Here is a lighter version of the chicken salad sandwich. There is no heavy mayo to cloud the arteries and even children will love it.
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 14 oz. chicken tenders
- 2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
- 6 cups of baby spinach, stems removed
- 2 tbsp. fig balsamic vinegar
- 1 french baguette
- 4 oz. thinly sliced provolone cheese
Preheat broiler. Line a cookie sheet with foil and brush with some of the olive oil. Place the chicken in a single layer and drizzle the remaining oil; lightly sprinkle some salt and pepper.
Broil; for about 8-10 minutes until cooked through and beginning to brown.
In a large bowl, toss the spinach, grapes, chicken tenders and the balsamic vinegar.
Cut the baguette in 4 portions, but do no cut right through. Put on the cookie sheet and top with the cheese, allowing to melt. Layer the salad on top in equal portions.
Yummy!!!!
Grilled Cheese – A new One, Trust Me…..
Anyone who knows us, knows we watch every cooking show, competition, whatever….BUT they had a grilled sandwich that we could not believe. Now, any “diet watcher” I am giving you fair notice, go away….do not read…worse yet, do not make. HA! Gotcha!!
For each person, you need
2 slices of bread, buttered with garlic butter on both sides.
Grated Manchego Cheese, dip the bread in the cheese and fry one side. Turn them over and continue on.
Now: Here’s the kicker…
On one slice of bread (open faced, so far), place 1 slice of cheddar and 1 slice of mozzarella cheese.
On the other slice, place 1 slice of monteray jack cheese and 1 slice of swiss cheese. Put a lid on the pan and let the cheese start to melt.
With me so far?
Now put them together…..This will be the very best grilled cheese sandwich you will ever eat.
Okay, you can’t have one every day but in my defence, once in awhile is a good thing and they say chocolate is better than…..(wink-wink) . NOT……this IS the better thing.
Swiss, Spinach, Ham Brioche Lunch
This is a GREAT lunch idea! Baby spinach makes it.
- 16 slices of Brioche
- 1 tbsp. mustard
- 16 slices of swiss cheese
- 8 thin slices of black forest ham
- 3 oz. fresh baby spinach leaves
- melted butter for brushing
Spread 8 of the brioche slices with mustard. Next put the ham, cheese and spinach leaves. Top with remaining brioche slices.
Brush both sides of the sandwiches with the melted butter. Using a panni pan or frypan, toast each side until a beautiful golden brown.
If not going to work or driving, a glass of chilled wine is delightful. This would make a great weekend luncheon. Enjoy!
Crab/Cranberry Panini
The other day, while getting ready for our company, we messed up two (yes, we actually did) recipes of the nests for this recipe. The next day, with a bowl full of this filling, the lightbulb went off and this is what we did…..
The cranberries were chopped fine and added to the mixture. Add enough mayonnaise (not salad dressing) to hold together and take two slices of bread (we used weight watchers multigrain) and make a sandwich….Add a slice of cheese, top with the second slice of bread and put in the hot panini pan.
OMG! This is a new sandwich for us and ever so good.
The recipe for the filling is: Gingered Crab In Potato Nests
Crispy Scallop Sandwiches
If you love scallops as much as I do, you are going to really love this recipe.
- 1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/2 lb. small scallops, whole
- 1/2 cup celery, minced
- 1/2 red chili pepper, minced
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 lightly beaten egg
- 2 cups of potato chips, crushed and divided
- 1 tbsp. canola oil
- 4 crusty rolls
In a food processor, pulse the shrimp until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the scallops, celery, pepper, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, egg and 1 cup of the potato chips until really well combined.
Spread remaining potato chips on to a pie plate. Make sure they are crushed a bit more so no large chunks are present. Form the seafood mixture into patties and coat with the potato chips.
In a large frypan, heat the oil and cook the patties until the outside is golden and the seafood is opaque, This should take about 4 minutes each side.
Place a pattie on each bun, top with your favourite homemade coleslaw and replace with the top bun half.
This is soooo yummy. The only to make it even better is a patio/deck/beach and a cold glass of white wine. Life is good!
Ketchup-Homemade
This is summer….lots of hot dogs and hamburgers on the bbq. If you run out of the commercial stuff, make this one up. It’s good.
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/8 cup vinegar
- 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. cloves
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1/8 tsp. onion powder
Mix together in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and put into a small container. This only makes 1/2 cup, so you may want to double, triple etc all the ingredients, after you try the first lot.
Kosher Style Dill Pickles
My husband thinks these are the best, and after making up two lots, I hope I haven’t lost my touch. (It has been a while)
- 8 lbs. pickling cucumbers
- 12 heads of fresh dill (home grown is the best)
- cloves of garlic, (2-3 per jar, depending on your taste)
- pinch of salt for each jar
- 1 tsp. pickling spice (pickles stay crisper)
- pinch of red pepper flakes
For every 12 jars make this :
- 8 cups pickling vinegar
- 8 cups water
With a “mushroom” brush, brush the cucumbers in cold water to remove all sand and debris. Slice each one in half lengthwise.
Put the pickling solution in a large pot and bring to a gentle boil while you get prepared.
