Fig and Prosciutto Pizza with Goat Cheese and Arugula

This is by far the fanciest pizza I've ever made.  It all came about because I had some goat cheese left over and wanted to make something different with it.  And wow... was this good or what!  This is one of those things that you can easily make into an appetizer and impress all of your friends.  If you know how to grill flat breads, it would be amazing and impressive grilled as well . I know for a fact that once we get a grill (hopefully within the next month!) that I'll be testing this recipe out on the grill for sure.  It's actually quite simple too and you can make ingredients ahead of time and just whip it up in a short time.  Enjoy!

Fig and Prosciutto Pizza with Goat Cheese and Arugula 
Serves: 4 small portions

Ingredients:
1 pizza crust (Find pizza crust recipe here... I used half of the dough in this recipe to make a nice thin crust, and you can freeze the second half until the next pizza!)

Fig merlot jam:
1/2 pound of fresh figs
2 tablespoons of organic cane sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons Merlot
1 tablespoon water

Toppings:
1 cup fresh arugula
4 oz goat cheese
3 oz prosciutto
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
olive oil for drizzling
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
To make the fig jam, cut the fresh figs into bite sized pieces and remove stems. Place in a mixing bowl with sugar and lemon juice.  Toss and let sit for 30 minutes.  Transfer into a small sauce pot and bring to a boil making sure to stir so the sugar doesn't burn.  Add merlot and water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and let simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 500 degrees and arrange the rack on the lowest level.  For the pizza, split the dough in half and freeze half for later.   With the remaining half, spread out onto a large baking sheet or pizza stone.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Spread the jam over the top of the crust and sprinkle with goat cheese.  

Place the pizza in the 500 degree oven for 10 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown.  

Top the pizza with the prosciutto, arugula and Parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich

I love love love Mediterranean flavors.  They are so bold and just packed with greatness.  Yum!  I've always wanted to make my own Olive Tapenade, so decided to give it a try and use it as a sandwich spread.  Wow, these were amazing! Nick's quote after first bite, "Wow... your meals this week have been so good... like... better than usual."  Yeah buddy! I'll take that compliment and store it for the next awful meal (which does happen... but don't worry, I don't blog the bad stuff.)  

I do have to warn you... Olive Tapenade isn't the prettiest ingredient.  If you can imagine blended up black olives and green capers... it looks quite gross.  In fact... I was at a lunch interview a few weeks ago and ordered a veggie sandwich with olive tapenade on it and when it came... yep you can imagine what my interviewers thought of my sandwich.  I even got a little self conscious about my sandwich and had to make the comment that, "I know it doesn't look appetizing, but it's really delicious!"  I didn't get the job.  I don't blame the sandwich.  I blame the lack of adventure of my interviewers.  Obviously, I can't work for someone who turns their noses up to scary looking food anyway.  Point being... don't bring this recipe out on the first date.  Only bring it out when you know your guests well... and serve with confidence!

Now that you've read the disclaimer, this sandwich is absolutely amazing.  So much flavor and very few ingredients!  If you have one of those really fancy panini presses, you should definitely make a panini out of it.  I lack cupboard space and therefore, grilled these in a pan, which tastes just as good! In fact, next time I think I may throw these on the grill!  Either way, it's a great veggie sandwich and I will definitely make these again and again.  Enjoy!

Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
2 red peppers, roasted (slice in half, remove the seeds, drizzle with oil and cook in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes)
1 oz goat cheese
4 artichoke hearts
1 cup spinach, chopped
1/2 cup olive tapenade (recipe below)
4 buns or rolls (Make your own hamburger buns here, make your own focaccia bread here)
Oil for pan

Directions:
Slice your bun in half. On one side, spread goat cheese.  On the other, spread tapenade and top with roasted pepper, sliced artichoke heart, a handful of spinach and top with the top bun.  Grill in an oiled (I used grapeseed oil) pan on medium heat for 3 minutes and flip. Grill for 3 more minutes.  

Olive Tapenade:
Makes: 1/2 cup

Ingredients:
1 garlic clove
1 cup kalamata olives
2 tablespoons capers
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse for a few seconds until well blended.  

Banana Fudgesicles

I absolutely LOVED making homemade popsicles when I was a kid.  Really, it's the only way to go.  You can make them with your kids and they are way way WAY healthier AND cheaper than store bought popsicles.  You basically can take any type of juice or lemonade and make popsicles out of it.  Don't have a popsicle tray? Just use an ice cube tray and a stick. 

These banana fudgesicles are delicious, dairy free, and healthy!  A perfect snack on a hot summer day!  Enjoy!

Banana Fudgesicles

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas (the riper, the sweeter = less added sugar)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 cup coconut or almond milk (Silk coconut milk is so delicious)

1 tablespoon organic cane sugar or honey

Directions:

In a blender, blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy.  Taste and adjust sweetness accordingly.  Pour into popsicle molds and let freeze for about 3 hours or overnight.  Remove from trays and serve! Everyone will LOVE these!

