Light Brioche Hamburger Buns

These are some pretty buns.  They taste just as good as they look, if not better.  Like most breads, they are easy to put together but the time it takes for the yeast to do its magic can influence whether you decide to make them. Please, I beg you, think of these for your next burgers and take the time! They freeze well so make a double batch if you eat sandwiches that require buns often. I will forever kick myself if I don't plan ahead and make these.

The recipe was printed in the NY Times from Comme Ca restaurant in LA but I found them, of course, on Pinterest via Parsley Sage and Sweet.

Light Brioche Burger Buns

Makes 8 buns

Ingredients

1 cup luke warm water

3 tablespoons warm milk

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs

3 cups bread flour (I use all-purpose)

1/3 cup all-purpose

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Black and white sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds (optional)

Directions

In a small bowl combine water, milk, yeast, and sugar. Wait a few minutes to get foamy

Beat one egg and add to water and yeast.

In a large bowl (or stand mixer), combine flours and salt. Squish butter into the flour and salt with your hands, or cut it in using a pastry cutter.  

Stir/mix in the yeast mixture and egg until it forms a smooth, elastic dough ball, about 8-10 minutes

Place in a greased bowl and rise until doubled, 1-2 hours

Line baking sheet with parchment

Divide dough into 8 even balls onto the pan, cover and rise about 1-2 hours. My kitchen was warm and they were big enough after just letting the oven heat up. Although, mine takes a while.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

recipe says to put a pan of water in bottom of the oven, but i didnt and they were great without it :)

brush with egg wash, and sprinkle on poppy seeds.

Bake 15 minutes and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Jalapeño Guacamole Burger with Cilantro Ranch Mayonnaise

Sometimes you just want a burger. I normally go for the traditional toppings but I had some avacado that needed to be used and I also like to give my husband what he wants... occasionally.  

You can put the jalapeños in the guacamole to make it a bit easier but with our kids it works better for us to leave them separate. 

Jalapeño Guacamole Burgers with Cilantro Ranch Mayo

Serves 4 

Ingredients 

1 lb ground beef shaped into 4 patties and salt and peppered

4 of these hamburger buns

This guacamole omitting the cilantro, or keep it in there :)

Jalapeño, seeded 

Lettuce

Tomatoes 

Mayo

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1-2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/2 teaspoon chili powder 

1 Tablespoon prepared Ranch Dressing

Directions 

Mix together guacamole, cover and refrigerate 

In a small dish combine mayo, cilantro, chili powder, and ranch. Cover and refrigerate.

Grill burgers over medium heat about 5 minutes per side (Topping the patties with cheddar cheese after flipping). 

Build your burger with mayo on the buns, followed by, lettuce, tomato, beef, guacamole, and then jalapeños. 

Enjoy. 

Almond Pesto

I planted two basil plants this year and I'm pretty sure I will require a two plant minimum from now on. Basil is so refreshing, especially in pesto. But pine nuts are like gold so it can be expensive to make - hence the almonds. Roasted almonds are preferred but raw would probably work if you are in a hurry. Even though it only takes like 5 minutes to pan roast them. 

Spread on bread, stir into pasta, dallop on chicken or fish, use as a sauce on pizza, stir in some soup, stir into mayo for an awesome sandwich or panini... Yum

Almond Pesto

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

3 cups packed, fresh basil leaves 

 2/3 cup raw almonds

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

1-2 cloves garlic

Juice of half a lemon 

1/2-3/4 cup olive oil 

Salt and pepper

Directions 

In a medium pan over medium high heat, toast the almonds until they turn light brown. Stir occasionally. 

Place basil, almonds, garlic, Parmesan, and lemon juice into food processor or blender and process until it's mixed well, scraping down the sides a few times. 

Slowly add the olive oil until it's a consistency you like. I generally like mine a little looser, but it depends on what I'm using it for. 

Salt and pepper to taste. 

Store in the fridge or freeze. 

Barbecue Chicken Wrap with Swiss Cheese and Grilled Onions

I don't know if this is so much a recipe as it is a recommendation of flavors put together haha. I highly recommend it :) either as a sandwich, wrap, or a flatbread type wrap I like to make (seen above). I guess it's kind of like a pita.  Summer in a sandwich. 

It was blazing hot today but we stilled got out in the heat to grill. Well, my husband did... (Yay). I stayed inside and got everything else together. The thermostat, that I'm positive isn't accurate, said it was about 109 degrees on our patio. The misters my husband installed on our pergola for me were on twice today. So glad we have them. If you live in the desert and are outside in the summer I highly recommend installing some. That's two things I recommend today. This chicken and mist on the patio in the summer. 

Barbecue Chicken Wrap with Swiss Cheese and Grilled Onions 

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

3 chicken breast, salt and peppered

1/2 - 1 cup barbecue sauce

1 cup grated Swiss cheese

1/2 onion, sliced in rings

1 tsp olive oil

Tortilla wraps, pita bread, or flat bread

Toppings

4 cups chopped lettuce

3 cups chopped cucumber

1 cup sliced olives

Ranch dressing or mayonnaise 

Directions

Preheat the grill to 350-400 degrees.

Set burners to medium. 

Put onion in a plastic bag with oil and shake. Remove from bag onto grill in a grill basket. Or if you don't have a grill basket carefully place onions directly on grill. 

Place chicken on the grill and spoon one spoonful of BBQ sauce over the top. 

Close lid and cook 7 minutes.

Open and flip onions. If they are getting too charred remove or continue to grill with chicken. 

Flip chicken and spoon more BBQ sauce on the top. 

