Tuna Patties with Roasted Potatoes & Tartar Sauce

The tuna patties we made tonight were really yummy. I was skeptical about how they would turn out at first, but they ended up being quite tasty.

Tuna Patties
(from Simply Recipes)

2 6-ounce cans tuna
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup white bread torn into small pieces
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp water (or liquid from the cans of tuna)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives, green onions, or shallots
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Several squirts of Sriracha
1 raw egg
olive oil spray

Drain the liquid from the tuna cans.

In a medium bowl, mix together the tuna, mustard, torn white bread, lemon zest, lemon juice, water, parsley, chives, and hot sauce. Sprinkle on salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste the mixture before adding the egg to see if it needs more seasoning to your taste. Mix in the egg.

Divide the mixture into 4 parts. With each part, form into a ball and then flatten into a patty. Place onto a wax paper lined tray and chill for an hour. (We actually stuck these in the freezer for about 8 minutes, since we were in a hurry.)

Heat a skillet on medium high. Spray with olive oil spray, then gently place the patties in the pan, and cook until nicely browned, 3-4 minutes on each side.

We served ours with the suggested tartar sauce (recipe below) on buns for a tuna burger. Mike also roasted some potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, zatar, and thyme. All in all, a very satisfying meal.

Tartar Sauce
(adapted from Simply Recipes)

1 cup Trader Joe's low fat mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped bread and butter pickles
1 teaspoon capers, chopped
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons chopped shallots
2 Tbsp chopped scallions
2 teaspoons lemon juice
6 drops-ish of sriracha
pinch of chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together in a bowl and voila!

Roasted tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwiches

Mike and I love grilled cheese and tomato soup. We've attempted several different grilled cheeses (all turned out deliciously - you can't go wrong with hot cheese and buttered toast), and a couple of different tomato soups (with mixed results). When I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen's blog, I wanted to leap with joy. Roasted garlic and tomatoes?! Molten cheddar cheese?!? I'm in. Especially since our farmer's market has been stocked with a plethora of cheap, super ripe tomatoes over the past couple of weeks.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Broiled Cheddar
(from Smitten Kitchen's recipe)

Soup

3 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large or 4 small cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1/4 teaspoon (or more to taste) dried crushed red pepper
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Lid

4 1-inch slices from a large loaf of rye bread, whole wheat sourdough or bread of your choice (or 16 1-inch slices from a baguette), toasted until hard and lightly buttered on one side
1 tablespoon grated raw onion
1 cup coarsely grated cheddar (or more to taste)

For the soup: Preheat oven to 400°F. Wrap garlic cloves in a tight foil packet. Place tomatoes, cut side up, on large baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper (I used 1 full teaspoon of Kosher salt). Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil. Add foil packet of garlic to tray. Roast until tomatoes are brown and tender (garlic will be very tender), about 1 hour. Cool slightly.

Unwrap garlic packet and peel cloves. Transfer cloves, tomatoes and any accumulated juices to a blender or food processor and pulse machine on and off until tomatoes are a chunky puree. Transfer tomatoes to medium pot and add thyme, crushed red pepper and stock and bring to a boil Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and adjust seasonings to taste.

To make cheddar lid: Preheat oven to 350. Arrange four ovenproof soup bowls, crocks or large mugs on a large, foil-lined baking sheet. Stir grated onion into the warm soup. (I love this last-minute suggestion of onion.) Float toast slice(s) in each bowl, buttered side up and divide grated cheese generously over top. (If you’re using a wide bowl, you might find that you want more cheese to create a thick, broiled lid.) Bake soups on tray for 15 to 20 minutes, until cheese on top is bubbling and brown at the edges. Serve immediately.

Mexican Quinoa with Sausage, Beans and Pico de Gallo

This is a repeat of the mexican quinoa dish we made several months ago and really enjoyed. We wanted to add some more protein to the meal more filling so we quickly sauteed some andouille sausage from Trader Joes and added it on top as a garnish. We also sliced up some avacado and added it into the mix. This recipe is a definite keeper and we'll be making more of it in the future.

Mexican Baked Eggs

Tonight's recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs: Closet Cooking. This is a fairly standard tex-mex dish in that it resembles nothing authentically Mexican, yet incorporates all the ingredients that are commonly stereotyped as being south of the border. No matter the authenticity, this turned out pretty well and had some fantastic flavors to it. We served it over some roast potatoes I had baked in olive oil, salt, pepper, tons of minced garlic, and smoked paprika. For future meals we would add some more protein with some chicken sausage pieces to help make the dish even more filling.

Mexican Baked Eggs
(originally found on the Closet Cooking blog)

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp chipotle chili powder
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and diced
1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1-2 tsp oregano
1 handful of cilantro, chopped
4 eggs
Grated cheese (we used a reduced fat Mexican blend)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Saute the onions in the oil over medium heat until soft. Add in the garlic, cumin, chipotle powder and jalapeno. Saute for a minute and stir in the tomatoes with their liquid and the black beans. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro and oregano.

