a SUPERGAY VODKA SAUCE

I have been carrying this recipe in a journal since 2005. I started working on this while I lived in Australia and by looking through my journal, it was the first day I went to ALL my classes haha. I was watching Desperate Housewives this night and making gnocchi all vodka.

Since living in Australia, I have been making this same recipe

I paired this one with SuperGay Vodka, because it’s queer owned, organic, and batched in upstate New York. Love the founders - this one is for you Aaron.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup vodka (obvi needed for this)

• 1 medium onion, finely diced

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 3/4 cup canned tomato paste

• 1 can whole peeled tomatoes (28oz), drained + cut into rough pieces

• 1/2 lb Bacon or Pancetta, diced

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter

• 2 cloves garlic, pressed

• 3/4 cup Locatelli or finely grated parmesan

• Salt + Pepper to taste

• 1 lb of Pasta - penne recommended, but choose your journey

• 1/4 Fresh Basil, chopped

Sauté bacon in medium pot. Render till crispy. Remove bacon from pan and set aside in bowl for later. In ‘pot-o-gold’ with bacon fat, add diced onion. Cook until translucent, above 5 minutes. Add garlic. Cook another minute or so, be careful not to overcook garlic. Sh*t browns real quick. Just cook enough to make fragrant. Add butter. I just love the texture butter adds to this. It’s totally not needed, but it makes the sauce more “velvety.” Once butter is melted, add diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook another 5 minutes or so, stirring often to meld flavors.

Add Vodka to pan. Bring to a simmer for 6-10 minutes or so. Cooking off the alcohol. Add the heavy cream, stir. This will give you the gorgeous pink-ish color you are looking for. Heat till simmering a bit. Stir in cheese + basil. Stir. Carefully taste. Add salt + pepper. You will know when the sauce is ready. It’s going to stick to the back of your spoon and be right where you want it.

I love salt, so I will always add more salt. You could add crushed red pepper into the sauce now, or just let peeps add at the table.

Cook pasta per instructions on box. There is no magic here. I like my pasta al dentè, so I tend to undercook pasta for more bite.

Add cooked Pasta to sauce, stir. This is pretty sexual. It should be. You are adding pasta to sauce to coat. I want the pasta dripping in sauce. It’s so good.

Serve. Eat.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SALMON CAKES with Dill Sriracha Sauce

Whenever this pandemic is over, I will be ready for healthy Summer meals to do in advance. This is another great meal you can prepare in advance and pop in fridge to chill until you are ready to cook. If the salmon is fresh, you could always freeze the patties for a future use, but I have been managing with frozen wild-caught salmon and would cook these shortly after you make them and reheat leftovers within 1-2 days.

I made these for dinner and will have extra for lunch, already looking forward to what I am going to do to these tomorrow mmmm.

Ingredients

SALMON CAKES:

• 24 ounces salmon, about 4 fillets, cooked (instructions below)

• 1 Cup Butternut Squash, roasted (instructions below)

• 1.5 TBLS Old Bay plus more for coating fish

• 6 TBLS chopped fresh dill or 3 teaspoons dried dill weed or more to taste

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1/4 cup chopped Chives or Scallions

• 2 TBLS Olive Oil, for frying

FOR THE DILL SRIRACHA SAUCE:

• 1 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt

• 4 TBLS chopped fresh dill (the more the merrier)

• 2 TBLS Chives or Scallions

• 1 teaspoon honey

• 4 TBLS sriracha (or more to taste)

• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

SALMON CAKES: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

1. Slice Butternut Squash in half, scoop out seeds. Spray with olive olive and place flesh side up on roasting pan or on baking sheet (with foil). Season with salt and pepper. Roast 50 to 60 minutes, until flesh is fork-tender. Set aside to cool.

2. To cook salmon. Pat salmon dry and then rub flesh with Old Bay

3. In a nonstick pan, add oil and heat to medium-high. When pan is hot, add the salmon, flesh side down and cook for 3 minutes with lid on the pan. Flip the salmon and cook fish all the way through (uncovered), about 5 more minutes. Set aside to cool

4. When Butternut squash is cooled. Scoop out into large mixing bowl and mash slightly.

5. Skin the salmon and flake into bowl with squash. Combine all other ingredients in medium bowl.

6. Using 1/3 cup measuring cup, scoop batter and shape into cakes. Place on a parchment or silat lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 mins.

7. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

8. Sauté cakes approximately 5 minutes on each side. Depening on pan size, you may need to do this in (2) batches. I used (2) pans to do all at once.

9. Once lightly browned on both sides, remove from skillet and transfer to paper towel lined plate.

FOR THE DILL SRIRACHA SAUCE:

1. Simply combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Serve along-side salmon cakes

BLACK BEAN VEGGIE BURGER

I will never be a vegetarian. NEVER. Unless the bacon industry collapsed and pigs went extinct…..

I do enjoy cooking for vegetarians. I have a handful of signature dishes I turn to that are always a crowd pleaser, vegetarian or not. 

This recipe is from one of my favorites: SkinnyTaste. If you aren’t following Gina, than you are really missing out.

I slightly modified – but the original recipe is just as amazing. I typically will always follow a recipe to the T @ first, then make it my own over time.

I made these in Vermont after skiing, they were a HUGE hit.  I was then harassed all week for the recipe…haha. Harassed! Can you believe it? My own family was threatening me to share the recipe. Love you guys.

These freeze super well. I try to keep these on hand at all times for the unexpected vegetarian, or when we just want to have a meatless Monday. Enjoy.

Ingredients - makes 8 burgers

• (2) 16 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped

• 1 cup chopped scallions, roughly chopped

• bunch of cilantro – adjust to taste – I LOVE IT

• 1 clove garlic

• 2 eggs

• 2 tbsp cumin

• 1/2 to 1 tsp kosher salt

• hot sauce to taste (I think I used about 2 tsp)

• 1 cup quick oats

Directions:

Drain and rinse beans well, make sure to dry well. Add to large bowl and mash with fork, or potato masher. If you wanna save your wrist, use a potato masher, but it’s just as easy to do with large fork. Set aside.

In a food processor, add cilantro, pepper, scallion, and garlic, mix well. In a pinch, you can always just use a knife and finely chop everything – in case you don’t wanna break out the food processor, but make sure you finely chop.

Next, add oats, then eggs, cumin, hot sauce and salt into the food processor, mix well.

Add to bowl and fold into bean mixture.

Form into eight patties and place on a wax paper lined rimmed baking sheet. Skinny Taste recommends that if it’s too wet, chill the mixture 30 minutes in the refrigerator or add another tablespoon of oats – totally works.

Pop in the freezer at least 2 hours before cooking or keep frozen until ready to cook.

Heat a lightly sprayed skillet to medium heat and cook frozen burgers about 7 minutes on each side.

If grilling, lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil; grill 7-8 minutes on each side or you can bake in the oven at 375° on a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Serve as you wish. I just topped mine with avocado, but you can put on a bun with spicy mayo and it’s delicious.

HONEY-SOY BROILED SALMON

I swore I posted this recipe before, but I can’t seem to find it….so clearly I am going crazy. I am surprised it took me so long to post this one from EatingWell. 

I never used to eat salmon, I even used to avoid it. 

It was always the fishiest in my head, but I don’t ever remember trying it. I saw this one day on EatingWell and loved the ingredients. I thought maybe I could learn to like salmon, if I cooked it myself.

So here I was, scared to even touch salmon and I made this recipe. The minute I could smell the honey caramelize, I knew I was going to love it. I was right.

Ingredients:

• 1 scallion, minced

• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

• 1 pound center-cut salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 4 portions (they can skin it where you buy it - highly recommend having them do this for you)

• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Whisk scallion, soy sauce, vinegar, honey and ginger in a medium bowl until the honey is dissolved.

Place salmon in a sealable plastic bag, add 3 tablespoons of the sauce and refrigerate; let marinate for 15 minutes. Reserve the remaining sauce.


Preheat broiler. Line a small baking pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.

Transfer the salmon to the pan, skinned-side down. (Discard the marinade.)

Broil the salmon 4 to 6 inches from the heat source until cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes. Drizzle with the reserved sauce and garnish with sesame seeds.

SPICY BUTTERNUT SQUASH TURKEY MEATLOAF

Martha Stewart, enough said. She just gets me. This is exactly what I needed in my life.

I have been wanting to make meatloaf for weeks now and was pressured in my house to stay away from beef. So, was thinking about making a meatloaf with turkey, but wasn’t sure what I wanted to put in it to keep it moist, since turkey is more lean than beef. My mind immediately goes to BACON, naturally. 