Sprinkle enough Swiss cheese on the chicken to just cover it.

Close lid and cook for another 7 minutes.

Remove chicken and onions.

Let chicken rest for 5 minutes

Slice chicken and build wraps.

Mediterranean Chicken Wrap

I have really been loving hummus lately. Strange for me because I used to not like it so much. I finally decided I needed to do something with the container I had in the fridge, other than just eat it with crackers.  So I whipped up some flatbread and got to cooking some chicken. It turned out pretty darn good.  My 3 year old even asked for leftovers for lunch the next day so I decided to post it. 

Mediterranean Chicken Wrap

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts 

1 clove garlic, smashed and chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme OR oregano leaves

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes

Toppings:

This Hummus or your favorite hummus (I've been loving roasted pine nut) 

1 cup sliced black OR green olives

3-4 leaves sliced romaine lettuce

1/2 English cucumber chopped

1/2 cup feta cheese

4-8 flatbreads or tortilla wraps

Directions

Place chicken in a gallon ziplock bag along with the garlic, thyme, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Pound the chicken to equal thickness if it's not already pretty even.  Allow it to marinate for the amount of time it takes you to chop and prepare all the toppings and heat a medium pan over medium-high heat -  or longer I'm just not that on top of it. 

When the pan is hot, pour the chicken into the pan along with the marinade. Brown one side of the chicken, about 7 minutes. Flip the chicken over and pour in the tomatoes. Allow the chicken to cook uncovered in the tomatoes until pretty much all the tomato juice has evaporated. We don't want a soggy wrap. Add a little more salt to taste. I also like to smash or cut the tomatoes a little with my spatula while they are cooking. 

Slice chicken and layer your wrap starting wih hummus, then chicken and tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, olives, and feta. Yum :)

Lemon Chicken Sandwiches

Hi, this is what I ate last night.  My mom made this for us all growing up.  I'm not sure where she got it but these chicken sandwiches are so light and should I say, refreshing? They cleanse your palate and are perfect for warm weather.  No need to be weighed down when you need to fit into that swimsuit right?  I often make these on the stove when it's not grilling season. I don't really have much to say... we all know I am a FABULOUS writer ;). So, just eat one of these and you will be happy.

Lemon Chicken Sandwiches

serves 4

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breast, pounded flat

1 Cucumber, sliced

1 Lemon, sliced into 4 wedges

4 Leaves of Lettuce and/or Sprouts

1 Tomato, sliced

Miricle Whip or Mayo

Lemon Pepper

4 Hamburger Buns

Directions

Preheat your grill to about 450- 500 degrees.  

Season the chicken with a few shakes of lemon pepper.  

Turn the grill to medium and grill the chicken for about 7 minutes per side keeping the BBQ closed, open only to flip the meat.

Removed from grill and create your sandwiches.  

Squeeze the lemon on the cooked chicken.

I prefer Miricle Whip for these sandwiches.  

You can also sprinkle on a little more Lemon Pepper if you want more.

Easy peasy.

Oh, and to make them on the stove just add about 1 Tbs oil to a pan and cook over medium heat.

Sloppy Joes

It is summer.  Even if the weather doesn't cooperate, and Memorial Day is tomorrow then it is unofficially summer.  Quick and easy meals are what I need to have more time to play outside and to keep the house from heating up to one million degrees.  I didn't feel like firing up the barbecue today so this is second to it. I grew up with these Joes and I love them.  My husband doesn't really like Sloppy Joes in general but I haven't ever really met one I didn't like.  He actually thinks I am weird for putting a nice slice of cheddar cheese on top.  Yum. Well, I actually just realized that I haven't ever tried the canned versions of this dish and I can imagine I might not like those.  These are so simple there shouldn't be any reason to have to buy that canned stuff.


Mom's Sloppy Joes

serves about 6

Ingredients

1 lb Lean Ground Beef
1 Can Stewed Tomatoes, mash or slice the bigger pieces if you'd like
2 tsp Chili Powder
1/4 Cup Ketchup
2 tsp Mustard
1 tsp Brown Sugar
Few drops Liquid Smoke (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions


Brown the hamburger.
Add the tomatoes and remaining ingredients and let it simmer on low for at least 15 min.  If you don't allow it to simmer the flavors don't really get absorbed into the meat.
That's it, you are done.  :)

Roasted Egg Plant Sandwiches

I am always looking for new ideas for dinner, dessert, and everything else in between. As a new grad with a degree in Dietetics I have a love for food that I want to share! So, off on my new adventure I go to find and tweek recipes that bring variety to your kitchen table. As for my first post I decided on a simple dish my husband and I ate for dinner just last night. It is so simple yet so delicious.

Roasted Egg Plant Sandwiches

Needed:

Egg plant
Crusty bread
Pesto-- even fresh basil can work
Tomato-- fresh is best but canned diced can work
Mozzarella-- or Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Salt

Directions:

Slice the egg plant into about 1/4 in. slices. Sprinkle salt on them and wait about 15-20 min. then wipe away the salt and the water it pulls out of the egg plant. Wipe a little oil on the egg plant and roast in the oven at 375 degrees about 10-15 min, flipping half way through.

Place the roasted egg plant on a slice of crusty bread that had pesto slathered on it. On another slice of bread top with slices of tomatoes and grated mozzarella cheese. Place the open faced sandwich on a pan and broil it until the cheese is melted and a little brown.

Take it out of the oven and put the sandwich together! Some sides for this dish could include, fresh fruit, chips, veggies, pasta salad, or even some yogurt.

Enjoy.