Tag Archives: grilling

Inside-Out Jalapeno Popper Burgers

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jalabur

So you’re probably reading this post and thinking “wait, she cooks?”, lol. On account of my crafting spree the past few weeks I haven’t tried out many new recipes but luckily I have an arsenal of easy favorites that I can rely on during the weeks that I lack creativity in the kitchen. Last night I came up with this amazing new burger recipe that I am so excited to share with you! I like to think of this recipe as rolling two bar favorites, a burger and a jalapeno popper, into one delicious bite. In the interest of full disclosure I will tell you that the motivation for this burger was actually to get rid of some lingering cheese, sour cream and scallions in the fridge (throwing out food drives me nuts!) which reminded me of typical dip ingredients and then somehow my mind wound up at jalapeno popper, lol. No idea how that happened but I’m glad it did because I love a good burger and I’m so happy to add this one to my list of favorites (I’ll have to write a burger collective post soon!). I wouldn’t classify any recipe containing cream cheese and sour cream as “skinny” (lol) but for what it’s worth I did lighten it up by using reduced fat ingredients and lean beef feel free to adapt it to your liking whether that be dialing back the amount of cheese or using full fat ingredients! With football season officially upon us I hope you can feature these at your next game day get together, served up with lots of cold ones 🙂

Even though baby P wasn't awake for burger deliciousness he still thought our weekend was fab! :)

Even though baby P wasn’t awake for burger deliciousness he still thought our weekend was fab! 🙂

 

INSIDE-OUT JALAPENO POPPER BURGERS

INGREDIENTS (makes 8 regular burgers)

  • 2 lbs. lean ground beef
  • 4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup light sour cream
  •  1 medium jalapeno, diced (I removed the ribs and seeds to reduce the heat a bit, but prepare to your liking)
  • 1/3 cup crumbled bacon or bacon bits
  • 1 cup mild shredded cheddar cheese (pepper jack or mozzarella cheese would also work)
  • 1 scallion, sliced
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Combine cream cheese, sour cream, diced jalapeno, bacon, cheese, scallions, garlic powder, salt and pepper, stir to combine.

jalabur2

Step 2: Separate your ground beef into eight equal portions. Working one at a time, separate each section of beef and form two equal patties. Take about 1-2 Tbsp. of the cream cheese mixture and place it in the center of one of your patties, then take the other patty and place it on top of the filling using your fingers to pinch the edges of the two patties together around the filling and reform the burger. Continue until you have eight equal sized burgers.

jalabur1

Step 3: Brush your burgers on both sides with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Grill on conventional grill or grill pan to your liking! These would be delicious served with homemade onion strings but if you’re lazy like I am just throw your onions on the grill while your burgers are cooking 🙂

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ignore my weird choice of lettuce, yet another fridge item I was trying to burn lol

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For two other great burger recipes check out my recipe for Kitty’s Mediterannean Turkey Burgers and Greek Sliders!

Skinny Cheese Steak Sammies

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This recipe is my “skinny” take on the traditional Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich, but I won’t refer to them as “Philly” Cheese Steak Sammies for fear of ridicule from the hardcore Philly Cheese Steak enthusiasts out there, haha. I LOVE a good Philly Cheese Steak but I try to keep my intake of cheese sauce to a minimum so I came up with my own healthier version of the sandwich so that my hubby and I can enjoy it at home. If you’ve checked out any of my other recipes you’ll see that I’m a big fan of skirt steak, mostly because it’s super cheap and in my opinion underrated because when prepared right it can be a great alternative to more expensive beef cuts like sirloin. I love these sandwiches because they’re great at any time of year and since they’re not as heavy as the traditional Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich, they can even be enjoyed on super hot summer days (like we did this past week!) and with the addition of a little chipotle mayo they certainly aren’t lacking in flavor. Additionally, they can be prepared entirely on the grill or indoors on the stove top so you have different options in terms of preparation as well. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do, I promise you won’t miss the cheese sauce 🙂

SKINNY CHEESE STEAK SAMMIES (MAKES 4)

*For some reason I only took three pictures and then got too excited to eat the final product and forgot to snap a photo of that as well, lol. Will update soon!

INGREDIENTS 

  • 2 lbs. Skirt Steak
  • 2 green peppers, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium to large onion, thinly sliced
  • 8 thin slices of Provolone cheese
  • 4 Hoagie or Sub Rolls
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 3/4 cup lite mayo
  •  1 Chipotle Pepper in Adobo (after removing one from the can you can freeze the rest in a small ziplock bag for later use)
  • Juice of 1/2 a Lemon

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Begin by placing your skirt steak in a dish with a generous amount of olive oil and salt with a bit of pepper and toss to coat. Allow it to marinate for a few minutes while you prepare the chipotle mayo and pepper and onions.

philch

Step 2: To prepare the mayo place the mayo, lemon juice and chipotle pepper in adobo in a blender or food processor and blend until combined (I use my nutribullet). If you don’t have a blender or food processor you can chop the pepper as fine as you are able to manually and then combine all ingredients by stirring by hand.