Then Martha goes ahead and comes up with this sh$t…..bacon, butternut squash and sage….what the hell does she smoke, because I want some. 

This is a keeper. 

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 small yellow onion, diced medium (3/4 cup)

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled and diced medium (1 1/3 cups)

• 3 ounces pancetta or bacon, diced medium (1/2 cup)

• 1 3/4 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves

• 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

• Coarse salt and ground pepper

• 1 1/2 pounds ground pork or turkey

• 1 cup grated Parmesan (2 3/4 ounces)

• 1 to 2 slices white sandwich bread, diced medium (1 cup)

• 1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion, garlic, butternut squash, and bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and vegetables begin to brown, 5-7 minutes.

Add sage and red-pepper flakes, season with salt, and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, cheese, bread, and egg.

Add vegetable mixture and season with 2 teaspoons salt. Using your hands, mix until ingredients are combined. 

Transfer to lightly oiled roasting pan, form into a loaf.

Bake until meatloaf is cooked through, 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let rest 15 minutes before slicing…or just eat it. haha

GOLDEN BAKED PORK CUTLETS

I have been making these for years and every time I take my first bite, its like an explosion of flavor in my mouth.

This is a great recipe to spice up your weeknight meals. Pork is pretty cheap, so it’s a great dinner that tastes more expensive than it is. I found the recipe on EatingWell and follow it pretty much the same, except I use pork chops vs. a pork tenderloin cut up. I used to buy the pork tenderloin and slice it into cutlets, but I got lazy and rushed during the weeknights after work, so now I just buy the chops. You can make any variation to this, I know some folks don’t like added sugar, so you can omit that and even the onion powder and they still come out great. Also I have substituted Olive Oil in the past and they came out fine, a little heavier to me, but again I know some folks are anti-canola.

This is a staple in our house. Serve it with some cinnamon-spiced applesauce and you are good to go. The cinnamon compliments this well, trust me.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds center cut boneless pork chops sliced thin (trimmed of most of fat)

• 1 cup dry breadcrumbs, preferably whole-wheat

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 8 teaspoons canola oil

• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

• 4-6 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Mix breadcrumbs, sugar, paprika, onion powder and salt in a shallow dish. Drizzle with oil and mash with a fork until the oil is thoroughly incorporated.

Lightly beat egg white with a fork in another shallow dish.

Sprinkle cornstarch over the pork slices and pat to coat evenly on both sides. Dip the pork into the egg, then press into the breading mixture until evenly coated on both sides. (Discard leftover mixture.)

Place the pork on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until just barely pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer registers 145°F, 14 to 16 minutes. 

TURKEY CHILI W/ BEER & CILANTRO

I am in love with this chili. I have been making it for at least 5 years now and it’s amazing every time. 

Who doesn’t love beer and cilantro? Such a good combo. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 teaspoons chili powder

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 clove garlic, chopped

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• 1 pound ground turkey

• One 12-ounce Mexican beer (corona)

• One 15 1/2-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

• One 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, with their juice

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, salt, chili powder, and oregano and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste; cook 1 minute more.

Add the turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until the meat loses its raw color, about 3 minutes.

Add the beer and simmer until reduced by about half, about 8 minutes.

Add the tomatoes withe juiced and the beans; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 minutes. Stir in chopped cilantro. Taste for salt, add as needed.

Ladle the chili into bowls and serve with the garnishes of your choice.

GREEN CHILE PEPPER-JACK BISON BURGER

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE beef but try to eat more chicken and turkey when I can. Bison is a great alternative. I don’t know when I first tried bison, but its very similar to beef, just leaner. A few months ago I had ordered one from a local health food restaurant and it was super dry, so I had to redeem myself and make one myself. This doesn’t even need a sauce, but I put some bbq sauce on mine.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground bison or lean (90% or leaner) ground beef

• 2 4-ounce cans diced green chiles, drained, divided

• 1/2 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese, divided

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• 4 whole-wheat hamburger buns, toasted

Directions

Preheat grill.

Place bison (or beef), 1 can drained chiles, 1/4 cup cheese in a medium bowl. Gently combine without over-mixing. Form into 4 patties, about 3/4 inch thick. Make an indent in middle with your thumb – just to help it keep its form while its cooking. Salt and pepper both sides.

