Saucy Italian Burgers

I saw this recipe on the Rachel Ray show the other day. I literally said "YUM!" while she was making it!

I printed hers out, made some adjustments for me, and served my family that night with my fingers crossed...

... They literally groaned with yummmm's!

This recipe was super-duper easy, took less than 20 minutes, and thoroughly yummified my whole family. It will be a regular on our meal plan from now on.

I used my favorite recipe for meatballs for the burger portion of this dish. If you have a favorite meatballs recipe, by all means use it.

Italian Burgers

1 pound ground meat - I use ground turkey but you can use ground beef, if you prefer
1/3 cup Italian spiced bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 garlic clove minced OR 1 tsp prepared minced garlic
1/8-1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried parsley)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups spaghetti sauce
1 16oz ball of fresh mozzarella
6 ciabatta rolls, halved
Fresh arugula, if desired

Preheat your broiler to LOW or preheat your oven to 450*F. Also preheat a pan to cook your burgers - I used my stove-top grill.

Mix by hand ground meat, bread crumbs, Parmesan, milk, egg, garlic, parsley, salt & pepper in a large bowl.

Use your hand to separate the mixture into 2 equal-ish halves. Then use your hand again to separate each half into 3 piece-of-pie-shaped wedges. You should end up with 6 fairly equal portions.

Shape each portion into a burger patty, slightly indenting the very center. Place on a preheated grill (or in a skillet) and cook. Mine took about 7 minutes on each side.

While the burgers are cooking, heat your favorite spaghetti sauce in a large skillet (not a saucepan!).

On a baking sheet, lay out your ciabatta rolls, halved. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. You can sprinkle them with garlic salt & Parmesan cheese, if desired. Place in the oven & bake until lightly toasted along the edges. Don't overcook!!

Remove ciabatta rolls from oven. Set the tops aside. Leave the bottoms on the baking pan, next to the skillet with the spaghetti sauce in it.

When the burgers are done, move them directly from the grill/pan to the spaghetti sauce in the skillet. Turn them over & over a few times in the spaghetti sauce, until well-coated. Place one sauced burger patty on each ciabatta roll bottom.

Slice the mozzarella ball & place slices on top of the sauced burger patties.

Return them to the oven until the cheese has melted.

Top with arugula, if desired.

Top with the ciabatta roll tops and serve!

These were perfect with a salad. Enjoy!!

Grilled Tri-Tip Roast

Seriously - doesn't that picture say "Summer Grilling"??

Tri-tip is a favorite cut around our house. It's not the cheapest cut, I know, but it's flavor & tenderness are amazing!

We usually cook our tri-tip in the crock pot with balsamic vinegar, garlic & spices. (recipe to come later) But since it's summer (and to be honest, I hadn't planned ahead for dinner...), we decided to grill it.



I am SO glad we did! It was tender, juicy & so flavorful - especially the crusty bits on the outside.

Watch for tri-tip on sale, store it in your freezer & plan on grilling some this summer!

We served this with a parmesan risotto & broccoli. It would be good with anything, really. Your favorite picnic sides or some fancier sides - it's that good.

I combined a couple of recipes I found online on foodnetwork.com, then adjusted them to fit our family's tastes.


Enjoy! :)


Grilled Tri-Tip Roast

2 tri-tip roasts, approx. 1.5 lbs each

Generous amount of seasoning salt (we used Emeril's & a little Lawry's - use your favorite or make your own)


Preheat your grill to 450*F.

Dust the roasts generously with seasoning salt all over & rub in gently.

Place the roasts on the grill, fatty side down.

Grill for 20 minutes total, turning about every 2-3 minutes, for a juicy medium rare. (about 130*F internal temp)

Remove from grill, cover & let rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing & serving.

Slice at an angle against the grain of the meat.


Serving suggestions:


Slice very thin & serve over salad.

Slice thinly & serve in tortillas with fresh salsa, avocado & lime.

Cut into smaller pieces, glaze with BBQ spices/sauce & grill.



