Anyone who knows me knows that I love flank steak (I'm making you one on Thursday, Bill and Jennifer.  Not this one, another one.  I'm mixing it up.  I'm versatile that way.).

It's one of the most consistent cuts of meat in my opinion, so I find that it's hard to screw up.  I marinate the heck out of it and grill it most of the time.  In the future I'll share my mom's famous flank steak recipe, but this time, I'm sharing a new recipe I just tried from Martha Stewart.

Soy Marinated Flank Steak

BEHOLD THE BEEF!!!

Now if you are watching your sodium intake this likely isn't for you, but holy cow (heh) this business is delicious.

Because I can't leave well enough alone, here is what I changed:

1) Martha marinates for 1-2 hours.  Is she high? No self-respecting person marinates less than overnight.

2) She uses cider vinegar.  I didn't have any so I used white wine vinegar.  Vinegar, for the most part is vinegar.  So mix it up and use what you have.  Still tastes fantastic.

3) She reduces the marinade on the stove and brushes it on the meat while grilling.  It's so unnecessary to dirty another pan to do this when you marinate overnight.  Did I mention no self-respecting... Oh yeah.  I did.

4) The second time I made it, I only had a 1/2 cup of soy sauce on hand.  It worked just fine.  I just cut back a bit on the other ingredients.  I didn't exactly cut the recipe in half, because that would be too easy and I'm a rebellious cook.   I did about 2/3 of the other ingredients and 1/2 the soy sauce.  Just be sure to turn the meat while its marinating if you do this because it might not be enough liquid to cover.

Please excuse me, while I raid the leftovers...

Cheesy Chicken Rotini

Okay, this is kind of a "cheating" recipe but knowing how bloggers on this site just LOVE cheese, thought it was still work sharing. The recipe came from VelveetaRotel.com and the resulting dish was devoured by my family in one sitting, I barely had enough to photograph for this blog! 


Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 c. water
13 oz. box rotini pasta (I like Dreamfields, it tastes great but is lower in carbs)
16 oz. frozen Normandy mix (broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots)
1 can (10 oz.) RO*TEL, undrained
1 lb. Velveeta, cut into 1/2" cubes


Directions:

1. Cook and stir chicken in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir in water. Bring to boil. Add pasta; stir. Cover, simmer on medium-low heat10 mins or until pasta is tender. 
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Cook covered, 5 to 7 minutes, making sure Velveeta is melted and vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring frequently. 

Steve adds salt before eating, but as he's fond of saying, "don't add the salt while cooking, you can always add after but you can't take it out." Don't ask how he found that out :-)

Corn and Pepper Chowder

This is a hearty soup which goes down well on a damp, rainy day. Served with warm brie and Honey Crisp apple slices, makes a well balanced, heavenly meal which can be prepared in advance. Variations are available on allrecipes.com. Helpful hint when using allrecipes.com - read the user comments, they're frequently creative and can add a twist to make the dish more interesting.


Ingredients:


2 T. butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (optional if you're allergic)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 c. chicken broth
1 lb. red potatoes, cut into chunks
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
3 c. whole kernel corn
14 oz. kielbasa, halved and sliced (can substitute turkey sausage for a "lighter" option)
1 c. fat-free half and half


Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Cook onion, garlic, and bell peppers in butter until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in broth, potatoes, pepper and cumin and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender. 
2. Stir in corn, kielbasa, and half & half into soup. Simmer 20 minutes more. 

Steve found this dish, although hearty, lacking "bite" and added red pepper flakes to pump it up a bit, so this is another option. Also, the original recipe calls for pureeing half the corn and adding it that way, we chose not to. In any event, it's a good base with many possible variations. Be creative and enjoy!

Greek Quinoa Salad

This is my first blog entry EVER so please bear with me if it's not quite up to par. Rest assured the recipe is and one I hope you'll have occasion to enjoy it. I tried this recipe because I was looking for something interesting, out of the ordinary (sure, we can pretend I can cook......), and most importantly, something I could make ahead in preparation for a dear friend's visit after 15 years!

Ingredients:

2 c. chicken broth

1 clove garlic, smashed (optional if allergic to garlic)

1 c. uncooked quinoa

3 large cooked chicken breasts cut into 1" cubes (chick peas can be substituted for a vegetarian option)

1 large yellow onion

1 large orange or green bell pepper, diced

1/2 c. sliced olives (original recipe calls for kalamata, I only had green on hand and they were yummy!)

