Tomato and the Sandwich

Wow, it's been a while since I blogged. I've started a new job so I've been busy and living off the food in my freezer (all homemade and healthy!). So I haven't had any new recipes to share. But I do have a tip.

Since I started a new job I'm back to packing lunches. I enjoy a good lunch, it can really punctuate your day with a pleasure point. Some of you may remember my hummus, veggie and feta wrap. It's one of my favs. I brought it the first day of work. Wheee! Well, make that almost whee.... I had made it up the night before like a good little well prepared worker bee should. However, the next day by lunchtime the tomato had managed to make the whole thing soggy. What was I thinking? I'm not some newbie here, I've packed a lunch or two in my day. So here's my tip. Are you ready?? It's a big one! Pack your tomatoes for sandwiches separately and insert them into the sandwich right before consuming. Yeah, I know, it's not rocket science.

Orzo, a underated pasta

Last night I whipped up a quick dish for a late dinner. I had taken out some chicken tenders (the long bits that are inside a chicken breast. Don't have any? Just use a chicken breast) and some frozen chopped spinach the day before. I had some feta that I wanted to use since I had just bought another package of it, no need to have 2 packages of feta in the fridge. And I had picked up some of the new Kraft Pure Olive Oil based dressing on sale at the grocery store. I usually make my own dressings but with summer approaching and salad season about to hit me hard, I like to have some quick options on hand. I picked up the sun dried tomato and the balsamic vinaigrette. I now have a total of 4 ready to go dressings in my fridge and tonight I'm making a grilled shrimp caesar salad with my own homemade low fat caesar dressing... Yep. that's logical. Hey, the store bought dressings last a couple of months so I'm good for the summer. Back to last night's dinner.

So I had some chicken and spinach. I thought I'd do them in a sort of saute pan supper. Pasta? sure. I pulled out some orzo, the rice shaped pasta. This is a great pasta for salads and mixed dishes. I boiled 3 handfuls (fancy measuring, eh?).

Warm Orzo Salad

Ingredients:

• Orzo (3 handfuls for 3 small meals)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped red and orange pepper
• 6 oz. chicken tenders or breast meat, diced
• 2 cups frozen spinach
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 2 tbsp sun dried tomato salad dressing

Instructions:

1. Cook Orzo according to instructions on package. Set aside when done.
2. Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat
3. Saute red onion and peppers until tender
4. Add chicken and saute until cooked through
5. Add in spinach and cook until heated through
6. Toss in Orzo and salad dressing and heat through
7. Put on plates and top with feta.

You can do this dish without the chicken for a great vegetarian dish or a nice side dish. You can also serve it cold! Orzo is great for cold pasta salads. The shape and texture is really nice.

Unstuffed Shells

I decided to make a big batch of stuffed shells. They freeze beautifully. And I was in the mood for some cheesy goodness. So I put them on the menu, got groceries for the week and then realized I forgot to pick up the pasta shells. D'uh! Okay, not to worry, I can improvise. So I made unstuffed shells. Or you could call it an italian mac and cheese, depending on your perspective.

It tasted as good as it looks.

I simply cooked some pasta I had on hand, in this case macaroni and put the tomato sauce on the bottom and top with the cheese mixture or 'stuffing' in the middle. I mixed the macaroni with the cheese and spinach mixture but you could layer sauce, pasta, cheese mixture, pasta and sauce. Top with cheese and this is a less messy dish than stuffing shells!

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Thai Burgers made with a KISS

I can't believe how long it's been since I shared from my kitchen! Wow, I've been busy. I've been sitting on this one for a week now so I'm going to post it to give you something to think about for now but stay tuned. I still have the ragu recipe to share and am working on an unstuffed shells cheese dinner!

I realized as I was eating this one that it was definitely worth sharing. Wanna bite?

This is a Thai Burger done the KISS way (keep it simple, silly!). Usually when I approach burgers I go overboard with the flavours. That can be good but it doesn't have to be that complicated. Just a few authentic flavours can make your burger go from ordinary to extraordinary! Here's what I did for these.

Thai Burgers for 4

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of extra lean beef, pork or chicken
• Lime Zest of 1/2 a lime or 2 tsp of lime juice
• 3 tbsp bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp each of fish sauce, garlic chili sauce and peanut butter (I use the all natural, no additive type)

That's it. Mix gently and make into patties.

I made a spread to go on the buns

Thai Burger Spread:

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp mayo, light works well here
• 4 tsp red curry paste
• 4 tsp or less, depending on taste, soya sauce
• Blend and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

I have a few more recipes written down for easy ethnic burgers that I'll post after I try them. What sounds good in my head usually works but it would be best if I'm sure first, don't you think?