Table Talk: Chickpea Cakes with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

Whaaat?  Who would pick that for their recipe?  Is this some kind of joke? 

Um, no.  Not a joke. 

It was my week to host.

And I was trying to choose a recipe that was new and different.  

I also noticed that we hadn't made anything from the vegetarian section of the book yet.

Have I told you that Tyler almost turned into a vegan a couple weeks ago?

Yeah, he eats humus now.

I'm not really sure how it all came about but it was about the same time he turned into a cowboy and started listening only to Country music.  Well, and Classical music sometimes.

Basically, he wanted to be a vegan cowboy.

It's weird, but that about sums up Tyler.  Weird.  But also why I love him.  

Never a dull moment and just the way I like it.

Anyway, I thought since he was a humus-eating-fool these days, it would be a good time to try and throw something like a chickpea cake on the table for dinner.  

A couple months ago, he probably would have taken one look at this and walked out.  Maybe for good, maybe just to head to McDonald's.  

We'll never know.

I chickened out during the last couple days and decided I had to at least make these into a sandwich.  

I mean, we've shown some progress in the eating healthy department lately, but just a chickpea cake might just be crossing a serious line.  Just to be careful, I threw in some buns, made from this potato bread recipe (I made one regular loaf and then 10 rolls with 2-2.5 oz of dough/roll).  

I'm pretty sure I would eat anything on that potato bread.

And then, like any other time I'm uncomfortable, I threw in some avocado and tomato.

I know what you're thinking.  Why am I being a freak when I'm the one who picked the dang recipe.  Because I'm a weirdo too.  That's why Tyler loves me. ;)

Kale, Strawberry and Avocado Salad with Light Poppy Seed Dressing

 I really liked this salad.  Like, really liked it.  Tyler, on the other hand, wasn't as in love as I was. He has a block when it comes to fruit in a savory (at all) salad or dish.  The bacon and strawberries together totally threw him off.  And he didn't think strawberries belonged in a salad with lettuce.  I don't know, man.  I"m slowly breaking him down but we're just not to the strawberry/bacon/lettuce point yet.  He ate it though.  I took his strawberries and he seemed to be content with the remainder of the ingredients together.  I didn't complain.  This salad had a bit of everything to tantalize taste buds and it was pretty healthy.  I will make it again (because I loved it and every once in a while I make something I love and tell the rest of them to deal with it) and just leave the strawberries off his salad.  This was a perfect light evening meal but I wouldn't say no to it at lunch.  I can see us making many more salads like this for summer.  And I'm hoping to have avocados coming out of my ears because we have a lot of trees in our yard.  I'm getting excited!

Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Candied Walnuts (and how I lost my mind)

When I was about 5 or so, my mom made me eat a beet.  I had the kind of parents who made you clean your plate and we were having beets that night.  I am pretty sure they were the canned variety and I sat there with a beet in my mouth, refusing to swallow it, for at least a half an hour.  I thought they were so disgusting, I couldn't imagine letting it go down the hatch.  If I would have been thinking less like a 5 year old, maybe I would've just hurried and swallowed it and not savored the horrible taste for quite as long.  Instead, I turned it into a traumatic moment and have steered clear of beets, in any form, since that day.  

Table Talk: Pan Seared Shrimp Tartines

 I am usually not this fancy.  I mean, what in the world is a tartine?  Well, it's a long story.  Actually it's really not a long story but I will tell you one anyway.  I went to this restaurant in Beverly Hills last month.  No, this is not something I normally do so I was excited when I learned something new and saw Tracey Ulman.  The something new I learned is that a fancy, French, opened-faced sandwich is called a tartine.  And I knew I was filing that little tidbit away for later.  

Fast-forward to our cooking group this week when I was trying to decide how I wanted to serve our pan seared shrimp with lemon and garlic and it just seemed like the two went together.  Shrimp is pretty fancy.  And tartines are supposed to be fancy.  So, there ya go.  I almost blew my own mind and made this aioli (which I have never made before) but then I decided the juices from the shrimp would be enough that the tartines wouldn't be too dry.