Robert Irvine's BBQ Spice Rub (if you want to make your own)

1-2 Tblsp each:

Worcestershire sauce

black pepper

salt

garlic, minced

chili pepper

onion salt

ground cumin

ground cilantro


Coat tri-tip with rub & place in a bowl in the refrigerator for 1 hour before grilling per instructions above.

Grilled Steak Salad

This one is a no-brainer - steak, hot off the grill, a lucious salad & Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits (recipe above). YUMMM!!!

I got New York strip steaks on sale at the grocery store in a value-pak of 4 steaks - just $13.96 for the 4-pack - and I always have salad greens on-hand in my fridge. Watch for steak on sale & take advantage of a great deal for this yummy summer dinner.

It's a perfect summer meal that's healthy too, ready in under 20 minutes.

Grilled Steak Salad
Serves 6

4 New York strip steaks, about 3 lbs
Montreal Steak seasoning
1 lb. pre-packaged salad greens (I used a "spring greens" mix)
2 green onions, chopped
2 radishes, sliced thinly
1 carrot, shredded or julienned (I used pre-packaged shredded carrots)
1/4 cup glazed walnuts
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella (or monterey jack or colby)
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2 Tbsps roasted, salted, shelled sunflower seeds

• 1/2 hour before grilling, place steaks, in packaging, on kitchen counter to warm up a bit.



• Heat grill to 400*F.



• Place steaks on hot grill to sear. (Once they're down, don't move them until you're going to turn them!)



• Turn heat down to medium.



• Cook steaks for 8 minutes.



• Turn steaks & grill for 4 minutes more.



• Remove from grill to a platter. Cover loosely with foil. Allow steaks to rest for 5 minutes.



• Slice steaks against the grain & return to platter.



• Serve a few strips per person over salad.

While steaks are grilling, assemble your salad. We used the ingredients noted above, but you can build your green salad to match your family's tastes.

We used ranch dressing on our salad 'cause that's what we like best. Your favorite dressing or a squeeze of lemon plus a drizzle of olive oil would be delicious too.

Don't forget the cheesy garlic biscuits! Recipe shown above.

Enjoy!!

Turkey & Bacon Sliders

I was browsing my favorite blogs the other day & I came across THESE on The Pioneer Woman's website. Holy moly. They looked SO good, I had to make some sliders ASAP!!

Hers are beef, wrapped in bacon & baked on a broiler pan. It was a warm day & I didn't want to turn on my oven so I just cooked the turkey patties on my stove-top grill pan and cooked the bacon in the microwave. (Do you have the Presto Microwave Bacon cooker?? You should!)

We shucked some corn & cooked it up, and sliced some ice-cold watermelon too. It felt & looked like Summer on a plate.

Enjoy! :)

Turkey & Bacon Sliders
Serves 6

2 lbs ground turkey
1 16oz pkg bacon, cooked & set aside (you can snap these in half to make it easier to place them on the sliders, if you want)
6 slices cheese, cut in half (white American, Provolone, Swiss, Pepper Jack, etc)
Emeril's Original Essence (or your favorite spice blend for burgers)
12 whole wheat dinner rolls

Toppings:
red onion, sliced very thin
lettuce
sliced tomato
1000 Island dressing (or ketchup, if you're my kids)

1. Shape ground turkey into patties about the size of your palm. Don't overwork the meat - just lightly shape them & then leave them alone.



2. Sprinkle with Emeril's seasonings (or your favorite). Don't work the seasoning into the ground turkey. This overworks the meat & makes your turkey patties dry. Just sprinkle it on the outside.



3. Place on grill over medium-high heat. Cook about 4 minutes each side, depending upon thickness. Make sure they're cooked through - No pink inside turkey burgers!!



4. Just before they're done cooking on the second side, lay 2 pieces of cooked bacon on top. Lay a half-slice of cheese over the bacon. The cheese will melt down & get all yummy & gooey. It also keeps the bacon in place.



5. Slice 12 dinner rolls in half. Place a turkey patty w/cheese on each roll's bottom half.



6. Build your slider with your favorite toppings. Serve & enjoy!

You can always make these with a different ground meat. Beef or lamb would be yummy! Experiment with seasonings & flavors: Greek with the ground lamb, or add some BBQ to beef-bacon sliders.

