Turkey Pesto Grilled Cheese

This is not so much a recipe as it is just a concept, but it has become a staple in my life. My favorite is making this on a good Artisan seed bread (I am still looking for the perfect recipe) but my grocery store has a pretty good version.

Turkey Pesto Grilled Cheese

Artisan bread (seed, crusty, french, or whatever your thing is)

pesto (store bought or homemade)

provolone cheese

herb roasted turkey (I LOVE the Castlewood brand from Sam's club)
Fresh tomatoes

Take two slices of GOOD bread, slather each side with pesto.  Add cheese and turkey.  Now put butter on the outside and grill it on a hot griddle until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is melted. (I like to put a lid over the top of the sandwich, it helps the cheese to melt).  Once it is all melty, remove from the griddle and add that fresh tomato!

Chicken Gyros with Greek Chicken

If there is one thing that Michigan has a million of it is Coney Island Restaurants. When I first moved here I just assumed that Michiganders LOVED their hot dogs, but as it turns out all of these Coney Islands also have Greek food. YUM! We love us a good Gyro! So when I saw this recipe over at A Hint of Honey I decided to try it out. As it turns out, this is our new favorite chicken marinade and we have made these many times!  I altered the original recipe just slightly.

Chicken Gyros with Greek Chicken


2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 -inch pieces
4 T extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 t dried oregano
1 t salt
1 t fresh ground black pepper
2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
Feta cheese
Tzatziki Sauce (recipe below)
hummus (optional, but so good. We LOVE this recipe)
Pita bread (We LOVE this recipe)
Sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and red onion to garnish

In a medium bowl combine extra virgin olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.  Whisk together and then add the chicken.  Stir to coat evenly and let marinate for 30 minutes.  Preheat grill and thread skewers with chicken. If you are using wooden skewers don't forget to soak them in water for 20 minutes to keep them from burning.  Cook chicken on the grill until it is cooked through. (We have also put bell peppers and onions on with the chicken and served the kabobs over rice.)

Tzatziki Sauce


8 oz. plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cucumber, shredded and water squeezed out
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T extra virgin olive oil
several dashes of dried dill, to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble the Gyro add chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion and lettuce to the Pita.  Top with Tzatziki sauce, hummus and feta cheese.

French Dip Sandwiches

I have always loved a good French Dip...tender meat, yummy rolls, au jus...I mean what could be better? So I found a recipe over at Food Network that met my standards and gave it a try. I used this French Roll recipe and the all the parts put together just made a fantastic sandwich!

French Dip Sandwiches

(about 6 large sandwiches)

1 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
1 leek, roughly chopped (I didn't have this so I left it out, but I am sure it would be delish)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme
1/4 t dried sage
1/4 t dried oregano
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t ground cloves (I thought this was way too much, next time I will cut this down to 1/8 t)
1/2 t ground all spice
2 pounds beef top round roast
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups beef broth
French Rolls
provolone or swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 300.  Combine the chopped veggies, garlic and thyme in a large roasting pan.  Rub the dried herbs and spices all over the beef and generously salt and pepper.  Place the beef fat side up on the veggies.  Roast for about 45 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reads 130. Remove the meat from the pan and loosely cover with foil, let this rest for 30 minutes.

While the meat is resting, put the roast pan on the stove and cook the veggies over high heat until they are browned but not burned and the liquid is evaporated.  Pour off any excess fat.  Add the beef broth to the pan and scrape up any browned bits with a wooden spoon.  Transfer the liquid and veggies to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the liquid reduces by half, about 30 minutes.  Strain the sauce and season with salt and pepper.  Keep warm.

Trim the meat of any excess fat and slice very thin.  Slice the rolls and add the beef.  Top with cheese (provolone or swiss) and place under your broiler to melt the cheese (about 30 seconds to 1 minute).  Serve with au jus.

Chicken Salad Wraps

Gotta LOVE an easy meal! Seriously, this is faster than Fast Food! Thanks Abby for reminding me about this great "go to" quick lunch.

Chicken Salad Wrap

(4 servings)

1 can of white chicken, in water, drained (or about 1 1/2 to 2 cups shredded chicken, or hey, left over turkey!)

a couple of spoonfuls of lite mayo (NOT miracle whip, unless your into that)

craisins

chopped nuts (I use pecans)

chopped celery

salt and pepper to taste

spring greens

tortillas

Mix together the chicken, mayo, craisins, nuts, celery salt and pepper. I just add mayo until the chicken mixture holds together a bit. Put a big ol' spoonful in a tortilla with some spring greens and roll that puppy up. Now how fast was that?!

Chicken Shawarma Sandwich on Homemade Pita Bread

Alright, don't let this intimidate you. It is actually a pretty straight forward recipe or recipes actually. We are huge fans of Mediterranean food and LOVE Chicken Shawarma Sandwiches. So, I started looking for all the right components. These recipes come from a few different websites so I will site them under each recipe heading. Ok, here it goes!

Chicken Shawarma

www.dedemed.com

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1 T minced garlic

1 t salt

1/4 t ground cardamom

1/4 t 7 spices (I couldn't find this so I omitted it and it was still great!)

1/4 t paprika

1/4 t dried parsley

1/8 t cayenne pepper

1/8 t cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix to coat chicken. Cover and let marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Preheat pan with 3 T olive oil. Add chicken and cook for 10 minutes or longer until chicken is cooks through.

Yogurt Sauce and Greek Pico de Gallo

Our Best Bites

6 T Greek yogurt

1/2 t lemon zest

1/2 T fresh parsley, minced

1/4 t salt

Mix all together.

1/4 cup diced tomato

1/4 cup diced cucumber

1 T diced red onion

Mix together.

Pita Bread

Food Network

1 t yeast

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 cups whole wheat flour

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 T salt

1-2 T olive oil (I used 1 1/2 T)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, then add 1 cup of the white flour. Mix for 1 minute. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Sprinkle salt over sponge and stir in olive oil. Add the rest of the white flour 1 cup at a time. Knead dough until it is smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise until it is double, about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 450. Preheat a baking stone or baking sheet in the oven. Divide dough into 16 balls. Roll each ball out on a floured surface until it is about 8-9 inches in diameter. I kept the dough balls covered so they wouldn't dry out. Bake each dough circle on the preheated stone for 4-5 minutes until it has gone to a full balloon or is slightly browned. There are many reasons they DON"T go to full balloon so don't worry if they don't, they are still great and we just folded them in half or rolled them into a sandwich.

NOW... Take a pita and add yogurt sauce, Greek Pico, Chicken, lettuce, pickles and hummus (I will post a great hummus recipe next!) Y.U.M.!! Now wasn't that worth it!

Grilled Cheese with Apple

I just knew I couldn't let that heavenly bread I made yesterday just sit around today. So, in the heat of the moment (you know, dinner time comes out of nowhere and you have no idea what you are going to make)I threw together my "go to" meal, grilled cheese. But before I went to my sour dough I grabbed a thick slice of the artisan bread and went to work. Now, being that this was a spur of the moment meal, I just grabbed what I had...

Grilled Cheese with Apple

Artisan bread
sharp cheddar cheese
herb roasted turkey
apple slices

I grilled my sandwich and then added the thin apple slices. I love cheddar and apple together so I thought why not? I LOVED it!! Just a fun subtly twist, and it felt so "Fall"!