Day Three Hundred Forty Seven: Not-Your-Usual Tuna Salad

Since I was trying to be very healthy and low-cal, Sunday I made Martha's Tuna, Avocado and Romaine Salad.  In addition to the named ingredients, it also has sliced radishes and a vinaigrette made with Dijon mustard.  It uses canned tuna, which makes the recipe ridiculously easy. My avocados were actually labeled with a "ripe" sticker to make sure the buyer was aware they were ready to eat.

I call this Salad for Dummies.  

Very good, especially when slathered with enough of this yummy Dijon dressing to drown a tuna.

That's still healthy, right?

Day Three Hundred Twenty Four: Will the Tuna Never End?

Believe it or not, Despite making grilled tuna and tuna melts, I still had enough leftover tuna to make Martha's Tuna Burgers.  (Will these leftovers never end?)

This recipe is a mix of tuna, mustard and spices.  Without something sticky to hold it together, one would expect it to fall apart at first opportunity.  Luckily, it sticks into proper burger-form when squished together.  Tuna-crisis averted.  An Asian-inspired slaw goes on top and takes this tuna burger from plain to fantastic.

These were super simple and incredibly tasty.  More importantly, this recipe finished those ever-lasting tuna leftovers.

Whew.

Day Three Hundred and Twenty Two: Amazing Spicy Tuna Melt

Since I had a bunch of left over tuna, Tuesday I made Martha's Spicy Tuna Melt.  If you are like me and have never had a tuna melt, allow me to say:

You are missing out.  I feel like I've just discovered a new continent.  

This is such a delicious recipe.  Just mix tuna, salsa and mayonnaise and spoon it on bread.  Top with pepper jack cheese and put the whole thing under the broiler until the cheese melts.  

This is such a tasty, simple recipe, but good enough for company.  I'm going to serve it at my next opportunity.  My husband actually uttered the word, "divine'".

*

* Picture does not do the sandwich justice. 

Day Three Hundred Nineteen: Drool-Worthy Wrap

On Saturday, I spent a relaxing day at home.  It was nice and boring after the buzz of the holidays/cleanup/return-to-school and my own month-long impersonation of a chicken running around with a missing head.

For lunch I made Martha's Chicken Salad and Havarti Cheese Wrap.  I've said it before, but wraps are highly under-rated.  This one is easy to throw together and the Havarti cheese is a great compliment to the chicken salad.  It's a little roll of creamy deliciousness.

:drool:

Day Two Hundred Ninety-Two: Easy Asparagus Quiche

I love quiche.  It's great for breakfast.  It's chic for lunch. It can be served at room temperature and makes a gorgeous presentation. And (if you aren't convinced), it's ridiculously easy to make.

Really, how many dishes can say that?

If I'm expecting a holiday drop-in from a friend, I like to have a quiche handy.  Sunday I made Martha's Asparagus, Leek, and Gruyere Quiche.  If you use a frozen pie crust (I promise I won't tell), all you have to do is cook the veggies, spread them onto the pie crust, then top with a mixture of egg and half-and-half. Cook for about an hour and you have this:

I served mine with a spinach salad for lunch:

I told my kids this was pie and they totally bought it...until they grew suspicious:  why is mommy serving "dessert" first?

Day Two Hundred Eighty-One: Grilled Mozzarella

I served dinner for my Book Club on Wednesday.  I made tomato soup with Martha's Grilled Mozzarella Sandwiches. I've never used mozzarella for grilled cheese before, but these were delicious. They are assembled then dipped in an egg/cream mixture before being cooked.  It's sort of like a really large, flat, fried mozzarella stick.  

It's delicious.  Martha says it's her favorite way to make grilled cheese sandwiches and I am totally on board.    

Day Two Hundred Fifty-Five: Leftover Beef Sandwich

Leftovers are such a dilemma at our house.  I'm always wondering what to do with half of a steak or two chicken drumsticks.  So leftovers often sit in our refrigerator until they go bad, or I get tired of looking at them in the refrigerator.

But Friday I took some leftover steak and made Martha's Open-Face Roast Beef Sandwich.  Okay...so it wasn't roast beef, it was New York Strip, but it's the same animal, so I think it counts.

This sandwich is all about the sauce, which is a mix of horseradish and sour cream.  It's so good you could eat it as a dip...Which is exactly what we did with the leftover sauce.

Did I say leftovers were a dilemma?

