Spicy Canned Tuna Ceviche

Spicy Canned Tuna Ceviche

I planned on making this for my Saturday lunch, but all sorts of errands got in the way. After a two and a half hour shopping binge trip at three stores, it was time to pick up my 16-year-old daughter from her 4-hour SkidCar course at noon (which I begrudgingly got up at 7:30 am on a weekend to take her to it). I had bought all the ingredients for this recipe, in addition to restocking our refrigerator with staples. Our freezer in the fridge went KAPUT a couple of weeks ago, and then the refrigerator side slowly went downhill until it barely kept milk cold enough to drink. We’d been “cooler camping” at our house for the last few days until our new fridge arrived and had to toss out a bunch of stuff. Thank goodness we have a chest freezer in the garage, as I would have been heartbroken to lose the rest of our quarter cow we bought last fall. Nonetheless, after all that shopping I didn’t have time to make this, let alone get the groceries out of the car before I had to pick her up! So we stopped at a local fresh Mexican food joint on the way home and I had a taco and she had a burrito.

For dinner last night, I made my staple summer-time grilled tortilla pizza! I marinated then grilled the chicken, tossed the tortilla on the grill, added pesto, artichoke hearts, the chicken, mozzarella and fresh basil from my herb garden.

Fresh Basil in Herb Garden

I made this and other tortillas pizzas all last summer. If you want the recipes, click here —> Grilled Tortilla Pizzas.

Fresh Grilled Chicken, Artichoke and Pesto Tortilla Pizza

p.s. You are asking yourself, what is a SkidCar course? It’s an amazing driving course using a special car and hydraulics to teach someone how to drive on ice and snow (or how to get out of a skid on any surface), even if there is no snow on the ground! My daughter will get a 30% discount on insurance now, we checked with our company. Win-win, and I’ll feel more secure now when the snow flies again in the winter with her driving skills. I arrived about 5 minutes early and got to see my daughter go into several “skids” and safely recover from them! For information on that course (not available in all areas) click here —> SkidCar course).

And yes, I made this great lunch today, finally. It was every bit as delicious as I expected it to be, and my husband said he really like it a lot! Now on to the recipe!

Spicy Canned Tuna Ceviche
Credit for this goes to Gina for Canned Tuna Ceviche at Skinnytaste.com

2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 to 1 1/2 limes, juiced (about 1/8 cup)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 can chunk white albacore tuna packed in water, drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley)
1/2 to 1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced
1 medium seeded plum tomato, finely diced
Dash of Sriracha sauce (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Romaine lettuce leaves, for serving
Sliced avocado, for garnish
Tortilla chips, for garnish

Fresh Ceviche Ingredients

In a medium bowl, combine the red onion, lime juice, and olive oil. To that, add the tuna, cilantro, jalapeño, tomato, and Sriracha, if using. Taste and add salt, pepper, and more lime juice, if needed.

Ceviche Ready to Chill

Gosh I’m a messy cook! Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 20 minutes. Serve on a bed of romaine lettuce leaves garnished with slices of avocado and tortilla chips. A wonderful light summer lunch salad!

Spicy Canned Tuna Ceviche

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!

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Grilled Chicken Tortilla Pizza ~ Two Ways!

Because one cannot have too many Monkey on a Unicycle Pizza Cutters, right?

I have a friend who joked that my family will only eat grilled tortilla pizzas the rest of the summer. I am afraid she might not be far off the mark! This week’s riff included my daughter’s standard pepperoni and black olive, and my new take on the chicken pesto version by adding quartered artichoke hearts. My husband still was not sold on the pesto idea (even though he really liked my last one) and his vision was a remake of a popular take-and-bake pizza with both chicken and bacon.

I let him fry up the bacon outside on the grill’s external propane burner while I grilled the chicken on the regular grill. Teamwork!

Grilled Chicken and Artichoke Pesto Pizza

Grilled chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
10-inch flour tortilla
Pesto sauce (store-bought or homemade)
Canned or frozen artichoke hearts, quartered
Sliced tomato
Fresh mozzarella cheese chunks
Fresh basil ribbons

Grilled Chicken, Artichoke, Bacon and Mushroom Pizza

Grilled chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
10-inch flour tortilla
Marinara sauce (store-bought or homemade)
Canned or frozen artichoke hearts, quartered
Sliced mushrooms
1 or 2 slices cooked bacon, torn into chunks
Fresh mozzarella cheese chunks

Marinating Chicken

Start off by cutting the smallish chicken breast in half lengthwise and pound it thin, grind a bunch of black pepper over it, and marinate it in an olive oil and vinaigrette dressing (store-bought) for a half hour. You can use any oil-based dressing for this, or make your own! Or for a time-saver, you can use rotisserie chicken from the deli.

Grilling the Chicken

Meanwhile, preheat the grill to high heat. When ready, cook the chicken on the grill about 4 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink in the center. Remove, tent with foil, and set aside. Turn the heat on the grill down to medium to medium-low.

Frying up the Bacon

If you have a bacon-eating spouse, they can cook the bacon while you are grilling.

Spray the tortilla(s) on one side and grill for about 3 minutes, until crisp and starting to puff up on the top side. Remove to plate, then spray the non-grilled side with oil. Flip over, then spread sauce of choice over top on the grilled side. Then add your toppings of choice.

Tortilla Pizzas Ready to Grill

Place back on grill, cover, and cook for about 5 more minutes until cheese is melted. Add a green salad on the side, and dinner is served!

