Salmon Teriyaki

Lately I have been trying to include more fish in my meal plans and teriyaki salmon is definitely one of my favourite ways to go! Salmon teriyaki is a super quick and easy meal where you simply marinate the salmon in a homemade teriyaki sauce and then broil or grill it! Not including the marinate time, salmon teriyaki takes less than 15 minutes to put together making it perfect for busy weeknight meals and it is also sure to impress dinner guests!

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Shrimp Scampi

If you are looking for a special dinner for two you really cannot go wrong with shrimp scampi and I figured that it was the perfect time to update my old recipe! Shrimp scampi is a really simple pasta dish consisting of shrimp sauteed in a buttery, garlic, white wine and lemon sauce that is just to die for! Although this recipe is super quick and easy it is perfect for entertaining or for special dinners for two in addition to being a great weeknight meal. Really it takes more time to cook the pasta than it does to make the shrimp and sauce so dinner is on the table in less than 20 minutes! I like to hit the scampi up with some red pepper flakes for a touch of heat along with some lemon zest and parsley for garnish. No matter how you cut it, this dish is sure to impress and they will never know how easy it was to make!

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Pad Thai

Pad Thai, a Thai style stir fried rice noodle dish, has to be one of my all time favourite meals and I always enjoy using its ingredient and flavour combinations in other dishes. With all of the Pad Thai style dishes that I have been making as of late I was reminded that I needed to update the original Pad Thai recipe along with it's 5 year old photo. Given my obsession with Pad Thai it's a good thing that it's so easy to make at home and the only 'exotic' ingredients that you really need to track down are the tamarind concentrate and the fish sauce which can be replaced by more commonly available lime juice and soy sauce in a pinch. One of the great things about Pad Thai is it's amazingly magical balance of sour, salty, sweet and spicy created by the tamarind, fish sauce, sugar and chili sauce. All said and told, Pad Thai really only takes less than 10 minutes to cook and things go quickly after the first ingredient hits the pan so the secret to success is in making sure that you have all of the ingredients ready to go before you start cooking. It's so easy to enjoy Pad Thai at home, even on a busy weeknight and with this recipe it is sure to become one of your favourite meals as well!

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Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich

April is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich month and that was all the excuse that I needed to try out some new grilled cheese sandwich recipes! Not too long ago, while I was devouring a batch of the ever so addictive jalapeno popper dip, I was thinking about other ways to enjoy that amazing flavour combination and the idea that stuck was the one for a jalapeno popper grilled cheese sandwich. As soon as I had that thought I knew that I would have to try it and this was the perfect time!

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Bacon Double Cheese Burger Dip

The Super Bowl is quickly approaching and that means that it is time to start dusting off some recipes for snacking! I am a big fan of hot melted cheese dips and I had an idea for a new one, a bacon double cheese burger dip that has all of the flavours of a bacon double cheese burger. Beef is the main part of a burger so I started out there and I added some ingredients that I commonly add to burgers including onions, garlic and worcestershire sauce. Next up was the bacon and then the cheese and I included both cheddar for the flavour and mozzarella for the stringy melted goodness. I went with the standard hot melted cheese dip ingredients including the cream cheese, mayonnaise and sour cream to form the base of the dip. One final touch was the addition of ketchup as it is a pretty standard condiment used in burgers. All of the ingredients are then mixed together and baked until the cheeses all melt and start to brown and get all bubbly.

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Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I certainly have been into the fresh field ripened tomatoes lately! I have been picking up at least a full basket of them every week and most weeks they have disappeared long before the end of the week. Primarily I have been enjoying them in BLT sandwiches but recently I had a new idea and that was for a caprese grilled cheese sandwich. The idea came from a caprese salad which is a nice and simple salad that consists of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil and I figured that it would make an excellent grilled cheese sandwich! I mean you really can't go wrong wrapping something up in buttery and toasty bread grilled to perfection while at the same time melting the fresh mozzarella into an ooey gooey mess!

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Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich

After the success of turning jalapeño poppers into grilled cheese sandwiches (aka the jalapeño popper grilled cheese sandwich) I was wondering what other dishes I could turn into grilled cheese sandwiches. The basic idea is to take all of the flavours of a food that I am already totally into and use them in a grilled cheese sandwich. It did not take me too long to think of something perfect and it is interesting that it is also classic bar food, buffalo chicken wings, which are also one of my favourites. Buffalo chicken wings are chicken wings that are tossed in a spicy hot sauce and they are commonly served with a side of carrot and celery sticks with a blue cheese dip.

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Pizza Dip

Over the last while I have slowly been trying to free up some space in my freezer and I recently came across some pizza sauce that I had left over after making a pizza a while back. As soon as I stumbled upon it I remembered thinking that I had wanted to use it to make a hot cheesy pizza dip when I put it in the freezer. Once I had that thought there was no turning back and I was already dreaming up recipes for the dip.

