Grilled Halloumi Cheese and Tomato Sandwich

Tonight we come upon two years to the day that we arrived here in Colorado to start our new life with the girls and puppies.  It was quite a journey to get here to say the least, and has been full of so many adventures and growth ever since.

As I took our girls and their friends to the ever anticipated high school homecoming football game tonight, all spirited out in their glitter, beads and hair bows (coordinated in their school colors of course), I realized once again how quickly time is going by, right before our eyes.

As part of our home alone date night, I tried out this new cheese that I have been hearing and reading about everywhere..and I can never get enough of cheese.  It is Halloumi, a Greek cheese which I found at our specialty Cheese Importers store.

Grilled Halloumi Cheese and Tomatoes - Perfect as a sandwich,
appetizer or accompaniment to a salad.

Grilled Halloumi Cheese and Tomato Sandwich

Halloumi Cheese (found in specialty cheese case)
1 Roma Tomato, thinly sliced
Canola Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
1 loaf of your favorite rustic bread ( I really like a kalamato olive loaf)
Fresh Parsley, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Cut bread in 1/2" slices and lightly toast in toaster or on a grill pan.

Heat 2 teaspoons canola oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add thinly sliced halloumi cheese and sear 2 minutes on each side or until browned.

Add one slice of the grilled halloumi cheese on toasted bread.  Add 2 slices of tomatoes and top with another layer of grilled cheese.  Season with a small bit of salt and pepper.

Drizzle the "sandwich" with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Finish off with a sprinkle of the chopped fresh parsley.

Get a knife and fork and your're ready to enjoy!

* I served this little piece of deliciousness as a side dish with my Bourbon Glazed Grilled Salmon, carmelized onions and Butter Dill Sauce.

Gorgonzola Grilled Chicken and Spinach Salad

So here is how the conversation went during our wine time debriefing and getting dinner ready....

Me:  "Honey, since Steve and Leslie will be here next week, please make sure we have enough propane for the bbq with all the grilling that we're going to be doing."

Him:  "Oh, there's plenty of propane for the bbq, we don't need to fill it up."

Me:  "Are you sure, because we have been grilling a lot lately."

Him:  "Yes, we'll be fine."

He then puts the chicken breasts on for our Gorgonzola Grilled Chicken and Spinach Salad and we continue to talk out on the patio, while the chicken cooks.  He goes to check on the chicken to see if they are almost done...

Him:  "Oh, ****, the burners and heat turned off...we are out of propane."

Me:  "Seriously!!!?"

Gorgonzola Grilled Chicken and Spinach Salad

Spinach Leaves
Baby Bella or White Button Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Red Grapes, cut in half lengthwise
4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
White Balsamic and Honey Salad Dressing/Vinaigrette 
(typically found on the top shelf area of salad dressing section with the specialty flavors)
6 ounce container, Gorgonzola Cheese, crumbled
Olive Oil
Butter

Preheat the grill to hot.  Rinse and dry the chicken thoroughly. Take each breast and pound gently to an even thickness. Do not pound too thin; the breast will not be completely uniform. Liberally salt and pepper the chicken and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes.

Place the chicken breasts on the hot grill, with the thicker portion facing the hotter part of your grill (usually the back). Allow the chicken to cook undisturbed until char grill marks are made, about 4 minutes. Flip the chicken, keeping the thick part of the chicken toward the hot part of the flame, and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the chicken reads 155 degrees F, about 3 more minutes. 

Pull cooked chicken breasts off the grill and set in a glass dish. Sprinkle chicken with the crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and loosely cover with foil.  Allow the grilled chicken to rest for 5 minutes, covered, before serving.

While chicken is resting, saute the mushrooms in equal parts butter and olive oil in a medium-high heated saute pan. 

To plate, start with the spinach leaves.  Cut the rested Gorgonzola covered chicken in evenly sized slices and place on spinach leaves.  Add the sautéed mushrooms to each plate over the chicken.  Spoon any remaining butter/olive oil from the mushroom pan over each plate, this adds an extra layer of flavor.

Add as many (or as few) cut grapes that you like to your plate and drizzle with the White Balsamic and Honey Salad Dressing.

Serve with a crusty, rustic bread (like a Garlic Olive-Rosemary loaf) and your favorite Chardonnay wine.

Here is the dressing we used for tonight's salad.

P.S.  Just make sure you have enough propane before your start your dinner venture!

One Year Ago:  Nutella Cookies

Lemon Spaghetti with Jumbo Shrimp

We had a very special treat this week, in the midst of all our late summer/early fall rain and thunder.  We walked out of the girls' school and were greeted with a double rainbow...but the best part was you could actually see the ends of both rainbows! (...and no, I didn't find my pot of gold at either end, unfortunately).   I typically only see one end of a rainbow and the other is off to infinity somewhere.  The photos don't do it justice, since I was trying to save my camera in the torrential downpour, but the sight was absolutely breathtaking.

