Chicken Pesto Pizza

Cowabunga!  

Every time I eat pizza, I remember growing up watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (aka best show and movie ever!).  The toys have really gone down in quality though.  :(  This specific pizza might be a little exotic for the Turtles, but I bet they'd still devour it!

Chicken Pesto Pizza

• Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
• Pesto Sauce
• Parmesan Cheese
• Fresh Parsley
• Fresh Cilantro
• Fresh Chives
• Dried Oregano
• Pepper and Salt
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Grilled Chicken Breast (marinated with Lawry's Tuscan Sun-Dried Tomato Marinade) 
• Grilled Red Peppers
• Red Onion
• Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Build pizza by adding ingredients in the order they are listed.  Sprinkle a little bit of Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese on the top.  Place pizza directly on over rack.  Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.  Alternatively, grill the pizza.  :)  Is it obvious that Ryan and I LOVE grilling?  Thanks, Dad, for the awesome charcoal grill/birthday gift!
I also think some spinach or grilled squash could be good on this pizza.

Buffalo Sweat Roast

First off, I would like to thank Tallgrass Brewing Co. for having amazing beers to not only drink, but to also cook with.  Ironically, I was browsing their website today, and noticed that Tallgrass even has a section called Cooking with Tallgrass Beer.  Buffalo Sweat Roast is not from their website (there is a roast recipe on the site), but something I made up.  Because it's been a couple of weeks since I actually cooked this baby, the recipe below might not be completely accurate.  I can't remember what size of roast I used, but if I had to guess I would say somewhere between 2 and 5 lbs.  The roasting pot I used is one of my favorite kitchen purchases because it can be used on top of the stove or in the oven!

Buffalo Sweat Roast

• 2 T Olive Oil
• 4 or 5 Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
• 3 or 4 Sprigs of Thyme
• 1 Beef Roast
• About 20 Baby Carrots
• 2 Russet Potatoes
• 1 Medium Onion
• 6 to 8 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Bottle of Tallgrass Buffalo Sweat Stout
• Pepper
• Sea Salt 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Heat olive oil, two sprigs of rosemary, and two sprigs of thyme in a roasting pan on the stove (medium heat).  Once oil is hot, place raw roast in pan.  Sear for about 5 minutes on all sides.  Remove from heat.  Add the rest of the rosemary and thyme, carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, pepper, and Buffalo Sweat to pan.  Add salt, if desired (we didn't add any because I flat out forgot to put it in).  Cook for 3 to 5 hours, or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.  Immediately take roast out of juices and sprinkle with sea salt.  Also take out the onions, carrots and potatoes.  Strain juices and make into a gravy, if desired (if you didn't add salt before, you will definitely need to add some to the gravy).

Ultimate Grilled Quesadilla

Mexican food - mmmm!  One of my favorite genres.  I like to eat it at least once a week.  Hahah.  I generally succeed at that.  :)  Ryan and I made these grilled quesadillas the same night he made the Fire-Roasted Salsa.  To the right is a picture of how he arranged everything on our awesome charcoal grill!  I love cooking on charcoal grills.  I think they are easier to control than gas grills, but maybe I just don't have enough practice with gas.  The quesadillas were a bit messy.  We probably shouldn't have put the salsa inside of the tortilla, which is why I listed it as a topping below instead.  When we were grilling them, it kept dripping down into the coals.  Lesson learned.

Ultimate Grilled Quesadilla

• Chicken
• Silva's Taco Spice
• Salt and Pepper
• Onion
• Red Pepper
• Cheese
• Flour Tortillas (try wheat ones)

Toppings:

• Fire-Roasted Salsa
• Sour Cream
• Guacamole
• Pickled or Fresh Jalapenos

Heat grill.  Season chicken with Silva's Taco Spice, salt, and pepper.  Cut red pepper and onion into quarters.  Stick a toothpick through each onion quarter to help hold in tack.  Grill chicken until no longer pink inside.  Grill onion and red pepper until tender.  Cut pepper into slices.  Sprinkle half of the tortilla with Silva's Taco Spice and cheese.  Top with chicken, onion, and peppers.  Place on grill; cook for a few minutes on both sides until crispy.  Serve with Fire-Roasted Salsa, Sour Cream, Guacamole, and Pickled or Fresh Jalapenos.  

Parmesan Turkey Burgers and Yellow Squash

My sister made these burgers for the first time years ago.  I never even thought about making burgers out of other ground meat (besides ground beef) until she had me try these.  The recipe is quite basic, but feel free to try adding or substituting other ingredients to it.  Different toppings also can add new and exciting flavors.  Ryan and I are constantly making up "new" burgers.  We love experimenting.  For a base, we switch between ground beef, turkey, chicken, or pork.

