Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

I'm back!  Not that I went anywhere but geeze, I was away for a while.  Things just got really busy for some reason.  End of summer activities I guess.  This past weekend M and my brother in law hosted a combined birthday party for me and my sister in law.  It was super fun and I will tell you a little bit about it.  There's really not that much to tell and believe it or not, I didn't get any pictures of food except for the cake which really is the most important food at a birthday anyway, right? 

Hey, want to know what I'm going to do?  I'm running a 5K in September!  I'm a little scared.  I don't run.  It will be interesting.  Right now, I'm in "training."  he he  I think it's funny for me to say that.  I am one of the most unathletic human beings on the planet but I'm excited to be doing this.  I have always wanted to and now I am!  My cousin got me into it.  It is in support of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and it is something that's important to me and my family.  It is a great cause and as a side bonus, it will be great for my body because Lord knows, I need some help.

We have been cooking some but I feel like we're slacking.  But really, I think we're cooking more especially now that M is out of school.  Is it weird to think we haven't done much when we really have?  I guess I haven't made anything stellar.  Except for these sandwiches.  I love grilled vegetable sandwiches.  They are so tasty and healthy really.  They're win-win.  And believe it or not, they were M's idea.  Mr. I-must-have-meat-at-every-meal suggested vegetable sandwiches!  I stood with a gaping mouth.  It was a great idea and super easy.  You can use whatever vegetables, cheese, and bread you want.  Here's what we did:

Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

A recipe by Noelle

I used a stove top grill pan and it worked perfectly.

2 bell peppers, any color, chopped

1 zucchini, sliced into rounds

1 summer squash, sliced into rounds

1 small eggplant, sliced into rounds

1 onion, sliced into rounds or triangles

olive oil

salt and pepper

mozzarella cheese

soft sub rolls

Preheat a grill or a stove top grill pan on medium high heat.  Toss the chopped vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Once the grill is hot, add the vegetables in a single layer.  If you are using a grill pan, you may need to do this in batches.  Cook on each side for about 5-8 minutes until there are grill marks.  Flip over and cook on the other side until grill marks appear.

Slice the sub rolls and put some cheese on both sides of the bread.  Place a bunch of the vegetables onto the roll and cover with the other side of the bread.  Serve immediately.

Birthday Shout Out

I wanted to send a shout out to my sister in law who turns 30 today!  Happy, happy birthday!  Don't be sad.  I am coming up right behind you.  For now, here is your birthday present:

A carton will be shipped in 3-6 business days.  Please save a few for me. 

Herb Pizza

This past week has been a little frustrating at work.  This being the case, I haven't felt all that motivated to cook something.  I don't like this feeling.  M and I picked out some recipes to cook during the week and they were just eh.  I did make a chicken lo mein which was pretty similar to this pork one only I used chicken.  Like you never could have guessed. :)  I also added some bean sprouts.  Now that M is out of school, he is taking on the cooking one night a week as well as walking Maddux so that I can go to the gym.  I go on Saturdays and Sundays but now I can get at least one work out in during the week.  It's time to get this lady back into shape!  He made a tasty version of this only he put some paprika in it and there was no asparagus.  It is nice having him do the dinner one night a week.

We tried all week to do a pizza night but it kept getting put off.  M went out two nights during the week to visit a friend who is ill.  Oh guess what happened when he was visting his friend?  Some lady backed into his car while in the parking lot and totally wiped out his front bumper.  Major repairs will be needed.  And to top it all off, I was supposed to have a girls night tomorrow night but now I am car-less.  Boo!!  It's retaurant week in Boston and it was going to be an awesome time.  I'm sad.

Anyway, then we went to my parents house to do some yard work for them on Saturday.  Guess what they got us for lunch?  Yep, pizza.  So the pizza making was put off yet another day.  But we finally made it today for lunch!  It might be my favorite homemade pizza I have ever made.  So after a crappy week at work, a sick friend, a minor car incident, an out of shape body that has revolted against me, and dirty yard work, we got to stuff our faces with cheesey pizza.  Hopefully the next week is better.  Geesh.

