Bison Sliders

For my birthday, a family member gave me some fun kitchen items and one of them was a mini-burger/slider pan. I knew the the kids would go crazy for the mini versions so I took out the ground Bison and went to work. Naturally, you do not need a special pan. Simply fire up the grill or oven and make some mini-burgers.

Ingredients (Yields: 5 servings (2 burgers per person)):
1 lb. ground bison/buffalo
¾ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ cup minced green peppers
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon chives, minced
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
½ cup sweet pepper strips
20 slices cheddar cheese
1 cup baby spinach
10 Mini whole wheat rolls

Instructions:
1. Preheat the grill to medium.

2. Combine the ground meat with the garlic powder, green peppers, chives, salt, and ground pepper. Mix well and form 10 small patties (about 1.5 generous tablespoons each)

3. Place the burgers on the grill (medium) and cook 2-4 minutes depending on thickness of burger and desired doneness.

4. Flip the burger and cook another 2-4 minutes, topping with the cheddar for the last 30 seconds.

5. Place onto bottom bun, top with sweet peppers, spinach and upper bun.

Mushroom, Ham & Peas Alfredo ‘Baked’ Potatoes

Here is another example where some leftovers or a review of the fridge/pantry can result in another great meal. Normally we are not big Alfredo sauce eaters however, the sauce came with the package of Newman's Own goodies for the Family Bites program and this is what I created.

Honestly, I as a bit skeptical as to how the flavors would come together but I loved the result. In fact, it was so good that I wanted to share the recipe with you as a reminder to experiment and to use potatoes and miscellaneous items to create a quick, economical and tasty meal!

In fact, empty the fridge and create a potato bar tonight!

Ingredients (Yields: 4 servings):
4 large potatoes
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
4 oz ham steak, diced
½ cup frozen peas
1 cup Newman’s Own Alfredo Pasta Sauce (or a light version if you can find it)
Chives, diced, optional

Instructions:
1. Place potatoes into a large microwavable bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the microwave for 8 minutes. Using a knife, pierce the potato. If it is still firm in the center, microwave another two minutes

2. Preheat pan to medium high with 1 teaspoon oil. Add the mushrooms and ham steak and reduce the heat to medium. Sauté until mushrooms and ham until browned.

3. Reduce heat to low, add the Alfredo Pasta Sauce and peas and allow to simmer gently until warmed and thickened.

4. Pour the sauce over the Potato and top with chives if you wish.

Grass-Fed Ground Beef Burgers with Mushrooms, Carmelized Onions & Feta

Recently, I took my mom to the 'local' Trader Joe's (35 minutes away) and picked up a pound of grass-fed ground beef. I have only had it once (at brgr in NYC for Martha Stewart Blog Show) and loved the burger so I thought I would try it at home.

I thought the price of $5.99 was reasonable considering I would make three adults sized and two smaller kiddo sized burgers from it. I really wanted to taste the meat itself so I only added some salt & pepper and planned to provide plenty of accompaniments for burger building.

Honestly, I took the first bite from the burger with no bread etc. and found a big taste difference. There was definitely a stronger flavor that I would need to adjust to however, when eaten with the feta, caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms, I only tasted a great burger. I look forward to buying more next time I am out at TJ's.



**Today is the last day to enter the $100 Omaha Steaks Giveaway**

Black Angus Steaks & Parmesan Couscous- A Valentine's Meal

There are certain occasions when you want to make something extra special and Valentine's Day is one of those times. My husband loves Beef and Scallops and I decided to buy Black Angus Beef 100% Vegetarian Fed, Top Sirloin Filet (a mouth full) and Scallops and that I found at Trader Joe's.

For a side dish to accompany a salad, I went to the beefitwhatsfordinner website and as soon as I found Parmesan Orzo, I knew that would complete the meal. However, I did not have orzo, so I simply substituted Isreali Cousous.

I first marinated the steak in a simple mixture of soy sauce, lime juice and garlic for 30 minutes. During that time, I prepared and baked the scallops. I then put the oven on broil and started the steak and couscous. I broiled the steaks about 6 minutes on each side. I hope you enjoyed your Valentine's Day with whomever you choose to share it with.

By the way, please enter the $100 Omaha Steaks Giveaway. You can then choose your favorite cuts or try something new!

I wrote this post while working on a “I Heart Beef” campaign with TheMotherhood.com on behalf of The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Super Thyme Savor - Sirloin Steak with Port Horseradish Sauce

My husband's preference for a sauce with steak is rich and hearty. And since I injured y hip flexor, I need to rest as much as I can so I needed to come up with a quick sauce with the contents of the fridge.

