Grilled Pizza

I've been reading about how fabulous grilled pizza is for awhile now. I read about this recipe in my August issue of Bon Appetit, then salivated over a few more recipes I found online. Finally, my good friend Carolyne also gave it an unabashed accolade on her blog, so I decided to give it a whirl. The results? Drum roll please...divine! This pizza was scrumptious, and I'm convinced it could be even better if you plan ahead. My inspiration hit me at 5:30 on a Thursday when I was in the middle of the produce section at the grocery store, so the final product was decidedly less gourmet than those I'd read about. Still, it hit the spot, it was easy, it was super HEALTHY and did I mention delicious? Here's exactly what we did. Keep in mind that you could make yours even better (using fresh dough would be preferable I'm sure) by planning ahead, but in a pinch this was still fabulouso!

1 Boboli pre-baked pizza crust
1/2 yellow squash sliced paper thin
1/2 zucchini sliced paper thin
sliced mushrooms (I was craving portabellas but settled for the less expensive baby bellas)
fresh thin sliced tomatoes (from your garden would be heavenly)
fresh spinach
thinly sliced red onion
prosciutto (we were feeling especially bougie at the time- but I'm telling you people, so worth it!)

Ok, light up the grill and get it pretty hot. If you are using a charcoal grill like we do, then smoosh all of your coals over to one side. Spray the Boboli with Olive Oil- thank you pam can- and place on the grill. Grill for approximately three minutes, and then flip it. Grill for another three minutes and then remove the crust from the grill.
Back in the kitchen, top crust with a drizzle of olive oil, the rest of the toppings, and salt and pepper. Return pizza to grill (placing crust directly on grate of the grill, as before).
Cook for 15-18 minutes, or until toppings reach your desired cooked-through level. Because none of our toppings actually needed to be cooked, we just watched it carefully until it suited our tastes. We alternated between indirect heat (on the side with no coals) and medium direct heat (straddling the coals and non-coal section of the grill.)
Remove from grill, cut into slices, and serve!!!
Even with no cheese I give this recipe 4 stars!!

Sloppy Joes

Despite my STRONG aversion to the store-bought, meat-in-a-can version of this dinner, I do love homemade sloppy joes, and to keep up with my recent ode to summer meals, I thought I'd share this recipe with you all! You can find the recipe here. It's originally from Rachel Ray, and love her or hate her, these "sammies" are pretty dang good. Serve them with grilled corn on the cob, watermelon, and fries for an easy summer meal that promises plenty of leftovers throughout the week! Happy eating!

Perfection

There's not really a recipe to go along with this, but I wanted to take a minute and brag about my husband- he cooked this teriyaki chicken on the grill a while ago, and it was almost too beautiful to eat! Luckily, I overcame my hesitation to desecrate his art because this chicken was SO yummy! Way to go Dean!

Pico de Gallo

No, this is not salsa. Yes, it is delicious.Slice up watermelon, jicama, cucumber, mango, pineapple and any other assorted tropical fruits you like (papaya is also excellent). Arrange fruit in large glasses. Pour a few tablespoons of lime juice over the fruit, and top it with a good sprinkling of cayenne pepper. Enjoy the best summer treat ever!

Chicken Tacos

Ingredients
Shredded chicken
Sliced Squash- we used a mix of green and yellow then cooked it for a few minutes with butter on the stove
Corn- fresh would be better, but we used canned and it was fine
Black beans
Whole grain tortillas- something we just recently discovered-inauthentic but so good!
Radishes
Cilantro
Avocado
Limes
Valentina (optional I suppose, but I couldn't imagine these without it)

Limey Dressing, adapted from a salad dressing in ATK Cookbook, p. 78*
5 tablespoons e.v. olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 small jalapenos seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 pepper

* this could be used as a marinade if you are the kind of person who plans ahead. As I'm not, I just cooked the chicken in half of this and dumped the second half on after cooking.


Mix all dressing ingredients together- cook the chicken on a skillet with half of the dressing mixture until cooked through. Then, shred the chicken and place in serving bowl with rest of dressing poured on top. Spoon chicken, corn, cilantro, radishes, and avocado onto a warmed tortilla. Spinkle Valentina liberally and then squeeze a lime on top for maximum deliciousness. Serve with warm black beans, squash, and fruit on the side.

Ode to Hot Sauce

Hot sauce has got to be one of the best inventions of all time. My world-traveling little brother recently sent me a bottle from Nicaragua (it was excellent by the way) and it got me thinking- how many bottles of hot sauce do we have in our house at any given time? Below, you'll find the answer. I did not go out and purchase anything for this post. These are just what we had on hand in our house on a lazy Saturday morning.

Pretty impressive if I do say so myself.

I also wanted to share a delicious idea that I'm a little embarrassed to have never thought of before. We went over to our friends Joel and April's house for FHE recently and they served us some potato chips (ruffled) with lime and hot sauce. Valentina to be exact. SO GOOD! I don't even like potato chips and I liked it. It could be that the chips only serve as a vehicle to get the lime and hot sauce in my mouth, but still- give it a whirl some time! I promise- you won't be disappointed!

Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon with Sugar Snap Peas

Quick, easy, yummy. Not out-of-this-world, mind-numbingly delicious, but pretty dang good for a weeknight dinner.

I got the original recipe here. I made it without the pea tendrils only because I didn't have anything on hand. The sweet chili sauce is a Thai sauce, and is different than chili paste which is what I thought it was at first. We served it with a mix of brown and jasmine rice to round out the meal. The whole dinner comes together super quickly- especially if you have a microplaner that your exquisitely wonderful husband bought for you. (I'll never mince garlic or ginger again- yahoo!) Give it a try and see what you think!