Summer Entertaining: Hummus and Turkey Flatbreads with Romaine

Level up your next flatbread - literally!  This flatbread - salad combo strikes the perfect balance between indulgence and veggie deliciousness.  

Hummus and Turkey Flatbreads with Romaine

No one like to cook elaborate and heavy meals during the summer.  That's why this quick and easy flatbread salad combo is so appealing.  It take no time to make, and it's filling, light, and oh so delicious.  Today's recipe is a Greek(ish) version of a flatbread salad.  It features hummus and seasoned ground turkey as a base and is topped with salad goodies such as dressed romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, and a sprinkle to feta.  It's a Mediterranean summer feast the whole family will enjoy!

This is perfect for either lunch or dinner.  We've made it several times this summer and just love it for it's fresh and tasty take on a salad pizza.

Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• ground turkey
• naan bread - individual sized
• onion
• garlic cloves
• oregano - fresh or dried
• olive oil
• hummus
• apple cider vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• romaine lettuce
• cherry tomatoes
• Persian cucumbers
• feta cheese

Substitutions and Variations

• Use ground lamb, chicken or beef instead of turkey

• Add roasted red peppers to the salad

• Add black olives to the salad

• Use lemon juice for the apple cider vinegar

• Don't care for feta, leave it off or try ricotta salata, or goat cheese

• Use store bought pizza dough instead of naan

• Try a flavored hummus

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• Watch the naan closely as they can burn quickly.

• This can be cooked on an outdoor grill as well.

• Make the salad mixture while the flatbread are cooking.

• Serve right away so you get that mix of cold and hot ingredients.

• Try baby naan for cute appetizers  - or use the largest naan and cut into portions.

• Try garlic naan for extra flavor.

• If using pizza dough, spread melted butter seasoned with garlic powder around the edges for extra flavor.

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Hummus and Turkey Flatbreads with Romaine

serves 4

4 individual sized naan breads
1/2 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano)
salt & black pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons olive oil - more for oiling the naan bread
1 10oz container of hummus
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
5 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 large Persian cucumbers, sliced in to rounds
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preheat the over to 450 degrees.  In a large skillet over medium high heat, cook ground turkey, onion, garlic, and oregano (if using dried) until browned and cooked through.  Season with salt and pepper and stir in fresh oregano if using.

Place naan bread on a 2 large baking sheets and brush with olive oil.  Spread with hummus leaving a 1 inch border on the bread.  Top with turkey mixture and bake 10-15 minutes or until the edges of the naan are lightly browned and crisp.

Meanwhile, to a large bowl add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, vinegar, and mustard.  Whisk together.  Add the romaine, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  Toss to coat and season with salt & pepper.

Remove naan flatbreads from the oven and top with salad.  Sprinkle with feta and serve.

Summer Fresh Produce: Strawberry Avocado Toast

I can't think of a more delicious combination for avocado toast than to add strawberries and feta to the mix.  It's the perfect bite all summer long!

Strawberry Avocado Toast

Sometimes a quick snack or breakfast item is in order.  One that taste great but isn't hard to make.  Avocado Toast fits that category.  This version mixes buttery toasted bread with chunky avocado, sweet sliced strawberries, and a sprinkling of feta cheese, all topped with a balsamic drizzle.  This toast is SOOOO YUMMY!

This is such an outstanding sweet/salty/creamy combination of flavors and the toast is a simple as can be to make.  I toast a nice large piece of buttered bread in the skillet and use that as a base.  The rest is just chopping your ingredients and piling it on.  So flavorful and it's the perfect item for breakfast, brunch, or a snack.  You could even do these on little crostini bread slices and serve as appetizers!  We'll be making this all summer long.

Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• Bread - I either use a large slice of sourdough or country loaf.

• Butter

• Avocado - make sure it is ripe.

• Strawberries - organic is best, and make sure they are very red and ripe.

• Feta Cheese - a mild version works best.

• Balsamic Drizzle - I use this one.

Substitutions and Variations

• Use Ricotta Salata instead of feta cheese

• Leave off the cheese

• Use your favorite bread

• Mash the avocado if you like and then top with the remaining ingredients

• Leave off the balsamic drizzle

• Add some fresh chopped mint

• Use peaches or nectarines instead of strawberries

• Use small French bread slices to make crostini

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• For a little more decadence, I butter the bread and toast it in a skillet over medium heat. This produces a nice buttery, crispy toast.  You can use a toaster instead if you prefer and leave off the butter if you want.



• Perfect for:

-breakfast
-brunch
-snacks
-appetizers

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Strawberry Avocado Toast

serves 1-2

1 large slice of bread
butter
1/2 to 1 small avocado
5-6 strawberries - diced
feta cheese 
balsamic glaze for drizzle

Butter your bread slice and place it in a skillet over medium high heat and toast the bread until golden and crispy.

Dice the avocado and strawberries, place in a bowl and mix together.  Top toast with mixture and top with feta cheese crumbles.  Drizzle a little balsamic glaze over top and season with a little salt. Cut in half and serve immediately.

Summer Entertaining: How to Cut Watermelon Spears

Try this unique way to cut watermelon for all your summer entertaining!

How to Cut Watermelon Spears

If you're entertaining this summer I'm sure that watermelon will be on your menu.  Let's learn to cut this refreshing an hydrating watermelon in to long spears that are easy to handle and visually appealing.    This is an easy way for a crowd to grab and eat watermelon.  With the rind serveing as a handle to grab and eat from you have a cute presentation and less mess!

