Posts filed under 'Recipes'
“This is the King of my Sandwich World”, my hubby said tonight when eating this delicious, fresh vegetable sandwich. When he said that, I knew I’d better share this recipe with my friends and readers.
I was inspired by the Farmer’s Market Grilled Cheese from Better Homes and Gardens, but of course catered it to suit our tastes better.
The basic idea behind this sandwich is to pick your favorite FRESH vegetables from the produce section or the Farmer’s Market and surround them with sourdough bread and gooey cream cheese.
The Sandwich King
Sourdough bread - 1 loaf
cream cheese, 8 oz
cilantro - 1/2 bunch
sliced tomato - 1 large
vidalia onion - 1 medium
jalapeno pepper - 1 sliced thinly
artichoke hearts - 1 can, chopped
fresh spinach - about 1/4 bag chopped
(I know the artichokes are not a fresh veggie, but we do love them on this anyway!)
First thing to do is bring a block of cream cheese up to room temperature, then beat it with a mixer. Add minced fresh cilantro and beat it together. This is your cheese spread. Do not refrigerate this before making the sandwiches. It will be impossible to spread.
Next, slice and dice all the vegetables just the way you want them. With my large and opinionated family, I keep everything in separate bowls and let each person decide what to put on their own sandwich. When it comes to the picky ones, I tell them it has to have at least two things and they can’t get something else out. (Otherwise, they’d likely end up with a boring peanut butter or bologna sandwich.)
Finally, build this like it’s a glorified grilled cheese sandwich. Butter on one side of each slice of bread. Smooth the cream cheese spread (liberally!) on one slice, topped with as many of the vegetables as you like. Press it together and grilled it on a hot skillet. (cast iron if you’ve got one)
The first evening we tried this sandwich, every single one of us was skeptical. We were all pleasantly surprised - so delicious! There is an amazing combination of fresh flavors in every bite, surrounded by this gooey cream cheese mixture that binds it all together. It’s an excellent, light-tasting summertime meal. And if you have a garden, a great way to incorporate your fresh vegetables into your menu in a new way.
*Consider using zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, bell peppers, avocado, … or come up with your own ideas.
August 1st, 2011
Good heavens, I really love Quiche! My husband calls it “one of those divisive foods”. I guess that means it falls into the same category as sauerkraut, brussels sprouts, and bleu cheese… foods that wars are fought over. Some folks are ga-ga over it, others gag. Very few people fall into the middle ground on foods like these. It seems like a lot of men think quiche is “gay” and are afraid that eating it will severely lower their manliness. (Wow! I hope their manliness is not that fragile!) Ladies seem to often think that it is just the ideal thing when eating together, say, for tea — especially if the quiches are very tiny and you can pop them individually into your mouth. I have no idea why - maybe we think it increases our femininity.
I made quiche for dinner last night. Normal-sized, not mouth-pop-able. To be safe, I also made French Onion soup and garlic toast, hoping there would be something on the table to please everyone. It was the first time I made quiche without a recipe - just “winging it”. I do have an old favorite of crustless spinach quiche which I got from an ancient cookbook in the early years of my marriage, but it has never gone over really well and instead of trying to improve on it, I just made this up as I went along.
The quiche I made last night, thankfully, turned out yummier than I expected. I just enjoyed it again for lunch. It’s crustless, but with a crunchy crouton topping. Here’s the recipe:
Spinach Quiche
6 slices of bacon
1 bag fresh spinach leaves
3 cloves fresh garlic
2 T. olive oil
5 eggs
3/4 c. milk or soymilk
1 1/2 c. shredded monterey jack cheese
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
croutons, crushed
Start by frying up the bacon as you usually would. I like thick sliced bacon - it’s what I always use. If you are using the thin stuff, consider increasing the amount to 8 slices. Drain the bacon on a paper towel and set aside. Discard the bacon fat and clean your skillet or switch to a large, clean skillet.
Next, crush and dice the garlic and put it into a large skillet with your olive oil. Set the heat to medium, and while it warms up, chop the spinach up into bite-sized pieces. Often, frozen spinach is recommended for quiches and other spinach recipes, but I say “the fresher, the better!” Add the spinach to your now-hot oil and garlic. Stir and fry for a few moments until the spinach is wilted. That’s all it needs. Then remove from the heat and set aside. (You now have both the bacon and the garlic-spinach combo waiting on the sidelines.)
In a large bowl, break all five eggs and whip them up with the milk, salt, and pepper. Use a spatula to add the cheeses, then the spinach. Finally, cut up the bacon with your kitchen scissors and add that, too! Grease a regular 9 or 10 inch pie pan and pour your quiche mixture into it.
This needs to go into a 350 - 375 degree oven for 45-55 minutes. For the last 10 minutes, sprinkle the crushed croutons on top and return to the oven. You know it’s done when the middle doesn’t jiggle and you poke a knife into the center and can see cooked instead of runny eggs.
ENJOY!
I’ll be honest about the thumbs up count: There are 7 in our family. 1 was not home, 1 did not even eat the quiche, 2 (the little guys) were forced to eat the quiche. My husband ate a little but LOVES French Onion soup, so he focused on that. Really, only 2 of us dug into this quiche and really enjoyed it. Divisive foods. Ugh.
Signing off now–
the chow hall chef
June 28th, 2011
Thanks to http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2008/11/the_best_brocco.html for the original instructions on roasted broccoli.
One night this week I tried roasting broccoli – something I’ve never attempted in the kitchen before. Delicious! My 10-year old loves steamed broccoli with cheese. While this is quite good, I am always looking for something new to try and this fit the bill.
Basically, you toss broccoli (I added cauliflower) with a generous amount of olive oil and sea salt. I slivered some cloves of garlic with this, too. The trick to this is to make sure the broccoli is dry – either don’t wash it at all or dry it off obsessively.
Next, spread the broccoli and/or cauliflower onto a cookie sheet and roast at 450 for 20-25 minutes. The bud part of the broccoli florets will be turning brown, but that’s okay. The roasting caramelizes the veggies but leaves them firm. (I prefer vegetables this way.)
So, after 20 minutes, they are done and you can drizzle a little more olive oil on them and some lemon juice. Some shaved Parmesan cheese is also recommended, although I was out of it and just skipped that part.
The next day, with the leftovers, I made Cream of Broccoli Soup. I love cream of broccoli and Hubby had some and loved this particular batch, too. So here goes:
Leftover roasted broccoli and cauliflower, diced fairly small.
½. c. diced onion
4 T. butter
4 T. flour
2 c. milk
½ to 1 c. water
salt and pepper
Velveeta cheese
First off, melt the butter in a saucepan and saute the onion in it. When the onion is translucent, you can add the other vegetables and saute them a bit, too. Next, add the flour and stir it all up so it’s something of a gooey concoction. Let it bubble and heat through, then SLOWLY add the milk. Every time you add about ½ c. milk, let it reheat and begin to simmer before adding more milk. When the milk is all incorporated, add the water in the same manner, until it reaches the thickness you prefer. Season with salt and pepper and add chunks of velveeta. The cheese is optional to some people but not to me!
And I will add that I am one of those people who usually has to have saltines or some kind of cracker with my soup. Pepperidge Farms Goldfish crackers are excellent with this soup.
June 24th, 2011
Previous Posts