Steak Salad with Roasted Redskins & Sauteed Mushrooms

My husband's 4.0 tennis team competed this past weekend in the Midwest Championships down in Indianapolis. Sadly, they were edged out of moving on to National's by the team from Michigan -- but it was really close with many third set tie breakers over the course of three days of matches. This is the third year straight that his team has won the Wisconsin title and I know they really wanted to move on, but it just wasn't in the cards. Next year, boys!

We welcomed him home from Indy with another one of my favorite summer meals, the Blackened Steak Salad. Usually I make this more than once per summer, but for some reason last night was the first time this year....and it is gooo-oooooood! I was contemplating using chicken breasts to save on cost and calories, but tenderloin steaks were on special so I decided to go for it.

The original recipe (on Epicurious.com) calls for dunking the steaks in melted butter, then dusting them in the blackening seasonings, and searing them on a blisteringly hot skillet. Last night I skipped the butter step and just pressed the seasonings on the steaks, and tossed them on a hot grill. This worked well and we of course didn't even miss the butter step, although I wouldn't exactly call them "blackened" -- more like, just "spicy".

Alongside we had my favorite Roasted Potatoes with Garlic (yes, they're from Ina -- did you really have to ask?). I was kind of in a time crunch and didn't have the full hour to roast them, so I cut them into quarters, stuck them in a 9x11 Pyrex with a little water, covered them tightly and microwaved them on hi for about 6 minutes. Then I drained them off really well, and proceeded with the recipe. This worked like a charm and shaved off a good 20 minutes of roasting time.

Another favorite and natural accompaniment are these awesome Sauteed Button Mushrooms. These are incredible with any steak, but are especially good with this salad.

We're off to enjoy a hot, steamy day at the pool. I can't believe summer is dwindling down this quickly. My son starts school next Wednesday, eeeeek!!

Back to the Lake!

Hotdoggin'...

Wakeboarding.....

Well, the flood is over and we've cleaned up the aftermath....mostly. The poor lawn was drowned for three weeks, but hopefully it'll come back next spring. We've had to rip up the carpet on the first floor, and replace some mil-dewey drywall, but no big deal....and the dock.....well, let's just say that's a lost cause. That'll all be replaced in the springtime. For now, we're just enjoying the lake for what it is -- 'cause summer is fleeting and we have to savor every single second and not worry about stuff that just doesn't really matter!

SO! We spent the weekend out at the lake and we all had a total BLAST! The weather was amazing and the kids all got in a lot of tubing, wakeboarding, and skiing. I even got some time to cook in my little cottage kitchen.

Shrimp Salad Sandwich

One afternoon I made Ina's Shrimp Salad for the husband and myself. We both really liked it and I thought it looked pretty too; it was the perfect lakeside lunch.

I also made her Orzo with Roasted Vegetables (always a hit), which we took when we had dinner with some friends at their cottage. With roasted eggplant, garlic, yellow and red peppers, and red onion, the orzo salad was a nice compliment to the ribs that my friend Jane made. It also calls for fresh basil (which I have a TON of) and cubed feta....yum! I'm just giving you the links because I didn't divert at all from either recipe. Ya gotta love that Ina!

Orzo with Roasted Vegetables

I highly recommend both of these salads; they taste just like summer!

A healthy riff on taco salad....

Here's another recipe from the backlog....I'm making' my way through the pile of recipes that have piled up this summer! I'm getting to the bottom of the pile though, and pretty soon I'm gonna have to start cooking again to get more new material!


My family was totally snowed and had absolutely no idea that this was a healthy version of tacos -- well, tacos for them, salads for the Husband and me. I swear, you will never believe this is a Weight Watchers recipe!

This could not be easier to prepare, and while some foodies (you know who you are) will scoff at the use of pre-packaged taco seasoning, there are enough little changes in this recipe to make it taste more dressed up than your every day Ortega tacos (not that there's anything wrong with Ortega tacos!). I love how some of the meat in this dish is replaced with corn and black beans -- I can never get enough black beans!

Lovely on a summer night, family friendly, and perfect for a Mexican craving!

Turkey Taco Salad

Serves: 4-6

Source: adapted from Take-out Tonight! by Weight Watchers, page 107

1 t. cooking oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 lbs. ground skinless turkey breast (I confess, I used a mixture of light and dark ground turkey)

1 packet of taco seasoning mix

1 t. adobo chili powder

1/2 c. water

1 c. black beans, rinsed and drained

1 c. frozen corn, thawed

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

Mixed greens (I used green leaf and red leaf)

Julienned red onion, chopped tomato, sliced avocado and black olives

Shredded reduced fat Mexican Cheese blend

Baked tortilla chips (for the salads) and a box of taco shells (for the kiddos)

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Swirl in the oil, then add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 7-10 minutes. Add the turkey and seasoning mix. Cook, breaking up the turkey with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in the water and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the water has evaporated, about 3 minutes longer. Stir in the black beans, corn, and cilantro; heat through. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Place a generous bed of greens on your dinner plates. Top with the turkey mixture and desired vegetables. Garnish with baked tortilla strips.

If your kids are doin' the taco thing (as opposed to the salad thing), bake your shells in the oven, and assemble their tacos with whatever they like.

Grilled Cajun Chicken Salad....al fresco!

Can you believe this? Three posts so far this week. This must be a record for me! I told you on Sunday that I had a backlog of photos and recipes to share, so here's another great summer dinner for you.