This is the perfect, quick, go to weeknight dish to warm you up from a rain storm.  Of course, anything I can put shrimp in, I love and anything that I put capers in, my husband is all over and any pasta for my kids just goes without saying, so it was a win-win for family night.

Lemon Spaghetti with Jumbo Shrimp
Courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound spaghetti
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons capers, fried briefly in a little olive oil

For the shrimp: In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the shrimp with the salt and pepper, then add to the pan in a single layer and cook until pink and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Set aside.

For the pasta: Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving the pasta water.

While the pasta is cooking, whisk together the olive oil, Parmesan, lemon zest and juice in a large bowl. Toss the drained pasta with the lemon sauce, the shrimp and some of the reserved pasta water; add 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Add the salt, pepper and basil and toss. Garnish with the fried capers.

Strawberry Blueberry Crunch

Fall is in the air here.  I can feel the nights starting to cool down, the leaves are starting to turn cranberry red and golden orange and I am craving cinnamon, nutmeg and warm baked goodies.

Baking season will soon be upon us and we have had fun trying out different desserts for the upcoming autumn season.  This was from The South Beach Diet and was the perfect cure for some warm yumminess!

Strawberry Blueberry Crunch

Courtesy of The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook

1/4 cup whole almonds plus 2 Tablespoons sliced almonds

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1 Tablespoon trans-fat-free margarine 

2 cups sliced strawberries

1 cup blueberries

1 Tablespoon granular sugar substitute

6 Tablespoons part-skim ricotta cheese 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a blender or spice grinder, grind whole almonds until finely ground.  In a small bowl, combine ground almonds, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Add margarine and stir to combine.

Lightly coat an 8" x 8" baking dish (I used a glass pie pan) with cooking spray. 

Place strawberries, blueberries, and sugar substitute in the dish; toss to combine.

Dot with ground nut mixture (it will not cover entire surface) and then sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until topping is golden and fruit is hot.  Divide fruit among 6 dessert bowls and top each serving with 1 Tablespoon of ricotta.

** Since I am not a fan of ricotta (unless it's buried in lasagna), I substituted it with low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt, in small portions.

Garlic Chicken Skewers and Local Farmers

Happy Labor Day to all and hope it is a restful one as we head into a new week and the month of September.  For us we have seen more labor than rest in our household.  Summer reading assignments are due next week, laundry, house cleaning, yard work, finishing up house accessories, trying out new recipes...and of course our annual pickle making weekend.

We did however take some much needed time out and travel to our city Farmer's Market on Saturday for fruits, veggies, herbs and beautiful floral bouquets and we also visited a local farm stand, called Grandma's Produce Farm, down the road from our house.

Love Grandma's little red truck - this is their street view signage.

Here it is, Grandma's farm stand.

Only in the heartland would you find an "honor system" farm stand.

Grandma's has a little bit of everything at their stand.  There is no one tending to the stand, you just help yourself and leave money in their Honor System jar.  How great is that?!!

Since we had our new fresh vegetables, we grilled up chicken skewers for dinner.  Light, flavorful and really fresh.

Garlic Chicken Skewers

1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 chicken breasts) cut into 1 inch pieces.
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 teaspoons dried rosemary, finely chopped
3 teaspoons olive oil
1 large zucchini, sliced about 1" wide pieces, then cut into quarters
1 (8) ounce package button mushrooms
2 large red, yellow or orange peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces

8 (12 inch ) metal skewers

Lightly coat grill and heat to medium-high.

In a bowl, combine chicken, garlic, rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Stir and coat well.

Alternating the chicken and vegetables, thread the zucchini, mushrooms, peppers and chicken on skewers.

Filled and ready to grill.

Grill filled skewers, turning every 2 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes.

The dog days of summer are just too much for Theo.
He takes full advantage of his sun naps.

One Year Ago: The Flavornator

Smoked BBQ Chicken Nachos

Well, it's that time of year again...the weekend when the most grilling/BBQ/smoking happens more than any other time of the year.  I also heard today that the average person eats twice as much during an outdoor event, than if they were eating indoors...hmm.

I don't know about that because we tried out these BBQ nachos a couple weeks ago, ate them inside and I could have inhaled them all by myself, they were that awesome!!  If memory serves me, I believe I was even referred to as "Cronk" at one point during the night...can't say it wasn't well deserved.

We started with using taco seasoning blend, and grilling boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Let chicken cool.  Chop into diced, bite size portions.  Coat with your favorite BBQ sauce.  

We are partial to Stubb's Original BBQ Sauce.

