The Left Over Throw Together Tastes Good Side Dish!

So, I work.  I may not have kids but I work a full time job, take care of 2 ginormous German shepherds, maintain the house and work on having a good relationship with Ayman.  Seriously, I don't have a ton of time after I get home at 6:30 to prepare the quintessential meal.  In most cases it's a mad dash to the fridge to see what I can throw together that will satisfy the hungry Egyptian and wont take hours.  This is one of those concoctions.
This is a ridiculously easy, throw together side dish that you can basically add anything to. It is a collector of left overs.  Do you have some left over ham in the fridge, some tomatoes that are about to go south or in my case, a few strips of bacon that need to be eaten? Throw 'em in!  As always I like to top our with something a little zesty, in this case it is jalapeno sauce.  I hope you enjoy it!




French Fry Casserole
By: Vanessa Madigan

 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. bacon, chopped

3 lg eggs

3 cups milk

4 cups sharp cheddar cheese

2 serrano chilies, chopped

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 lb bag of french fries thawed and broken up a bit.

Salt and Pepper 

2 tsp butter

 

 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a large baking dish with the butter
• Fry your bacon until it is crispy, set aside on a paper towel to drain.
• In a large mixing bowl whisk your milk and eggs together, add the french fries, serrano chilies, onion and cheese.  Season with salt and pepper and mix together well.
• Empty contents of bowl into your prepared baking dish and bake for about one hour.   The top should be golden brown and the cheese and egg mixture should rise a bit and set up.
• Remove from oven when done and serve.  We top ours with jalapeno sauce (a recipe from the previous blog on Sonoran Hot Dogs), but,  top with any salsa or ketchup that stikes your fancy!

The French Fry Casserole hot out of the oven!

 

 

 

 

The finished product, with jalepeno sauce, of course! 

Shake, Shake, Shake Sonora!

A hot dog wrapped in bacon is nothing new to any of us who grew up in Southern California.  I cannot count how many tipsy evenings I spent in Tijuana eating bacon wrapped hot dogs from random street vendors in a desperate attempt to sober up before I headed back across the border.  But, this is something different, something very Arizona.  This is the Sonoran Hot Dog!  This spicy, mouth watering pork wrapped wonder is native to Arizona and chances are you wont find it anywhere else.  There are small restaurants in Phoenix that serve it, but, it's origins are in Tucson.   There are so many things to love about this great state and this is most certainly one of them.  The recipe is crazy easy and the flavors it packs are B.I.G.  I would like to present to you a recipe for the amazing Sonoran Hot Dog.  The mayonnaise is part of a traditional Sonoran hot dog and so is the butter, so don't skimp, just do it!  I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.

Sonoran Hot Dog
By: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
1 avocado, cubed
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
jalapeno sauce (recipe is below)
mayonnaise
1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained, rinsed and warm
hot dog buns or bolillo rolls
3 tbs butter
6 hot dogs
6 slices of bacon


Directions:

• Wrap your hot dogs in one strip of bacon.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet or on a griddle and place your bacon wrapped hot dogs on the skillet.   Cook until brown and slightly crispy.
• Toast your hot dog buns.
• When the buns are golden brown, assemble your hot dogs.  Pinto beans first, then jalapeno sauce, tomato, onion, avocado and finally the mayonnaise.

The hot dogs wrapped in bacon

Sonoran desert goodness

Jalapeno Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil
12 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon salt


Directions:

• Place the onion in a medium skillet over medium high heat and cook until translucent and golden, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer, make sure the garlic doesnt burn. Set aside.
• Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the jalapenos to the hot skillet and cook until the jalapenos are soft and begining to char, add the lime juice, the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and cook until the jalapeños are tender.
• Transfer the jalapeno mixture and the onions and garlic to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

Meatless Funday!