Grill the burgers, turning once, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Top each burger with a dollop of the remaining green chiles and sprinkle with shredded pepper-jack or use a slice of cheese. 

Cook until the cheese is melted, about 1 minute more.

GRILLED BLACKENED CHICKEN

Leave it to Martha Stewart to come up with the easiest, quickest, most delicious blackened chicken. There is a God, her name is Martha. 

One day I hope to be sharing a meal, a joint, or a cell with her. GOALS.

The recipe called for bone-in, skin on chicken breasts, but here I am on Labor Day @ the Grocery Store. Who shops on Labor Day? I do..and like 1,000 other people @ Stop & Shop. What a mess. …

I ended up buying an already cut packaged whole chicken - which is just a waste of money. You can just hand the butcher a whole chicken and they will cut it up for you and rewrap it [mine have always done this, but maybe some are just mean?]. I didn't want to be in the store one more second, so I grabbed one and ran. I ended up really liking the legs and wings, since they had more spice rub per bite. When I do this again, I plan to add a whole package of legs.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

• 2 teaspoons Paprika

• 3 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 4lb Whole chicken, cut into smaller pieces

• Can also use bone in breast, or just drumsticks

Set up a grill for indirect cooking over medium-high. Clean and lightly oil hot grill. In a bowl, combine paprika, ground pepper, salt, cayenne, oregano, thyme, garlic, and oil; rub on chicken, like really rub.

Grill chicken, skin side down, directly over heat source until skin is browned, about 4 minutes. Flip chicken; move to cooler side of grill. Cover grill and cook chicken until cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a platter and tent with foil. Let chicken rest 10 minutes.

SLOPPY NICKS [Turkey]

Not sure who Joe is, but this is my rendition of the popular classic. This recipe has been in the working since 2005, but never got written down. The first homemade Sloppy Joe I had was while I was studying abroad in Australia where a pearl laden Michigan native housemate taught me the way. I will never forget her cooking this in our small dorm room in her finest pearls....making Sloppy Joes.

Ingredients [makes 6-8 sloppy nicks]

• 3 lbs Ground Turkey

• 1/2 yellow onion, diced

• 2-3 Bell Peppers [mixed color], diced

• 1 1/2 cups Ketchup

• 1/2 cup bbq sauce

• TBLS Worcestershire Sauce 

• 2 tsp yellow mustard

• 1 1/2 cups red wine (don't get too fancy, it cooks down)

• 2 TBLS Olive Oil

Directions

Add olive oil to large pot at medium high heat. Toss in diced onion and peppers; sauce 5-10 minutes, until they start to cook down and carmelize a bit. I am not a fan of raw onion in anything, so I really cook it down to almost hide it in the dish. Remove from pot and set aside in a bowl. 

To pot, add ground turkey and season with salt & pepper. Do your best to break the meat up and brown it. Use the back of a wooden spoon, or even a potato masher to get into finer consistency. Once turkey is cooked through and no longer pink, add onion/pepper mix back in. 

Then add the ketchup, bbq sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and red wine. Mix well and bring to somewhat of a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. You really want to cook it down till you get the right "sloppy" consistency. We have all eaten these before, so you should know what to look for, its not too runny, but messy enough. 

Towards the end I needed to put mine on high heat to cook off the liquid and get it to the right consistency. If it gets too thick, add a little water and if its too thin, you can always add some cornstarch to bind it a bit. Taste it for the right tanginess. You can always tweak to your liking. I have noticed sometimes that I need to add a little more yellow mustard to get the right amount of tanginess. You will know what I mean when you taste it.

Transfer meat to buns. In this case, I also topped them with shredded pepper jack cheese and served them on brioche rolls. A hamburger bun works perfectly fine.

Enjoy. 

MOM'S PAN FRIED CORNISH HENS

One of my favorite meals growing up and today: My mom’s pan fried Cornish hens. These were always a treat growing up. I know they were a lot of work, because my mom was always manning the pan and slowly turning each piece by hand so that each one equally browned. I am always shocked at how much flavor this dish brings with just bay leaves, salt & wine.

This creates some of the best pan juice I know if.

Grab that bread. 

Ingredients

• 2 Cornish Hens [thawed fully if using frozen] 

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 6-8 Dried Bay Leaves

• 1/4 cup good white wine [used Pinot Grigio here]

• Salt & pepper

Directions

Rinse & pat those Cornish hens dry. Place on cutting board and get ready to cut down into smaller pieces. I used some amazing new meat shears I got, but you can do this with a nice cleaver. 