Summer Shandy Cupcakes

Happy Birthday to Nick!  I usually make Nick is favorite... Cheesecake... for his birthday, but this year we are in the process of moving and turns out my springform pan is packed.  I guess we'll have to have a house warming cheesecake party instead. 

So I decided since it's summer and hot, nothing like a nice birthday cupcake made with beer!!  I think Summer Shandy is the ultimate summer beer.  It just screams lemony fresh!  We love it on a nice hot summer day.  These cupcakes were delicious... Nick ate 6 last night.  However, the texture was not what I expected.   I was expecting light fluffy, but these were move dense and flavor packed.  Very lemon bread tasting.  I think it's the extra wheat/yeast from the beer?  I'm not sure.  They were still lemony delicious, but not your typical light fluffy cupcake.  I'm still excited to make these again... perhaps with my favorite... Blue Moon! Enjoy!

Summer Shandy Cupcakes
Makes: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, brought to room temperature
zest of one lemon 
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup Summer Shandy
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar

Glaze:
juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup Summer Shandy

Frosting:
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
zest and juice of one lemon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with liners.
Cupcakes:  Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy.  Stir in zest and lemon juice. Mix in egg.  Separately, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 2 parts alternating with the beer.  Once all mixed in, stir in the vinegar.  Immediately scoop 2/3 of the way into muffin cups.  Place in oven 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.  Prepare glaze while baking.  Once they come out, while still warm, take a fork and stick it in the cupcake top  2-3 times 3/4 of the way to the bottom.  Gently and slowly spread 2 tsp of glaze on each punctured muffin top, allowing it to soak in between teaspoons.  Now allow to cool completely.  Frost with frosting when cool.  Store in fridge overnight.

Glaze:  While cupcakes are baking, make the glaze by whisking together all ingredients.  It should be a relatively runny, sweet mixture.

Frosting: Cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Lemon juice and zest and continue mixing.  Add powdered sugar and mix until all combined.  Spread over cupcakes once they have cooled. 

Jambalaya

It's Nick's birthday so I made his one of his all time favorite meals, Jambalaya.  I've made this dozens of times, but this time I wanted it to be authentic so I created the exact same dish we had when we went to New Orleans years ago. Well... I guess it's not exact because my chicken legs were ginormous and the ones we in NOLA were smaller.  Other than that... it was like stepping back into The Big Easy. Enjoy!

Jambalaya

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

6 chicken drumsticks

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon creole seasoning (recipe below)

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1/2 jalapeno pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

4 roma tomatoes, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 bay leaves

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp hot sauce

1 cup brown rice

3 cups vegetable or chicken stock (make your own veggie stock here!)

5 oz Andouille sausage, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Season chicken with creole seasoning and place on baking sheet so that the meatier side is facing up.  Put a dab of butter on each chicken wing.  Place in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until chicken in cooked.

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat and add onion, green pepper, jalapeno pepper and celery.  Stir and let cook for 3 minutes.  Add the garlic, tomatoes, bay leaves, worcestershire and hot sauces.  Stir in rice and slowly add broth.  Reduce head to medium low and cook until rice absorbs liquid and becomes tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.  When rice is just tender, add shrimp and sausage.  Cook until shrimp is done, about 10 minutes more.  Season to taste with salt, pepper and creole seasoning.  Top with a chicken drumstick. 

Creole Seasoning: (I just used store bought, but if you want to make your own, here are the spices)

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly

Yeild: 2/3 cup

Potato Salad

I've seen it happen many times... You wait till the last minute to make something for the lunch potluck and end up buying the plastic tub of potato salad at the store and put it in your own serving bowl.  Sure, everyone compliments you on how amazing your potato salad is... but deep down they know your little secret as they are choking it down to make you feel better.  They know.  

Don't fall into this trap.  This potato salad is so easy and delicious and you actually have a recipe to back up your dish for when people ask.  You don't even have to peel the potatoes! It's so simple!  I do have to warn that, while I tried to calculate out the measurements... I completely forgot how many potatoes I used.  It's all based on preference anyway.  Just make it to your liking and Enjoy!

Potato Salad

Serves: 8-10 larger portions

Ingredients:

10-15 baby red potatoes (They were medium sized... I'd say about 6 cups chopped, not peeled)

6 ribs celery, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

6 eggs, hard boiled and chopped

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Dijon or honey mustard

2 heaping tablespoons of dried dill (I love dill)

1 tablespoon sugar or honey

splash of milk

dash of paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Add the chopped potatoes to a large pot of boiling water and boil for about 7 minutes until cooked, but still firm.  Nothing worse than a mushy potato salad.  Drain potatoes and run under ice cold water to stop the cooking.

In a large bowl, add the potato, celery and onion.  

Meanwhile in a small mixing bowl, add the mayonnaise, mustard, dill, sugar, milk, paprika and salt and pepper.  Stir until mixed and add this to the potato, celery, and onion mix.  Stir until combined and then gently stir in the chopped eggs.  Adjust seasonings as desired.  Simple!!

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.