I made this french bread recipe and toasted one side of the bread with the broiler. If I were toasting the bread again, I might make the aioli because there weren't as many juices as I was expecting but I think it would be perfect with just un-toasted bread and the juices from the shrimp.  I diced some tomatoes and slices some avocados and it was finished.  I used cilantro instead of parsley because I had it on hand. And I would do it all over again in a heart beat.

This shrimp recipe is super fast and super delicious.  With the fresh sliced garlic and fresh lemon, how can you really go wrong?  We also had this a couple weeks ago and just made a salad with the shrimp, lettuce, avocado and tomato, and that was also delicious. If you want to try the recipe you can get it HERE.  Janet was our host for the week and chose the recipe.  {Thanks for picking a fast and delicious recipe this week, Janet!}

Grilled Zucchini Caprese Sandwiches with Avocado

We have made these twice now and I know we will be making them again.  I wish I had a garden right now, but I don't.  If I did, there would be zucchini and tomatoes (and probably some basil somewhere!) in my backyard right now.  Maybe next year.  For now, I will just pretend I got these veggies from somewhere other than the grocery store.  Consider yourself lucky if you do have fresh vegetables in your yard.  You are cooler than me and I am completely jealous.  

Fresh Corn Soup

So the picture doesn't really do it justice, but this soup was completely delicious.  I love fresh corn in the summer and part of me wondered if it was a form a blasphemy to add fresh corn to a soup rather than just cooking it and eating it with butter.  I was worried it was going to decrease the awesomeness of fresh corn somehow.  I was wrong.  There are few ingredients in this recipe yet it's so flavorful.  The fresh corn flavor was preserved and complimented by the creaminess of the soup.  Everyone loved it.  Instead of straining through a mesh strainer like the recipe states, we just served it after processing and it was delicious.  I am not sure the straining is necessary, but use your judgement there. :)

Steak Taco Salad with Black Bean-Corn Relish

We don't eat red meat all that often these days but I knew I wanted to make this when I saw the photo and read the recipe title.  We all know I love black beans and corn (It's pretty obvious around here).  I completely expected to love this and I wasn't disappointed.  This was another cooking magazine situation where I had to buy it.  (I really need to get a hold of myself.)  The book was a 5 ingredient and 15 minute recipe special edition by Cooking Light.  Although I think the title of the book is misleading a bit, there are more than 5 ingredients in this dish, and it took me more than 15 minutes (because I made it harder on myself than I had to), I would still make this again and again.  The recipe called for light Ranch dressing, but I wanted to make the dressing and the pico de gallo.  You can use your judgment on whether those things are completely necessary for you or not. :)

Mushroom-Artichoke Soup

When Tyler and I were newlyweds, I would sign up for cookbook of the month clubs.  I wanted the 8 free cookbooks (or whatever)!  It always ended up being a pain because I would forget to cancel my shipment for the month but it's one of the reasons I have so many cookbooks. That and sometimes I just can't resist, I NEED a cookbook.  

Cheesy Quinoa Bites with Avocado Cream Dip

 

 Tyler is not an easy sell when it comes to quinoa.  But I have a bag of it in the pantry that I need to use up!  And it's super healthy so when I saw this easy recipe I knew I needed to try it.  And it has "cheesy" in the title.  Isn't anything "cheesy" an automatic winner?  I think so.  Even though the name says cheesy, there are still only 50 calories in each one.  (According to Calriecount.com)

Italian-Style Cheesesteak Panini

Remember yesterday when I said my ciabatta bread had panini written all over it?  It's because I had been eyeballing this recipe.  I knew we were making the bread for Bake 52 and I wanted to find a panini recipe that could incorporate it.  I was flipping through my book and saw "cheesesteak" and it had me.  

Chicken, Mango, Avocado and Cilantro Pesto Panini

Say that three times fast!  (Actually I just did it, and it's not too bad)

I recently received a new panini maker and a cookbook.  Ever since I have been eyeing this recipe.  I have a love for mango and pesto and everything that has to do with this sandwich, really.  I had never made pesto with cilantro before but was completely confident in my premature love of it.  And I was right to love it even before making it.