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Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake

St. Patrick's day is coming up and this weekend I started working on my meal plan. Normally I do not start with the dessert but when I came across this recipe for a Guinness chocolate cheesecake I knew that I would be making it immediately. Last year I made a Guinness chocolate cake and I discovered that the combination of Guinness and chocolate is a wonderful one and I could not resist using it in one of my favourite treats, a cheesecake!

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Spinach Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Earlier on in the week, when I made the spinach, or spanakopita pesto pasta I made sure to keep some of the pesto left over for something new. I had come across the idea of using a pesto in a grilled cheese sandwich and it was the perfect time to try one. I have been experimenting with grilled cheese sandwiches for a while now. It all started when I first tried adding some jam to one then I moved on to chutneys and now it was time to try a pesto grilled cheese sandwich. Since the spinach pesto had some Greek flavours going on I decided to use a Greek cheese, graviera, in the sandwich. The spinach pesto sandwich with graviera was amazing! The flavourful pesto worked really well in a grilled cheese sandwich! Although the graviera did not melt quite as well as I had hoped for it was still really tasty and it rounded out the sandwich nicely. I can't wait to experiment with more pesto grilled cheese sandwiches.!

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Spinach and Feta Quesadillas

I have really been into the Greek style spinach and feta combo with fresh herbs such as dill and mint ever since I discovered spanakopita, a Greek spinach pie. I have been remaking those flavours into various different dishes with one of my more recent creations being in the form of a spinach and feta lasagna that was a real hit. I have a fairly long list of different ways that I want to try using the spinach and feta combo and the next one on my list was quesadillas. Quesadillas are great for creating fusion dishes where all you have to do is fill them with the flavours and ingredients from another culture. At their base quesadillas are a crispy toasted tortillas with a cheesy filling and I figured that a spinach and feta filling would work in quesadilla form with a bit of cheese that melts well to hold everything together. For the recipe, I went with a simple spinach, feta and herb mixture and my first choice for the cheese that melts well would be a Greek one such as kasseri but you could easily use mozzarella or some monterrey jack. The spinach and feta quesadillas did not disappoint! The spinach, feta and herb filling was so good all wrapped in melted cheese and warm, crispy tortillas!

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Artichoke Bread

With the big game day approaching I have been thinking about snacks more. Last weekend I got the chance to try making an artichoke bread that has been on my mind for a while. The artichoke bread is essentially an artichoke dip that is baked on bread until the crust of the bread perfectly light and crispy, the dip is nice and warm, the cheesy topping is melted and golden brown. For the artichoke topping I decided to start with my favorite hot spinach and artichoke dip and I removed the spinach and tweaked it a bit. (You could of course leave the spinach in for a slightly healthier version.) For the bread I used a loaf of Italian style bread that I cut it in half lengthwise and then scooped out a bit of the center to provide room for more filling. The next challenge was baking the bread for long enough to heat up the artichoke dip so that all of the cheese in it melted without the crust of the bread burning. I decided that the best way to go about it was to cover the bread in foil while it warmed up and then to remove the foil near the end to let the cheese on top melt and turn golden brown. The artichoke bread turned out amazingly well! I used a nice fresh loaf of Italian bread so while the crust was light and crispy the inside was nice and soft and moist. The warm artichoke dip with the melted cheesy topping was so good and the fact the it was in the perfectly cooked bread made it even better!

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Pumpkin Pie White Hot Chocolate

I certainly have been enjoying a lot of pumpkin lately and in particular I have been enjoying transforming the pumpkin pie flavours into different dishes. When I came across the idea of a pumpkin pie white hot chocolate recently on The Luna Cafe I knew immediatly what my next pumpkin pie experiment was going to be. Not too long ago I had tried a pumpkin pie milkshake and a hot version of a pumpkin pie drink sounded perfect for the chilly weather that we have been having. This drink is pretty much as simple as making some white hot chocolate and adding the pumpkin puree and pumpkin spices and it is so worth making! The pumpkin pie white hot chocolate was excellent! It was nice and hot and the white chocolate added the perfect amount of sweetness that went really well with the pumpkin pie flavours. Lesson learned: Don't try to top a hot drink with whipped cream before photographing it as it melts pretty much right away.

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Pumpkin Pie French Toast

Do you have some pumpkin leftover after Halloween? How about using it to make a pumpkin pie? Before you set into making that pumpkin pie, how about some pumpkin pie french toast for a nice relaxing brunch after all of that Halloween partying last night? When I came across the concept of pumpkin french toast on Recipe Girl recently I knew that I would have to make it while I had some fresh in season pumpkin on hand and the morning after Halloween seemed like the perfect time. French toast is pretty easy to make and always good! It is a really nice weekend breakfast or brunch treat when you have a bit more time in the morning. This french toast of course includes some pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices in the batter to give it the pumpkin pie flavours. I served my pumpkin pie french drenched in maple syrup with a side of crumbs of the gingersnap crust that I used in my pumpkin pie for a topping. (You can just make the crust, bake it until golden brown, let it cool and crumble it.)

