Cottage Cheese Side Salad

I made up my own recipe using our veggies and it was so good! Combine the ingredients and enjoy. Don't know measurements. Sorry!

Cottage Cheese
Chopped Tomatoes
Diced Green Pepper
Chopped Chives
Black pepper sprinkled on top

Grilled caprese chicken

Ooo!  My first contribution to this website!  Yippee!

We had friends over last night and served this for the first time.  It was a great way to use our garden tomatoes AND basil from the garden.  It was sooo delicious!  Worth a share.  One thing I did differently was marinate the breasts for about 45 minutes in some olive garden salad dressing.  Not sure if it made a big difference, but I did it.

Grilled Caprese Chicken

YIELD: SERVES 4-6

Note: The chicken breasts should be on the thinner side of things. If you have gargantuan, thick chicken breasts, slice them in half horizontally, giving you two thinner chicken breasts. All in all, you should end up with 4-6 thinner pieces of chicken. Also, look for tomatoes that are ripe but still firm so they will hold their shape on the grill.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch slices, halved, and patted dry
• 4 chicken breasts, about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds (see note above)
• 2 large tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/2-inch slices

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, combine the basil, vinegar, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Slowly whisk in the oil until it is thoroughly incorporated. Transfer 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette to a bowl and toss in the fresh mozzarella pieces, coating the cheese with the vinaigrette. Set aside. Reserve the remaining vinaigrette for the cooked chicken.
2. Pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel and season both sides with salt and pepper. Grill the chicken and tomatoes on a hot charcoal or gas grill until the chicken is browned and cooked through and the tomatoes are lightly charred, about 2-3 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of your chicken and heat of the grill). Transfer the cooked chicken to a platter. Top with the tomato slices and drizzle with the reserved vinaigrette. Cover the chicken with an even layer of mozzarella and tent the platter loosely with foil. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes. Serve.

Chicken Fajitas

We loved these. It was a great replacement to the packets I used to buy. We didn't follow the instructions that well. We just mixed the seasonings in a bowl, put in the veggies and chicken, and cooked it on the grill. We used Costco's rotisserie chicken for the chicken so it was even faster.

12 Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into strips
• 2 bell peppers, sliced
• 1 onion, thinly sliced 
• 8 small tortillas

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Make fajita seasoning: Whisk together chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a cast-iron grill pan or frying pan over medium-high heat. 
4. Add chicken and sprinkle with 3/4 of fajita seasoning. Mix together and cook for 6 to 10 minutes, or until browned.
5. In a second pan, heat remaining2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add peppers and onion. Stir in remaining fajita seasoning. Cook until vegetables are soft, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. While veggies and meat are cooking, wrap tortillas in tin foil and warm in oven.
7. To assemble fajitas, fill warmed tortillas with chicken, peppers, and onions. Top with favorite garnishes.

BY KELLI DUNNhttp://greatist.com/eat/recipes/chicken-fajitas

Slow Cooker Beef Enchildas

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/slow-cooker-mexican-shredded-beef-for-enchiladas/

I don't usually like burritos that are mostly meat but these were different. We loved these! They tasted like a really good restaurant and they were easy because all the meat cooking was done in the crockpot.  I had a lot of meat and sauce leftover after making a big pan so I froze it for later. It was nice it made so much.

Cheesy Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/cheesy-spinach-stuffed-pasta-shells/

I think these are going to replace my manicotti recipe because they were so much easier. I didn't make her sauce but just opened a store bought bottle to make it easier. My favorite part was that I didn't have to stuff those tight manicotti shells.

Pesto Pizza and Pesto Grilled Cheese

Mark bought a huge jar of pesto from Costco.  We have made pizza with it a couple of times with our garden basil and tomatoes.  I use the freezer pizza dough recipe that I already posted from this blog because it always turns out and it's easy. I just replace the pizza sauce for pesto, add shredded mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, and chopped basil.  It's a favorite around here.

We have also been loving pesto tomato basil grilled cheese sandwiches around here.

Grilled Pepper Meatless Burger

Last weekend, I needed a quick meal and this is what I came up with after looking in the fridge.  It turned out to be a great meal that I would love to make again.  Mark got a new cast iron grill so he threw this all on the grill.

melt cheese on hamburger buns  (we did mozzarella)

Grill together:
minced garlic
sliced onions
sliced mushrooms
sliced bell peppers (I used an orange and a red)

Assemble on warm buns and enjoy!

Tomato Basil Grilled Cheese

The basil in our garden has been growing wild and free this year.  It has been so fun!  This morning I had just been in the garden and saw a ripe tomato along with lots of basil.  Then I remembered I had just finished making wheat bread. My lunch was a no brainer.  I used mozzarella for the cheese.