Herb Pizza
A recipe by Noelle

1 tube refrigerated pizza dough
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
dried oregano
1 cup tomato sauce, any kind
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese
chopped chives
freshly chopped basil
fresh thyme
1 scallion, chopped
1 small tomato, diced

Preheat oven to 425.  Spread the pizza dough out onto a baking sheet.  Prick the dough with a fork all over the top.  Drizzle with the olive oil and spread around with your hands or the back of a spoon.  Sprinkle with some salt and dried oregano.  Put the dough into the oven and bake for about five minutes.

Remove the dough from the oven.  Spread the tomato sauce all over the dough.  Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese all over.  Scatter the chives, basil, thyme, scallions, and tomatoes all over the top.  Place pizza into the oven and bake for about 12 minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbly.  Serve immediately.

Dinner in the North End

M and I went into the North End to have dinner and celebrate his MBA.  I told him I would take him anywhere he wanted.  He chose the North End.

We went to Tresca which Ray Bourque owns.  Pretty cool, right?  I was wondering the whole time we were there if he would show up.  That would have been crazy.  M met him once before years ago.  I said to M, "What if Ray Bourque comes in?  You could be like 'Hey, Ray Bourque, I met you once before when I was like eight.' That would be funny."  M was like "I wouldn't do that."  That really would have been weird.

Anyway, when we got to the restaurant it was only about 4pm.  We were very early and they don't start serving dinner until 5pm, which we didn't know.  The waitress told us we could hang out in the bar area, have some drinks or an appetizer and hang out.  We chose to hang out.  We weren't in any rush.  There was a little table right next to an open window and we sat down.  It was such a beautiful night.  This was our view from our table:

The restaurant was right on Hanover Street so we had a lot of people watching to partake in.  I also want to try the restaurant across the street.  It looked nice.

While we were waiting and chatting with the waitresses/bartenders, we ordered some food because we were hungry and we were there to eat.  I took a quick picture of the small bar area and dining room on the first floor.  The main dining room was up those stairs and we could have gone up there once it was time for dinner.  We liked our open window seat so we stayed.

We ordered Spiedini di Agnello which were marinated and grilled lamb skewers.  Flavor was amazing.  Lamb was a little fatty though but still good.

It was nice to just sit there and relax.  There was a pretty window box too.  I don't know what plant this is.  Do you?

So, dinner, once ordered, was so delicious.  I got the Cioppino Amalfi.  It was so good and loaded with calamari, shrimp, white fish, mussels, cherrystones, and half a lobster tail.  Mmmmm.

M ordered Pollo Romano which was a chicken breast topped with arugula and grilled vegetables with a creamy corn and sage polenta.  His was awesome.  If we go there again, I will order that.

Look at M's hands.  hehe.  I told him I wanted to get a picture.  He was ready to dig right in but had to move his hands away.  The things we do for a crazy lady with a camera.  You can barely see the chicken at the top of the plate but it's there.  The angle was bad for me and I didn't want to rearrange and be that annoying person in a restaurant with a camera.  I tried to be all stealth about it.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Proscuitto Asparagus Bundles

I meant to post this recipe a while ago.  I honestly don't remember when it was made or what the occasion was.  Whatever.  Doesn't matter.  The dinner was good.  And simple!  I like simple.  I know I posted pork yesterday too but again, so what?  When something's good, it's good.

Oh and guess what?  M finished his MBA program so he is officially a graduate!  And he got an A on his thesis. *Smile*  We are going into the North End tonight to celebrate.  I will let you know how the meal was.  We might head over to Mike's Pastry too which everyone knows is the best bakery in the North End.  The line is always out the door.  Mmm, pastry.  We Bostonians know where it's at.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

A recipe by Noelle at A Homemade Kitchen

This really isn't a recipe.  It was just so easy.  Feel free to use whatever seasonings you like.

1 pork tenderloin

garlic powder

salt

pepper

fresh thyme

fresh basil, torn or chopped

Preheat oven to 350.  Season the pork with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Sprinkle the fresh thyme and basil over the top.  Place tenderloin into a roasting pan.  Put into the oven and roast for about 40-45 minutes until the pork is about 155-160 degrees internal temperature.  Remove from oven and let rest for at least ten minutes before slicing.

