Lemon Pepper Squash

I got all my ingredients ready for last night. I made sure my grill had enough propane, I found and cleaned my grill basket. I got everything all together...

And as I walked down the stairs to start the grill, it started pouring! And not little rain. Big, crazy, put out the grill type of rain. Strangely enough, the sun was still shining. I changed my plans, made this inside, and before I was finished, so was the rain. What was that?

Moral of the story: Summer rains are weird.

And they mess up my grilling plans! So, here is the stove-top version of this dish. I suggest you grill it. Darn that weather!

Lemon Pepper Squash

1/2- 1 Yellow Squash per serving/person

1 tsp Lemon Pepper Seasonings per serving

1 tbsp Meyer Lemon Olive Oil per serving

Slice your squash thinly. Toss in a bowl with the seasoning and the Olive Oil. Spread evenly over the surface of your grill basket. Or your saute pan. 

The cooking time will depend on your heat source and how much squash you are making. It takes about a minute or 2 on each side if you you want to brown it, 1 minute each side if you are just softening them up.

Serve.

I made this for my dinner, but it would make nice side dish as well.

Pork with Black Beans and Escarole

I know that pork and beans are a classic pairing. Add greens and you have a perfect soup. But I find that that works best with ground pork or sausage and I had a couple pork steaks still in the freezer from last week. So instead of soup, I sliced up the pork and made this awesomeness!

Pork with Black Beans and Escarole

serves 2-4

2 pork steaks

1 sm head of escarole, rough chopped

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 tbsp Blood Orange Olive Oil

1 tbsp Vanilla Balsamic

salt and pepper

1 tbsp Basiks, Southwest Blend

Heat the olive oil to medium high heat and add the pork steaks. Cook 2 minutes each side, or until you get a good sear on them. Remove from the pan and let cool a little. Slice into strips and return to the pan. Add the Southwest Spices(optional) and the salt and pepper. Finish cooking now, give them 2-4 minutes a side. 

Add the black beans and the escarole and stir to combine. Cover and let simmer together about 3 minutes, or until the escarole is well wilted and the beans are heated through. Stir in the Vanilla Balsamic and serve!

Cilantro Lime Chicken

I'm so glad it's sunny today! After the recent chill, I'm in the mood for spring foods. And lime and cilantro speaks spring to me. To get really full of spring, I'd use lamb chops for this. But my husband doesn't care for lamb, so chicken it is! And the side portion of this is really good stirred into rice. (I'm out of rice right now, but I recommend it!)

Cilantro Lime Chicken

4 chicken breasts
6 tbsp, divided, Persian Lime Oil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small nub ginger, finely shredded
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 can pigeon peas
1 large zucchini, chopped
1 lime, for garnish
1 tsp Salt Free Spice Blend

In a large pan heat 4 tbsp of the oil to medium high. Add the chicken breasts and sprinkle with the Basik's seasoning blend. Cook, about 7 minutes each side. Before you flip, add about half of the cilantro. Reduce the heat if they are getting too browned.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tbsp of the Lime oil in a medium pan to medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger and the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and add the zucchini and pigeon peas. Add in the other half of the cilantro and stir to combine. Simmer the zucchini and peas until the zucchini is tender.

Serve with a squeeze of lime juice.

Pork Steaks and Fennel

The recipe is measured for one serving. Mostly because my husband gave me a funny look when I told him we were having fennel for dinner.

So he's having a frozen pizza. And I'm having tasty, tasty fennel. And pork steak! You can scale up the recipe with ease from here. If you don't have the Southwest Seasoning Blend, come see me at the store! Or just use a spicy oil, like the Chipotle.

But seriously, come see me at the store. This weekend is supposed to be beautiful!

Pork Steaks with Fennel

1 sirloin cut pork steak
1 large fennel bulb, cut into wedges
1 tbsp Southwest Seasoning Blend
1 tbsp Spanish Oil
1/2 cup vegetable stock, low sodium

Heat the oil to medium-high heat in a nice heavy bottomed pan. Rinse your pork steak and pat dry. Rub about 3/4 of the seasoning blend all over the pork and place it in the pan. Add in the fennel slices and sprinkle the rest of the seasoning blend over them.

Brown everything quickly, say a minute on each side, fennel too.

Now it is time for the vegetable stock. Gently pour the stock in the pan. Cover and reduce the heat to medium. Let it cook for about 10 minutes, flipping everything once.

I suppose that this is technically braising. I just cook things, I don't try to define them.

Emergency Pasta

While cooking at my mom's house this week, I suddenly realized that I had nothing to eat for lunch. I could snack on green beans, but that's a good way to run out of green beans. I found a bag of pasta in the cabinet, but no sauce! What to do?