Wash your jars in hot, soapy water and rinse well. Place on a cookie sheet and put in the oven at 325 degrees while you assemble all the required ingredients.
Put the snap lids in saucepan with water and bring to a boil then turn off the heat. Leave them in the pan.
Remove the clean and sterlized jars to a working surface and add:
fresh dill
2-3 garlic cloves,
pinch salt (this is considerably less than most recipes)
1 tsp. pickling spice
red pepper flakes.
Fill the jars with your cucumber spears and add enough boiling water/vinegar to cover the pickles and place snap lid on top of each jar. Add the screw lid on each one and place in a canning pot filled with enough water to be about 3/4 up the sides of the jars. Bring to a boil and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from the saucepan and place remaining jars in and repeat. Cool completely and mark the date of pickling.
Let stand for 3 weeks before opening a jar and then keep in the refrigerator.
Pulled Pork Pizza
A couple of days ago, Don made Pulled Pork Sandwiches and we had some meat and sauce left over.
Sometimes for lunch we will have little pizzas. We make them with tortillas as the base. (1 each). We had run out of pepperoni so we thought we should try using the pork.
Soooooooooooooooo we loaded up the tortilla with pulled pork and topped with shredded cheese. Baked it off and then…and then…we drizzled the top with some of the extra sauce.
This was the best pizza we have ever tasted, I kid you not…I have had that now for 3 days (waste not, want not or something…..).
If you want to try the best, use his recipe for pulled pork and sauce and have at it.
Lunch Sandwiches
This makes a lovely sandwich for lunch. It is easy, fresh and extremely satisfying.
- 1-2 lbs. fresh shrimp
- pinch of salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
- mayonnaise
- softened cream cheese
- pinch of pepper
- 2 slices of crisp bacon per sandwich
- shredded lettuce
- 1-2 avocado
- 1 tomato, sliced thin
Cook shrimp and place in an ice bath to cool. Peel and coarsely chop. Mix with mayonnaise.
Thinly slice the avocado and sprinkle a tsp of lemon juice over it.
Toast slices of bread and butter with a generous amount of cream cheese.
Add two slices of crisp bacon per sandwich. Slice the avocado thinly and place on top, slice thin a tomato and add on top of that. If needed, add more mayonnaise and place the other slice of toast on top. Cut in two. Take a deep breath and dive in. Absolutely the best sandwich going.
Rodini Heaven
Don makes a sandwich to die for. We buy the bread from Cobbs Bakery. He cuts it in half. He spreads dijon mustard on one side and lays out thinly sliced roast beef. Spreads a very thin amount of horseradish on the beef. Then he adds thinly sliced ham. We are not even halfway there! Now he adds thinly sliced sun dried tomato turkey breast. The fourth meat is Italian mild Genoa. This is about the only thing that is thin…..certainly not my waistline.
On this goes slices of Havarti cheese to cover the entire surface. Strips of roasted red pepper is laid over the cheese and avocado slices on top of the peppers. Thin slices of tomato covers this. Lastly, he spreads mayonnaise on the top half of the rodini loaf. Replace the top half and wrap in tin foil.
Wrap this CAREFULLY in tin foil and heat in a 350 degree oven until the cheese starts to melt. Remove from the oven and slice it up like a pie. This is absolutely the best sandwich you can make.
He gets requests for this all the time. Not just in our home. For luncheons at Church, friends having company, etc. Yup! He’s a real keeper.
Mini Filet Sandwiches with Horseradish Cream
This makes 6 sandwiches. Wait for company or eat lots…..just kidding! Serve as an Hors d’ Oeuvres.
- 1 lb. beef tenderloin, tied like you would a roast
- 2 tsp. steak spice
- pinch of seasoning salt
- 1 baguette
- 1 tbsp. butter
- spinach or frisee lettuce
Brown tenderloin on four sides and place in an oven preheated to 400 degrees. Roast for 20 minutes and remove from heat and rest for 10 minutes.
Cut baguette in half lengthwise and butter the bottom half. Place some spinach or frisee on the bottom half and layer THINLY sliced tenderloin of top. Generously spread horse radish cream on top half of the baguette. Secure the two halves of the baguette with toothpicks, placed 2 inches apart and slice, making mini sandwiches.
Horseradish Cream
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 tbsp. horseradish (creamed)
- 1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. lemon juice and zest
(you can add a japaleno pepper if you wish)
Mix well and cover. Chill in fridge for about 1 hours to let the flavours blend.
Egg Salad Sandwich-Tuscan Style
This is a new slant on the egg salad sandwich. I know if you try it you will really like it. Don says this is the best egg salad sandwich I have made.
- 2 bacon slices, cut in half, cooked crisp
- 2 large hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 1 large rib of celery, strings removed
- 3 chopped green olives stuffed with pimento
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 tsp. large grain Dijon mustard
- 4 iceberg lettuce leaves
- 4 slices of sesame seed bread toasted OR 2 portuguese buns warmed
Combine chopped eggs, celery, and olives in a bowl. Mix the mayonnaise and mustard together and combine with the egg mixture.
Lightly toast the bread. On each slice of bread place a lettuce leaf and put the egg mixture on one side, add the bacon slices and top with the other slice of bread.
This is really good if served with baby tomatoes with a few potato chips