I opted for the port wine, half a shallot, some chicken stock a friend just brought by on Tuesday (she is going away) and some horseradish sauce. If you do not want a sauce this rich, simply deglaze the pan with beef broth.

Ingredients:
1-1.5 lbs Petite Sirloin Steaks
1/2 cup port wine
1/2 shallot, chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock (or broth)
2 tablespoon horseradish sauce

Directions:
1. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Prepare steaks by spraying one side with olive oil cooking spray and placing in the pan.

2. Cook 3-5 minutes depending on thickness and desired temperature of the steak. Flip the steak over, spray that side an cook for 3-5 minutes.

3. Remove steaks, turn heat to medium and pour port into the pan. Using a wooden spoon, scrap the pan and a few seconds and then add shallots. Cook and stir for about 30 seconds and add the stock/broth and bring to a boil.

4. Cook for about 30 seconds, turn the heat off an stir in the horseradish sauce. Serve.

The Whrrl story showing the contents can be found here as a part of my 'Year of Whrrl'

Crock Pot Rump Roast

I have a joint injury and that has made me think a bit more about meals that require little effort or standing. What does that mean? Time to get the crock pot on the counter and put it to work.

There will be another recipe from this one roast next week

Ingredients:
2/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
3.5 lb Bottom Round Rump Roast
4 cloves of garlic, sliced in half lengthwise
½ tsp McCormick’s Montreal Steak seasoning
½ tsp McCormick’s Szechuan blend
1/2 tsp paprika



Directions:
1. Set crock pot on low for 6 or 8 hours. Pour chicken broth in the crock pot.

2. Make 8 same slits in the meat in various places and stick a piece of garlic in each.

3. Mix the Steak seasoning, Szechuan blend and paprika together and then spread all over the top and sides of the roast.

4. Slow cook for approx. 5 hours or to the temperature you prefer your meat. I gently basted the meat one or two times during cooking.

Organic Grass Fed NY Strip Steak & Organic Chicken Breast Salad featuring POM Juice

I feel it is a great opportunity when you are making your meal, recipe, snack, baked good, etc. to try to up the nutritional value. With that said, we love drinking POM in its’ raw state right out the bottle (try to grab it away from my son) so when POM wrote me asking if I would try using it in some recipes, I thought, ‘man, why haven’t I thought of that?’

Also, while attending Blogher, I was approached by a blogger who asked me if I have ever tried Greensbury Market Organic Steaks & Chicken. I had not and was willing to accept some product to give them a try. I was not asked to do anything but enjoy them and enjoy them we did.

So, time to put on my kitchen thinking cap and get to work. For the chicken, I made a Pomegrante dressing and the salad below.

Pomegranate Dressing:
1/3 cup POM pomegranate juice
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

¾ teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Organic Grilled Chicken over Baby Spinach Salad
Organic Baby Spinach
Toasted Pine Nuts
Dried Sweetened Cranberries
Red Onion, slivers

Organic Chicken Breasts-marinated in dressing , grilled and sliced
Pomegranate dressing

I grilled the chicken when grilling the steak, prepared the salad (first 4 ingredients) and then topped with the chicken and dressing

Organic Grass Fed NY Strip Steak
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
½ shallot, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Mix the ingredients well and toss with steak.


pre-grilling

I marinated the steaks for about 30 minutes and then grilled them to medium. I let them rest about 10 minutes and then we devoured them. Now, we do not eat NY strip often so I can not say whether these we much better than conventional steaks, but I will say, these melted in our mouths and tasted clean. Does that make sense to you? Granted, we can not afford to eat organic grass fed meat or chicken at every meal however, the food we consume is very important to use and quality over quantity reigns when possible.


post-grilling

Check out my Whrrl story featuring POM and, foodies will recognize the dreaded photo in slide#9

Herb Stuffed Pork Loin

Just before drifting off to sleep Sunday night, I was flipping through some tasty magazines and found a recipe that got me salivating from Clean Eating. The recipe is 'Herb-Stuffed Pork Tenderloin' so I went about creating my on version.


12-16 oz pork tenderloin, trimmed
2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
2 cups baby spinach leaves*
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
pepper to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoons dried rosemary*
2 tablespoons curly parsley, chopped*
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped*

1. Preheat over to 425 degrees. Trim the fat from the pork. Using a sharp knife, cut the meat lengthwise, butterflying the meat (but do not cut it all the way through). Spread the meat open, and pound between to pieces of plastic wrap to thin it out a bit.

