Grilled Steak, Yellow Cheddar Squash Casserole & Easy Coleslaw

This evening I decided to take a chance and grill steak in between forecasted rainstorms and I lucked out! I planned to grill them last night but the weather didn't cooperate. I also made a half-recipe of my Yellow Cheddar Squash Casserole. I cooked it in a quiche dish that is about 1-inch deep. It turned out great and only took about 25 minutes to cook since it was so shallow. I sautéed some red peppers and Vidalia onions to go with my steak and also made my Easy Coleslaw. It was an easy meal to put together and a perfect Sunday summer meal. I snapped a few photos below. The recipes for my squash casserole and coleslaw can be found by clicking the bolded name of the dish in this paragraph above.

       

Greek Style Chicken w/ Roasted Tomatoes & Feta Cheese Over Cauli-Mash

This evening we enjoyed a delicious "Greek style" meal. I made Greek Style Chicken w/ Roasted Tomatoes and Feta Cheese and served the chicken over top of Mashed Creamy Cauliflower. It was full of fresh flavors; roasted multi-colored baby tomatoes (tossed w/ olive oil, salt and pepper), chicken breasts pounded and marinated in fresh lemon juice and olive oil (seasoned with Penzey's Greek Style Seasoning) and then grilled. I served the chicken over a bed of mashed fresh cauliflower and scattered the roasted tomatoes and some crumbled feta cheese on top. We had a small piece of Spinach Feta Pie that I made last night for dinner. 

Last night I made a large (9 x 13") rectangular version of my Greek Style Spinach Feta Pie. It turned out amazing. It had crust on the bottom and about 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. I made 1-1/2 times the crust (using 3 cups of almond flour and an additional 1 tablespoon butter), 1 pound of baby spinach and 1-1/2 to 2 cups of crumbled feta, doubled the fresh dill and lemon zest, and used 15 eggs (which triples the eggs used in the standard sized version to make a nice thick piece of spinach feta pie). It turned out amazing. I wanted to make a large one that we could enjoy for lunch and other meals throughout the week (bake once; eat several times). I had it for lunch today and also served a small piece alongside tonight's Greek Style Chicken w/ Roasted Tomatoes & Feta Cheese. This was an absolutely amazing meal. Check it out the photos below. Enjoy!

           

Roasted Tomato, Pesto & Pepperoni Pizza - Low Carb Cheese Head Crust

This evening I made my pizza with my Cheese Head Pizza Crust. I had a large container of multicolored grape and cherry tomatoes that I picked up at Costco this past weekend (by Mucci Farms). I also had that large jar of Costco's Kirkland brand fresh basil pesto that I opened last night to brush on my wild salmon before roasting. So, those two ingredients were what I based my pizza off of this evening and it turned out AMAZING! I sliced and halved about one to two cups of cherry/grape tomatoes and tossed them in olive oil and placed them on a parchment lined baking pan, cut side up. I roasted them for about 30 to 35 minutes at 375 degrees and then turned up the temperature to 425 degrees to bake my pizza crust. I removed the tomatoes as soon as my oven hit 425 degrees and then set them aside to cool off.

I made my pizza crust without seasoning (omitting the salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning) since I was going to use pesto on my pizza which is infused with loads of herbaceous flavor. I spread the dough out on a large parchment lined baking sheet and baked it for about 12 minutes until lightly golden. I removed the crust from the oven and then brushed and spread it with a few heaping tablespoons of the pesto; scattered it with shredded mozzarella cheese, topped it with Boars Head sandwich pepperoni (that I quartered) and then scattered with the roasted tomatoes. I reduced the oven temperature to 375 and popped the pizza back in the oven and baked for about 8 to 10 minutes, then turned my broiler on low and ran it under it for about 2 to 3 minutes until the cheese began to bubble, but not burn. I removed it from the oven and let it sit for about 5 to 7 minutes to cool and allow the crust to crisp up, which it does VERY nicely, making it easy to pick up and eat by the slice (no forks required). The pesto mellows out so nicely when baked on the crust and is so delicious. Like I've said before I'm not a big pesto fan but if you can find a way to cook it for a bit on whatever you are using it in, it has such a delicate and flavorful herb flavor in a not-in-your-face kind of way. I snapped some photos below. You can find the recipe for my crust here: Cheese Head Pizza Crust. Enjoy!

          

Pesto Roasted Wild Sockeye Salmon w/ Cauli-Mash & Roasted Brussels Sprouts

This evening I made one of my favorite meals because each of the 3 items I prepared are my faves (Pesto Roasted Salmon, Cauliflower Mash, and Roasted Brussels Sprouts). I picked up a couple of large wild sockeye salmon fillets at Costco this weekend ($9.99/lb). Each was a little over 1-1/2 lbs. I cut one fillet up into portions, wrapped them and froze. The other one I prepared and roasted as a large fillet that I coated first with pesto. I usually use Mezzetta's pesto that comes in a small jar, but Costco had a large jar of their fresh pesto on sale so I decided to pick up a jar to try. It was really good and I would definitely purchase it again. Now, to be honest, I have never really been a big pesto fan. I find the taste to be too intense most of the time, but when you baste the salmon with it before roasting, the pesto cooks and goes from brilliant green to a more muted color and a delicate milder flavor. I do think that the pesto in its fresh state would overpower the mild salmon flavor but it mellows out perfectly when roasted atop the salmon. I typically roast smaller individual portions of salmon for 12 minutes but since I roasted the large fillet intact, I added 3 minutes for a total of 15 minutes which was perfect. You simply brush the salmon fillet with pesto (as much or as little as you like), place it on a foil covered sheet pan and into a preheated 450 degree oven that you immediately reduce to 425 degrees after placing the salmon inside. I roasted it at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, removed it from the oven and then immediately covered it with heavy duty foil and allowed it to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. It turned out tender, moist and so delicately flavored by the pesto that roasted along with the fillet.

I roasted quartered brussels sprouts tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper on another sheet pan at the same time and they were done at about the same time. I had a large head of fresh cauliflower that I cut up into florets and cooked in 1 cup of water with about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt. I cooked it until tender and then uncovered the pan and turned up the heat and cooked until all the water evaporated. I then added a couple tablespoons half-and-half, 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 to 3 ounces of brick style cream cheese and then pureed it with my immersion stick blender in the pan. I absolutely love my stick blender for things like this. I seasoned the mashed cauliflower with salt and pepper to taste. Hubby couldn't stop oohing and awing over how delicious tonight's meal was. It was so good to cook again. Our a/c has been giving us problems over the last 2 weeks (4 service calls and 9 days without a/c in a 2 week period). That is part of the reason I haven't posted much because I haven't wanted to turn the oven on and we've had so much rain that we didn't get to grill other than maybe once I believe! I snapped a few photos our tonight's meal and included the link to the Pesto Roasted Salmon. Enjoy!