The Original Parmesan Turkey Burgers
Makes 4 turkey burgers

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 T chopped fresh chives
• 1/4 t pepper
• 1/8 t salt
• 4 hamburger buns
• Red onion rings

Heat grill for direct heat.  Mix together the turkey, Parmesan cheese, chives, pepper, and salt.  Shape into 4 patties, about 1/2 inch thick.  Grill patties for about 12 to 15 minutes, turning once, or until no longer pink in the center. Grill onion rings, if desired.  Serve patties on buns with onion rings.  Add extra toppings, if desired.  Be creative.  The first night Ryan and I ate these we added BBQ, tomatoes, and pickles to them (pictured above).  The second night, we just added Fire-Roasted Salsa to them, which made them pretty much the best turkey burger I've ever had!

Whenever we grill burgers, we like to also grill some vegetables to go with the main entree.  The day we made the turkey burgers, we grilled up some yellow squash.

Grilled Yellow Squash

• 1 yellow squash, cut in half length-wise
• Pepper
• Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Sprinkle pepper and seasons salt on squash.  Grill flesh side down until tender.  Flip over and grill for one more minute.

Fire-Roasted Salsa

Seriously, some of the best salsa I've ever tasted!  Delicious when it's still a little warm from the grilling.  Also delicious after it's been chilled.  Make it and enjoy it!  The first night we ate this salsa, we put it on Ultimate Grilled Quesadillas.  The second night, we used it as a topping on Parmesan Turkey Burgers.

(Pictured with guacamole and pickled Jalapenos)

Fire-Roasted Salsa

• 4 Roma Tomatoes
• 1 Jalapeno pepper
• 2 Anaheim pepper
• 2/3 Onion (any variety) 
• Cilantro (handful or to taste)

Heat grill.  Slice open and seed the Anaheim peppers.  Slice the top off the Jalapeno. Quarter the onion; poke toothpicks through to keep layers in tack.  Place everything but cilantro on the grill over high heat.  Grill Anaheims skin side down until skin is charred. Grill the Jalapeno, onion, and tomatoes until charred on all sides.  Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to desired consistency (we like ours a bit chunky).

Sangria

Mmmmm...thank you, Ryan, for making this! :)  Delicious!

Sangria

• 2 lemons, cut into slices
• 2 oranges, cut into slices
• 1-2 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz lime juice
• 2 bottles of Rojo Mojo Shiraz (or other red wine)
• 4 T sugar
• 4 shots of brandy
• Ginger ale

Note: When you are slicing the fruits, discard the seeds, if possible.

In a pitcher, squeeze most of the juice out of the lemons and oranges.  Pour in the pineapple and lime juices.  Pour one bottle of wine over the fruit and juices.  Stir well.  Pour the other bottle of wine in the pitcher, and stir again.  Pour in the sugar and brandy.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Let set in fridge for at least a couple hours (best overnight).  To server, mix wine with ginger ale to taste.

Rosemary Red Sauce on Pasta

The following recipe was created by H.  He made me edit it.  Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of my plate before gobbling it up, so all I got was a picture of the next day's lunch.  Sorry, it's not as presentable as I'd like, but at least you can kind of see what it looked like.  Vicky (aka - the reason this blog exists) recently informed me that she is a visual person and really likes the pictures, so I'm trying a bit harder.  :)  Please pretend this meal is on a silver platter with rosemary springs decorating the edges...or something pretty like that.

Rosemary Red Sauce on Pasta:

• 1 to 2 T Olive Oil
• 1/4 Onion (any variety), chopped
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
• about 1.5 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped. (equivalent to 1.5 tablespoons)
• 1 can Diced Tomatoes
• 2 or 3 Garlic Cloves
• 1 t Fresh Ginger, minced (optional)
• 1 T Red Pepper Flakes (use less if you don't like spicy food)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 Zucchini, sliced
• 1 T Sun-dried Tomatos in olive oil
• Whole Wheat Pasta, try Penne Rigate or Rotini, prepared
• Fresh Parmesan

Heat 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large nonstick pan on medium-low heat.  While oil is heating, chop the onion, red pepper, and rosemary.  Sauté for a couple of minutes.  Add the garlic and ginger. Sauté for 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Add the diced tomatoes and stir.  Crank up the heat to medium.

Add some salt and pepper. Somebody once said it was a good idea to season at each stage of cooking. Also, add the red pepper flakes if you like it spicy.  

Let the sauce cook for 3-5 minutes.  While the sauce is cooking, slice the zucchini.  Place all your zucchini slices on top of the tomato mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Let them cook/steam for about 2 minutes, then flip them over.  Sprinkle this side lightly with salt and pepper.  They'll need to cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until tender.  

Once the zucchini is done, you're finished.  Serve on the pasta; add a little Parmesan.  Enjoy!