2. Heat the oil over medium heat, and then add garlic, spinach, salt and pepper. Saute until spinach is wilted and then chop roughly. Spread over the inside of the pork.

3. Mix together vinegar, Dijon, rosemary, parsley and thyme. Spread the mixture over tenderloin along inner edge.

4. Fold tenderloin back together and either tie with kitchen twine or use skewers (that is all I had) to secure tenderloin closed.

5. Bake for 25-35 minutes (internal temp 160) depending on thickness. Remove twine/skewers, slice and enjoy.

*Indicated where different from original recipe

Steak with Bruschetta Topping

We are not huge steak eaters as we love the tender cuts and they are costly so when I saw the porterhouse steak on super sale (and they looked good!), I jumped. Now, most folks probably simply season them and stop there but since we had so many tomatoes from our garden, I decided to make a, well, I guess it is a Bruschetta-like topping.

We started by seasoning the T-bone with salt & pepper and while the hubby was babying them on the grill, I tossed a quick topping together and served it on the side. I did this for two reasons:
1. As an optional side

2. To get my son to try eating it. See, he does not enjoy tomatoes but I want him to experiment with flavors in other ways. Yes, I can respect that he does not enjoy eating a straight up slice of tomato but would he enjoy it otherwise? He enjoys marinara sauce so I figured it was worth a shot and he loved it!



A quick chop recipe (far from my scientific nature):
~ 4-5 Tomatoes, chopped and juices
~ 2-3 cloves of Garlic
~2-3 Tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil
~2 Tablespoons Parsley, chopped (straight from the garden)
~2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

Mix and consume.

Daddy's Egg & Ham Sandwiches

As late afternoon approached on Father's Day, I began to feel a bit under the weather so I went upstairs to be alone while daddy played with the kids. I soon realized it was getting late and dinner was not ready. My hubby said not to worry as he was going to 'pull something together'. I heard the microwave door slamming a number of times and quite a bit of giddy excitement. Then it became quiet. Hum, I must investigate. I wandered downstairs to find all three of them at the table and my son yelled 'Daddy made us egg sandwiches'. Well, this did not turn out to be any ordinary egg sandwich. It is actually an egg and ham sandwich with ketchup and the kids asked for them again yesterday. It is great to have another super fast option.

Ingredients for 1 sandwich:
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 organic egg
1 slice ham (no preservative, no nitrates/rites added)
ketchup




Directions:

1. Place the egg and 1 teaspoon of water in a microwavable bowl. Drape a piece of paper towel over the bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes (or less if you like runnier yolk).

2. While the egg is cooking, place two slices of bread on your plate and spread some ketchup on one piece (I would have never have thought of ketchup).

3. Place a slice of ham on a piece of paper towel and microwave, maybe 20 seconds to warm.

4. Assemble and enjoy.

Pork Loin with Mandarin Orange Salsa, Roasted Eggplant over Penne & Chicken with Poultry Seasoning

Sick. Sick. Sick. My entire chest was sick. Luckily, two thing came to my rescue: my husband and the packets that Amazing Taste sent. It all began Friday as I began to feel bad and steadily got worse and the meals went from some energy to no energy. I had already taken out the pork loin to thaw and so it was waiting for TLC. I went to work quickly before things got worse. But before I give you my recipes, I first want to thank Amazing Taste for their generous samples and for making a nice product to enhance foods with. My favorite so far is the poultry. For the chicken, I used it as a marinade as suggested on the packet. I can tell that the fajita (used on the eggplant!) has lots of cumin (which I love) and the spices in the pork seasoning are nicely balanced although some of the salt could be removed and I think it would be perfect. Give some a try yourself and let me know what you think. There are also some great recipes featured on their site. Please note that I only express my honest opinions on product reviews.

Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Mandarin Orange Salsa

1 lb. pork tenderloin

2 Tablespoons Amazing Taste Poultry Seasoning

Marinade:

1/4 cup pear juice from the can of mandarin oranges

2 Tablespoons lime juice

1 clove garlic, chopped

Salsa:

1/4 cup red onion, minced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Mandarin oranges from 11 oz. can, drained, juice reserved

1 Tablespoon lime juice

1 Tablespoon pear juice

Directions:

1. Whisk marinade ingredients until well combined. Place marinade and seasoned pork into a plastic bag and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and prepare the salsa.

3. Cook pork until temperature reaches 160 degrees (took us 40 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes. Slice and serve with salsa.