Tortilla Pizzas Fresh off the Grill

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Tomatoes

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Tomatoes

The first of our cherry tomatoes have ripened on one of our plants! I do believe this is a record for us, to have some ripe tomatoes in early July. So I was flying solo last night (hubby is out of town overnight and the daughter left for a four day camping trip too) so I decided to whip up something “just for me” using three of our ripe wee tomatoes, plus one organic tomato hanging out on the counter.

Ripe Cherry Tomatoes

I scrummaged through the fridge and pantry to see what I could concoct out of these beauties. I found a lonely Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb Cheese wedge, a bag of spinach I brought on our camping trip last week and in dire need of using up, a half lemon, and a can of quartered artichoke hearts. OK. So it’s only me. I can do this. I will use part of the spinach and open a can for one artichoke heart quarter, but I promised myself I’ll make something out of the rest when the fam gets home.

Tomatoes, Spinach, and Artichokes, et. al.

I seriously just made this up on the fly. I’d briefly googled some recipes with a few of the ingredients, but nothing really popped out at me so decided just to throw some stuff together and see what happened. I ended up using twice the amount of spinach in my photo, as I still haven’t mastered the art of how much fresh spinach reduces but I have the correct amount below for one serving.  Since this is only a recipe for one, feel free to double, triple, or quadruple the amount! Oh, and yes, this was divine. Very decadent, just the right amount of spice, herbs and all over yumminess. I so enjoyed popping those stuffed cherry tomatoes just out of the oven into my mouth with the creamy spinach filling. I can’t wait until we have more tomatoes for more great recipes!

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Tomatoes

1 small tomato plus three cherry tomatoes
Spray or splash of olive oil
2 large handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 artichoke heart, chopped small
1 wedge Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb cheese (you can sub with some cream cheese with fresh herbs mixed in)
1 lemon wedge, squeezed
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 wee pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Shredded Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese for topping
Bed of fresh spinach

Cut off a small slice off the top of the tomatoes, then core them. So what did I do with the centers and seeds? I ATE them! I simply could not throw out the centers of my first cherry tomatoes and a lovely organic one. Yumm. Nothing wrong with eating the centers of tomatoes, I can tell you that.

In a skillet over medium heat, spray some olive oil and add the spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, lemon juice, sour cream, and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir around and smoosh around until spinach is wilted and cheeses have melted. The sour cream was a last minute addition as the one small wedge of cream cheese just didn’t cut it. Remove from heat, then stuff the cored tomatoes. Eat any amount that doesn’t fit in the centers, OK? Now top the tomatoes with shredded Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese. I was out of Parmesan and would have preferred that but the Mozzarella was a good sub.

Place the tomatoes in a foil lined pan under the broiler for about  five minutes until the cheese starts to melt and brown. Remove from pan with tongs and serve over a bed of fresh spinach. Chow time!

Cored Tomato and Juices ~ Eat all the centers of them!

Spinach, Artichoke, Chicken, and Mushroom Alfredo Pasta

Chicken, Spinach, Artichoke, and Mushroom Alfredo Pasta

This is the third variation I’ve made of this dish over the past couple of months, but the options are endless and it only takes a half hour to make from start to finish. That makes it my go-to recipe when I’m pinched for time. I’ve served this with just the spinach and noodles as a side dish, then I also made it a meatless main by adding artichokes. I think I’ve maxed out the ingredients this time around by also adding chicken and mushrooms to that growing list!

Getting this ready in a half-hour with chicken means you need precooked chicken. I used the leftover grilled chicken from the night before, but you can also use a rotisserie chicken from the deli.  I made way too much, as adding the chicken and mushrooms just put it over the top in quantity category for the three of us, especially since I over-eyeballed the pasta amount. Somebody PLEASE tell me how much dry pasta to boil for three?!  But it made great leftovers the next night.  All I had to do was add a little milk to the saucepan while reheating it to loosen it up, and it came out great. Since we didn’t have as much leftovers to eat as the night before, a side salad was served for round two.

Adding the Chicken and Spinach to Alfredo and Artichokes

Spinach, Artichoke, Chicken, and Mushroom Alfredo

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 to 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed

Plus, follow the recipe from this blog entry Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Angel Hair Pasta,   except add the mushrooms when sauteing the garlic, then add the cooked chicken when adding the artichokes. That’s it! Dinner on the table in a half hour, really! So sorry for the shortcut recipe, but I’m short on time these days.  🙂

Grilled Steak and Artichoke Salad

Grilled Steak and Artichoke Salad

Here is a main dish steak salad that will appease even the heartiest of appetites. Temperatures are still toasty here and I wanted to concoct a cool summer salad that would be filling enough for dinner. I used a thin-sliced top round, which is not as tender as flank steak, but marinating the meat helped tenderize it. I was going to make a homemade vinaigrette, but by the time I finished grilling, chopping, and dicing I decided store-bought dressing would suffice.

Steak Marinade

1/2 pound thin-sliced steak
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Black pepper to taste

Place the steak in a quart Ziploc baggie. Whisk the rest of the ingredients together and pour over the steak. Seal bag and let marinate for several hours or overnight. Take out and let come to room temperature about an hour before grilling.

Grilled Steak and Artichoke Salad

Marinated steak
Torn red-leaf lettuce
Thin-sliced red onion
Chopped green onion
1 can drained and rinsed artichoke hearts, quartered
Grape tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled, sliced, and quartered
Sliced white mushrooms
Black pepper to taste

Heat grill to medium-high heat. Grill steak for about 5 minutes each side, then place on platter and tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes.  Slice thin across the grain, and serve on top of a bed of lettuce with the other ingredients. Serve with salad dressing of choice.