Portabella BLTs

Portabella BLTs

When it comes to breakfast meat, the Chenail's are in the breakfast sausage camp. Not for any particular reason, it just happens to be what we go to. Lately, however, I've been craving a BLT. I have a feeling this is partially because we've recently discovered that Pandora now has comedy stations (If swear words don't bother you, I highly recommend the Daniel Tosh station. if swear words do bother you, then perhaps this is not the genre for you...) At any rate, Brett has been quoting some Jim Gaffigan jokes lately. Apparently, he does a bacon bit (get it???) No, seriously, he does. Something about bacon being a food group...I don't know, but it obviously put bacon on my brain.

Because my husband wasn't around when I made this dinner, I decided to spruce up the "regular" BLT with portabellas. Light bulb...so good!! *Note... a side of sweet potato fries would have been amazing with this. Instead, I ate my kids leftover bacon as my accompaniment. Yup...I felt SLIM after that! **Addendum note: I use center cut bacon. Turkey bacon is OK, but center cut tastes more like the real thing. With 70 calories and 4.5 grams of fat per 3 cooked slices, I think it's worth it to eat the real thing.

Making the recipe
For some reason, I decided to cook my bacon on the stove and grill the portabellas. You could cook everything on the stove or everything on the grill (yes...you can grill bacon). Up to you. Doing it half and half worked fine for me. I was feeling in the mood for a wrap, so used a tortilla instead of bread. You could totally do bread, though. I also don't do mayo...so I topped mine with a drizzle of Newman's Own Light Cesear dressing. feel free to "dress" with whatever you like!

The results
Seriously...this was SO good! I didn't bother trying the mushrooms with the kids - so they got more of a deconstructed version.

The recipe
4 slices center cut bacon
2 potabella caps
drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil
salt and pepper
sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese (or whatever you like)
1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes
1 cup mixes greens (I used the 50/50 spinach/field greens mix)
2 whole grain tortillas
2 tbsp of dressing or mayo

cook the bacon in a large skillet over med high heat until crispy, a few minutes on each side.

Drain on paper towels. Meanwhile sprinkle both sides of the portabellas with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Grill over med heat, 3-4 minutes of each side. remove from grill, cool and slice. Lay each tortillas on flat surface. Divide portabellas between and lay in the middle. Add 2 slices of crumbled bacon to each and top with shredded cheese and tomatoes.

Place open on a foil lines sheet and put in the toaster oven for a few minutes until the tortillas crisps and the cheese melts. Top with greens, dressing or mayo, roll and serve. Serves 2.

Summer Orzo Salad

Summer Orzo Salad

Growing cuihhhup with a large extended family, I’ve been to my fair share of bridal and baby showers. For anyone who’s never been to one of these exclusive ladies-only affairs it goes something like this:
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Ladies in cute outfits + cocktails + heaping amounts of gossip + gift galore + FOOD!

The tricky part of this equation is the food. Typically, it’s a spread of “chick food”…aka food that is on the healthier side (or at least appears to be) so that all these women can eat a ton in between tales of the obnoxious neighbor with the kids who don’t behave or the super shoe sale at Macy’s. Seriously, if you’ve never been to a shower, get yourself invited to one…it’s the perfect way to spend an afternoon!

Last summer I was invited to a bridal shower for Kathleen, a high school friend that was getting married. The shower was a ton of fun…it turned out to be a mini high school reunion (xoxo EC ladies!) with pink champagne cocktails and amazing food. Seriously, Mrs. O’Connell (the mother of the bride) truly outdid herself! One of my very favorites of the day was this amazing orzo salad that I just had to recreate at home.
Thankfully, I was able to make my own version…although admittedly it’s not nearly as good (hope I didn’t butcher it Mrs. O’Connell!) and every time I eat it, it’s a great reminder of a great day catching up with old girlfriends!

Making the recipe

This is a perfect recipe for summer entertaining. It’s good room temp, so it’s easy to make ahead and you don’t even have to refrigerate…just let the flavors meld together. NOTE: I’m pretty sure Mrs. O’Connell had some grilled chicken in her salad. Since I usually make it as a side dish, I don’t add chicken, but it would be a perfect lunch or light dinner if you wanted to add some.

The results

For me, this is the PERFECT salad…it’s simple and light, yet super tasty! Whenever I make it, I usually start off by sneaking a bite. That bite usually turns into a mugful, and sometimes a second mugful.

Seriously…it’s THAT good. Brett will eat this, but he has to pick around the zucchini. Adela loves it, Bodie will pick at it.

The recipe

½ box orzo
1 large zucchini, chopped
1 large squash, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, chopped
3 scallions, chopped
1 cup of grape tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
Zest and juice of two lemons
1 container of feta cheese (I used the garlic and herb flavored one. Btw…I have no idea how much comes in these containers)
4 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Cook the orzo according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the squash, zucchini and garlic, stirring. Cook until the veggies start to soften 5-7 minutes.

Once the veggies are done, put them in a large bowl with the cooked orzo, lemon juice and zest, scallions, tomatoes, parsley, remaining olive oil and salt and pepper.

Stir together and let sit at least 30 minutes before serving.
*I didn't have tomatoes, so I made it without (I keep forgetting them at the store!)...it's much better with them!