Customer Recipe: Zesty Lemon Balsamic Meatloaf

A big Thank You to Jill P. For this meatloaf redux!

So shake up your usual meatloaf with a couple additions. Balsamic inside and out!

I mix the balsamic in with my eggs and fresh herbs (photo) before I add to the meat and vegetables.

The recipe calls for two tablespoons of traditional balsamic but I felt that the zesty lemon works better.  The glaze is one half of a cup of ketchup to one quarter of a cup of balsamic.  Again the lemon is really good here too.

As for the glaze I mix the two and spoon/spread on the shaped loaves then bake.  The glaze darkens to a rich red color and the taste is the best.

Lemon Onion Chicken

I love the Zesty Lemon Balsamic on roast chicken. I thought it would be just as good on a slow cooked chicken. And it is! It just needs a little bit of something else. I thought why not mint!

Lemon Onion Chicken

6 boneless chicken thighs
3 tbsp Zesty Lemon Balsamic
2 medium onions, quartered
1 tbsp Garlic Olive Oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp fresh chopped mint
     or 1 tsp dried
1/2 medium lemon
1 tbsp Basiks Hunter's Blend

Add the chicken broth and the onions to the slow cooker. Rub the chicken with the olive oil and sprinkle with the Hunter's Blend and mint. Spread any extra spices around with the onions. Juice the 1/2 lemon and stir it in as well, but don't throw out the rest of the lemon! Nestle it down at the very bottom of the pot.

Put the chicken in with the onions and mix it all up. Coat everything with a layer of balsamic. Use a pastry brush for the best coverage, or just drizzle it in and stir well.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Sesame Salmon

I had some salmon in the fridge, a raging hunger and not much else going on. There is only so much raw parsley you can eat before you feel much too fresh.

I popped open a can of sliced potatoes and tossed this together in about 2 minutes. I thought it was fantastic! I hope you do too!

Sesame Salmon

1 salmon fillet
1 can sliced new potatoes
     or 8-10 quartered red potatoes
salt & pepper
1 tbsp fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
sesame seeds
2-3 tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil
2 tbsp Zesty Lemon Balsamic

Preheat your oven to 400degrees.

Spread half the Sesame Oil in the bottom of a casserole pan large enough to hold everything semi spread out. Add the potatoes and toss them to coat them in the oil.

If you are using canned potatoes, proceed to the next paragraph. If you are using regular potatoes, sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper and pop them in the oven for 10 minutes.

Add the salmon to the pan. drizzle the rest of the oil and the balsamic over everything. Sprinkle the fish with the salt and pepper and toss the sesame seeds over everything. Mix in about a tbsp of chopped parsley to the potatoes.

Bake for about 20 minutes. The salmon should flake easily when you poke it with a fork. (If you have a very thin piece of fish, try it after 15 minutes, try a really thick one after 25.)

Garnish with parsley and devour.

Zesty Lemon Strawberries

I had some strawberries in the fridge that were just begging to be eaten.

So eat them I did!

Zesty Lemon Strawberries

1 pint strawberries

1/4 cup cream cheese(or marscapone)

2-3 tbsp Zesty Lemon Balsamic

Chop off the greens and take the center from the strawberries. This leaves a little cup that is perfect for a little dollop of your cream cheese.

Drizzle with Zesty Lemon Balsamic. 

Eat.

Balsamic Apple Rings with Cheese

I wanted to serve an apple-something other than applesauce with pork chops the other day. This turned out so well, I'm going to serve it without the pork chops from now on!

Balsamic Apple Rings with Cheese

1 large sweet apple, cored and sliced
1 tbsp Zesty Lemon Balsamic
White Cheddar, sliced thinly
mint leaves

Heat a small, non-stick sauce pan to medium heat. Place the apple rings inside and cook for a little bit, maybe 2 minutes.

The slices should be getting a little soft and it should start to smell very apple-y. Add the Lemon Balsamic and turn the apple to coat. Continue to cook another minute, but be careful to keep your your heat to a medium, medium low so it doesn't burn.

Center a small slice of cheese on one apple slice and stack another apples slice on top of that. I try to make each stack no more than 3-4 sliced high, I can usually get two stacks out of one apple. Let cook until the cheese has melted.

Serve warm with some mint leaves for garnish.

Warm Shrimp Salad

This is a per person recipe. I have made this for just me and I've made this for a group. It works as an appetizer or a main meal. It all depends on how much shrimp you put on!

Warm Shrimp Salad

5-7 Shrimp,cooked
1/2 tomatillo, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1/2 red or orange pepper, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
Black Pepper
1 1/2 tbsp Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
3 cups spring mix
1 tbsp Zesty Lemon Balsamic

Warm the Meyer Lemon Olive Oil in a saute pan. Add in the garlic and saute 1-2 minutes. Place the shrimp in the pan and sprinkle with a generous amount of black pepper.

Saute for about 5 minutes, turning once.

Assemble the salad. Toss the spring mix with with onion, pepper and tomatillo. Lay the shrimp on top and drizzle with the Zesty Lemon Balsamic.

Balsamic Baked Potatoes

Balsamic Baked Potatoes
adapted from The Noble Pig

You can do this recipe with either russet or red skin potatoes. I'll give the amounts needed for each. I used red skins.

1 1/2 lbs Red skin potatoes, cubed or
          4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup Zesty Lemon Balsamic Vinegar
1 Lemon, seeded, cut into wedges
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 425degrees. Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread out in a single layer in a roasting pan.

Bake until potatoes are tender and the liquid gets very thick. 30-40 minutes. Stir them halfway and watch them carefully. They go from amazing to burned quickly.

Balsamic Chicken Fake-out

Balsamic Chicken Fake-Out, with Lemon Stuffing and Lemon- Walnut Green Beans

This is the easiest chicken dish ever. So perfect for when you are on the run, or just don't really want to cook. Grab these items from the grocery store:

1 rotisserie chicken, plain or herb is best

1 bag, steam in bag green beans
1 can instant stuffing

Cut your chicken into quarters with your kitchen shears. Place in an oven safe dish. Using a pastry brush, coat with balsamic vinegar. I usually choose Zesty Lemon, but I also love it with Raspberry, Black Walnut, Juniper Berry and Fig. Place in an oven heated to 350degrees and bake 10 minutes.

Steam your green beans. Place in a large bowl, sprinkle with walnuts and drizzle on about 2 Tbsp of Meyer Lemon Olive Oil. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with Sun-Ripened Tomato Sea Salt.

For the stuffing, replace the butter in the instructions with Meyer Lemon Olive Oil but make no other changes to their recipe.

Make sure to hide all the packaging because no one should know how easy this is!