Rosemary Chicken Burgers

These chicken burgers are amazing.  After his first bite, Nick looked over to me and said, "I am the luckiest person in the world to have food like this every night."  Yep, and the compliments kept rolling in after every bite.  I must say, these aren't the most beautiful looking chicken burgers.  I got the recipe after watching Giada De Laurentiis make them and after reading the reviews... pretty much everyone has the same problem with them falling apart if you're not careful.  Also, mine weren't so pretty because I don't have a grill pan (yet) and used a cast iron skillet instead.  They were deliciously charred and perfectly juicy inside, but if you do have a grill pan, use it.  If not, a cast iron skillet works just as well.  I think next time I'll experiment with eggs and bread crumbs to get them to hold better.  Also, I may try using half mayo, half goat cheese or greek yogurt? Just to make them a little bit more healthy... However, it's a burger... indulge!  

I served these on homemade hamburger buns, which I highly recommend!  If you absolutely do not want to make your buns, serve them on Ciabatta rolls.  This burger deserves a good bun.  Also... this burger is for rosemary lovers only.  I put in about 2/3 the amount of rosemary that the recipe called for and they were still very very strong.  We love rosemary, but it is a strong herb so add it according to your taste. Enjoy!

Rosemary Chicken Burgers
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Mayonnaise:
3/4 cup mayonnaise (get a good kind without nasty ingredients... read labels!)
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced 

Burgers:
1 pound ground chicken
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 homemade hamburger buns or Ciabatta rolls
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup spinach, divided

Directions:
For the Mayonnaise, In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, garlic and rosemary; set aside.

For the burgers, preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat.  In a large bowl, add ground chicken, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/2 the mayonnaise mixture.  Using clean hands, gently combine the ingredients and form the chicken mixture into 4 patties.  Place the burgers on the grill and cook for about 5 minutes on each side.  Transfer to a plate and let rest for a few minutes.  

Brush the cut side of each roll with olive oil and 1 tsp of the mayonnaise mixtures.  Grill for 1 to 2 minutes until slightly golden.  

To assemble the burgers, spread a dollop of the remaining mayonnaise on the tops and bottoms of the toasted buns. Place the chicken burgers on the bottom and top each with 1/4 cup of spinach and the top of the bun.

Homemade Hamburger Buns

These buns were hands down delicious.  They rose out and not up, but that's my fault.  You're only supposed to let them sit for 10-15 minutes and I let them sit for an hour.  My bad.  BUT they still served their purpose and were amazingly delicious! So much better than store bought buns and these make 12 so you can totally make a batch and freeze them until you are ready to use.  So much better for you than all those added preservatives.  Enjoy!

Homemade Hamburger Buns
Makes 12 Buns

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
1/3 cup of a neutral oil, I used half coconut and half olive
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 tsp sea salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups organic all purpose flour

Directions:
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Do not let rise. Divide into 12 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets.
Cover and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Veggie Pizza with Kale Pesto

As most of you know, Nick and I make pizza on a regular basis.  I really wanted a pizza this week without sauce, only because I was lazy.  We had kale on hand so I decided to make a kale pesto for the sauce to my pizza!! It was great! I went a little overboard with the kale, but I adjusted the recipe accordingly.  this would be wonderful with pasta or even rice too!! When making my pesto, I usually add a filler, like spinach, so it'll make more.  It still has that wonderful basil taste and added vitamins! 

Veggie Pizza with Kale Pesto

Ingredients:
1 pizza crust (Find recipe here!)

Pesto:
2 cups chopped raw kale
1 small bunch of fresh basil (about 20 leaves)
3 garlic cloves, pealed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
vegetable broth as needed (I add veggie broth as a liquid in replace of more olive oil, just healthier)

Toppings:
1 summer squash, thinly sliced
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 cup sliced or shredded fresh mozzarella cheese

Directions:
To make pesto, place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended adding veggie broth as needed.  

Create dough according to recipe.  Spread onto pan and spread kale pesto over crust.  Add vegetable toppings and top with cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Let cool for a bit on a wire rack to keep crispy. 

Caprese Pasta

I think fresh basil is one of the greatest flavors of all time.  Combine that with fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella... YUM! 

This pasta is a great treat for those hot summer days when you don't really want to heat the oven.  It's also super simple so you can spend your evening outside and not in the kitchen.  If you want to make it gluten free, just use brown rice penne noodles instead. Enjoy!

Caprese Pasta
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) box penne pasta
1 lb cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped into small squares
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large pot of boiling salted water, add penne noodles and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and garlic and saute for about 4 minutes, until garlic is golden. Add the cooked penne to the garlic and olive oil and add 1/2 cup starchy pasta water if needed.  Turn the heat off and add the fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.  Give it a quick toss and plate up! Add salt and pepper as desired.

