We’ve been eating so much tabbouleh this summer for breakfast, and while we both really enjoy it, we wanted something a little different this week. So I quickly threw together this 8-layer salad for us this morning, and not only was it incredibly refreshing and delicious, but it was also very fast and easy to ... [read more]]]> We’ve been eating so much tabbouleh this summer for breakfast, and while we both really enjoy it, we wanted something a little different this week. So I quickly threw together this 8-layer salad for us this morning, and not only was it incredibly refreshing and delicious, but it was also very fast and easy to make. Here’s what it looked like before we devoured it.

It sure did hit the spot!

Kemal said he felt the like prosciutto could have been left out. I agree. I think meatless would have been the way to go, but I felt throwing some in at the time I was making it. Bacon would have been ideal, but I didn’t have any.

What kind of salads have you been enjoying lately?

8-Layer Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing

Recipe Adapted from: Sneakers and Snacks who adapted the recipe from Tasty Kitchen (recipe submitted by Cathy B. at brightbakes)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups romaine lettuce hearts, chopped
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 Vidalia onion, diced
• 8 baby carrots, chopped
• 4 oz. goat mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 slice Prosciutto, chopped
• 6 radishes, thinly sliced
• 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp. homemade dry Ranch seasoning mix

Instructions:

• Place two eggs in a small pot.
• Add enough water to cover the eggs.
• Turn the heat on high, and when the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium high and cook for 10 minutes.
• Run cold water over the hot eggs and then peel and slice them; refrigerate until needed.
• Find a large platter/plate for the salad.
• Wash and chop the romaine lettuce hearts; shake out any excess water, and then scatter the lettuce on the large serving plate.
• Wash the radishes, and then cut off the ends.
• Slice the radishes thinly, and then place the radish slices in a circle around the lettuce. If you have more radish slices like I did, make one or two more radish circles on top of the lettuce.
• Wash and dice the tomato, and then scatter the diced tomatoes on top of the salad.
• Peel and dice the onion, and then scatter the diced onion on top of the salad.
• Chop the baby carrots and then scatter them on top of the salad.
• Chop the Prosciutto into small pieces, and then scatter the pieces on top of the salad.
• Shred the cheese and scatter it on top of the salad.
• Place the chilled hard boiled egg slices on top of the salad.
• Mix together the seasonings needed for the ranch dressing. Click here for the seasonings you’ll need.
• After you’ve mixed together the seasonings, stir 1 tbsp. of the seasoning mix into 1 cup of Greek yogurt.
• Place the yogurt mixture on top of the salad.
• Enjoy!

Since I have a hard time digesting mushrooms, he also made some stuffed peppers and zucchinis with the same filling ... [read more]]]>

Since I have a hard time digesting mushrooms, he also made some stuffed peppers and zucchinis with the same filling and sauce. They all turned out incredibly delicious. I had one mushroom (one small mushroom won’t hurt my stomach), and I thought they were even better than the ones we had at Buca di Beppo.

Here’s what the veggies looked like before we covered them with the creamy pesto sauce:

They’re good plain, but the sauce not only dresses ‘em up, but it also adds a whole lot of flavor.

The prosciutto is great in these stuffed veggies, but I’ll bet they’d be just as good using some cooked, crumbled turkey bacon in them.

Speaking of bacon, what do you think about turkey and beef bacon compared to pork bacon? We both love turkey bacon and find it to be every bit as good as pork bacon. We’ve only tried beef bacon once. The meat department at Whole Foods had some so we tried it, and it seemed really dry and not nearly as flavorful as turkey and pork bacon. What kind of bacon do you buy?

Prosciutto and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms, Peppers, and Zucchini with a Creamy Pesto Sauce

Inspired by: Buca di Beppo’s Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients for the Stuffed Vegetables:

• 3 small zucchinis
• 1 orange bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 6 baby portabello mushrooms
• 6 slices Prosciutto, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup Panko breading
• 2 green onions, finely sliced
• 1 egg, beaten
• handful of Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value Veggie Chips
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup goat cheese
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• parsley to taste

Ingredients for the Creamy Pesto Sauce:

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 8 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• prepared pesto to taste
• 2% milk
• salt to taste

Instructions for Making the Prosciutto Stuffed Vegetables with a Creamy Pesto Sauce

Step One:  Prep all the Veggies

• Wash all the vegetables.
• Cut the zucchinis lengthwise in half, and then core out some of the inside of the zucchini slices so you have a place to put your stuffing.
• Finely chop the cored part of the zucchini, and then place it in a medium sized bowl because you’re going to use that in your filling.
• Cut the peppers in half, and remove the stem and seeds.
• Remove the stems from the mushrooms.
• Finely slice the green onions, and then place them in the bowl with cored out part of the zucchini.