I grabbed a can of fire roasted tomatoes and some Basil Oil and got to work.

Emergency Pasta and Sauce

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

3 tbsp - 1/4 cup Basil Olive Oil

1 tsp Italian Table Blend Spices

Himalayan Pink Mineral Salt*

Cooked Pasta

In a pan over medium heat, empty your can of tomatoes. If you want the sauce to be very thick, drain some of the water from the can first. Add in the spices and a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes.

Grab a potato masher and go to work. Add the olive oil a little at a time until you like the consistency. 

Spoon over the pasta and go.

*Salts coming to the internet soon!

Toasted Crostini with Eggplant and Mushroom Appetizer

I served this at Christmas with the appetizers. It's so simple, I think I'm bringing it to a New Years party too.

Toasted Crostini

1 long baguette
1/4 cup Olive Oil
    I like Zesty Onion* with this, or just Italian Herb
1-2 tbsp Italian Table Blend spices

Slice the baguette into thin slices. Heat the oven to 350degrees. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with the spices.

Bake about 7 minutes. But watch them, mine took about 6 minutes. My sister-in-law made these, but her oven took almost 10 minutes. They should be golden brown.

Serve with the Mushroom and Eggplant* appetizer.

*Available in stores or by phone right now. The olive oil will be up soon.

No Meat Chili and Pineapple Cornbread

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Turkey Day.

My day was fun, but my families celebration combined with the cooking I've been doing for you guys, I am turkey-ed out!

To get completely away from turkey, I made this no meat chili. I'm going to show you some good things to do with leftovers this coming week, you could even put shredded turkey into this. But right now, turkey is out and beans are in!

No Meat Chili

2 cans black beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can chopped carrots,
         or 2 fresh carrots
1 can, diced new potatoes,
          or 1 large baking potato, diced
1 cup chopped or crushed pineapple in juice
1/2 cup juice from the can of pineapple
1 large onion, diced
3-4 tbsp Taco, Southwest, Jerk or Wings seasoning blends
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
2-4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Jalapeno Olive Oil
1 cup vegetable stock

Heat the Olive Oil on medium heat in a large stock pot. Add in the onion and saute 5-7 minutes, until they start to become translucent. Add in the potatoes and the carrot and one tbsp of your seasoning blend. Saute 2-3 minutes.

Rinse and drain all your beans. Add them to the pot along with the vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally. Cook for 10 minutes. Taste. Add the rest of your seasonings blend one tbsp at a time along with 2 tbsp of the brown sugar. Simmer 5-10 mins. Taste again. If still too spicy, add a little more brown sugar. If too sweet, add more spices. The spices will intensify a bit as you cook.

Add the pineapple bits, juice and tomatoes and simmer 1- 1 1/2 hours. Sauce will thicken and turn darker.

Serve with Pineapple Cornbread (recipe follows)

Pineapple Cornbread

Take one package cornbread mix and empty it into a bowl. If the directions call for water or milk, substitute an equal amount of crushed or chopped pineapple in juice, plus 2 tbsp of the juice.

Add in eggs if it calls for it, also 2 tbsp Jalapeno Olive Oil.

Stir and bake as directed. Remember to grease your pan well. The pineapple bits make it stick more than usual.

Cool slightly and turn out onto wire racks. Slice and brush the tops with White Pineapple Balsamic. Serve warm with chili.




*If you would like to make a meat chili, I would saute the meat in one of the spicy oils before I put in the onions. I would use Jalapeno for preference, but Citrus Habanero if you are feeling the need to breathe fire. If you do, you may only need 1-2 tbsp additional spices.

Turkey Trio: one day, three turkeys

Okay, it isn't really three turkeys. But it is three turkey breasts. And I did make them all last night.

I was only going to make a Lemon Pepper, and a Spanish Rosemary one, but I threw in a surprise one too.

I only made turkey breasts, but these recipes can work for a whole turkey with no problem. Since the size of your turkey decides your cooking times, I am not going to give you that part of the recipe. The USDA recommends that you heat your meat to a minimum of 165 degrees. I really suggest you invest in a good meat thermometer.

12o'clock: Lemon Pepper, 4o'clock Cranberry Lemon, 9o'clock Rosemary Butter

Lemon Pepper Turkey

Rub Lemon Pepper blend all over the outside of your turkey. For the breast I used 1 tbsp. For a whole turkey, it should be less than 4 tbsp, unless you want to rub the inside too. You could lift the skin of the turkey and rub it underneath the skin instead. If you do that, I suggest that you brush the skin with butter.