Strawberry Cream Pie

This pie is definitely a staple at our summer parties.  Forget the burgers, bring on the pie.  I remember my aunt making this for dessert at her house, and we'd have the leftovers (if there were any) for breakfast.  It's a great pie to make with those freshly picked strawberries... or raspberries!  In the summer, my grandma always has the ingredients on hand for whenever anyone picks a bucket of fresh berries.  I've kind of tweaked the recipe a bit, to avoid processed ingredients, but it is just as delicious!  This is also very easily able to be gluten free.  All you do is replace the vanilla sandwich cookies with gluten free sandwich cookies.  I've used gluten free vanilla cream sandwich cookies before and gluten free shortbread cookies before and they are just as good! :)

Strawberry Cream Pie
Serves: 8

Ingredients:
Crust: (you may just buy a pre-made graham cracker crust if you like, but this crust is wonderful!)
15-20 vanilla sandwich cookies (you know, the ones that you get from grandpa's cookie jar!)
2 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:
1 Lb. fresh strawberries
1 8 oz package cream cheese, bring to room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar + 2 tablespoons
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Crust:
In a large blender or food processor pulse cookies until fine.  Add them to a mixing bowl and add melted butter.  Stir until combined.  Spread cookie crumbs onto a greased pie plate and press down.  Bake in 350 oven for about 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Filling:
Chop the strawberries into small bite size pieces and set aside.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream together the cream cheese and 1 cup of powdered sugar, set aside.  
To make the whipped cream:  In a large chilled mixing bowl (I used a kitchen aid mixer and stuck the bowl and beater in the freezer for about 10 minutes), add the whipping cream.  Beat on low until a lot of little bubbles form, turn speed up to medium high and beat until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes.  Add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and the vanilla and beat on high for about 3 more minutes, until stiff peaks form.  You want your peaks to stay, and not flop over.  When whipped cream is ready, add the cream cheese mixture and mix with a paddle (if using kitchen aid) or a spatula until there are no more lumps from the cream cheese.  Gently fold in strawberries and pour entire mixture into crust.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Slice and serve!!  Amazing right?

Note:  This pie is best the day of.  Don't make it a day ahead of time or it will get soggy.  Also, eat it all in one day or it will get soggy.... unless you want to eat it for breakfast the next morning, then it's okay. 

Eggplant Milanese

This dish is so delicious!  I'm always skeptical because it's so simple and I expect it to be boring, but there are so many delicious flavors in this dish!  I originally made this dish back in August 2011 (Click Here for that blog posting) and it was so popular that I had to try and make it again.  I made a few changes this time around, mainly using arugula and roasting the tomatoes and we loved it!  Hope you enjoy!

Eggplant Milanese
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant, sliced thin

1 egg

1/2 cup of flour

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 package of cherry tomatoes

1/2 onion

4 cloves garlic

1 bunch of arugula

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

Directions:

Dredge your thinly sliced eggplant in flour, dip in egg, and dip in panko bread crumbs.

Lightly fry in batches in a little bit of olive oil.

Meanwhile, chop onions and garlic and slice the tomatoes in half.  Place in a roasting pan, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and roast at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. 

Place the eggplant on a plate and top with a handful of arugula.  Top with garlic, onion and tomato mixture.  

Raw Vegan Lasagna

This meal is perfect for those hot summer days when you really don't feel like turning on the stove.  It's super healthy and surprisingly filling! Plus, you can make the "sauces" ahead of time and really have it ready in less than 10 minutes!  I've seen recipes where you make a raw marina sauce, but I didn't have time for that so I just thinly sliced tomatoes and it was just as delicious! Enjoy!!

Raw Vegan Lasagna

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini

1 medium summer squash

1 medium tomato

Cashew Cheese:

2/3 cup raw cashews

1 peeled garlic clove

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Spinach Walnut Pesto:

2 cloves of garlic

3 cups fresh spinach

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup soaked walnuts (I used raw almonds, cause that's what I had)

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Thinly slice the zucchini and summer squash in strips.  Thinly slice the tomato and set aside.

Cashew Cheese:

Place garlic clove in food processor (I used a coffee grinder because I didn't want to wash my huge food processor... I was really really lazy tonight).  Pulse for a few seconds and add the rest of ingredients.  Pulse until it becomes a cottage cheese consistency.

Spinach Walnut Pesto:

Place the garlic in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds.  Add rest of ingredients and pulse until a pesto consistency.  

Assembly:

On a serving platter, place a yellow squash strip, add cashew cheese and then zucchini.  Continue to layer with pesto and tomato and repeat layering.