Coconut oil

My newest love with stove popped popcorn. Oh my is this good !

Joe Caribe

Joe Caribe is a local caribbean restaurant that is pretty much to go only but has a few seats inside the small building. It has some of the most unique and best food in Auburn.

My all time favorite is the Mango glazed chicken sandwich.

They grill the mango glazed chicken and the bread. The put island slaw (their version on cold slaw) in the sandwich and the remolada they put on in place of plain old mayo is:

mayo

pickles

scallions

capers

paprika

all blended together. Yum Yum!!

You will not be disappointed when eating this sandwich!!!! The bread is just crisp enough to know it was grilled but not rock hard so all the food falls out. It is a warm sandwich but ok to eat on a hot day. Just make sure you have lots of napkins!

Orzo Salad

ORZO SALAD WITH GRAPE TOMATOES AND HERBS

The Pasta:
8 oz Orzo

The Dressing:
2 tbsp Sherry Wine Vinegar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

The Ingredients:

1-1/4 lbs grape tomatoes, cut in half
3/4 cup chopped green onion (white and green parts)
1/2 cup sliced pitted Kalamata olives
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp chopped italian parsley
3/4 cup feta (buy the solid one then dice into 1/2 inch pieces, not crumbled)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

Cook the orzo in boiling water until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water, drain again. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool.

When cool to the touch:

Whisk vinegar, lemon juice in a small bowl, gradually whisk in oil. Pour over the orzo.

Mix in all the ingredients EXCEPT the basil, feta and pine nuts. Cover and refrigerate.

About 2 hours before serving remove from refrigerator and add basil, feta and pine nuts. Let sit at room temperature. Check your seasonings and stir before serving. You can also leave out the feta if you don't want that.

Quesadilla's

I love making over stuffed quesadilla's. Must be all the oozing cheese out the side of it.

For ours we used chicken with the Chili's fajita marinade. We usually make a ton of the chicken and use it over the week for various dishes.

Jack cheese

Sliced avocado (we put this on the inside and cook it with the rest of the ingredients.

Flour tortilla's - this time we used the whole wheat version of these.

Some black beans - not too much or they quesadilla's fall apart. (drain liquid out of beans before using)

Topped with some Salsa Verde.

Such a great lunch!

Chili's Fajita Marinade

1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tbls. olive oil
4 cloves garlic - crushed
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. liquid Barbecue Smoke®
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 Lb. top sirloin steak OR 1 Lb. boned and
skinned chicken breasts

Combine the lime juice, oil, garlic, soy sauce, salt, liquid smoke,
peppers, and either the sirloin OR the chicken in a Tupperware container,
cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

-Grill meat over medium flame 4-5 minutes on each side.

Discard leftover marinade.

Pumpkin pancakes - Tweetybird style

Take some yummy pancake mix, add in Sylvester and some agave maple syrup and you end up with Tweetybird waffles. Yum yum!

BBQ'd Pizza

We love to BBQ everything thing. Pizza is one of the easiest to do.

Make sure you have all your ingredients ready to go because it goes fast once you start. Depending on how much of your cheese melts while on the bbq you may want to pre-cook some of your veggies ahead of time, either saute or bbq.

We went with good old salami pizza this time. My favorite! Everything is from Trader Joe's but obviously you can buy stuff where ever you like. They have 3 different options for dough - flour, whole wheat, and garlic herb. I prefer flour. I love whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and bagels, but pizza just isn't the same with whole wheat flour.

Preheat the bbq - ours was at about 400 when I put the dough on. Spray the grill with non stick spray before lying dough down. Dough does not need to be a circle. In fact I cant' ever get it into a circle.

Set your timer for 2 minutes unless you don't plan on leaving the bbq. That burn spot happened fast! Flip dough over once there are grill marks on the bottom.

Now put the sauce, cheese and toppings on and close the lid. Turn the bbq down to low and let it cook, checking every 2-3 minutes for burning.

Once the bottom is cooked if the toppings aren't or the cheese still needs to melt or if you just like it that way go ahead and broil it in your oven for a few minutes.

You wont be sorry for trying to bbq a pizza. I also think Papa Murphy's has a section on their website on bbqn' their pizzas. It's great for summer!