Slice a lemon in half and slip it inside your bird. I placed some lemon slices on top as well before roasting. I liked the way that looked for presentation.

Cook to 165 degrees.


Cranberry Lemon Bonus Turkey

Gently pull the skin away from the breast of the turkey. Lift it, but don't rip it. Massage 1-2 tbsp Meyer Lemon Olive Oil under the skin. Slice one lemon in thick slices. Slide them under the skin. If you have any bits left over, you can put them inside the turkey.

Brush the top with Cranberry Balsamic.

The balsamic burns quickly, so tent a sheet of foil over the turkey, cover it, or rub the inside of the turkey with the Cranberry Balsamic and brush the outside 20 minutes before the end of your cooking time.

For even more cranberry, try putting some fresh cranberries under the skin as well as lemon slices, and inside the turkey as well.

Cook to 165 degrees.


Spanish Rosemary Butter Turkey

Let 1 stick of unsalted butter(8 tbsp) come to room temperature. Stir in 2 tsp Marsala Rosemary Sea Salt. Mix until well combined.

Pull the skin up from the turkey breast. Be careful not to rip. Rub the infused butter under the skin, saving about 1 tbsp. Rub the remaining tbsp on the outsides.

Cook to 165 degrees.

A plate full of choices

Lasagna in a pan

My husband is a big fan of Italian food. His favorite thing is Lasagna. He gets it when we go out, he gets the frozen kind for at home and if a friend mentions they are making it, he tries very hard to get himself an invite to dinner.

I am not as much a fan. Sure it's good to eat, but if I go out, I'm getting something else. I made this first with other noodles and it's just not as good. The Lasagnace noodles we have in the store are just the best.

Lasagna in a Pan

1 pkg Lasagnace Noodles
16 oz pasta sauce
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 onion, diced
1lb ground beef, or turkey (optional)
2 tbsp Garlic Olive Oil, divided (plus additional for the ground meat)
1 tbsp Italian Table Blend

Cook your pasta and drain. Return to a large pan and toss with 1tbsp Garlic Olive Oil to prevent it from sticking.

Heat 1 tbsp of Olive Oil to medium heat. Saute the onion 4-5 minutes. Add the spices and stir to mix them into the oil well.

If you are using meat, you can add it to that pan and brown it over medium heat with one tbsp Garlic Olive Oil if needed. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until it is no longer pink inside.

Reduce the heat in your pan and add the cheeses and sauce and stir until combined. Let simmer 5 minutes, or until the cheeses are well melted.

Slowly add the sauce to the noodles and toss together.

You just made Lasagna!

Jerk Chicken with Rice

I wanted to make something spicy last night to start the week off right. This did the trick!

Jerk Chicken with Rice

2 Tbsp, plus 1 tsp Basiks Jerk Blend seasonings* divided
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
2 - 3 stalks green onions, sliced
4 chicken breasts, sliced into tenderloins
2 tbsp Butter Olive Oil
2 cups cooked white rice

Heat the olive oil to medium high heat. Add the chicken and 2 tbsp of the seasoning blend. Cook about 7-8 minutes stirring occasionally so the chicken cooks evenly. 

Add about half of the grape tomatoes. Cover and let cook for another 4 - 5 minutes. Stir in the rest of the tomatoes and cook, uncovered another 2 minutes. 

Toss the remaining seasoning blend with the rice. Garnish everything with the green onions. Voila! 

*Basiks Jerk Blend only available in store or over the phone. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Chicken Tacos

So this is my breakfast this morning. Sorry for the half-eaten look, I was on my way in to work.

Yesterday this was lunch. I find this recipe really useful to have in the fridge and have been keeping a container of it there all the time.

Easy Chicken Taco Filling

1 rotissere chicken, shredded
           or
1 pkg chicken breasts, roasted with Chipotle Olive Oil*
2-4 tsp Taco Blend seasoning
2 tbsp Chipotle Olive Oil

Place your shredded chicken in a pan and turn it to med-low. Add the Basiks blend and 2 tbsp Chipotle Olive Oil. Stir it around until well combined and piping hot.

Serve with taco fixings like sour cream, lettuce, beans, salsa, guacamole and cheese.

This breakfast wrap included a scrambled egg, some bell peppers, sour cream and cheese as well.

*Roasted chicken breasts in oil

Heat your oven to 400degrees. Brush both sides of your chicken in Chipotle Olive Oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in the oven and wait 30minutes. Take them out and let them cool slightly. Shred using two forks. Make tacos using the above directions.

Hope everyone has a good time at the FACT Aids walk today!