Grilled Lemon Chicken

LOVED this new recipe!!! It's always great to have another recipe for chicken breasts, right?

Next time, I'll make this outdoors. My indoor grill pan worked beautifully, but it was smoky & the house had a bit of a haze going until we opened the windows. This will be perfect for spring & summer grilling at our house. If you have an outdoor-venting fan above your stovetop, you could make this without the smoke being a problem.

I found this recipe in a mail-order recipe club advertisement. I threw away the club membership offer, but kept the recipe. Glad I did!!

Grilled Lemon Chicken
Serves 4

1 lemon - zest & juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I used dried parsley, about 1 tsp)
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 4-6 ozs each

• Into a large bowl, combine the lemon zest & juice, olive oil, garlic, parsley, thyme, salt & pepper. Add chicken breasts to the bowl and use your hands to evenly distribute lemon mixture all over the chicken breasts, until well-coated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes minimum or overnight, if you have time.
  

• When you're ready to cook, preheat grill/griddle to medium heat. Put marinated chicken breasts on the griddle. Reserve marinade.
  

• Cook chicken until cooked through, about 10 minutes per side, or until internal temperature reaches 170*F. Brush with remaining marinade 2-3 times during cooking. (I didn't do this at all & it was still delicious)
  

I served this with angel hair pasta & broccoli with pesto sauce. I added the zest & juice of 1 lemon to jarred pesto sauce, then stirred it into the hot broccoli & pasta. YUMMM!!!

This chicken would be great all by itself, but you could also pair it with a salad and/or your favorite veggies.

Enjoy!!

The White House Chef's Turkey Patties

This recipe for Turkey Patties is from an article in Family Circle magazine found here. It was created by White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford as part of the "Let's Move" initiative.

The benefits to these patties are first, taste - SO delicious! Second, lower in calories & fat than traditional turkey patties. Third, they're super easy to make.

I used traditional plain breadcrumbs since I didn't have any Panko crumbs on-hand.

My family declared this recipe: "a definite KEEP!"

The White House Chef's Turkey Patties

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/4 cup panko crumbs
• 1 egg white
• 2 Tbsp minced scallions
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (if you use dried, check the package to figure out the proper amount to use)
• Zest & juice from 1 lemon
• non-stick spray

1. In a large bowl, combine ground turkey with panko, egg white, scallions, garlic, soy sauce, parsley, lemon zest & juice. (I'd do this with your hands so you don't break down the meat too much. If you break ground turkey down too much, it becomes grainy.)
2. Shape into 4 equal patties.
3. Spray large skillet or grill pan with non-stick spray. Heat over medium heat. (Don't put patties on a cool skillet. Make sure the skillet is fully heated before placing the patties.)
4. Cook turkey patties for about 5-7 minutes on each side or until cooked through.
5. Serve.

We had these with rice pilaf & veggies.

Enjoy!

7-UP Chicken Marinade

SO good!! This is a marinade recipe for grilled chicken, meaning I've never baked it or cooked it in a skillet. I suppose you could, I've just never tried it. Besides, the grill brings out the flavors so well & makes those caramelized dark bits on the outside that I just couldn't do without!

You can marinate the chicken up to 24 hours in advance. I'd suggest marinating for as long as you can before you grill it to be sure the flavor is saturated.



7-UP Chicken Marinade

1 can 7-UP (or Sprite)
1 cup soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder or minced garlic
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Place chicken pieces in a zip-top bag that is resting in a large bowl. Pour in marinade ingredients. Firmly seal the zip-top bag & store in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.

NOTE: The soda will fizz up quite a bit, so pour it in slowly & hold the bag firmly. I put the zip-top bag in a bowl first before starting this recipe & leave it in there while the chicken is marinating, just in case of leaks.

Soak the chicken in the marinade for up to 24 hours before grilling.


Grill boneless skinless breasts on a medium grill for 6-8 minutes per side.




You can also use chicken tenderloins for this recipe.

We serve it with a salad, corn on the cob & garlic bread. Enjoy!