BLT Pasta

I visited my grandparents over the weekend, and my Grandpa and I managed to have a solid five-minute conversation about BLT sandwiches. Apparently the bacon/ lettuce/ tomato combo proved majestic enough for both of us to remember when we first experienced one. Basically, the moral of the stor(ies) is to never underestimate the power of pork fat.

Since it's summer, any recipe that calls for turning on the oven is immediately discounted. I love hot weather, but further heating an already hot apartment ranks really low on my fun list. Just to give you a ballpark range, it sits between unclogging toilets and watching any of the "Saw" movies. No, thanks.

But pasta salad comes to the rescue! They're quick and only require turning on one burner for boiling the pasta. I've been eating a lot of different salad combinations lately, but this BLT version really stuck out from the bunch. I have a feeling the bacon had something to do with it.

BLT Pasta   Serves: 1
3/4 cup short (macaroni, rotini, rigatoni, etc...) pasta
2 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
1/4 cup grape tomatoes, sliced
1/3 cup lettuce, torn
1 green onion stalk, sliced
1 T. fresh parsley, chopped
1 heaping T. mayonnaise
1 t. dijon mustard
Salt
Pepper
1.) Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside to cool.
2.) In a small bowl, add bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, green onion, and parsley. Add cooled pasta and toss with mayo and mustard. Season with salt and pepper.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Peach BBQ Sauce

My parents have been happily married for 25 years. Through good luck, and possibly by birthday wishes made from the ages 7-21, we all get along extremely well.  My sister and I truly enjoy hanging out with our 'rents. ...with one exception: anytime cooking pork gets involved. The claws, shouting matches, and meat thermometers come out.

The slightest tinge of pink in pork is enough to make my Mom exceptionally nervous. She always brings up her childhood friend, we'll call her Betty HooHa, eating pink pork and having boa constrictors residing in her stomach for 568 days, or something like that. Then my Dad, never one to overreact, swipes the meat back out to the grill and chars it until reaching an internal temperature of 340 degrees. After announcing he's never cooking pork again, we finally eat in tense silence.

I wish we were Jewish.

So, now that I'm out on my own, I can cook pork however I dang well please. As long as the other white meat reaches at lease 160 degrees, the USDA says it's safe to eat. I grilled the tenderloin until it reached 155 degrees, then took it off the grill and let it rest. The middle was a bit pink, and whaddya know, no boa constrictors in sight. The tenderloin stayed juicy and the fruity sauce went well with the pork. I have a feeling I'm going to get an angry phone call from my Mother after posting this. Love ya, Ma!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Peach BBQ Sauce   Serves: 4
1 1 lb. pork tenderloin
1 T. olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Sauce:
4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 T. worcestershire sauce
Couple grinds of black pepper
Salt
1 small peach, pitted and diced
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup ketchup
1 T. lemon juice
2 t. hot pepper sauce
1 t. brown sugar
1 t. chile powder
1/4 t. cumin
1.) Preheat grill on high. Pour olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper on pork. Set aside.
2.) Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a saucepan, cook bacon over medium heat. Remove bacon once crispy. Add chopped onion to same pan and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add worcestershire sauce and pepper, and let cook for 1 minute. Add peaches and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes more. Add OJ, ketchup, lemon juice, hot pepper sauce, brown sugar, chile powder, cumin, and salt. Let simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 30 minutes.
3.) Transfer sauce to a food processor and pulse until smooth. Set aside.
4.) Grill pork for about 10 minutes per side, or until tenderloin reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve with peach bbq sauce.

adapted from: Bon Appetit

Texas Coleslaw

I'm not quite sure what qualifies this coleslaw as "Texas". Actually, I'm not that familiar with Texas at all, except that apparently everything is bigger there. Maybe since the recipe calls for straight-up, full-fat mayo, eating too much of it will cause you to live up to the Texan motto. I'll take my chances.

I scored a leftover prime-cut, perfectly rare new york strip steak from a dinner with my aunt and uncle. They were planning on throwing it away, and were suprised I wanted to keep it. Are you kidding me?! I can make at least two meals out of that steak. Who knows, maybe Grade A Prime meat has such grand protein levels that it also enables superhuman abilities. I don't want to miss out on that opportunity. I've always wanted to be Elasti-Woman.

To honor that perfectly good leftover steak, I chose to slice it thinly for tacos. The "texas" coleslaw served as a spicy, yet refreshing, accompaniment for the meal. It's an easy, tasty side dish for the many summer barbecues to come.

Texas Coleslaw   Serves: 2       
2 (heaping) T. Mayonnaise
1 t. lime juice
1/2 t. cumin
Salt
Pepper
1/4 head green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1 green onion, sliced
1 radish, thinly sliced
Fresh parsley, chopped
1.) Whisk mayo, lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add in cabbage, onion, radish, and parsley. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed.

adapted from: allrecipes.com

Cherry Basil Chicken Salad

I love fresh produce. Yet since I'm cooking for one, eating all of it before it spirals into the Land of Mush and Grodyness is difficult, especially since I get tired of eating the same thing repeatedly. Life is too short to limit your flavors, man.

