Caprese Salad Sandwich

How good is a caprese salad? Man it is such a great dish. One of my favorite Italian salads. Little drizzle of a balsamic reduction.. Ah what a taste sensation.. This is a lunch-style sandwich that still incorporates the great flavors of a caprese salad, but makes it entire an entire lunch.


Fresh mozzarella (1/2 lbs)
Basil (about 10 leaves)
Roma Tomato (1 or 2, depending on how thick you like your tomato)
White Bread (6 slices)
Balsamic Vinegar (2 tbs)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (2 tbs)

First, cut the crusts off the bread. We just want the light fluffy insides. Then, cut it in half. Put the 12 slices in a a fry pan or on a griddle, with some melted butter, and toast them up. Once they get lightly browned, Take 6 of them off. Slice up the tomato and mozzarella, and put it on the pieces of bread on the griddle. Top it with a leaf of basil. Put the 6 slices back on top, and flip them. Melt the cheese. Mix the oil and vinegar in a bowl for a dipping sauce.

It's a light, flavorful, wonderful sandwich. Somewhat reminiscent of an extremely light grilled cheese sandwich. A great tasting lunch!

Mambo Rice

Jamaica.. What a vast array of flavors and food! Here's another knockout recipe from Guy Fieri.


Lime (1 lime, juiced)
Cilantro (about a 1/4 cup)
Parsley (about a 1/4 cup)
Rice (about 4 cups cooked)

Juice the lime, finely mince the cilantro and parsley (really fine!), mix all together. Can you get a simpler recipe than that?

Trippin' Tuna

How many of us has gone out and had a tuna salad that tasted, well tasted like nothing? It really isn't hard to make a great tuna salad. This recipe is incredibly simple, few ingredients, and tastes great. It's also a fairly healthy meal with the high amount of protein found in tuna.


White Albacore Tuna, Water Packed (1 can)
Mayonnaise (2 tsp)
Relish (tsp. To taste)

It's hard to get a good texture for tuna. Over-process, it's like paste. Under-process, too chewy, and the flavors aren't melded together. I've found that using a food-processor carefully provides a killer texture, and the perfect blend of flavors. So put our tuna, mayonnaise and relish into our food-processor, and pulse it. make sure not to over-process. We're just getting it mixed together, and the tuna just slightly cut up.

This makes about two sandwiches. You may like a tad more mayonnaise on your bread, but I like my tuna only slightly moist. Serve plain, or with lettuce and tomato on bread. Fantastic, quick to make, and healthy too.

Chocolate Infused Brownies

A brownie. Who hasn't had one of these? A much-loved food across America. Its soft chewy center, warm crisp outside, and chocolaty goodness throughout. If I could have only one dessert, I think it would be a brownie.



Vegetable Oil  (1/2 cup)
White Sugar (1 cup)
Vanilla Extract (1 tsp)
Eggs (2)
A.P. Flour (1/2 cup)
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (1/3 cup)
Baking Powder (1/4 tsp)
Chopped Walnuts (1/2-3/4 cups)
Semi-sweet chocolate Morsels (1/2 cup)


Preheat our oven to 350. Blend the oil, sugar, and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Beat in the eggs. Add the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Blend it smooth (don't overblend!), then add the walnuts and chocolate morels. Blend it for just a few seconds, just to mix it in (We don't want to mix it long. If we do, we'll start to break up the chocolate and walnuts). Grease a 9x9 baking pan, and pour the batter in (make sure it's smooth). Bake for 20-25 minutes. Until the edges start to pull away and a dipping stick comes out dry or almost dry. You'll flip over these!




(this recipe comes for Allrecipes.com , but with a couple twists for extra brownie goodness)

Free-style Bloomin' Onion

Battered and deep fried. Is there anything more American? Crispy coating, warm soft inside, with some kind of killer dipping sauce. It just screams USA. You used to find bloomin' onions at a lot of places, but they really took a heavy beating in recent years. You can barely find them anywhere.


(The amounts aren't very exact. You may find you need more of the dry coating, or less)

Flour (1.5 cups)
Onion (1 large yellow(
Cumin (3/8 tsp)
Paprika (about a tsp)
Cayenne Pepper (1 tsp)
Garlic Powder (1/2 tsp)
Oregano (1/4 tsp)
Egg (1 large)
Thyme (1/4 tsp)
Whole Milk (1 cup)


How you cut up the onion is really up to you. It all depends how you like the pieces to be. I like mine to be similar to petals, so that's how I cut mine up. In half from blossom to root, then peeled, ends cut off, cut in (height-wise), then sliced for that nice petal shape.

