Paninis on the grill

I decided to create my own recipe for chicken paninis last week.   Since there were only 3 of us eating dinner that night, I downsized the recipe and made 1 panini for each of us.  I started with a leftover grilled chicken breast, some hearty french bread, some leftover longhorn cheese and a bunch of cilantro that needed to be used up.

Southwest Chicken Panini
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 clove garlic
1/4 jalapeno, seeded
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 Tablespoons light mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
6 slices french bread, cut 1/4-1/2 inch thick
3 slices longhorn cheese  (Substitute whatever cheese you prefer.)
1 cup cooked chicken (Rotisserie chicken would great if you didn't happen to have any leftovers.)

Pulse cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, lime juice, salt and oil in food processor.

 

Combine mayonnaise and chili powder.

Spread spiced mayonnaise on one half of each sandwich and cilantro pesto on the other.

Top with a slice of cheese and shredded chicken.

 
Top with remaining piece of bread to complete the sandwich.  Put sandwiches on the Big Green Egg. 

I used the lid to my dutch oven to gently "press" the paninis while they cooked. 

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the paninis to brown very well.  I kept the heat low because I was afraid of burning the bread but my strategy worked against me because I couldn't get it toasted either. 

I thought the paninis were excellent.  They had a nice smoky flavor from the grill and the cheesy chicken was perfectly complimented by the spicy mayonnaise and cool cilantro pesto.  These tasted like a sandwich would cost at least 10.00 at a gourmet sandwich shop.

Unfortunately, my family didn't share my opinion about the paninis.  My daughter took one bite and left the rest on their plate.  My son ate his sandwich but I could tell that it was only because I was getting annoyed that no one was eating.  I don't know if it was the crunchy bread or the smoky flavor but neither one of the kids liked these paninis very well.  (Can't win 'em all.)

So it was a split decision over out Southwest Paninis - I loved them and the kids hated them.   Decide for yourself.

Ciao!

Grilled Fish Tacos

My wonderful husband was out of town for the past couple of weeks and it's safe to say that the kids and I slipped into some pretty poor eating habits while he was away.  It's time for this family to get back on track so I made a batch of fish tacos for dinner to get us back into the groove of healthy eating. I was inspired by a recipe in my Cooking Light magazine but I ended up modifying the recipe quite a bit.  I didn't grind my own spices - I bought ground, I didn't pan fry my fish - I grilled it, and I used parsley instead of cilantro. Despite my alterations, the tacos turned out great.  It feels good to be filling our bodies with healthy foods like fish, mango and avocados instead of cupcakes and buttercream.

Cumin Spiced Fish Tacos with Avocado-Mango Salsa (modified)
1 teaspoon cumin
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic
2 mahi mahi filets
1/2 diced avocado
 1/2 diced mango
2 Tablespoons chopped green onions
2 Tablespoons diced red onions
1/2 Tablespoon lime juice
1/2 diced jalapeno
8 corn tortillas

 



Combine cumin, 1/2 t. salt, paprika, pepper and garlic.  






 




Sprinkle over fish.  Cover and refrigerate.  






Combine 1/2 t. salt, avocado, mango, green onion, red onion, lime juice and jalapeno.  (I'm normally not a fan of fruit salsas but since I love avocados AND mangoes, I decided to give this one a try.)  It really gave these tacos a nice fresh flavor.  I loved it.

 Heat Big Green Egg to 400 and grill fish 5 minutes on each side. 

Wrap the tortillas in foil and warm on the grill during the last 5 minutes of cooking time.








I served the taco ingredients on a platter in the center of the table. 

I served the fish tacos with my version of a southwest salad. I added black beans, diced red peppers, yellow corn and low-fat Mexican cheese to a bed of Romaine lettuce. 

 

I stirred together a batch of lime vinaigrette to drizzle over the salad - delicious.

The tacos were a hit. I really liked the avocado mango salsa with the spicy fish.  This recipe is definitely a keeper.

By the way - they were just as good reheated for lunch the next day!! 

Ciao!

Strawberry Cupcakes

It's no secret that I love strawberry season.  I made at least a half a dozen trips to the strawberry farm to pick berries last month.  

I've turned my delicious red fruit into strawberry shortcake,

 and strawberry jam.










 
 I dipped them into chocolate and turned them into footballs.

I even made strawberry yogurt dip to enjoy with these juicy strawberries.







It's really no wonder that I've had to make so many trips to the strawberry farm because I didn't stop there.  I also made a batch of strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberry buttercream last week.

Strawberry Cupcakes (2 dozen)
1 1/3 cup frozen strawberries, thawed                 2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour                                                          1 cup butter
2 teaspoons baking powder                                 2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt                                                  2 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk                                              4 egg whites








Puree strawberries in cuisinart to make 1/3 cup puree.  Combine milk, vanilla and puree.













Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.







In mixer, beat butter until fluffy.

 
Add egg and whites until just blended.

 

Add 1/2 flour mixture.  Add milk.  Add remaining flour.

Divide batter among 24 muffin cups.

 
Bake 22 minutes at 350. 

For the frosting, I made a batch of vanilla buttercream and then swirled in some of my homemade strawberry jam.

I frosted the cooled strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream and then I topped each one with a fresh strawberry.

 

These strawberry buttercream really makes these cupcakes extra special.  They're a welcome addition to my strawberry recipe collection.  And, I still have a few strawberries left in my bucket for my strawberry pie!

 Ciao!