Grown Up BLT

There's nothing like a BLT. The saltiness of the bacon, the sweetness of the tomato, and the freshness of the lettuce blend in perfect harmony. Tonight I made a quick BLT for myself for dinner, and without even meaning to, I classed it up quite a bit. Behold, an open face BLT for grownups!

• 1 piece of whole grain toast (I actually used a "sandwich thin")
• Garlic thyme aioli (mayo + minced garlic + lemon thyme from my garden
• 2 pieces peppered thick cut (local!) bacon
• arugula leaves
• 1 sweet yellow tomato, thinly sliced
• sea salt (tomatoes need salt to bring out their sweetness) and black pepper

Assemble ingredients in the order they are listed and enjoy! This could obviously be a regular sandwich and not open-face, but I had enough filling for two sandwiches but only one sandwich thin.

Shrimp, Scallop, and Veggie Kabobs with Mint Pesto

I'm tired of blogging. I need to stop procrastinating and just write about things when they are fresh in my mind! But, it's too late for that now. Last Wednesday I made some kabobs on the grill and they were pretty tasty.

I made shrimp, bay scallop, cherry tomato, and one with red onions and green peppers. I marinated the shrimp and scallops in a mint pesto (mint leaves, parsley leaves, almonds, water, olive oil, and garlic-- in food processor) which was surprisingly good. I would make it again-- especially on a lamb burger or something!

I served the Kabobs with a spinach and arugula salad with edamame, pecans, and goat cheese. It was kind of a weird combination, but all I had on hand. The dressing was balsamic vinegar mixed with some of the mint pesto. I saved the extra to drizzle on the Kabobs.

I have nothing else to say about this and feel like I sound like a robot. So.... I'm going to be done now.

Steak, Salad, and Sauce (I love alliteration)

I am actually up to date on blogging! It's a miracle! This is a meal I made just two days ago for Wednesday night date night with Tim. It wasn't the best meal ever, but I am pretty much obsessed with the poblano yogurt now.

Grilled Sirloin Steak and Red Onion Slices 
I put a dry rub on the steaks of cayenne, chili powder, minced garlic dried parsley, fresh cilantro, lime zest, cumin, S&P. It was very tasty, but the steaks were a bit tough. The onions just had canola oil, salt, and pepper and I grilled them for about five minutes. The thicker slices should have gone for a minute or two more but overall they were great!

Poblano Yogurt Sauce

• poblano pepper
• 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
• garlic powder (better if it was fresh and also roasted but oh well)
• sea salt

Fiesta-Green Goddess Salad

• spinach and arugula leaves 
• avocado, diced
• cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (thawed or cooked or whatever)
• cilantro
• juice from half a lime
• 1/4 crumbled feta cheese
• 1 TBSP poblano yogurt dip

Everyone (I assume) has heard of Green Goddess salad. It's a delicious blended yogurt-y, green-y salad dressing over a delicious bed of greens and fresh veggies. After taking a bite of my poblano yogurt sauce, I realized that if I thinned it down just a bit (with the juice of a lime), it would make a fantastic salad dressing very similar to a green-goddess dressing. But, keeping with my spicy "fiesta" theme, my other toppings all somewhat resemble Mexican food (except the feta of course, but just go with me).

As with all salads, I toss the greens with the dressing first so each leaf is coated and I don't use too much dressing (yay low calorie), then I throw on half of the toppings, toss once or twice, and then put the rest of the toppings on before serving.

Quote of the night: "Is this Arugula?" -Tim  This may not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but I am just so proud that my "picky eater" boyfriend can now successfully identify arugula. He's turning into a regular foodie!!