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Roasted Vegetable Sandwich

Today I was craving the roasted vegetable sandwich from Nordstrom's Sixth & Pine restaurant but I have sooooo much housework to do so I decided to try and recreate it at home. Hitting two birds with one stone Titan got his exercise for the day by jogging up to Liberty Heights Fresh for my sammy ingredients. I adore this store they always have the most amazing bread their rosemary focaccia is worth every carb but I digress. 

I was able to grab all of the goods and spy on my puppy through their windows. We then trotted back and my exhausted boy sacked out on his new bed while I made this yummy treat.

1 red onion

2 bell peppers

goat cheese

pesto

bread (I used Ciabatta)

1 garlic clove

1/4 C olive oil

1 teaspoon basil oil

1 teaspoon roasted garlic oil

3 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Chop your veggies up and toss with a blend of the oils. Lay them all out on a foil lined baking sheet and place in the oven for ~25 minutes. 

Slice the loaf horizontally and place on another baking sheet in the oven to lightly toast.  I did a legit full crunch toast and just trust me you want it barely there, just a hint of crunch.  Your bread will be done before your veggies so pull it out and rub the garlic clove all over the loaf to infuse the bread with that garlicky goodness. I then slathered both sides with goat cheese followed by pesto.

 At this point the onions were soft so I knew the veggies were ready. Crank on the broiler and do NOT move! You want it charred but it does this SUPER quickly and you don't want your mushrooms to dehydrate. Load em up on your sammy and you are good to go.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Unfortunately I had to work Valentine's evening but when I got home my sweet hubby had an uber romantic evening planned. We started it off by making chocolate covered strawberries together.

We melted 3 squares of white chocolate with a Tablespoon of crisco to thin the chocolate for coating. If you had one of these handy dandy tiny tupperware containers that are useless for storing anything but happens to be perfect for dipping strawberries. It is important to lay the dipped on wax paper because if the chocolate hardens directly on the plate it will crack when you try to pick it up.

Leave a 1/4 C of the white chocolate in the pan throw in some dark chocolate chips and voila milk chocolate for drizzling purposes. Once melted together pour the chocolate into your average ziploc sandwich bag twist closed snip off the corner and drizzle away.

So Scrumptcious!!

Pan Seared Rosemary Chicken in Balsamic Reduction with Carmelized Onions and Mushrooms

 This dish is one of the most amazing things I have ever made. I have no words. 

2 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1 large yellow onion
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 1/2 C of mushrooms (your choice)
1 C of Chicken Broth
6 T butter
1 C Heavy Cream
1/2 C Parmesan Cheese
2 T Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Melt 3 T of butter in a cast iron skillet and sear the chicken. Set chicken aside reduce heat to medium and add the last of the butter in the pan and caramelize the sliced onion. Add 1/2 C of chicken stock and deglaze the pan. Pour in the heavy cream, chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, and the sprigs of rosemary. Toss the mushrooms in (I quartered portabellos) and let simmer for ten minutes. Slowly add the cheese stirring constantly. When completely combined slice the chicken and add it back into the sauce. Simmer ten to fifteen minutes more until sauce is reduced. Plate and devour my friends.

Garlic and Rosemary Roasted Salmon and Asparagus

I saw this recipe on the fabulous Meredith Steele's In Sock Monkey Slippers blog and just had to try it. This dish is delicious and incredibly healthy.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb salmon fillet
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 sprigs of rosemary leaves
• salt (I used kosher)
• pepper
• olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Chop garlic and rosemary. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and season salmon then gently press garlic and rosemary into the fillet. Bake for ~11 minutes.

Asparagus:

Chop off the last half inch of the asparagus stalks. Toss with olive oil and minced garlic spread on a baking sheet and place in the oven under broiler on high. Keep an eye on it I like mine on the crispier side so I leave it in there for ~9 minutes and flip it half way through. Cooking time can vary with the thickness of the stalk as well so when in doubt remove a stalk and take a bite.

The $250 "Neiman" Cookie Recipe

So urban legend says that this amazing chocolate chip oat cookie recipe was sold by "Neiman Marcus" to a customer for a whopping $250. Obviously when the customer realized her misinterpretation of "two fifty" she tried to have the charge removed and the department store refused so as a woman scorned she  gave the recipe away! 

In reality I have no idea where this recipe came from but word on the Internet is "Neiman Marcus" and what source is more reliable than the web?

**Please note the sarcasm dripping from my text**

Yes, I may have bit the cookie before I snapped a shot. 

Don't judge me. I have no self control.

Ingredients:

• 2 C butter
• 2 C sugar
• 2 C brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 t vanilla
• 4 C flour
• 5 C blended oatmeal (quaker oats work great)
• 1 t salt
• 2 t baking powder
• 2 t baking soda
• 24 oz bag of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine with the rest of the dry ingredients. Roll into balls on cookie sheet and bake ~8 minutes until the edges are golden brown.

****The story regarding Neiman Marcus was an urban legend I found on the internet= NOT true****

Guacamole

Growing up in Texas guacamole was a staple in our household. I may no longer live in the greatest state ever formed but I can still make a mean bowl of guacamole.

Ha and he said he didn't like guacamole when we were dating.

Ingredients:

• 6 ripe avocados
• 1 small/medium purple onion
• 1 jalapeño 
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1-2 limes
• cilantro
• kosher salt

Instructions:
**Check out this Easy Trick to Cutting Bell Peppers**

Cut avocados in half and remove pit. take a knife and carefully score the avocado diagonally without piercing the outer skin. Rotate the avocado 90 degrees and carefully score diagonally until you have diamond shaped cuts in the avocado. Scoop the avocado meat out with spoon into a bowl and mash with a fork. Go slowly with this part as everyone prefers the guac a little different I like mine on the chunky side while my hubby like it a little creamier. You can always mash more but you cannot go back. 

Dice the onion, bell peppers, and jalapeño and mix in. Again I caution you to do this slowly as I love lots of veggies in mine but you may prefer less. Roll the lime on a hard surface to soften the membranes and release the juice. Cut in half and and squeeze one half at a time and taste as you go. add a pinch of salt. A little goes a long way.**Remember you will be eating this with SALTY tortilla chips** 

Chop as much or little cilantro as you'd like. I love it and have been known to put in the whole bunch!