Closet Cooking's blog entry actually forgot to include the oregano in the instructions, so I figured this would be the appropriate time/place to add them in. None of the blog comments mention the missing oregano, so I'm not sure what other people did. Oops!

Transfer half of the sauce to a baking dish (I used an 8x8 inch dish) and crack 4 eggs directly on top. Spoon the rest of the sauce around the eggs and bake 8-10 minutes, or until the eggs begin to set. Generously sprinkle cheese on top and broil until the cheese is super melty. The egg whites should be fully cooked at this point.

Mediterranean Chicken Stew

I subscribed to an unhealthy number of food blogs (or maybe it's the other way around) and I'm always excited to read their daily suggestions. Tonight's recipe came from The Kitchn (yes, it's lacking an e on purpose) and was appealing to me because of how good the recipe looked and how quickly it would be to cook it. Part of what makes the dish so quick to make is that the author created a shortcut by buying a pre-cooked chicken from the store and just tearing off chunks to be included in the stew. Brit makes an incredible roast chicken on her own, so I figured I would just ask her to cook a whole chicken for our meal instead of buying one from the store.

Mediterranean Chicken Stew
(Adapted from a recipe posted on The Kitchn food blog)

Serves 4

Olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup chicken broth
2 bay leaves
Black pepper
1/2 roast chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice

Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and saute the onions until they are soft, about 7-8 minutes. Throw in the garlic and oregano and stir for another minute to prevent any burning. Toss in the tomatoes (with their liquid), chickpeas, broth, bay leaves, and pepper to taste. Stir, bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Add in the chicken pieces and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove the stew from the heat, stir in the olives and lemon juice, and serve!

We served our stew over some cinnamon couscous (as was originally recommended in the recipe) but only seasoned the grain with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. We did not include the recommended raisins and orange juice.

Overall, the stew was fantastic. Perfect weeknight meal and made some great leftovers. Just be careful not to get any pieces of the bay leaf or you'll end up choking on them or chewing for far too long. I'd add in some more olives and lemon juice the next time I make this and I'll definitely be making this again.

Turkey Burgers with Aioli and Roasted Potatoes

I love burgers. I would be lying if I said that I prefer turkey burgers over beef, but our healthier version definitely gives cows a run for their money. Tonight's were the juiciest we've made thus far - I think we've finally figured out the key. Mushrooms. Seriously, the mushrooms make for the juiciest turkey burgers around. And you can't even taste the mushroom flavor!! Which is why we made a topping out of the extras. 

Turkey Burgers with Aioli

For burgers:

1 lb ground turkey breast (very lean, almost fat free)
2 portobello mushroom caps, diced very small
1 small onion, diced small
4 cloves garlic, minced
handful parsley, chopped small
2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste 

For mushroom topping:

1 pint baby bellas, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

2 slices melty cheese (we use TJ's reduced fat cheddar)
4 slices tomato
4 lettuce leaves (we prefer butterhead lettuce but any lettuce will do)
ketchup
mustard
buns

For Aioli:
(ingredients here)

For Potatoes:
(ingredients here)
 
In a medium bowl, combine all burger ingredients. I prefer to use my hands to make sure everything is well-mixed, and then I form them into patties by about a 1/2 cup-sized handful. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray, then lay the patties flat in the pan. Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes, then flip the patties. Let them continue cooking for about 60 seconds, then add 1 cheese slice per patty and cover. After about 2 additional minutes, you will have cooked turkey patties with melty cheese.

In a separate medium sized pan over medium heat, add olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 additional minute. Add your mushrooms, saute for 2 minutes and then reduce the heat to medium-low. After the mushrooms have released almost all of their juices (3-4 additional minutes), add the Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Stir to coat the mushrooms. Cook for 2 additional minutes and then remove from heat. Set aside until you're ready to assemble the burgers.

Meanwhile, toast your buns. I like to add the aioli to the bottom part of the bun, then layer the patty, the mushrooms, tomato, lettuce and then add ketchup and mustard to the top bun.

Baked Tilapia with Tomatoes & Basil

Over the past week, and for the upcoming week, we have made (or planned to make) dishes that are mostly repeats of previously attempted recipes. I admit that I made the request that we revisit recipes so we can work on our technique, or embellish them or even just make something over again that we really really enjoyed.  

Tonight, it was the Baked Tilapia with Tomatoes & Basil. This time, we baked a whole quart of Roma tomatoes and a couple lemons instead of just 2 tablespoons' worth. 

We served this dish with herbed brown rice and steamed fresh green beans from the farmer's market. I love Saturdays!