Day Two Hundred Thirty: Random-Refrigerator-Content Melts

Monday we came back from a long weekend at the beach.  Since we hadn't been to the grocery in several days, I was left with the most random things in our refrigerator.  There just isn't a lot you can make with broccoli, mushrooms and mayonnaise.  Or is there?  I made Martha's Portobello, Broccoli, and Red-Pepper Melts.   These sandwiches require a fork and knife to eat, and were surprisingly good considering the somewhat random ingredient list.

My husband liked them so much he asked for seconds.  This is further proof that cheese makes everything better.

p.s.  please forgive the somewhat tardy posts...I've been experiencing technical difficulties.

Day Two Hundred Thirteen: Embarrassing Smoked Salmon Burgers

The other day I made a salmon dish that was pretty terrible.  I can't recommend the sauce, but the roasted salmon sans sauce was excellent.  I decided on Friday to use the leftovers to make Martha's Smoked Salmon Burgers with Grainy Mustard.   This recipe is sort of like a crab cake, but mixes in cooked salmon with smoked salmon, giving it an amazing depth of flavor.  It also calls for watercress, which has a nice spicy flavor.

FYI: Watercress is different from water chestnuts, commonly seen in Asian food.  Not that you would make that mistake like a certain someone I know (i.e. me).  Imagine me in the Asian food aisle looking for water chestnuts when I realize I'm actually looking for a different food item altogether...

:runs back to produce section in embarrassment:

My yummy Smoked Salmon Burgers:

Day Two Hundred Three: Shake It Up, Baby!

Sometimes you have to shake things up.  Do it a little different.  Like your classic grilled ham and cheese sandwich:  It's a favorite at our house, even if my middle daughter picks the ham out every time.  Martha shakes it up with her Grilled Ham and Cheese with Pear.

"With pear?' you say.  Yes, pears.  It's a tasty combo, and pears are pretty much at the bottom of my Fruit-I-Love List...right above coconuts, which really shouldn't be considered a fruit at all, in my opinion. *

* Technically a coconut is a fruit, a nut AND a seed.  Google said so.  

If I had served these pears alone, my children would not have touched them.  As it was, the pear sort of looks like white cheese, so they gobbled it up before they even realized it.  :So sly:  Mrs. Seinfeld has nothing on me.

Day One Hundred Ninety Three: Here, Fishy Fishy

I bought my three-year old daughter a fish on Friday.  This is her second pet fish attempt since we found her first fish floating a few weeks ago. She was not at all bothered at the passing of Fish #1.  Her new fish is named Prince Charming.

That info is part of a greater story.  Bear with me.....

After I made that salmon the other day, we had plenty of leftovers.  I decided to use them in Martha's Salmon Cakes.  You could use any fish or shellfish for this recipe, and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry.  (No really, you probably do.)  My three-year old daughter helped me make these...and by "help" I mean stood next to me and asked repeatedly what I was making.

Her:  Mom, what are you making?
Me:  I'm making Salmon Cakes, sweetie.
Her:  Salmon Cakes?  What are you putting in that bowl?
Me:  It's breadcrumbs.
Her:  Breadcrumbs? What are you making?
Me:  Salmon Cakes.  They are like little hamburgers made from fish.
Her:  :studies bowl:  Hey! Why are you putting an egg in there?
Me:  The egg helps everything stick together.
Her: What you making?
Me: Salmon cakes, sweetie.  Salmon cakes.

I didn't think anything I said had registered with her.  When I dropped her off at school, however, her teacher asked what she did this weekend.  My daughter responded that she:
1) Got a new pet fish,
2) Her pet fish died, and
3) She made "fish burgers".

I'm pretty sure Prince Charming just became dinner.

Day One Hundred Eighty Six: Unbelievable Wrap

Yesterday was a gorgeous day here in my neck of the woods.  Unlike Martha, I don't require my guests to wake up for a 5 a.m. hike.  (I was up at 5 a.m. with my children, but that's another story.)  Some of our guests slept in (lucky souls) and had a late breakfast, so around noon I made Martha's Spinach and Artichoke Wraps as a snack.  Wraps are highly underrated.  I don't know why we don't eat wraps more often.  These wraps are a meal of the best kind:  easy to make and delicious.  Just layer provolone cheese, spinach, artichokes and bell peppers on a sandwich wrap:

(I was a cheater and used the roasted red peppers you buy in a jar, which was a solid substitution.)

