the pan.
4. Mix: In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese and sour cream with a hand mixer or a spoon (depending on how soft the cream cheese is). Stir in the onions and a handful of fresh parsley. Taste and season – if you want just a little sumthin extra, add a small splash (like, a tablespoon or less) of soy sauce and/or Worcestershire, or a clove of freshly grated garlic. YUM. Creamy and so flavorful! You can serve this warm-ish or cold – I love it both ways!

NOTES

I also like this with a mayo base, so sometimes I’ll swap half of the sour cream or cream cheese for an equal amount of mayo!

I used Sauvignon Blanc for the wine. If you don’t have wine or don’t want to use it, water works fine, too. The goal is to deglaze the pan as you go and keep the onions from getting overly dried and browned. The liquid helps them stay juicy and caramely. If you use water, you might find that you want to add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end to get a little bit of acidity in there.

Blackberry Bacon Grilled Cheese

I'm on the hunt for something for weekend lunches (outside of the normal meat/cheese sandwich) for B Man, so he helped me pick out this recipe.  We all LOVED it!!  It was super yummy :)

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 2 pieces sourdough bread
• 4 slices Swiss cheese
• 4 pieces bacon, cooked
• 1/2 jalapeno, sliced (*for less spice, remove seeds)
• 3 Tablespoons blackberry jam

Butter one side of each slice of bread.  Place bread, butter side down, in skillet

Top one piece of bread with cheese, bacon, and jalapenos

Top the other piece of bread with blackberry jam.

Put sandwich together; grill over medium heat, flipping after 4-5 minutes.

Grill until both sides are golden brown and cheese is melted

Mahi Mahi in Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

I have been in a recipe rut so got this from a friend -- it was ok...the Mahi Mahi was a little chewy but the sauce was delicious so would love to put this on top of tilapia next time!!!  It was really good - maybe Rossy overcooked the fish hahahaha  Excited to try this one again -- especially during Lent!!

Ingredients

Fish

• 4-5 mahi mahi fillets 4-6 oz. each, 1-inch thick
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Spice Rub

• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tsp EACH garlic powder, onion powder, salt, paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

• 3 tablespoons minced shallots
• 3-4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 1/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp EACH dried parsley, dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice more or less to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Garnish (optional)

• freshly chopped chives

Instructions

• Mix together all of the Spice Rub ingredients in a medium bowl. Pat mahi mahi dry and rub spices into the fish.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat in a large heavy bottom skillet. Once hot, add fillets, turn heat down to medium and cook approximately 4 minutes, flip fillets over, then cook an addition 2-4 minutes to your liking (it will depend on thickness,; mahi-mahi should reach an internal temperature of 137°F). If fish is browning too quickly, then turn down the heat. Remove mahi mahi to a plate and tent with foil.
• If needed, drain oil from skillet so you are left with about 1 tablespoon oil. Add shallot and sauté while scraping up the drippings for 2 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds.
• Whisk chicken broth with cornstarch and add to skillet along with heavy cream, lemon juice, thyme and parsley. Simmer until reduced by half and slightly thickened, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1/4 teaspoon each) and add additional lemon juice if desired.
• Nestle mahi mahi fillets back into the skillet and spoon sauce over the fillets. Garnish with fresh chives and/or parsley (optional). Serve immediately with rice, mashed potatoes or pasta.

Valentines Day lunch idea

I'm always looking for fun ideas to surprise the boys, so here is this years Valentine's Day lunch :)

 

Steak and Pesto Flatbread

Since I don't like pizza I always try to find new recipes for flatbread and this was AMAZING!!!  SUPER YUMMY!!!

Ingredients:

4 Naan Breads

3/4 cup pesto

1/2 cup top sirloin steak

1 tablespoon butter

8oz soft mozzarella cheese, cut into pieces

2 large brown onions

2 tablespoons avocado oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

For sauce:

2 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1 large garlic clove

salt and pepper to taste

For flatbread construction:

1/4 cup homemade sauce

1/2 cup provolone/mozzarella blend divided

2 tablespoons shallots, minced

1 cup spinach

5oz medium rare filet, thinly sliced

1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles

2oz fresh mozzarella shredded

 

Dirt Cup Dessert

 Evan had a camping themed birthday party so I had to have his bday dessert to match!!!  These were easy and the kids loved them!!!

• 1 3.9 ounce package chocolate instant pudding mix
• 2 cups cold milk
• 1 8 ounce whipped topping
• 20 Oreo cookies finely crushed, with filling removed
• 10 gummy worms

• Whisk together pudding and milk in a medium bowl for 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.
• Fold in whipped topping into chocolate pudding
• Spoon into 10 {6 oz} plastic cups.
• Top with the remaining cookie crumbs.
• Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Top with 2 gummy worms each just before serving