Roasted Eggplant

1/2 lb. Eggplant

1 Tablespoon Amazing Taste Fajita Seasoning*

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 jar (25 oz) organic marinara sauce

1/4 teaspoon fajita seasoning

Box whole wheat organic penne

First of all, this idea was on my mind to try due to a post that Rebecca of Chow and Chatter did last week. So, thank you Rebecca!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Chop up eggplant into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces and mix them in a bowl with the seasoning and olive oil. Place onto baking pan and bake for approx. 20 minutes or until tender.

3. Boil penne per box instructions. Place sauce in a pan, add seasoning, mix and heat thoroughly.

4. Place some penne, eggplant and sauce in a bowl, mix and enjoy.

*Are you wondering why I would use a fajita seasoning mix on eggplant and in the sauce? I wanted to add some flavor as the sauce was quite bland and since I am a cumin lover, I went for it and was glad I experimented.

Chicken with Poultry Seasoning

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 Tablespoons Amazing Taste Poultry Seasoning

1/4 cup water

1 Tablespoon

Directions:

1. Combine seasoning, water and oil and mix well. Place marinade and chicken into a plastic bag and place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Bake chicken for approx. 30 minutes or until cooked through.

Monday night: Still in bed and have no idea what the hubby made for the kids. I ate carrots with hummus and some of my favorite organic cereal.

Fast & Frugal Friday: Bison Steak ala Montreal

My friends often ask 'Do you cook like this every night?' My honest answer: NO! I take many short cuts and below is the perfect example.

It is also a perfect example of:
1. That you can cook something quick and not run to get fast food once a week.

2. You can eat meat and have it be on the healthier side and reap the protein/nutrient rewards.

3. There are great shortcuts out there that are delicious.

A perfect, and cult classic at this point, is McCormick's Montreal Seasoning. I am thrilled that there is now a 25% less sodium version as well. Shake onto your steak, grill to your liking and ingest.

I was lucky enough to find these steaks at the McQuade's Market in Mystic (same place where I acquired the ground bison featured in the burger's last week). They were $8.50 and all four of us has plenty.

Eating Well Wednesdays: Greek Bison Burgers

Welcome to Eating Well Wednesdays! I am going to feature recipes from Eating Well magazine every Wednesday. Their magazines statement is 'where good taste meets good health'. The first recipe I choose was the greek bison burger and I was thrilled to find some ground Bison at a lovely market in Mystic, CT.

Okay, yes, I am also starting to hum 'Home on the range" Why you ask? Because once I think of Buffalo (Bison), that songs pops into my head. Alrighty then, so you wonder why I am posting about animal meat if I am trying to eat clean and healthy? 1. Because it is my blog and I want too. 2. This is a great meat to use if you want, say, a burger, but want to eat a healthier meat. 3. You can still enjoy all kinds of food and eat healthy. So, let me tell you more about Bison/Buffalo, or rather, let Wisegeek tell you:
"Bison meat is very lean and has become popular in supermarkets. It contains far less calories and cholesterol than either beef or chicken. For example, bison meat contains 2.42 g. fat, 143 calories, and 82 mg. of cholesterol per 100 grams of cooked meat. By comparison, beef has 9.28 g. fat, 211 calories, and 86 g. cholesterol. Skinless chicken contains 7.41 grams of fat, 190 calories and 89 mg. of cholesterol."

Makes 4 servings *changes; refer to website link for exact recipe
Ingredients:
1 pound ground bison

½ cup cooked spinach, squeezed dry* I used fresh baby spinach

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill

1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon minced garlic

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Yogurt Sauce:

¾ cup nonfat or low-fat Greek-style plain yogurt

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint* we do not like mint so omitted

Pinch of kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

4 whole-wheat rolls, split and toasted (skip these and the meal is gluten free!)

16 thin slices English cucumber

8 slices vine-ripened tomato

4 thin round slices red onion

Instructions:
1. Preheat grill to medium-high.

2. Place bison, spinach, feta, 2 teaspoons dill, oregano, cumin, garlic, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large mixing bowl. Gently combine without overmixing. Form into 4 oval-shaped patties roughly the size of the rolls.

3. Oil the grill rack (see Tip, below). Grill the burgers until an instant-read thermometer

inserted into the center registers 155°F, 5 to 6 minutes per side.

4. To prepare yogurt sauce: Combine yogurt, lemon zest and juice, 1 teaspoon dill and mint in a small bowl. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

5. Assemble the burgers on rolls with the yogurt sauce, cucumber, tomato and onion.

My verdict: Excellent! A nice texture and flavor. It would be a perfect burger with just some ketchup (as the kids had it). We will definitely be making again however, with less oregano. Want to know more? Read what The National Bison Association has to say.

p.s.: Natasha I followed through with it like I commented I would after you shared some of your great recipes.