Step Two:  Make the Filling

• Grate the Parmesan cheese; set aside.
• Beat an egg in a small bowl, and then add the egg to the bowl with the cored out part of the zucchini.
• Crush the veggie chips, and then add them and Panko bread crumbs to the bowl with the egg, green onions, etc.
• Finely chop the prosciutto and then add it to the bowl with the other ingredients.
• In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, goat cheese, and feta cheese over low to medium heat, stirring frequently.
• After the butter/cheese mixture becomes creamy, add the stuffing mixture (bread crumbs, egg, prosciutto, etc) which is in the bowl to the butter/cheese mixture.
• Add olive oil until you get the desired consistency (so it can be easily shaped and/or molded).
• Add salt and pepper to taste, as well as 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Mix well.

Step Three:  Stuff the Veggies

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Grease a baking pan with olive oil.
• Stuff the vegetables with the filling and place them in the pan.
• Brush a little olive oil on the top of all the stuffed vegetables, and then sprinkle everything with a little black pepper and parsley.

Step Four:  Bake the Stuffed Veggies and Make the Creamy Pesto Sauce

• Bake uncovered until the stuffing is golden brown.
• While the stuffed veggies are baking, make the creamy pesto sauce.
• In a large frying pan, heat about 1/2 cup of canola oil on medium high heat.
• When the oil gets hot, stir in the flour with a wooden spoon.
• Stir constantly until the flour has blended nicely with oil and there are no lumps.
• Slowly add about 1 cup of milk  and some prepared pesto to the flour/oil mixture. (How much you use depends on how strong of a pesto flavor you want.)
• Stir constantly on a very low heat to combine all the ingredients.
• Continue adding more milk until you get the sauce the consistency you want. I made mine the consistency of a thin gravy.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Keep stirring until the sauce has thickened to your liking, and then remove it from the heat.
• After the stuffed veggies have turned golden brown, remove them from the oven and transfer to a serving dish.
• Cover the them with the creamy pesto sauce, and enjoy!
• Optional: Sprinkle a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.

About a month ago, we went to a lovely pizza place, Coal’s Artisan Pizza, here in Louisville and enjoyed a wonderful dinner! Their appetizers and pizzas are fantastic, the beer selection is great, and we can’t wait to go back!

Their pizza dough which is baked in a 1,000 degree coal-fired oven, is perfect! And their ... [read more]]]> About a month ago, we went to a lovely pizza place, Coal’s Artisan Pizza, here in Louisville and enjoyed a wonderful dinner! Their appetizers and pizzas are fantastic, the beer selection is great, and we can’t wait to go back!

Their pizza dough which is baked in a 1,000 degree coal-fired oven, is perfect! And their most interesting pizza, in my opinion, was made with prosciutto, fig jam, a balsamic vinegar reduction, mozzarella cheese and Gorgonzola cheese. While Kemal and I highly recommend their pizza and will be their loyal customers, we wanted to create our own prosciutto fig jam pizza at home…one with a different spin. Why?

Well, first of all, Kemal and I both prefer our pizzas made with goat and/or sheep cheese because he’s lactose intolerant and I’m allergic to casein which is the protein found in cow cheese. We do eat pizzas cow cheese, but we always pay the price after doing so. No fun! So we decided to try their prosciutto fig jam pizza with cheeses that wouldn’t upset our tummies, although we did thrown on a little bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. It was such a small amount though that it didn’t bother us.

The other reason we wanted to make this at home was because we love hot and spicy foods, and Kemal wanted to see how this pizza would taste with a hot chipotle garlic taco sauce mixed with the fig jam.

And finally, the third reason is because we wanted some veggies on the pizza. We chose green onions and sliced Kumatos…a very sweet type of tomato which is brownish-green in color.

Anyway, we made two pizzas because we wanted one leftover for the next day, and oh my gosh…you wouldn’t believe how incredibly delicious the pizzas were!!