1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese

1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

1/4 c. chopped fresh chives

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2c. fresh lemon juice

1 T. balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. olive oil

Directions:

1. Bring the chicken broth and garlic to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the quinoa and reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer about 15 to 20 minutes, quinoa should be tender and the liquid absorbed. Discard the garlic clove and transfer the quinoa to a large bowl. 
2. Add in the chicken, onion, bell pepper, olives, feta cheese, parsley, chives, and salt into the quinoa, stirring gently. Pour the lemon juice, olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top and mix together. May be served warm or  cold and in one of those recipes that tastes best the day after, once all the flavors come together. 

Steve tasted this one, but is more a meat and potatoes guy, so much for exotic grains! Hope you will enjoy, none the less.......

Who needs a recipe?

I didn't want to waste good pesto in the fridge, so I made grilled sandwiches using...

• Sliced roast beef (Boar's Head brand)
• Sliced provolone cheese (also Boar's Head)
• Sliced tomatoes, sprinkled with salt & pepper
• Pesto, of course!
• Italian bread

Not knowing what would be served along side of my sandwich creation, I headed to the grocery store with an open mind. I ended up with a new item in my basket: brocolinni. I threw caution to the wind and thought, "How hard can this be?" I first sauteed one shallot and two garlic cloves (chopped) in a mix of olive oil and butter. After one minute, I added the bunch of brocolinni and cooked it for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, I added salt and pepper. Easy and DEE-licious!!

My meal was semi-homemade...I cheated with some potato wedges from the freezer! :-)

Same recipe, different place

It has become tradition that I leave my daughter (Jessica) with a homecooked meal whenever I visit. It was my intention to make "Smoky Mushroom Mac n' Cheese" for her this weekend, but she opted out. So, I stopped on the way home from Abilene to purchase the ingredients for myself. Two words sum it up... HER LOSS

I've attempted traditional mac 'n cheese a few times, and each yielded poor results. However, this version was fantastic!! I enjoyed the dish with some roasted asparagus and a glass of Pinot Noir. If you want to give this recipe a whirl, preparation is key. Quite a bit of chopping is involved, so take care of that first and you'll enjoy the rest of the ride.

Smoky Mushroom Mac n' Cheese
   1 lb. campanelle pasta (I could not find this variety, so I settled for farfalle)
   2 tbls butter
   1 tbls olive oil
   1/2 cup diced shallots
   1 1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced (I used a 1/2 lb. each of brown, button, and baby bella mushrooms)
   1 tbls fresh thyme, chopped
   2 cloves garlic, minced
   3 tbls flour
   3 cups 2% milk
   7 oz. smoked gouda, shredded
   3 oz. gouda, shredded
   salt & pepper
  
1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Cook pasta about 2 minutes less than package directions; drain & set aside.
3. In large saucepan, heat 1 tbls. of butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots; cook 3 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and thyme; cook 7 minutes. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes.
4. Add remaining 1 tbls. of butter to saucepan. Once melted, add flour and stir for 2 minutes. Pour in milk and continue stirring until it comes to a boil. Simmer for 3 minutes until thickened.
5. Remove from heat and stir in cheese, salt and pepper until smooth. Mix together with cooked pasta.
6. Pour mixture into an ungreased 13x9x2 baking dish. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

How do you say "gobble, gobble" in Spanish?

I made Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps from Skinnytaste.com. 

This recipe is super easy and it's nice to know I can now make taco seasoning myself if I don't have any on hand.

A couple of notes:

•  Use a non-stick pan with a lid.  Non-stick because it uses extra-lean ground turkey and there is no oil in the recipe.  I can't imagine the clean-up if you used a regular pan.  I don't like to scrub crud off my pans - call me crazy.  A lid because it calls for it, but not until the end of the recipe when you may not have realized you needed a pan with a lid!

• It calls for a 4oz can of tomato sauce.  I don't think there is such an animal.  An 8oz can is teeny tiny, so I can only imagine you'd need a magnifying glass to open a 4oz can.  So buy the 8oz and use half.

• This would be a good recipe to double and freeze the turkey stuff since it uses half a can of the tomato sauce, half an onion, and about half a small bell pepper.  If you're anything like me, the other halves of stuff like that sit in the fridge until they start growing things, then go in the trash.

• Cook the turkey mixture for an extra 5 minutes with the lid off if the liquid isn't absorbed.  Mine was still soupy until I cooked it longer.

 Quite frankly, the hardest part of this recipe was peeling the lettuce layers.  I only had one come off that wasn't torn badly.  I have a new-found respect for the people who do this for PF Changs!  Let's hope they have a decent benefits package...


 I added a little cheese and plain yogurt as toppings.  At 134 calories a serving (2 tacos) before toppings, I figured the extras weren't going to hurt.