Caprese Panini

This is one of Carlos' FAVORITE dishes and luckily one of the easiest and somewhat healthy! It is especially good in late summer when the garden os overflowing with tomatoes and basil. You can only eat just so many caprese salads and pasta with fresh tomatoes and basil. We have probably had Caprese Panini 3 times in the last 2 weeks. When our schedules are busy and we don't want take-out (which we never do anyways!), I just whip up a caprese panini. There are almost always tomatoes in the bowl on the counter, pesto in the refrigerator (store bought is ok and a great item to have in the fridge, more of that in another posting), ovoline, and whole wheat pane from Trader Joe's. Add some baked potato chips and/or an arugula salad and PRESTO, dinner is ready in minutes! Of course I could not do it without my Pampered Chef grill pan and grill press! You do not need one of those gadgety panini presses! In fact you could make panini with a regularsaute pan and a smaller pan weighted down with a big can of tomatoes! It just needs to be squished! Those fancy grill marks are great, but not necessary! MMMMMMM I just mnade myself crave a caprese panini!

Rewarding Carlos

Since Carlos has been such a good guinea pig the past week I decided to reward him with one of his favorite meals! I have skirt steak chilling in my secret marinade (that took many meals at Bongos to finally replicate!). It will be grilled on a very HOT grill to sear n the juices and make it tender. If you have never had skirt steak...YOU MUST TRY IT! E-mail me for the marinade recipe. Black beans are simmering on the stove, rice is cooking, corn on the cob is ready to go on the grill. My mouth is salivating at the thought of this meal! Maybe I should go make more limonada.

Seared Tuna Part 2

So I just ate the tuna. Not bad. Although I would have cooked down the marinade and basted the tuna with after I pulled off the grill pan. The marinade was delicious and flavorful. Soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, freshly ground ginger, garlic, sesame seeds. Wasabi powder would have been a nice spicey addition or even some curry paste. It was tasty but needed a kick! Next time Carlos is outta town I will try it again! I feel better just from eating it!

Seared Tuna

So Carlos is away and I am using this opportunity to make seared tuna. Carlos not being a big seafood fan....I never get to make this at home. Not only is it delicious it is super healthy too. Marinate it in some asian seasonings and sear it in a very HOT pan. Serve alongside arugula salad with mango and voila healty nutritious tasty dinner!