  

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with a non-stick spray.  Spread a layer of tortilla chips.  Add a layer of Mexican four cheese shredded blend.  Top with the bbq sauce coated chicken.

Add another layer of the shredded cheese.

*This next step can be done in your oven at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes 

(or until cheese has completely melted).

We used our Traeger Grill at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (turning them around, half way through), so they got equal heat and they were positively amazing.

Add your favorite toppings and serve.

We included diced tomatoes, diced avocados and green onions and sour cream.

Enjoy and have a safe and relaxing Labor Day Weekend.

One Year Ago:  Flatbread Friday

Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs and Old Lady Legs

They say that it is very important for a parent to bond with their children, I think that goes without saying and quite obvious, of course all parents and children should have bonding moments.  However, I didn't think that one of my bonding times would be having to wear the same type of knee brace that my daughter has also started in, due to too many floor dives in volleyball and developing tendinitis.

My new daily "accessory".

So there you have it, I now officially have "Old Ladyitis".

Last weekend as I had my knee propped up and icing it while I watched Pioneer Woman, she made these really great chicken legs and since I am a "spicy" kind of lady, I thought it was very timely and very appropriate. So in celebration of great (and not so great) legs, here it is....

Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs

Courtesy of Pioneer Woman

24 whole Chicken Legs

2 sticks Butter

1 Tablespoon Hot Salt (or You Favorite Seasonings)

1/2 cup Lemon Juice (or To Taste)

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a saucepan.  Pour 1/2 cup of lemon juice (fresh or bottled).  Now add your seasonings.  In this case, I used 1 tablespoon of Lawry's Season Salt and a few dashes of cayenne pepper.  Stir it together until combined.

Rinse and pat chicken legs dry.  With metal tongs, transfer them one by one into the butter mixture and place on a baking sheet.  Once all of the chicken legs are coated and on the baking rack, take a pastry brush and give them one last coating of the butter mixture.  Sprinkle them with some more of your seasonings.

Place them into a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes.  If they need a bit more color, turn on the broiler for a couple minutes and watch them closely.  Remove them when they are nice and golden brown.

I served our new legs with a salad version from the South Beach Diet.

Baby Greens with Tiny Tomatoes, Fresh Herbs, and Toasted Pistachios
Adapted from The South Beach Diet "Taste of Summer" Cookbook

1/2 cup shelled pistachios
6 ounces mixed baby greens
1-1/2 cups heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons sherry, white wine or champagne vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Toast pistachio nuts either in a saute pan on the cooktop or in a 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes, until golden brown.  Transfer to a cutting board and roughly chop.

In a large bowl, combine greens, tomatoes, cucumber, and basil.  Add oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper; toss to coat.  Divide among salad plates and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Volleyball Cookies and Lessons in Icings

For 4-5 months of the year during the Spring/Summer and early Fall, I am a golf widow.  My husband took up the sport the morning of our wedding 17 years ago and was immediately addicted.

The rest of the year, my husband is a volleyball widower.  Nights and almost every weekend is dedicated to volleyball both high school and competitive club.  My girls and I are constantly on the go.

This past week our girls' school volleyball teams had a potluck.  We were given plenty of notice and the girls were assigned to bring cookies.  Well, in the craziness of our week I forgot about the potluck. The day before, they reminded me...I played it off like of course, it's the first thing on my mind as I dropped them off at school.

While driving to work, my wheels in my overloaded brain start turning.  Could I just pick a couple packs of cookies from the grocery store?  No, that is just not in my DNA, I couldn't possibly be that boring.  Could I pick up a gourmet case of fancy cookies from Costco and just drizzle some melted white chocolate on them to look homemade?...of course not.  No, I decide with just less than 24 hours until the event that I am going to make 48 volleyball cookies and individually package them in cute little clear bags tied with ribbons in their school colors.  Can you say "insane, overachiever"?

Now mind you, I am not much of a baker or a cookie/cake designer by any stretch of the imagination. So, I spent a good amount of the day during breaks on Google, Pinterest, Wilton and any other website I could get my hands on to figure out how I was going to pull this off....brain overload!!  I had no idea about the world of "icings".  I can honestly say I now know everything about "bordering", "flooding" and "settling".

Thank God I discovered King Arthur Flour.  This website positively saved my sanity and my mission.

Simple Cookie Glaze
Courtesy of King Arthur Flour

2-1/4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1-1/2 to 2 Tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon milk (2% or Whole)

Mix all of the ingredients together.  Stir until smooth; a fork works fine.

The glaze should be thick, but soft enough to "settle" when you spread it.  If the glaze is too thick, dribble in another teaspoon of milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

King Arthur Flour Tip:  Be sure to measure accurately here.  Too little milk, and the glaze won't spread nicely.  Too much milk and it will be thin, spotty and develop splotches overnight.