Salt & pepper both sides of the cut up chicken. I did this all in a sheet pan because it was the perfect size for this. 

Heat 1/2 cup oil in large pan. Test oil for readiness by slowly taking a piece of chicken with tongs and slowly place in oil, if it sizzles, then start placing chicken in oil. Lower heat to medium/high.

Fry in oil 10 mins till slightly golden on side, turn over and start browning other side. You'll start to see the chicken brown....you're on the right track. 

Once chicken starts to brown on both sides, add in bay leaves and work into oil to make sure bay leaves begin frying in oil. Fry an additional 10 mins.

Turn chickens frequently in oil until golden all around. 

Lower heat and slowly pour white wine into pan. 

Cook an additional 5 minutes, turning chicken frequently to baste into oil/wine mixture. Remove from heat. 

Serve directly from pan with a spoon, because you will want to soak up all the pan juices.

GRILLED BABY LAMB CHOPS W/ LEMON

This one is pretty simple and quick. Don’t need to go getting crazy to make lamb taste good, its just sooo good on it’s own. You can serve this an entree or an appetizer. I bought these @ Stop & Shop (local grocery store) because it’s less than a mile away and I didn’t feel like dealing with Costco. 

I LOVE Costco and you can’t beat their pricing for lamb chops, but you need to mentally be prepared to go there, and I wasn’t.

I can’t go there for one thing, I try all the time, but it never works….never. Even if you bet me, I couldn’t do it. I need the things I buy there…need them all.

Ingredients

• 3 lemons, halved

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 16 baby lamb chops (2.5 to 3 pounds)

• Kosher salt

Directions

On a rimmed container or even a ziplock bag, combine olive oil,  juice of 2 lemons with lamb chops. Sprinkle with salt.

Mix all around with your hands, make sure to evenly coat each lamb chop. Don’t be shy with the salt Slice the last lemon and place on top of lamb.

Cover and let marinate at room temperature, turning occasionally, about 1 hour, but are great after just 15-20 minutes. 

Preheat a grill – charcoal, propane or even a grill pan/skillet on the stove. I am using propane. I am in desperate need of a new grill and its more of a “searing” grill because it cooks @ massively high temps – it often flares up and I am too lazy to buy some new parts…I love it, it crisps these up nice.

Look at those flames…wtf am I thinking….but those grill marks….F yes.

Grill the chops and lemons until browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve the chops topped with the lemons.

“WAFFLES OF INSANE GREATNESS”

The name says it all. The recipe is courtesy of an episode of $40 a day w/ Rachel Ray on Food Network. I remember watching this episode and drooling over these. I usually double the recipe since ya never know whose here for breakfast and I rather have more than less.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1 egg

• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Butter and syrup, for serving

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well.

Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes

Preheat a waffle iron. Do not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron; the oil in the batter will allow the waffle to release easily. Follow the directions on your waffle iron to cook the waffles.

Serve immediately with butter and syrup.

GRILLED JUICY TURKEY BURGERS (W / ZUCCHINI)

I love reading food blogs and cookbooks. It’s the story that keeps giving. I know I may sound crazy, but the same way you can fall in love with characters in novels – I fall in love with recipes. They tell a story.

I plan to do some more cookbook / blog reviews and who knows, one day maybe meet these people…

One I can’t get enough of right now is:  Skinnytaste, the site is unreal for anyone, regardless of food restrictions, she (Gina Homolka) has something for everyone. She also came out with a cookbook that is the real version of “food porn.”

Seriously buy it now. You won’t be disappointed. I mean it…stop reading, and go to Amazon. Here is the link: The Skinnytaste Cookbook. But then come back.

The recipe tonight came from her blog, that I have modified a few ways and it always comes out delicious, so its super versatile – depending on what you like. It’s a solid base that you can add to and make your own.

I used to always eat turkey burgers because it was a compromise for me, I was trying to watch what I was eating (literally watching it go into my mouth) and avoid beef burgers, but eat turkey…it was usually dry and boring. 

Somehow Gina figured out God’s gift to dry turkey burgers: ZUCCHINI

The best turkey burger I have ever had and now all other turkey burgers are ruined going forward.