I cut these into smaller wraps and secured with toothpicks.  They were a great (and pretty) way to tide us over until dinner.  These were so good, some of my guests didn't believe I made them.  Luckily, I had eyewitness testimony and these photos as evidence.  (Where's the faith, people?)                                                            

Day One Hundred Eighty One: Constitutional Burgers

It's Labor Day.

This is the day you are supposed to lay down your heavy workload and rest your weary bones.  Or as my son said, "the day to rest your weary load".  Indeed.

It's also the day you are Constitutionally Required* to grill hamburgers.  If you didn't grill burgers, someone in your neighborhood might report you to the hamburger-equavlent of the IRS.  Just be prepared.

* Not really.  I took a Constitutional Law class and there was nothing about burgers in it.

I made Martha's Cheddar-Stuffed Burgers.  These are surprising.  Just imagine finding a piece of melted cheese the size of your thumb inside your hamburger.  It's fabulous.  It's like a meat version of a Twinkie.  That might sound gross to you but your husband will appreciate the mental picture.

If you didn't make burgers today, I hope you at least ate one.  If not, just tell them you saw the above photo.  That should count for something.

My husband wants me to add that he made Martha's Sweet-and-Sticky Grilled Drumsticks.  

The sweet glaze was very good, although it took 45 minutes to simmer and that was before the drumsticks went on the grill.  I would like to claim some sort of victory, but I was the one inside tending the simmering sauce for 45 minutes while my husband played outside in the pool.  Who was the winner there?

Happy Labor Day!

Day Fifty Five: Taco-vers

We had some beef leftover from our party on Saturday, so instead of letting it go to waste, I decided to make tacos with the meat. You may remember that my husband is anti-leftovers, which makes the subterfuge necessary.

I used one of Martha's recipes for something she calls "Taco Filling". I find this name as odd as the photo of it, which is three tupperware containers stacked on one another with some brown stuff inside.  This is the actual photo:

I am assuming this recipe was part of a feature on foods that freeze well, because if not, Martha probably fired the editor who decided to publish this photo.

But back to my tacos.

Despite the odd name, this recipe made some pretty good tacos.  If you usually use one of those packages of taco seasoning, let me save you a lot of trouble:  this recipe, which took me at least forty minutes to make, tastes really similar to the package stuff.   That being said, if you have forty minutes to spare, go for it.  I've always wondered what went in those taco seasoning packages.  But now that I know, I'd like my forty minutes back, please.

Chopped brisket:

Brisket with Martha's spices:

Completed "taco filling" on flour tortilla:

My husband really liked these tacos.  He has been known to put ketchup on his tacos, however, so I can't really call that a ringing endorsement.

At least there are no leftovers.

Day Forty Seven: Second-Life Salmon

I believe in re-incarnation...Of food, at least.  I like a good leftover, but I can hardly get my husband to eat anything twice.  I sometimes wonder if his mother didn't force-feed him leftovers as a child.  Now he has an aversion.  Whatever the cause, I'm afraid of him starting a grass-roots campaign at our house. Then my kids will stop eating leftovers too.  Soon you'll start hearing about leftover-revolts all over the nation.

I think that's how the French Revolution started.

Or something like that.

When the salmon from the other night was just mediocre, I knew I'd have to be sneaky about the leftovers. So I reinvented the salmon filets by making Martha's Salmon Cakes.

Leftover "eh" salmon:

Salmon mixed up with a couple eggs and a bunch of other stuff:

Made into a patty...

Completed salmon cake served with zucchini and squash:

These were a vast improvement from the original salmon filets, but since I ate them both myself, I can't tell you if my husband approved.  Obviously, I thought they were delicious.

And I think the Dalai Lama would approve too.

Day Thirty Five: Attack of the Easter Eggs: Egg Salad Sandwich

Last night I made Deviled Eggs from my leftover Easter eggs. I thought I had used all the eggs, but apparently I missed one.  When I opened the refrigerator this morning, the little basket where I keep eggs was full of colored, boiled eggs.

Easter eggs.

I *knew* those buggers multiply overnight.

To save myself from further reproduction and eventual poultry onslaught, I grabbed the eggs and made Martha's Egg Salad Sandwich.  It was delicious, and did not contain any butter.  :I'm looking at you Deviled Eggs:


Easter eggs stripped of their colorful shells:

The butter-free mix:

Yummy sandwiches:

Since uncovering the lair of eggs this morning, I've checked the refrigerator several times and I'm confident I've found all the Easter eggs.  I even checked behind the leftovers where they like to hide.

If there are more eggs tomorrow, I'm going to have the place fumigated.