The fig jam and taco sauce combination was perfect! The sweet combined with the hot and spicy was perfect, and we’ll definitely be making this pizza again!!

We made our own crust, but certainly if you’re in a hurry, you can just add the toppings to a pre-made crust. Give a try sometime and see what you think. I’ll bet you’ll love it!

Before I give you the recipe, I just wanted to thank Katie at What Katie’s Baking for nominating me for the Stylish Blogger Award. I always look forward to reading Katie’s blog because she features such great recipes and content. Actually, both times she’s nominated me for awards, I’ve wanted to nominate her blog. Can you nominate person who nominated you? I’m not sure, but she certainly deserves the awards.

Anyway, I’m honored to accept the stylish blogger award, and in doing so, I need to tell you seven things about myself. Here we go.

Seven things about myself:

1. I don’t believe I’ve ever cooked with sweetened condensed milk. (Or at least if I have, I don’t remember doing so.) I don’t have anything against sweetened condensed milk so that’s weird that I haven’t cooked with it, right?
2. I guess I’m old-fashioned in some ways because I’m not into text messaging. I’d much rather talk with someone over the phone or shoot them an e-mail.
3. I love hanging out at the swimming pool in the summer. It’s like my favorite thing!
4. I’ve never been to a tanning bed before. I’d much rather get my tan at the pool.
5. I really enjoy mowing the grass…but only with a push mower. I don’t like riding lawn mowers. Something about pushin’ that mower is fun for me, and since I live in an apartment, I don’t get to mow grass anymore. *wah*
6. I love carrots, and I once at so many of them for months at a time that my skin turned orange.
7. I don’t pluck my eyebrows.

I’m passing the Stylish Blogger Award on to:

1. Megan @ When Harry Met Salad
2. Carol @ There’s Always Thyme to Cook
3. Heather @ The Culinary Chase
4. Katie @ Chocolate-Covered Katie
5. Melita @ Cafe Chocolada

I hope you’ll check out their blogs and see what great content they have consistently.

Anyway, thanks so much again, Katie! I really appreciate it!!

Prosciutto and Fig Jam Pizza

Adapted from: Coal’s Artisan Pizza

And I love making sandwiches with crackers instead of bread. And most of the time, I eat my sandwiches open-faced. How ’bout you? What do you prefer?

Kiwi Prosciutto and Cream Cheese on Poppy Seed Crackers

Ingredients:

The first recipe that I just had to try were these cute little prosciutto-wrapped polenta kabobs. Being a huge fan of both ... [read more]]]> “Simply Pasta and Italian” by Parragon Publishing. It has so many wonderful recipes in it, and I’m thrilled with the book!

The first recipe that I just had to try were these cute little prosciutto-wrapped polenta kabobs. Being a huge fan of both polenta and prosciutto, Kemal and I were hardly waiting to try this perfect pairing.

It was awesome!!!! They were rich in flavor but not heavy on our stomachs. I can hardly wait to make them again.

The only disappointing thing was that we ate every single bite and had none leftover for our breakfast the next day.

They can be served as an appetizer, or if you’re like us…they make a perfect meal!

Polenta Skewers with Prosciutto

Adapted from: “Simply Pasta and Italian” by Parragon Publishing, Queen Street House, 4 Queen Street, Bath, BAI, IHE, UK. Published in 2001. The recipe was found on page 66.

Here’s are two pictures of them before we baked them:

And here’s one more picture of them after they came out of the oven.

They’re amazingly delicious!

It can be eaten by itself, with ... [read more]]]>

It can be eaten by itself, with crackers, or bread. We enjoyed ours with focaccia bread fresh from the oven.

There are many different recipes, but here’s what was in our antipasto tonight:

Antipasto

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb. mortadella
• 1/4 lb. Genova salami
• 1/8 lb. prosciutto
• 1/3 lb. piquante peppers soaked in oil and vinegar
• 1/4 lb. fresh mozzarella
• 8 pepperoncini peppers, mild or hot
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 of a bunch of fresh parsley
• oregano to taste

Instructions:

• Cut the mortadella, salami, peppers, and mozzarella into bite-sized chunks.
• Cut the prosciutto into very small and thin slices.
• Finely chop the parsley.
• Toss all the meat, cheese, peppers, parsley, spices, and oil together in a mixing bowl.
• Serve chilled.