Ingredients:

• 5 oz grated zucchini (when squeezed 4.25 oz)

• 1 lb ground turkey

• 1/4 cup seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs – can also use gluten free or regular

• 1 clove garlic, grated (optional) – I omitted this 

• 1 tbsp grated red onion (optional) – I sometimes include this and sometimes don’t

• 1 tsp kosher salt and fresh pepper

• oil spray

• Add in’s: you can stir in other items I’ve tested that come out great (black beans, roasted peppers and corn are just a few I tried)

Directions:

Squeeze ALL the moisture from the zucchini with paper towels. In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, zucchini, breadcrumbs, garlic (optional), onion (optional), salt and pepper. Make 5 equal patties, 4 1/2 ounces each.

Shredded zucchini -use a few paper-towels to press the water out.

To cook indoors: Heat a large nonstick skillet on high heat. When hot, lightly spray oil. Add burgers to the pan and reduce the heat to low. Cook on one side until browned, then flip. Flip over a few times to prevent burning and to make sure the burgers are cooked all the way through.

If grilling: Clean grill well before cooking and spray with oil spray to prevent sticking. Cook the burgers on medium heat about 5 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink in the center.

You can easily eat these on a bun just like a burger with all the fixins, but I prefer to eat them bun-less with hot sauce and sliced avocado.

As I am writing this, I just remember I have a handful I need to freeze. I have made these in advance before and refrigerated them for a trip to Fire Island and cooked them when I got there.

I have a few in the freezer too, so I am always ready to go. Buy that Cookbook!

MUSHROOM & GOAT CHEESE PIZZA

Ingredients:

• 1 large dough (cut in half and formed into 2 rounds)

• 2 Packages of cremini mushrooms sliced

• 4 oz goat cheese

• balsamic vinegar

• 2 cloves garlic (sliced in half)

This can be done in the oven as my other pizzas, but I decided to grill these ones. Shape the dough’s into round circles, rub both sides with olive oil and place directly on a hot grill. I have a pizza grate that I bought from Crate & Barrel specifically for this purpose, but I have done it directly on the grill before I knew about the pan, so either way is fine. Grill one side until golden brown, and slightly burnt, then slip over with thongs and grill the other side. You are looking for the grill marks on both sides. 

Meanwhile, saute the mushrooms in a pan with a little oil and garlic. Remove from the saute pan and drain off the liquid. Spread the mushrooms on the grilled dough’s and sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.

Place back on the grill until goat cheese starts to brown, remove from the grill and lightly drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

SAUSAGE & GREEN OLIVE PIZZA

Ingredients:

• 1 large pizza dough (cut in half and formed into 2 rounds)

• Package of sweet or spicy Italian sausage

• Jar of Green Spanish Olives, sliced

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella

• 1 cup tomato sauce

This can be done in the oven as my other pizzas, but I decided to grill these ones. Shape the dough’s into round circles, rub both sides with olive oil and place directly on a hot grill. I have a pizza grate that I bought from Crate & Barrel specifically for this purpose, but I have done it directly on the grill before I knew about the pan, so either way is fine. Grill one side until golden brown, and slightly burnt, then slip over with thongs and grill the other side. You are looking for the grill marks on both sides.

Meanwhile, remove the sausage links from their casings and saute in a medium skillet.

Break up the pieces with a wooden spoon, the smaller the better. Once cooked completely, I drain off some of the grease and set aside.

Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce onto the grilled dough and top with half the sausage and a handful of sliced olives. Sprinkle with half of the shredded mozzarella and bring back to the grill to finish until cheese is melted.

Slice and enjoy.

BBQ CHICKEN PIZZA

Ingredients:

• 1 large dough

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced

• 1 cup BBQ sauce

• 1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

• 1/2 cup shredded smoked gouda

• sliced red onion

• 2 TBLS chopped cilantro

For the BBQ chicken pizza, I do the same as I did for the Plain Cheese Pizza, but instead of spreading the tomato sauce onto the dough, I spread a 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce. Dice the chicken up and saute in a saute pan until fully cooked through, add the remaining 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and cook until the chicken is coated well with the BBQ sauce.

Place the dough w/ the BBQ sauce into the oven and bake until the bottom is golden brown

Remove the dough from the oven. Sprinkle the prepared chicken evenly onto the dough, sprinkle with the fresh chopped cilantro, sprinkle the shredded cheeses evenly over the pizza and top with the red onion circles. Bake until cheese is melted.