Mix the flour, and all our dried herbs and spices together (don't forget some salt and pepper). In a separate bowl, beat an egg then add the milk. stir it all together. Now, we need to form our battering line. Onions on the left hand, then the liquid bowl, the dry bowl, and finally, the bowl to store them in. Make sure to keep your hands separated (otherwise they will get horribly pasted with flour). Left hand onions and liquid, right hand dry and storage. Dip the onions in the milk mixture. get them nicely coated, then hit them in the dry. Get it really coated, for that awesome crisp coating. Repeat the battering once more. Get all the onions battered, and stick 'em in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

Now it's time to get frying! Heat your oil to about 340 (with the lower heat, the onion inside will get cooked better than if you oil was the normal 350). I use a deep fryer, but a pot filled with oil and a thermometer works just as well. Once our oils gets up to temperature, toss the onions in it. Be careful when you're putting them in, or they the oil with spatter (From everyone who has been burned by hot oil.. Definitely be careful!). Carefully slide them in, and watch the bubbles erupt in their magnificent splendor. Cook them about 5-7 minutes (you'll see the coating get golden brown), and serve them up with a killer dipping sauce. A nice thick buttermilk ranch, a spicy horseradish, or a creamy blue cheese. They all compliment it so well.

Pan-Fried Salmon

Salmon.. Man what a fish. Rich tender flavor, flaky, moist, to die for. Give it a perfect sear and you mouth will be watering while this baby is cooking up.

Salmon Fillets (1 1/2 lbs)
Lemon Pepper (1/4 tsp or less)
Garlic Powder (1/4 tsp or less)
Soy Sauce (1/3 cup)
Brown Sugar (1/3 cup)
Water (1/3 cup)
Vegetable oil (1/4 cup)


Season the fillets with the lemon pepper, garlic powder, and a little salt. Mix up the soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and oil, and put in a plastic ziploc bag. Put the fillets in, and get it all nice and coated. Let it marinate for about 2 hours (we gotta have it soak up all that amazing flavor).

Preheat a skillet to medium heat. add a little oil (if using an electric skillet, about 275 F), and place the salmon in. Don't move it around (it'll stick in the beginning), just let it do its own thing. Cook it for about 8 minutes or so (you want it nice and browned), then flip it. I love my salmon with a perfect crisp, so let it get nice and browned. When it's ready, you'll be able to flake the flesh with a fork with almost no effort.

Pictured below is the salmon served with my garlic mashed potatoes and lemon asparagus (as featured in previous blog posts, and in my "Full Family Dinners" section) <-- ( COMING SOON )

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Guy Fieri is definitely my greatest cooking inspiration. I'm sure it has to do with his love of great old cars, good music, and love of classic American themes. He co-owns a restaurant called Johnny Garlic, a place I plan to visit in the near future. On his cooking show, Guy's Big Bite, he showcases his restaurant's recipes at times, and this one was one of my favorites. Garlic mashed potatoes. Who doesn't love them?


Yukon Gold Potatoes (1/2  a pound)
Butter (3 tbs)
Milk (2-3 tbs)
Garlic (1 1/2 tbs minced)


Get peeling those potatoes! Get them all peeled up nice, and pop them in our put. Bring it to a boil, and cook for 25-30 minutes (until tender). Drain them, and put them in a bowl. Add the butter, and mash them up. Start stirring in the milk. Not too much, just enough to give it a creamy fluffy texture (just like we love our mashed potatoes). Mix it all up, and then add the garlic. Now like Guy Fieri, I am obsessed with fresh garlic. Fresh garlic is so much better than any other garlic you could hope to get. you'll want to use 4-5 cloves, all minced up nice and small. Mix in the garlic, and add a little salt. Serve it up as a rocking side dish to fried chicken, steak, salmon? The list is endless. (I am a lover of salmon for how healthy of a fish it is, and of course the awesome flavor. See my pan-fried salmon recipe for my favorite marinade)

Just another huge thanks to Mr. Fieri for how much he constantly inspires me to experiment more and more and keep improving cooking finesse.

Perogies With a Potato Cheese Filling

Perogie. Just what is this little thing? It's like a dumpling with a filling, but it's huge! I've honestly only ever had perogies from one restaurant (a restaurant that I hold in disdain), and they were good. I mean not an amazing dish to write home about, but a filling meal all the same.




AP Flour (2 cups)
Salt (a pinch or two)
Eggs (1)
Sour Sream (1/2 cup)
Butter (1/4 cup)

Onion (enough to fry in the perogie pan. I use 1/2 an onion)
Potatoes (about 5 medium sized ones)
Cheddar cheese (about 1/2 a cup)




First lets get our potatoes boiling. They take about 25-30 minutes, so they really need to get cooking before we even touch anything else. Peel them, and put them in a pot of water. Now we definitely don't want our potatoes to be gummy, so we never put our potatoes into hot water. we fill the pot, put the potatoes in, then start heating the water. Get the water boiling, and then we'll move on to our dough.


Put the flour and salt in a bowl. mix it up. In another separate bowl, beat an egg. Add the egg to the flour, along with the sour cream and butter. Work the dough until the stickiness about gone (you'll probably need to add a little more flour), then stick it in a covered bowl in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.


Our potatoes are almost done now, and our dough has been resting for 20 minutes. Now we need to roll it out. We want it to be about 1/8 in. thickness or so. Roll it out, and then cut your circles. Anything will do really (I prefer my perogies to be about 3 in. in dimater), so pick your tool and cut out the pieces.