There will be lots left over! It is super yummy on just about anything :)

There will be lots left over! It is super yummy on just about anything 🙂

Step 3:  To prepare the peppers and onions you can sautee them for a few minutes on the stove top with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper until tender. If you plan to prepare them on the grill you can combine the peppers with olive oil, salt and pepper within a foil packet and place on the grill along with your steak when you grill it. If you want preparation to be super easy you can prepare your peppers and onions ahead of time as I did by setting some of my peppers and onions aside when I prepared my Fajita Quesadillas a few days prior.

My left over peppers and onions

My left over peppers and onions

Step 4: Now you are ready to grill your steak. Preheat your grill and then grill your steak to your desired level of doneness. Allow the steak to rest for a few minutes before slicing against the grain (to make it easier to chew). I slice it in half, then into strips against the grain and cube it.

sliceste

 

Step 5: Once your ingredients are prepped, slice your rolls and spread your desired amount of chipotle mayo in each then assemble your sandwiches by placing steak, peppers and onions in side of the open roll and finally topping the ingredients with two slices of provolone cheese.

Step 6: At this point you can either place your sandwiches back on the top rack of the grill for a few minutes until the cheese has melted and the bread begins to crisp or you can place them under the broiler for a minute or two just to melt the cheese. Enjoy!

Kitty’s Mediterranean Turkey Burgers with Lemon Dill Sauce

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turkeybur7

As I’ve mentioned before, I LOVE Mediterranean food. A few weeks ago while J was out of town, one of my favorite NC gals Kitty, was nice enough to come over and make dinner with me :). We both love to cook and blog, so I suggested we make something that we would be able to blog about later and she came up with the idea for Mediterranean turkey burgers which was perfect since it was beautiful out that day! I’m not usually a fan of turkey burgers but these came out AMAZING and I was so grateful to Kitty for introducing me to this recipe. Needless to say I was super excited to whip these up again, so last night when I was thinking about what to grill for dinner (it was going to be the only nice weather day on our long weekend, blah!), Kitty’s turkey burgers immediately came to mind! Not only are these burgers healthy but they are SUPER delicious and pack tons of flavor. Credit for this recipe of course goes to Kitty (hence the name of the recipe, lol), so be sure to follow her blog, Kitty’s Corner, she has lots of great recipe ideas and her blog is as awesome as she is! 🙂

KITTY’S MEDITERRANEAN TURKEY BURGERS

Ingredients

*this recipe makes 6 burgers, feel free to double or triple for more!

  • 1 lb. lean ground turkey
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 of a red onion, diced
  • 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 cup chick peas (about 3/4 of a can)
  • 1/2 cup corn (about 1/2 can)
  • 3 oz. crumbled feta cheese
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions

  1. Heat grill or grill pan.
  2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix by hand to incorporate all ingredients.                                                                                     turkeybur1turkeybur2
  3. Form your burgers. This recipe makes 6 standard size burgers but could also make 12 slider sized burgers or 4 extra large burgers.turkeybur3
  4. Brush both sides of your burgers with olive oil and place on grill.                                                                                                                                turkeybur4
  5. Grill to required temp for poultry, mine took about 8 mins per side.

    I feel like I'm really getting a hang of this grilling thannggg, check out those sweet grill marks lol

    I feel like I’m really getting a hang of this grilling thannggg, check out those sweet grill marks lol

  6. Enjoy! I served mine up on a whole wheat bun with spinach, tomatoes and lemon dill sauce (recipe below). These are also a great low-carb lunch sans bun!turkeybur6

 

LEMON DILL SAUCE

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a small dish and mix to combine.
  2. Refrigerate for 10-15 mins before serving to allow flavors to develop.
  3. Enjoy! This sauce is great with an Greek inspired dish as it is a quick alternative to tzatziki sauce!

 

 

Grilled Steak Sandwich with Brie, Arugula, Pears & Sweet Onion Jam

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steaksa

So even though I had a jolly ‘ol time hanging by myself, catching up on Grey’s and eating mushroom-inspired dinners while my hubby was in NY this week, I kind of missed the guy! I decided to make him one of our old favorites upon his return, which requires a little more prep and ingredients but is SUPER delicious and always worth the extra effort. We are big red meat eaters but don’t necessarily like the cost of a good cut of beef. Back when I was gainfully employed I usually would have made this sandwich with left over beef tenderloin, but in the interest of making it budget friendly I decided to substitute skirt steak which is awesome on the grill and still super tasty. The use of Brie speaks for itself, as I could eat an entire wheel lol but feel free to use a more generic cheese to cut costs. Here’s my recipes for both the sandwich and the sweet onion jam (which is great for other uses as well!). 