Once the glaze has hardened, you can color on it with foodsafe markers or you can pipe another color over the top.  You can sprinkle sugar on top of the wet icing for a sparkly effect.

Yield:  2/3 cup of glaze (this amount glazed 24 cookies)

** I used Wilton's Cookie Icing in Black for the volleyball lines.

Spreading the glaze with an offset spatula for "settling".

Before and After Glazing

One volleyball player....

...two volleyball players helping out.

Resting for packaging.

Our basket of little beauties - mission accomplished!

One Year Ago: Mocha Mint Delight

Orzo Salad With Everything and Redecorating Everywhere

As all new school years typically go there is the new wardrobe, new school supplies and new haircuts to start the year off fresh.

Well, since we had recently moved into our new house, the girls decided they also wanted new rooms...something a little more grown up, sophisticated and mature. Yes, another rite of passage that breaks my heart...my little girls are growing up too fast.

We have spent the last couple months searching out ideas on Pinterest and slowly transforming not only their rooms, but also seeing them really coming into their own young ladies.

Love the owl lamps and owl headboard piece we discovered.

The oldest one really took to the set designs of the show Gossip Girl.  She loves the elegance and classy sophistication of their home in New York.  My daughter really has an affection for her owls and I found the greatest finds at Hobby Lobby to finish it off.

Gossip Girl's infamous butterfly wall design.

We started her collection of accent pillows, a beautiful jacquard bed set and she now has her espresso colored dresser and nightstands.  I love finding great deals and never paying full price for "fabulous".

My other daughter is more of a relaxed, colorful spirit with a touch of pizazz.  She loves organic designs and lots of color around her.  Again, we searched far and wide and found incredible designs and deals at Target and Hobby Lobby.

The perfect wall decals to bring out the bedding colors.

Eggplant color framed mirror with her sparkle arrangement.

Beautiful art piece that sparkles in just the right light.

After the finishing touches everywhere it was time for our neighbor's annual end of summer potluck dinner with all the neighbors on their street.  I decided to make the family Orzo Salad With Everything.  

My sister-in-law Leslie first introduced this salad to us at one of our family dinners.  Love this salad...really versatile and goes great with any type of meat dish.  Leslie and my husband's brother Steve will be visiting us in the next couple weeks, so I know that there will be much cooking, baking and BBQ going on...stay tuned for that one next month.  They both love to cook as much as me and my husband, so rest assured no one will be starving that weekend.

Orzo Salad With Everything
Courtesy of Leslie

1-1/2 cups orzo (rice shaped pasta) uncooked
1/3 cup (packed) chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives
1 cup finely chopped radicchio (about 1/2 of a small head)
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese
2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Cook orzo in a pot of boiling, salted water until tender.  Drain well.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, oil, vinegar and olives.  Toss to blend.  Let stand until cool.  (This part can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead, cover and refrigerate).  Bring to room temperature before continuing.

Mix chopped radicchio, pine nuts, chopped basil, Feta and garlic into the orzo mixture.  Season salad to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

One Year Ago: Pasta Puttanesca

BBQ Ranch Grilled Chicken

Well we did it...we have survived the first week of school.  To say it has been a whirlwind is an understatement.  Non-stop schedules all week, both day and night, but we made it.

My mantra, next to our coffee maker...enough said.

To help keep my sanity (especially during school and volleyball season), I always plan our dinners one week in advance and keep a monthly calendar on the refrigerator to help with the planning.  It's a good thing because I need to refer to it several times a month when I am writing my blog.

I typically photograph and keep about two weeks of meal and/or specialty photos stocked and ready to go for the postings.  The problem is when I go back to write and download the photos, sometimes I cannot recognize the dish.  My sister-in-law who was the Marketing Director for Bristol Farms taught me that food is one of the most difficult things to photograph to capture the true colors and textures of a dish...she was spot on.

So as I was going through my photos this week I came across this one and it took me about a day and referring to my meal calendar to figure out what it was.  I can't believe I forgot about it because it was one of the most amazing chicken dishes we have had...served with a caesar salad and parmesan-garlic couscous. The moistness and flavors of the chicken was outstanding. This is by far a keeper...now if I can only remember it for the future!

BBQ Ranch Grilled Chicken
Courtesy of Plain Chicken

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup prepared Ranch dressing
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp BBQ seasoning
1 teaspoon white vinegar
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, BBQ seasonng, and white vinegar.

Pound chicken breast to 1/4" thickness.  Place chicken in the gallon size ziplock bag.  Pour marinade over chicken.  Refrigerate for at least 8 hours (all day).

Preheat the grill for medium-high heat.  Grill chicken for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.