Our potatoes our cooked, drained, and sat for a minute. Add the cheese and sour cream to get a nice thick creamy mix. Put about a tablespoon of filling on one side, then pull the other side over it (so it's a half moon). Take a fork and use it to hold the dough together (it also gives it a great look). Boil it for about 10 minutes (when they start floating they're about done).


Almost done! Now melt a healthy amount of butter in a saute pan, and toss those onions in. We want to almost completely cook them (just about translucent), then add our perogies in. Give them a nice little fry (some people enjoy a good crunch, others just a light crisp. Whatever you enjoy). Finally, homemade perogies.



(This is a Pittsburgh recipe. From  http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/recipes/r/pierogies.htm )

Lemon Asparagus

I also had some asparagus left over from that same fried rice. Now I've made asparagus with butter and garlic before, but this time I was looking for something different. Not necessarily completely different, but something with a kick to it.

Asparagus (1 lbs)
Lemon Juice (1 tsp)
Butter (1 tbs)


I've said in the past I'm not a fan of microwaves. They usually change the food in some negative way. There are a few things I like to do in a microwave, but I try to stay away from them. But, a microwave does do a great job of steaming vegetables. So put our asparagus (cut into 1 in. slices) into a microwavable bowl with 2 tbs. of water, then microwave it on high for 5-7 minutes (it is easy to overcook it, so pay attention to it. you want it crisp yet tender). Put the butter into a bowl with the lemon juice. Put in the cooked asparagus, and mix it all up. Hit it with some salt and pepper, and you're set.

Pictured below is the lemon asparagus as a side dish to my pan-fried salmon (also along with my garlic mashed potatoes) (as featured in previous blog posts, and in my "Full Family Dinners" section) <-- ( COMING SOON )

(This is another great recipe from allrecipes.com)

Snap Pea Salad

After Making a juicy full of flavor Chinese-styled fried rice, I had some leftover sugar snap peas. Not wanting to waste the remaining 1/4 lbs., I needed to find some way to incorporate them into a dish, preferably something different than I would normally eat. this recipe definitely is an unusual dish for the average American, but it is quite incredible.


Sugar Snap Peas (1/4 lbs)
Rice Vinegar (1 tbs)
Olive Oil (1/2 tbs)
Radishes (1/2 lbs)
Toasted Sesame Seeds (1/4 cup)
English Cucumber (1/2 of a large one, about a cup)

First, get a pot of water on the stove to start boiling. We need to blanch the peas so they're nice and crispy, and also a beautiful bright green to bring out the aesthetic qualities of the dish. Put the sesame seeds spread out on a tray, and stick them in a hot oven, 375, for a few minutes. Be careful with them. They can burn quickly. We're just going for a nice light toast.

Next, slice up the radishes and cucumber. Thin slices, between 1/8-1/4 in. thick. Slice both of them up, and stick them in our serving bowl.

By this time our water should be boiling. Throw the peas in there for about 30 seconds (or until a nice bright green). Turn the stove down to a med-low heat. While they're cooking, get a bowl of ice water out for our peas. We need to instantly chill them so the cooking process stops and they stay a nice crisp texture. As soon as they turn bright up, put them in the ice water. let them sit in there a minute or two.

Put the vinegar, olive oil, and sesame seeds in the bowl. add the snap peas. mix it up well so the flavors are all nice and even. a touch of salt and pepper if you like. A delicious dish, fast and tasty.




(This was a recipe taken for allrecipes.com . A favorite website of mine)

Beef and Bean Enchiladas

I love mexican. It is by far my favorite food group. The combination's, the flavors, the spice of mexico, the list is endless. This is incredibly fast to make.

Fresh Flour Tortillas (Homemade, see my post about tortillas. How many you'll need will depend on the size you've made)
Ground Beef (or a vegetarian substitute) ( 16 oz.)
Refried Beans (1 can)
Cheddar Cheese (2-3 cups)
Enchilada Sauce (2 cans)
Tomatoes (2-3 cups)

Preheat oven to 350

(We're using a 13x9 pan)
You can make your tortillas right now, or if you have some already made in the fridge, that works perfectly fine too. If they're refrigerated, you'll need to warm them up so they become pliable. You can do this a variety of ways, but one good way is to microwave them. Personally I avoid microwaves as much as I can (I find it changes the flavor negatively in most foods), but for something like this, I find a microwave quite convenient. It takes about a minute for a large tortilla, probably about 30 seconds for a small one. you don't need them burning hot, just enough so you can bend them easily so you can roll them up.

You can warm all your tortillas up before you start rolling them, but my way to do it saves a lot of time. in the minute it takes for a large tortilla to heat, you can roll one together (even quicker in reality), so you're constantly progressing. Now you can keep the beef and beans separate, or mix them together. The really depends on how you'd like the flavors mingling (I make them mixed). Put your beans or beef (or mixture) into the tortilla, sprinkle a little cheese, and top it with some chopped tomatoes (salsa also will work). Roll it up, stick it in our baking dish. Repeat this until the pan is full. Top with 2 cans of enchilada sauce (use your judgment of mild, medium, ect), and top heavily with cheddar cheese. Put into the oven and bake covered for 30 minutes. uncover for another 15 minutes to brown the cheese.