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Weeknight Meals

Roasted red pepper panini with cilantro lime mayo

Roasted Red Pepper Panini with Cilantro-Lime Mayo

I recently showed you all a post on how to roast red peppers, so I thought I would show a great way to make use of them, since you probably have a few extra ones lying around.  This is seriously one of my favorite vegetarian paninis, and now that red peppers are in season I find myself making this sandwich up all the time, yes all the time, because I’m addicted!  This panini is overloaded with flavor from the roasted red pepper, smashed avocado, juicy heirloom tomato and the cilantro-lime mayonnaise. It’s truly as satisfying as any panini made with meat, (just ask my meat loving daughter, Zoe) and it’s a great meatless Monday sandwich to pair with your favorite soup or salad.  I mean who knew that a veggie panini could be SO satisfying and taste SO good 🙂

Vegetarian banh mi with siracha mayo.

Vegetarian Banh Mi Sandwich with Sriracha Mayonnaise

I’m sure there are those of you that have never heard of a banh mi sandwich before, am I right?  You’re probably thinking what the heck is a banh mi sandwich.  Well, I didn’t know what one was either until this past spring when my friend Carolyn showed some photos on Instagram of her fixings for a banh mi sandwich.  Since then, I’ve seen these sandwiches popping up everywhere, it’s like my eyes were opened.  Banh mi is the perfect combination of french bread combined with Vietnamese ingredients like cilantro, pickled vegetables, and chilies.  Banh mi’s can be made with chicken, pork, beef, tofu, eggs and salmon and the sauces or spreads vary with each sandwich.  I chose to make a vegetarian version with roasted tofu from my miso kale salad recipe, and a sriracha mayonnaise sauce that our family loves.  This sriracha mayonnaise is also a great dip for fries, onion rings and as a topping for burgers.

One pan pasta top view

One-Pan Pasta

Isn’t this above picture just beautiful and doesn’t it make you want to try a batch of this pasta tonight? I mean look at all of those fresh ingredients and all that color. I saw a photo similar to this in the most recent edition of Martha Stewart living and it looked so cool and challenging to me. I mean a one-pan pasta, who had ever heard of that (not me)? I seriously wondered how it was all going to work, and I have to say that I was a bit skeptical. I will also admit that the first time I made this pasta up, it didn’t turn out so great, as the pasta was overcooked. I was under the assumption that ALL of the water had to evaporate, so I cooked the pasta way too long and it was a bit over-done. We all really loved the flavors in this pasta though, so I vowed to try it again. Well, the second time around proved to be the charm. The pasta came out perfectly al dente and it created this thick creamy sauce that coated every strand of pasta.

Asparagus and gruyere cheese pizza

Asparagus and Gruyere Cheese Pizza

We’re bringing back pizza Friday in the Grandy house, at least for the summer anyway. I just love pizza Fridays. We all hang in the kitchen, I make a big salad while the kid’s roll out the dough and assemble their pizza while talking about their week. I unwind with a glass of wine and watch them (just kidding, I do help). The kids usually create their own pizza, usually just a jar of Trader Joe’s red sauce, some pepperoni and some mozzarella cheese, easy peasy and kid friendly. John and I like a more adult pizza so I like to experiment with different combinations. I created this one night as I had tons of asparagus in the house and thought to myself, why not throw this on a pizza. I added a bit of garlic to some olive oil, threw in some gruyere cheese along with the mozzarella, just to jazz things up, and voila, a delicious pizza was created. I love when that happens. Pizza is pizza, and I love that you can just throw anything on it and have it turn out great, (well, most of the time). My next pizza idea involves some heirloom tomatoes, that is when their prices comes down of course.

Easy skillet sausage and white bean stew

Easy Skillet Sausage and White Bean Stew

Let’s face it, we’re all busy, and coming home at the end of a hectic weekday and cooking up an elaborate meal is not really anyones’ idea of fun. We’re not living in June Cleaver reality here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun cooking up a nice meal when there’s time, (like the weekend) but on most weeknights I prefer to keep things simple, tasty and quick. This stew fits that bill. This is an easy one-skillet, one-bowl weeknight meal. It can be made in approximately 30 minutes (give or take a few) and you only dirty up one pan, yes you heard me right, one pan, oh, and a cutting board (but that doesn’t really count).

Skillet chicken parm in a skillet on the stove.

Easy Skillet Chicken Parmesan

Jump to recipe Here’s an easy weeknight chicken parmesan recipe that can be made and on your table in under 30 minutes, and the added

Ina's summer garden pasta

Ina’s Summer Garden Pasta with Video Tutorial

I make this up in the morning and let it sit out all day, and then at dinner all I have to do is cook up some angel hair pasta (2-3 min) and mix the pasta with the tomato marinade and cheese. Easy peasy! Perfect simple, meatless, weeknight dinner!

Paul McCartney's refried bean tacos

Paul McCartney’s Refried Bean Tacos

I recently picked a new favorite cookbook called, Meat Free Monday, and came across this refried bean taco recipe from Paul McCartney. It was said to be one of his favorite recipes, so I decided to give it a try.

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