Grilled Steak Salad

Do you ever think you might just turn into a big leafy green if you eat one more boring salad?  I sure do, especially since I've been upping my produce game lately.  I've made a bad (healthy, but boring) habit of eating the same salad every day for lunch at work, and it's so much harder to eat a cold salad when it's chilly outside. 

Monday night, I planned to eat my Potato Leek soup with a little side salad.  Instead, I ended up cleaning out my fridge and produce bowl, and whipping up this delicious, warm Grilled Steak Salad. 

The cool lettuce in contrast to the warm steak, grilled onions and tomatoes, sweet balsamic, and creamy cheese is a real winner.  I used a tangy garlic and herb Boursin cheese since I had it on hand, but goat cheese or blue cheese would also work wonders. 

Ingredients (serves 2):

*1 lb. steak (I used a thin cut top sirloin)

*1/2 onion, thinly sliced

*1 tomato, quartered

*1/4 c. crumbled garlic herb Boursin cheese

*balsamic reduction

*olive oil cooking spray

*romaine lettuce   

*salt, pepper

Preheat a grill pan over medium heat.  Spray generously with olive oil cooking spray and add onions and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper, and cook until the tomatoes have light grill marks and the onions are translucent.  Set aside.

Pat the steak dry with a paper towel. Season generously with salt and pepper, add more cooking spray to the grill pan, and then add the steak.  Cook to your preference (for my thin cut steak, I cooked it three minutes per side).  

To serve, slice the steak thinly against the grain.  Spray the lettuce very lightly with olive oil spray (you can skip this step if you prefer - the balsamic reduction adds lots of flavor).  Top the lettuce with steak, onions, tomatoes, crumbled Boursin, and drizzle lightly with balsamic reduction.  Serve warm.  Enjoy! 

Creamy Potato Leek Soup

Well it's official: soup season is upon us!  It's so bizarre to me that after an exceptionally warm October, November first showed up and brought along the cool temperatures with it.  I'm pretty excited for the changing seasons, but I do wish there was more of a transition.  The fact that it already snowed in the mountains of NC is making me nervous - I feel like this year will be a cold one! 

But for now, I'm loving the crisp fall air, and thinking up some delicious  meals that will keep me warm from the inside out.  

This Potato Leek soup makes the perfect meal for a cool night.  I used light sour cream in the recipe, so it's actually surprisingly light for such a hearty, creamy soup.  

You will need an immersion blender for this recipe.  I've said it before, and i'll say it again - an immersion blender is an absolute must for soups.  It's still one of my all-time favorite kitchen tools and I use mine regularly! 

Ingredients:

*1 tbsp. butter

*1 tbsp. olive oil

*1.5 lb. yukon gold potatoes (about 4 medium potatoes), cubed

*2 leeks

*1 garlic clove, minced

* 32 oz. chicken stock

*4 oz. (1/2 c.) sour cream

*salt, pepper

* chives for garnish

First prepare the leeks.  Halve them lengthwise and since them thoroughly under running water (dirt tends to hide in the nooks and crannies).  Roughly chop the white and light green parts. 

Heat a stock pot over medium heat and add the butter and olive oil.  Add the leeks, season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 7-8 minutes, or until soft.  Add the garlic and sauté one additional minute.  Add the chicken stock and increase the heat to high.  When the stock is boiling, add the potatoes and reduce the heat to medium low.  Simmer, loosely covered (keep the lid ajar), for 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth.  Stir in sour cream until it is completely incorporated.  Serve with another dollop of sour cream and chopped chives.  Enjoy! 

Stuffed Peppers

Can you believe how quickly October has flown by?  Halloween is just a few days away and I'm ready!  I must have succumbed to Mike's Halloween spirit this year.  It's hard not to when he started quizzing me about my costume choice back in July.

I'm all about a theme, and after I decided to make stuffed peppers for dinner this week, I knew I just had to carve them up like the little pumpkins they were meant to be.

Stuffed peppers are super simple to make, and you can really use whatever filling your heart desires.  Since I'm still on the Weight Watchers wagon, I opted to use fat free ground turkey, fresh veggies, tomato paste for rich flavor, and a cheddar cheese topping for good measure. 