Bonus Recipe: Proscuitto Asparagus Bundles

A recipe by Noelle at A Homemade Kitchen

M and I love this side dish.  It can go with any meal really.  We have also done these bundles on the grill and that was awesome too.

1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed

salt

pepper

olive oil

8 slices of procscuitto

Place the trimmed asparagus in a bowl.  Season with some salt and pepper and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.  Toss together.  Gather 4-5 asparagus spears into your hand and wrap the bundle with a slice of proscuitto.  Place onto a baking sheet and put into the oven with the pork when there is about 12-15 minutes remaining.  Remove from oven when proscuitto looks crispy.

Pork and Vegetable Lo Mein

Don't you just love the word noodle?  I think it is a funny word.  I actually call Maddux a little noodle face.  Why?  I don't know.  It just came out of my mouth one day.  You know what I like to put in my mouth?  Noodles.  Back in high school, I did the typical teenage thing and ate bowls and bowls of Ramen noodles.  Those dehydrated bricks of noodles were fascinating to me.  I would drain off some of the broth so it wasn't quite so liquidy and I had a super awesome noodle bowl.  So I thought.  Now there are all kinds of amazing noodle bowls and I should eat them more.  Noodle bowls are cool.  I like stir frys too and Lo Mein.  When I have made stir frys in the past, I always used rice.  This time, I wanted noodles and noodles I got.

This was a super quick and easy dinner and only dirtied one pan which is key.  I love one pot dinners.  I also didn't want the standard old chicken so I used boneless pork chops instead.  It's the other white meat! It was yummy in my mouth (as opposed to yummy in my tummy which doesn't make sense to me because you don't taste yumminess in your tummy). 

Pork and Vegetable Lo Mein

A recipe by Noelle at A Homemade Kitchen

2 boneless pork chops, sliced into strips

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 carrots, sliced into disks

2 celery stalks, sliced into half moons

1 medium onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 or so button mushrooms, sliced

1 small broccoli crown, chopped into florets

Stir fry sauce, any kind

2 tbsp soy sauce

salt and pepper

Lo Mein noodles, I used Hokkien noodles (you could also use cooked spaghetti or vermicelli)

Heat vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat.  Add the pork strips and cook until no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes.  Stir them around often.  Be careful of spattering.  Hot oil hurts!  Add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, mushrooms and broccoli.  Stir fry for about 2 minutes.  Add the stir fry sauce and soy sauce.  Season with salt and pepper, if you like.  Add the noodles.  Toss everything together and heat the noodles through.  Serve immediately.

High Hopes

When I first started this blog, it was intended to be a place where I would keep track of recipes I have tried and enjoyed.  I wanted a place where I could look back and remember those meals or the times in which these meals were served and eaten.  It was to be a place of memories and reflection on food.  Don't know if that is what it has become though.  I wanted this blog to inspire me in the kitchen, to try new things.  While I figured that this would only be me who ever logged onto this blog, I thought maybe, just maybe others would find it and read it.  Maybe I would be discovered and become this famous food blogger!  Ha!  I think I had high hopes. :)  But hey, I'm still new at this. 

This blog has inspired me in some ways to try new things and be more devoted to my little galley kitchen.  Some days though, not so much.  But don't we all have those days?  Where we truly enjoy something but just don't want to do it at all?  I think it's normal.  I also think it's funny that I write this blog as if someone was actually reading it.  Don't get me wrong, there are about 3 wonderful ladies who read this blog and I thank them dearly!  I guess then I could say I am having a personal conversation with each one.  That makes me smile.  Oh wait, did someone say girls night?  I love all three of them dearly for taking a few minutes out of their day to catch up on what's happening in my homemade kitchen.  Sometimes though, I do wish there were a few others who visit.  But alas, this is not the outlet for any of my woe is me moments.  This is supposed to be about food and food is love so I've heard.  So take a cue from my little love, Maddux, and find a warm spot to sit yourself down at.  He prefers the heating vent.  I recommend a cozy chair or the kitchen table and remember to bring a snack.  Think of the people in your life who make you smile.  I have lots.

Please keep reading, dear friends, and bear in mind that food can warm the heart and soul and a heating vent can warm a little bottom.