My only regret is that I don't have a photo of the composed salad with all of the components, but as they say, the natives were restless, starving, and annoyed that I was shooting their dinner while all they wanted to do was dig in!

This was a hit with my family! The recipe makes a ton of dressing, and it was a little spicy for my kids. Hub and I loved it though. All it needed alongside was a loaf of toasted French bread. Delicious!

Not the greatest chicken picture, but as I said, the DamFam was hungry and impatient!

Here's a link to the recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/GRILLED-CAJUN-CHICKEN-SALAD-WITH-SPICY-RANCH-DRESSING-105281

Favorite Flank Steak, Couscous Tabbouleh, and a BONUS!

My family just returned home yesterday after a long weekend in Ohio. My husband was nice enough to take himself and the kids on a road trip to visit his mom and siblings so that I could have the house to myself to entertain my high school friends.

The road weary DamFam needed a good dinner after eight hours in the car, so I marinated everyone's favorite flank steak, and tried a new salad to have alongside. Both were outstanding, and there was just enough left for the hub to take to work for lunch today.

This flank steak is one of the first 'real' entrees I learned how to make; I got the recipe from my Aunt Trish way back in 1991, and I've made it several times a summer ever since. The couscous tabbouleh recipe is from Epicurious. We also had a blueberry crumble, but there aren't any pictures because it disappeared way too fast!

Favorite Flank Steak

Serves: 4-6

Source: Aunt Trish's Recipe File

3/4 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. vegetable oil

2 T. molasses

2 t. dried mustard

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. minced fresh ginger

1 1/2 lbs. flank steak

Mix all marinade ingredients in a big Pyrex measuring cup. Place the flank steak in a large ziplock bag and pour the marinade in. Squeeze out all the air and seal the bag; marinate in the refrigerator for at least four hours, and up to eight hours.

Allow the steak to come to room temperature before grilling over medium high. I usually do 6 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove steak to a large cutting board (with a rim for catching juices, if possible). Cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing thinly across the grain. Transfer to a nice platter and pour any juices over the meat. MMMMMMMM!!!

The Couscous Tabbouleh recipe can be found here:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/COUSCOUS-TABBOULEH-12124

And now for the BONUS RECIPE I promised! My daughters have been asking for a turn to be Guest Bloggers, and just look at the delicious dish they thought up while away in Ohio over the weekend! It's called Pond Scum Surprise!

They gathered this fantastic organic scum from the pond at my brother in law's place, plated it up, and staged the perfect photo shoot - complete with a drink and fritos from their real lunch. I thought this was just too hilarious, so I just had to post. Ah, good times!DIG IN!!!

Panzanella & an Amazing Cheesecake

We've had kind of a revolving door of parties and social functions going on around here for the past week and a half. I looked forward to this time for about two months, and it's been great, great fun -- out of town company, a huge 4th of July celebration, my big Four-Oh, dinner with friends in and out of the neighborhood, and a ladies tennis social. This weekend four of my favorite friends from high school came for a visit (an annual event for our little group), and that was a blast too! The partying with everyone was so, soooo much fun. I haven't laughed so hard in the longest time!

However, this morning I woke up and my voice was completely gone....this girl is partied out. I'm having a peaceful and quiet evening tonight at home, and have just enough energy to update the ol' blog. I've got a back log of photos and recipes that I'm going to try to get to this week.

I made these two recipes when my brother and his wife were here a couple of weeks ago. One is for my favorite Panzanella Salad (yep, that's from Ina), and the other is for my mom's cheesecake. People RAVE over this cheesecake, I'm not lyin'! I think the recipe is from 1968 (Mom, you can correct me if I'm wrong); it's tried and true, and you'll love it too.

One of the beautiful things about this recipe is that is has a sour cream topping that can cover a multitude of baking sins (your cracks, namely -- tee hee). I'm not a careful baker and inevitably, my cheesecakes always end up with massive fault lines. This topping disguises those beautifully, and you'll look like a total pro.

Panzanella

Serves: 12

Source: Barefoot Contessa Parties! pp. 102-103

3 T. olive oil

1 small French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 t. kosher salt

2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 English cucumber, seeded and sliced 1/2 inch thick

1 each red and yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped

3 T. capers, drained

1 t. finely minced garlic

1/2 t. Dijon mustard

3 T. champagne vinegar (which I could not find, so I used Sherry vinegar instead)

1/2 c. good quality olive oil

1/2 t. kosher salt

1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil if needed.

For the vinaigrette, whisk the ingredients together. I used my stick blender to get it perfectly emulsified!

In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red and yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

My Mom's Cheesecake

Serves: MANY!

Source: A long since gone newspaper clipping circa 1968!

1/2 lb. graham cracker crumbs

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. melted butter

1/4 lb. butter, room temperature

3 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature

5 eggs

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 t. vanilla

2 pints sour cream

12 T. sugar

2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Mix the crust ingredients together in a medium bowl. Press into and up the sides of a 9x13" pan; bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the butter and cream cheese together until blended. Add in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake for 1 hour, or until center of cheesecake is very slightly jiggly. Cool for 10 minutes but maintain oven temperature.

For the topping, combine remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and spread over the top of the cheesecake. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely before covering and chilling overnight.

**Note: I ALWAYS cut this recipe in half and make it in my 10" springform pan. When cutting it in half, I use three eggs.