Dinner this Week

Italian Herb Kebabs

from cooking light

1/2 c packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 c fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 c fresh parsley leaves
2 tbspn fresh lemon juice
2 tbspn water
1 garlic clove
4 tsp olive oil
some chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces (the recipe calls for shrimp or scallops but those are expensive so i am making it with chicken)
1 medium zucchini, cut into 20 slices
salt/pepper

1. prepare grill
2. place first 6 ingredients in a blender, add 2 tsp olive oil. process until smooth. transfer basil mixture to a bowl. add chicken and toss well to coat. let stand at room temp at least 15 minutes.
3. thread marinated chicken and zucchini slices alternately onto skewers. drizzle kebabs with remaining olive oil. place on grill coated with cooking spray if needed. grill on each side until done. sprinkle evenly with salt/pepper.



it suggests making the meal with these as a side:

tomato bruschetta
grill 4 slices country style sourdough bread 1 minute on each side or until lightly toasted (you could also just use a toaster with some yummy artisan bread)
remove bread from grill, rub one side of each bread slice with cut sides of a halved garlic clove. combine 3/4 c chopped tomato, 2 tbspn chopped fresh basil, 1 tbspn balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp olive oil, and 1/4 tsp salt. top each bread slice with 3 tbspn bread mixture.


sounds really good!

Using up Garden Tomatoes

i'm making this tonight....





Herb Stuffed Tomatoes
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Show: Everyday Italian
Episode: Sunday Suppers


5 beefsteak tomatoes
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
3/4 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
1 cup grated provolone
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon butter, softened
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the tomatoes in half, horizontally. Use a small spoon to gently hollow out the inside of the tomatoes, discarding the seeds and reserving the pulp and being careful not to puncture the outer shell. Chop the reserved pulp and put in a medium bowl. Add the parsley, bread crumbs, cheese, and pepper and mix gently to combine. Place the tomato halves in a buttered casserole dish, and fill with the bread crumb mixture. Drizzle the top of the tomatoes with olive oil. Bake until the tops are browned, about 20 minutes.

Steak Panzanella

This recipe is from Cooking Light. I don't like to use beef/steak b/c of the environmental costs of raising cattle, but the steak was really the best meat to add to this salad. this is a classic italian bread salad recipe. also uses up garden tomatoes.

1/2 pound day old ciabatta bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped tomato
1 cup coarsely chopped english cucumber
1/2 c coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/2 c vertically sliced red onion
1/2 c julienne cut bottled roasted red bell peppers
1 1/2 tsp capers (i skipped this, i don't like capers. i think they are silly)
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tbspn sherry vinegar (i used some sherry cooking wine and red wine vinegar since i didn't have this exactly)
1 tbspn olive oil
3/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c loosely packed arugula (i used spinach, it was cheaper)
Garlic rubbed Flank steak cut into 1 inch slices ( recipe for this : 1 two-pound flank steak, salt, pepper, 2 garlic cloves minced. rub steak evenly with salt, pepper, and garlic. grill till desired doneness.)

1. preheat oven to 400. arrange bread cubes in a single layer on baking sheet. bake at 400 for 8 minutes or until toasted.

2. combine tomato and next 6 ingredients (through garlic) in a large bowl. combine vinegar, oil, sugar, black pepper and salt. add vinegar mixture to tomato mixture, toss well. let stand for 1 hour (orhowever long)

3. add bread cubes, arugula, and garlic rubbed flank stead to tomato mixture, toss gently to coat. serve immediately.


*this will be one of my alltime favorites. it was so good. a couple side notes: i don't know what flank steak is. i looked at the grocery store and nothing said "flank steak". i ended up getting something sirloin i think, it wasn't too expensive which is fine for this since it is going into a salad.

also, do you use freshly ground black pepper? b/c if you don't, it's time to start. i keep a pepper mill right by the stove now and when a recipe calls for pepper i grind it directly into the dish. the flavor and spice of freshly ground pepper is 100 times better than something in a spice tin. i am thinking about using kosher salt next b/c everything i read about it says it tastes better and is better for seasoning. right now i use something from the great salt lake that also has some red bits in it. supposedly just buying morton's salt in the blue container with the umbrella girl on it isn't as good for you and doesn't have the same flavor. it's something to consider.