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Kolokythokeftedes (Zucchini and Feta Balls)

When I went to Greece on vacation last year, at one of the restaurants we went to we decided to skip having a main course and we ordered a bunch of mezes or appetizers to share. Among the appetizers were of course some of the classics including tzatziki (a Greek cucumber salad), melitzanosalata (a Greek roasted eggplant salad) and a few others. The one that really caught my attention however was the zucchini balls otherwise know as kolokythokeftedes. They were like meatballs only made with zucchini along with some herbs and feta. They were perfectly round, golden brown, slightly crispy on the outside and warm, soft, moist and tasty on the inside. The zucchini balls were so good and luckily I got to have a lot of them as many at the table passed on them when they heard that they were made with zucchini.

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Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancake)

I had some leftover cabbage that needed to be used and of course the first thing that came to mind was to make a okonomiyaki which is may favorite way to use up extra cabbage. Okonomiyaki is a savoury Japanese style pancake that is made with a batter, shredded cabbage and other grated vegetables. From there you can add meats or whatever else you want. In fact, okonomi translates to "as you like" or "what you want" so the pancakes can differ greatly between cooks. Once the pancake is done cooking it is topped with toppings such as mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce (like Worcestershire sauce only thicker and sweeter), katsuobushi (dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna), etc. When you order okonomiyaki at a Japanese restaurant you are often brought the raw ingredients and you cook it yourself on a hot plate at your table. This way you get even more control to cook it "as you like".

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Jalapeno Popper Dip

I had been coming across this recipe for jalapeno popper dip on sites like Big Red Kitchen for a while and I had just been itching to try it. I really like jalapeno poppers and this dip has all of the elements that make jalapeno poppers so good, from the jalapenos to the cream cheese and cheddar cheese to the crunchy bread crumb crust. With the temex kick that I have been on lately it was the perfect time to try this dip out. The jalapeno popper dip was easy to make and the results were great! I increased the amount of jalapenos and added some fresh jalapenos for even more jalapeno flavour and heat. The dip was nice and warm and gooey and oh so tasty! I really enjoyed the spicy cheesy dip and its crunchy topping and I will definitely be making it again. I served the jalapeno popper dip with lime tortilla chips for dipping.

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Parmesan Crusted Baked Zucchini Sticks with Marinara Sauce

I have been tying to clear some space in my freezer lately and I came across some marinara sauce that I had made a while ago. It is always nice to have some marinara sauce on hand and it freezes well so I tend to always have some in the freezer. Going through my bookmarks I came across a tasty looking recipe for baked zucchini sticks on For the Love of Cooking that sounded like a tasty way to enjoy the marinara sauce. I liked this recipe because it used courgettes and because they were baked or roasted rather than fried. These baked parmesan crusted zucchini sticks were easy to make and turned out great. They were golden brown and crunchy on the outside and nicely roasted on the inside. The zucchini sticks were tasty by themselves but they were even better when dipped in the marinara sauce.

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7 Layer Dip

With the big football game this weekend I thought that I would try out some snacks for the big day. On the top of my list was the 7 layer dip which I had been wanting to try for a while. The 7 layer dip consists of seven layers as follows: refried beans, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, cheese, black olives, garnishes such as green onions. I looked at a bunch of recipes and I decided to go with the 7 layer dip by Elise on Simply Recipes. I liked the sound of serving the refried beans warm with the cheese melted on top. Between the refried beans, guacamole and salsa in a more standard recipe there are a lot of duplicated flavours. I liked that Elise's recipe called for simply sliced avocado instead of guacamole and chopped tomatoes instead of the salsa. Besides, it is less work to chop an avocado and a tomato that it is to make guacamole and salsa. :) Even though I made my own refried beans, the dip came together in almost no time. The 7 layer dip was so good!! I had a hard time not polishing it all off in one sitting and then I skipped dinner after. I really enjoyed the warm spiced refried beans and the melted cheese was nice and gooey and good. The rest of the flavours melted together to form a medley of warm, spicy, cheesy, hot, cool, refreshing and even crunchy from the tortilla chips that I served it with. It made me think of a deconstructed refried bean taco in dip form. I can't wait to make this again!

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Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

With the really cold weather setting in I was in the mood for a nice warming soup and as luck would have it I had a lot of the Asian style chicken broth leftover from when I made the Hainanese chicken rice. (The Asian style chicken broth is basically the broth leftover from poaching a chicken along with some garlic, ginger and green onions. You can then simmer the chicken bones in the broth to give it an even stronger flavour.) Whenever I eat out at Chinese restaurants one of the things that I like to order is the hot and sour soup and I had been wanting to try making it at home. I figured that the Asian chicken broth would work well in Chinese hot and sour soup and that the hot and spicy soup would be perfect for the deep freeze that we were in.

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