Steak Sandwiches 

*this makes 2 large sandwiches, you can easily adjust the recipe for more :).

Ingredients:

  • 1-1.5 lb. Skirt Steak
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt
  • 4 Slices Bread (I used Sourdough, but whatever you prefer will work fine)
  • 5 oz. Brie, sliced
  • 1 pear, halved and thinly sliced
  • Arugula
  • 2 Tbsp. Onion Jam (See Recipe Below)

Directions:

1. Start by heating your grill or grill pan. Pour a liberal amount of olive oil over the steak and sprinkle with about 1/2 tsp salt.steak

2. Place steak on grill and cook to desired temp. I prefer mine medium, which was about 5-8 mins per side.                                                                                                                  steak1steak3

3. While steak is grilling slice your cheese, pears and bread (I heated my bread for a bit on the grill when the steak was cooking on it’s second side, but this is not necessary).

briepea

4. When steak is done allow it to rest for 5-10 mins before slicing thinly against the grain, this is important with skirt steak, if you slice with the grain it will be very hard to chew. I generally cut my piece in half, then slice each half individually (see picture).

sliceste

5. Now you are ready to assemble your sandwiches. First, spread each piece of bread with about 1 tbsp. of the onion jam, then layer steak, brie, pears and finally, arugula.

onbrea

6. Place sandwiches back on the grill and allow to cook for about 2 mins on each side, just enough for the outside to crisp and cheese to melt. If you prefer to heat them in oven or in a pan this is fine too. These would also be amazing paninis if you have have a panini press

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7. Slice your sandwiches in half and enjoy! 🙂

 

Sweet Onion Jam

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium yellow onion, very thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil

Directions:

  1. Start by heating canola oil in pan. Once oil is hot, add onions and cook on medium heat until onions start to release some of their liquid, about 5-10 mins.onjamonjam2
  2. Add the vinegar and honey and cook until liquid begins to thicken, then reduce heat to low and allow to cook until a thick jam forms, about 10-15 mins.onjam3
  3. Allow to cool before serving.

 

Grilled Portabella Sandwich

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gpsan

So my dear ‘ol hubs is in NYC for a conference for a few days, leaving me and master P to rot here in Jacksonville lol kidding. Anyway, I always joke that when he is out of town I save so much money because I could literally eat one thing the entire time and be fine with it (usually it’s some kind of pasta dish that I love but he wouldn’t consider a “meal” .. like what? it’s carbs therefore it’s all you need lol). I used this opportunity to make something using one of my most loved (but one of my hubby’s most hated) ingredients – mushrooms! While my hubby and I agree on pretty much everything, mushrooms are not one of those things, but I guess if that is the only point of contention in a relationship, you’re doing okay! lol. Since I had along day (poor little P had to get his shots) and didn’t want to spend a ton of time preparing a meal for myself, I decided to recreate a sandwich from the Brickhouse Brewery back on LI. A little background info about this sandwich, it basically sustained myself and bff Tiffany during the summer of 2010 when our diets consisted of more alcohol than food haha. While I would be lying if I were to say I remember with absolute certainty what was on it besides portabella mushrooms and mozzarella (since it was usually preceded and followed by many Jack & Diets lol) I do know that there are a lot of fun memories surrounding this sandwich lol. From what I can recall it was super delicious and me and T would always split it, I miss her (and that summer) so much and wish I had her here tonight to split this one with me and sing “You Can Call me Al” 🙂

The recipe is super simple but who wants difficulty when cooking for one? 🙂

 

GRILLED PORTABELLA SANDWICH

*Serving size is 1 sandwich, you can easily make as many as needed 🙂

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 portabella cap
  • olive oil
  • balsamic glaze
  • salt & pepper
  • roasted red peppers (jarred or homemade)
  • fresh mozzarella, sliced
  • 1 Kaiser roll

 

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat outdoor grill or indoor grill pan. Clean mushroom and remove stem.
  2. Brush mushroom with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  3. Place mushroom bottom side down on grill, wait about 5-8 mins and flip.

  4. mush

    Ignore how filthy my grill is, it’ s just starting to see some action with all of this nice weather we’ve been having. Cleaning it will be tomorrow’s naptime project!

  5. Once mushroom has been grilling top side down for about 5 mins layer your sliced cheese on top and place your bun on warming area of grill to toast it. Allow cheese to melt.mush2
  6. Once cheese has melted assemble your sandwich by placing the portabella and cheese on the bun, followed by the roasted red peppers and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. Enjoy!

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*Feel free to use a more budget friendly cheese or add extra grilled veggies! There are endless options with this delicious sammie 🙂