Cutting a watermelon this way is really easy.  Since this is a technique, I've linked a video to show you how to do it here:  How to cut a watermelon

What Ingredients do I need?

• A personal sized watermelon works great but any size watermelon will do.

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• Make sure to have a sharp large chef's knife so you can easily cut through the rind.

• Some people like to cut off the 4 sides (just to remove the white rind) which will give you a more square shape to begin with.  This isn't necessary though.

• Place watermelon spears in a large bowl with the rind sticking out for easy grabbing.

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How to Cut Watermelon Spears

1 personal sized watermelon

Cut your watermelon in half.  Lay one half of the watermelon cut side down on your board.  Make vertical slices 1 inch apart across the watermelon.  Turn the watermelon and cut more vertical 1 inch slices across the watermelon to give your cube-like spears.

(Refer to the video here.)

Summer Brunch: Avocado and Tomato Toast

These delicious avocado and tomato toasts are the perfect summer breakfast, brunch, or snack!

Avocado and Tomato Toast 

Summer is the perfect time to eat in-season produce and keep things light. Avocado toast has been around for a while and don't we all just love it? This is a variation and features slices of avocado and juicy ripe grape tomatoes.. Top them off with off with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and you'll have the perfect snack, breakfast, brunch item.  

4 basic ingredients and you have an outstanding standing dish!  So simple to make.  Your whole family will love it and you'll want to eat this all summer long!

Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• Your favorite bread.  I chose a nice sourdough.
• ripe avocados
• grape tomatoes 
• olive oil 
• salt & pepper 

Substitutions and Variations

• Use slices of heirloom tomatoes for a decadent treat
• Add some feta cheese or ricotta salata
• Drizzle with some balsamic glaze
• Add some cut basil

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• Toast your bread in a toaster or in a skillet for nice golden toasted bread
• Keep your avocados and slices for nice chunky bites
• Once you slice your avocado in 1/2, take one half and peel the skin leaving the flesh together in one piece. Cut in to slices.
• Eat right away so your avocado doesn't turn brown.

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Avocado and Tomato Toast 

serves 1 - 2

1 slice of a large piece of bread
1/2 avocado, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
olive oil for drizzling
salt & pepper

Cut your bread in half and toast it in the toaster.  Otherwise you can butter the slice of bread and toast it in a skillet over medium heat, turning once.

Place slices of avocado on each slice of toasted bread.  Top with grap tomato halves.  Drizzle each slice with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

Summer Entertaining: Grilled Flank Steak with Pepper Tomato Relish

Melt in you mouth steak that is grilled to perfection and then topped with a pepper and tomato relish that is the bomb!  That's summer entertaining!

Grilled Flank Steak with Pepper Tomato Relish

Let's fire up the grill and start our summer entertaining season!  Today we are grilling up a wonderful steak topped with a pepper and tomato relish that creates such a flavor bomb, it's heaven!  Our steak is a large cut of flank steak that is easy to cook, feeds a crowd, and comes out succulent and tender.  It's always been a favoroite cut of mine that we cook all summer long.  

However, the true star of the dish is the relish.  Made from different colors of bell peppers and grape tomatoes, some garlic, and a dash of balsamic vinegar, this takes the steak to the next level.  In fact this relish would be good on pork, chicken, or fish, or just over rice as a vegetarian dish.  It's that good!  So start the summer of with a bang and make this dish now.  You love it at first bite.

Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• flank steak 
• mini bell peppers (the ones packed in a bag)
• grape tomatoes
• garlic
• red pepper flakes
• balsamic vinegar
• fresh basil
• sugar
• steak seasoning (I use "Back of the Yards Garlic Pepper Butcher's Rub"

Substitutions and Variations

• Use any color bell peppers you like, or all of one color.
• Use sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes.
• Change the cut of beef to top sirloin, flat iron, or london broil.
• The relish will go great over pork, chicken, and fish as well.
• Use salt & pepper to season your meat.

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• You can grill you steak outdoors on a gas or charcoal grill, or you can grill indoors with a grill pan.
• Make the relish first then grill your steak as a time saver.
• Serve with rice, grilled vegetables, mashed potatoes, or corn on the cob.

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Grilled Flank Steak with Pepper Tomato Relish

serves 4

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 mini bell peppers (red, orange, and yellow, from a bag), seeded, and diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch of crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 pint of grape tomates, halved 

2 Tablespoons sliced fresh basil
1 1/2 - 2 pounds beef flank steak
steak seasoning of your choice (I used "Back of the Yards Garlic Pepper Butcher's Rub")

For relish, in an extra-large, deep skillet, heat olive oil over medium. Add peppers and season with salt.  Cook until peppers are softened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar and sugar.  Immediately reduce your heat to low so the vinegar doesn't burn.  Stir peppers in vinegar,  Add tomatoes and continue to cook about 5 minutes until tomatoes start to give off their juices and shrivel in texture.  Remove from heat and add basil. Set aside.

Pat steak dry and season both sides generously with steak seasoning.  Grill steak over medium heat 10 to 12 minutes total, turning over half way through for medium (155 degrees).   Remove from grill and tent with foil and let the steak rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Slice thinly against the grain. Serve relish warm or at room temperature over sliced flank steak.