Meatless Monday is big right now.  In our house we have cut down on our meat consumption quite a bit for diet, health and ethical issues.  Don't worry  I'm not going to get on my anti-factory farming soap box (although as we all know, it is a great thing to buy local and from small farms and ranches).  Anyway, salads get boring and I don't know about you but I need to feel satisfied and want to have some substance to my salad.  So, I said to myself, what could I add to my salad to make it hearty but keep it meat free.  I went to my pantry and low and behold there was a box of falafel mix staring me in the face! Hooray! For those of you to whom Falafel is something new, here a quick definition of Falafel;  Falafel      (فلافل‎) is a fried ball or patty made from groundchickpeas, fava beans or both. Falafel is a traditional Arab food, usually served in flat bread.  Got it? Good! This is an easy, healthy salad that is packed with flavors and will leave you satisfied!  So embrace meatless Monday, if not for ethical reasons then do it for your health and your budget!




Falafel Salad with Jalapeno Tzatziki
Written, developed and tested by: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
1 bag baby greens
1 box of Falafel mix
2 avocados, sliced
2 tomatos, sliced
jalapeno tzatziki (recipe below)
the juice of one lemon
salt
pepper


Directions:

• Prepare the jalapeno tzatziki in advance using the directions below.
• Prepare the falafel according to the instructions on the package, set aside to drain.
• Stack your salad starting with falafel, tzatziki, avocado, tomato, lettuce and repeat.  Dress with the lemon juice, salt and pepper

Jalapeno Tzatziki
Written, developed and tested by: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:

2 lb Greek Yogurt

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Cups Cucumber, finely chopped

2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp White Wine Vinegar

2 jalapenos, chopped and seeded

1 Clove of Garlic, crushed

Directions:

• Take your chopped cucumber and place in a fine strainer with the 2 tsp of salt, let them sit for about 1/2 of an hour so that much of the liquid drains from the cucumber.
• While the cucumber is draining, take your yogurt and place it in cheese cloth in a colander or strainer to help drain off the excess liquid. If you do not have cheese cloth you can put the yogurt directly into the colander, the yogurt should be pretty firm and you wont lose much through the holes.
• When your cucumber is drained, place it in a medium sized bowl with the  jalapeno, olive oil and garlic, stir well.
• Add your drained yogurt to the cucumber mixture and stir well, season with salt to taste.
• Refrigerate for about an hour and serve with your favorite pita, burger or whatever!

This is the brand that I use, but you can find Falafel mix down the "international" aisle of any grocery store.  It is usually located somewhere between the kosher food and the kim chee!

Go Fish! (Sandwich)

I once had someone very dear to me tell me that sandwiches were the perfect food.  I might have to agree.  They are filling, tasty and the combinations are unlimited.  There are an almost infinite amount of combinations of fillings you can put between two slices of your favorite bread.  I mean seriously, two of America's greatest contributions to popular culture are known for their love of sandwiches.  Elvis loved his peanut butter, banana and bacon (hard to disagree with that) and more importantly in my life, so did Boss Hogg.  Man, oh, man do I love The Dukes of  Hazzard.  Anyway, this sandwich is packed with all of the health benefits of avocado, tuna and peppers.  It is a terrific topper for salad, alone or in a sandwich.  You definitely wont miss the mayo with this healthy, tasty replacement. 
"Too few people understand a really good sanwich" -James Beard


Spicy Tuna Avocado Melt
By: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
1 can tuna in water
1 small avocado, seeded and cubed
juice of 1\2 lemon
salt
pepper
2 green onions
1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
4 slices of pepper jack cheese
4 slices of your favorite bread
olive oil


Directions:

• To a small bowl, add your avocado and lemon.  Season with salt and pepper and smash with a fork until the avocado in very well mashed.
• Add your tuna to the avocado mixture and blend very well with your fork.
• Finally, add the green onion and jalapeno and mix together.
• Assemble your sandwich, bread then tuna and finally two slices of pepper jack cheese.  Top with your final piece of bread and then brush the outside of both the top and bottom slices with olive oil.
• Place the sandwich on a panini press or hot skillet to toast until golden brown and enjoy!

The Tuna Salad before the melty goodness

Grilled to crunchy perfection