When attempting to figure out creative ways to use up my 75 lb. bag (er,2 lb.) of fresh cherries, I thought of chicken salad. I love chicken salad with grapes, so why not cherries? And it just so happened that a handful of sliced almonds were hanging out in my pantry. They definitely contributed to the flavor party. Overall, the cherry basil chicken salad turned out extremely well and is simple to make. I definitely plan on making it again the next time I purchase a billion cherries. Yum!

Cherry Basil Chicken Salad
1 cooked chicken breast, cut in bite-sized pieces
4-5 fresh cherries, pitted and roughly chopped
1 T. sliced almonds
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 t. finely chopped red onion
Couple of fresh basil leaves, torn
1 1/2 T. mayonnaise
1 t. balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
1.) Heat a small skillet over low heat. Add almonds and toss occasionally. When they begin becoming fragrant (but not burnt!), remove from heat and set aside.
2.) In a small bowl combine chicken, cherries, celery, red onion, almonds, mayo, balsamic vinegar, and basil. Salt and pepper to taste. Top with more basil and a cherry, if you like.

Grilled Monterey Jack Chicken and Cherry Salsa

***Exciting News!***
I am now the proud owner of a grill. A real gas-burning, flame-roaring, meat-charring grilling machine. It's used, but I'd rather call it well-seasoned. Sorry, George Foreman, you've been replaced.

The original recipe calls for grilling a pork tenderloin, but since my pork was still in the window-breaking frozen state, that had to be changed to chicken.  The cheese was my own addition because, y'know, it's part of my staple food groups: cheese, ice cream, cereal, and hummus.

And the salsa is literally the cherry on top. (pun! sorry.) If someone told me that salsa was not required to include tomatoes a few years ago, I probably would have charged them with dip blasphemy and attempted to ship them off to an institution. But the cherry salsa is exceptionally delicious and simple to make, thanks to food processor technology. I would also like to thank the Cavemen who invented fire, which eventually led to my new Weber grill.  (Oh, and the wheel. That made moving the grill much easier.)

Grilled Monterey Jack Chicken and Cherry Salsa     Serves: 2 (plus leftover salsa)
1 cup pitted dark sweet cherries
2 t. lime juice
1 T. red onion, chopped
1 t. (or more) canned jalapenos
2 T. (or more) fresh parsley or cilantro
Salt
Pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Olive oil
2 slices monterey jack cheese
1.) Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until at the desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2.) Preheat grill on high heat. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over each breast, and season both sides with salt and pepper. Lower grill heat to medium, and grill chicken breasts for 5-8 minutes per side, depending on size. Near the end of cooking time, place a slice of cheese over each breast. Top with a spoonful of salsa.

Smashed Chickpea Salad

Courtesy of final exam procrastination and hunger, I found this recipe for smashed chickpea salad on Smitten Kitchen.  Maybe I was attracted to it because it's loaded with mediterranean-esque ingredients, or maybe it was because my Rock Music class required us to study some intense Death Metal from Sweden. Smashing food? Sounds pretty angst-ridden, death metal-y, and badass to me!

The Smashed Chickpeas sounds like a good name for an all-girl metal band, too.

I ate this on toasted bread, mixed with pasta, and straight from the gladware container with a spoon. It's quick to put together, plus smashing your food before eating it is totally satisfying. Rockin'.

Smashed Chickpea Salad     Makes: about 3/4 cup
1/2 can (from a 15oz) chickpeas, drained
1 T. black olives, roughly chopped
1/2 T. minced red onion
1 T. fresh parsley, chopped
1 T. lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
1.) Mix all ingredients together and smash with a fork or potato masher. Add enough olive oil to allow the mixture to stick together (maybe around 2 T). Salt and pepper to taste.

Smoky Corn and Red Pepper Relish

There's too much stuff in my freezer. My roommates and I apparently hold frozen veggies in high regard, since that chilly box is chock full of them.  Let me tell you, none of us are in danger of developing a case of scurvy.  We've got enough Green Giant to feed a good sized militia.

Not that I plan on inviting any militia groups into my apartment, or anything. They'd probably want more to a meal than heaping scoops of California Blend veggies, anyways. So there!

In the interest of purging our plethora of vegetables, I adapted this relish recipe from Gourmet. The original recipe calls for grilling all the vegetables, but since I'm stuck with a George Foreman, I only grilled the red pepper and green onion on it. The corn was toasted in a small skillet. It's delicious with chips, spooned over chicken, or stuffed into a quesadilla. 

Smoky Corn and Red Pepper Relish    Makes: about 1 cup

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced lengthwise

1/2 cup frozen corn

2 green onions

1 T. red onion, finely chopped

1/2 T. olive oil

1/4 t. cumin

1/2 T. lime juice

1/2 T. hot sauce

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Salt

Pepper

1.) Preheat grill. Add red bell pepper and green onions. Grill until the vegetables soften and develop grill marks, about 5 minutes. When done, remove from grill and cut into bite-sized pieces.

2.) In a small skillet, add a pat of butter. Melt over medium-high heat, then add the corn and spread into a single layer. Flip kernels with a spatula, after about 3 minutes, to toast the other side. Remove from heat and set aside.

3.) In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, cumin, lime juice, and hot sauce. Add in the red bell pepper, corn, green and red onions, and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and chill until ready to serve.