Ingredients:

* 6 peppers

* 1 lb. ground turkey or beef

* 1/2 onion, chopped

*1 plum tomato, chopped

* 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

*2 tbsp. tomato paste

* 1/4 c. water

* 1 c. spinach, roughly chopped

*salt, pepper

* 10 oz. brown rice, cooked (I used a frozen pouch of Trader Joe's brown rice)

*4 oz. cheddar cheese, grated (I used white cheddar)

To carve the peppers, use a small pairing knife or pumpkin cutter to cut faces in the whole peppers.  After you make the faces, cut off the lid as you would a pumpkin and remove the seeds and as much of the ribs as possible.  Boil the peppers in water for 5 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool. 

Preheat the oven to 375.  To prepare the filling, spray a large skillet with cooking spray, heat to medium high and add the onions.  Saute until the onions are translucent, then add the turkey.  Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and use a wooden spoon to break up the turkey as it cooks.  Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and spinach, and saute until the spinach has wilted and tomato paste is totally mixed in.  Stir in the brown rice. 

Fill each pepper with the turkey mixture, and top with grated cheese.  Place the stuffed peppers in a casserole dish and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is totally  melted and bubbly.  Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.  Enjoy! 

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have to admit, i'm not one of those people that gets super excited about pumpkin.  You know the type - the ones who anxiously countdown to the day Starbucks brings back the Pumpkin Spice Latte, or the people who buy Trader Joe's pumpkin bread mix in bulk, for fear they may one day sell out.  

These Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting are the exception.  My mother has been making these for years, and it just doesn't feel like fall until I make my first batch.  With lots of pumpkin goodness and just the right hint of warm spice from the cinnamon and nutmeg, these muffins make the perfect breakfast, dessert, or mid day snack.  

In my opinion, the cream cheese frosting puts them over the edge, but sometimes I leave a few unfrosted and eat them warm with butter for breakfast.  

Ingredients (makes 18 muffins):

* 1 cup canned pumpkin **

* 1 stick butter, melted

* 1/3 c. orange juice

* 2 eggs, at room temperature

* 1 2/3 c. flour

* 1 1/2 c. sugar

* 1 tsp. baking soda

* 3/4 tsp salt

* 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

* 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Frosting:

* 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, at room temperature

*2 sticks butter, at room temperature

* 1/2 box powdered sugar

* 1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375.  To prepare the muffins, beat together pumpkin, juice, and eggs.  Add all remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray (you can also use paper liners) and fill about half way with batter.  Bake 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack. 

To prepare the frosting, beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla, until well combined.  Add the powdered sugar in gradually while the mixer is running.  Taste the frosting and add more sugar if needed.   Top each cooled muffin with frosting.  Enjoy!

** Blogger confession: about every other time I make this recipe, I put in a whole can (15 oz) of pumpkin (instead of one cup) by mistake.  If you make the same mistake, cook the muffins up to 18 minutes.  They will still be delicious, but a bit more dense! 

If you're looking for some more Halloween inspiration, check out my post for Focus on the Coast - Forbidden Apples!

Weekend Update: Double Weddings

Happy Monday!  I'm moving a little slower than usual after a big weekend of fun - including tag teaming two fabulous weddings in one night!

My sister came in Friday night from Atlanta and we decided to have a chill night by the fire pit.  I'm loving the cooler weather!  I used my leftover Greek Dressing to marinate beef and chicken, then whipped up some homemade tzatziki for dipping.  It was the perfect casual Friday night dinner, served with pita bread, feta chunks drizzled with olive oil, and carrot sticks (because you need as many vessels as possible for the tzatziki).  

My brother-in-law, James, came by as well, so we had a big family picnic table party!  We're in the process of building a patio.  I can't wait to have a better outdoor space for the firepit and picnic table. 

Saturday night we had TWO weddings to go to.  I hate that we had to miss a bit of each, but I think we did pretty well considering.  Fortunately they were only about five minutes away from each other, so we didn't have to miss too much.

Saturday could not have been a more perfect day for a wedding.  There was a gorgeous golden hour and the temperature was so ideal.

 My only regret was not taking my real camera!  Both weddings were absolutely stunning, I wish I had better pics to share.

 I have to throw this photo strip in for good measure.  My friends Stephanie and Jim just moved to Japan and really hated to miss the wedding.  I brought along cardboard cutouts of them for photo ops - everyone was so excited to see them (even if they were on popsicle sticks!).  We ended up adding the cutouts to the photobooth props so everyone could get a pic with them.  Too funny!

 

Now if only I had one more day to recover.... a girl can dream!