Food from the 4th Extravaganza!

We had quite a feast this past week celebrating the Fourth of July :) I tried a bunch of new recipes and stuck with some regulars. Here's the recap:

Top Left: Stuffed Mini Peppers with Cream Cheese and Green Onion
Top Right: David Menniger's Sweet Potato Salad (courtesy of Nancy Wilson)
Middle Left: Lobsters before they are cooked
Middle Right: Grilled Onions with Gorgonzola Cheese and Balsamic Glaze
Lower Left: Cookie Jar doughnuts...no trip is complete unless you have one of these!
Lower Middle: Red's Dairy Freeze ice cream....We manage to come at least 1x per day!
Lower Right: (Top) Steak Bites with Veggies and Peach Crostinis with Gorgonzola Cheese

*Not Pictured, but recipe included below are Chicken Enchiladas and Easy Guacamole. Now for the recipes:

Appetizers:
Stuffed Mini Peppers with Cream Cheese and Green Onion

Ingredients

• Mini peppers
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 3 green onions chopped into small pieces
• Olive Oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice peppers in half and disgard the seeds. Drizzle olive oil over peppers on pan.
2. Roast peppers for about 10 minutes.
3. Mix the remaining ingredients together.
4. Take the peppers out of the oven and let cool. Once they are cool enough to handle, stuff them with 1/2 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture.

Steak Bites with Veggies

Ingredients

• 1.5-2 lbs. of flank steak
• Salt and pepper
• 2 carrots
• 1 zucchini
• 1 red pepper
• Balsamic glaze (I bought a bottle of this)

Directions

1. Season flank steak with salt and pepper. Grill steak until medium rare.
2. Let steak cool and cut into bite size pieces.
3. Slice veggies into thin ribbon pieces. Place them on top of the steak bites.
4. Drizzle balsamic glaze over steak bites.

Peach Crostinis with Gorgonzola Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 baguette
• 1/2 package of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 3 peaches thinly sliced
• Olive Oil
• 2 garlic gloves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice baguette into thin pieces and place on a pan. Drizzle a little olive oil over bread and toast until browned (about 5-7 minutes).
2. Take the bread out of the oven and rub with whole garlic clove. Place peach slices on top of bread and add crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese on top.
3. Bake for another 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Easy Guacamole

Ingredients

• 4 avocados smashed
• 1 jar of salsa
• 1/2 lime

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together and serve with tortilla chips.

Sides and Main Dishes:
Chicken Enchiladas (I modified this recipe, but these were the best enchiladas ever!)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast (I used strips to make it easier to cook.)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 canned whole green chiles, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 4 canned chipotle chiles, seeded and minced
• 1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 16 flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups red enchilada sauce, canned
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar and Jack cheeses (I've just been using cheddar)
• Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Directions

1. Coat large saute pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin, garlic powder before turning. Remove chicken to a platter, allow to cool.
2. Saute onion, pepper, and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Add corn and chiles. Stir well to combine. Add canned tomatoes, saute 1 minute.
3. Pull chicken breasts apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to saute pan, combine with vegetables. 
4. Microwave tortillas on high for 30 seconds. This softens them and makes them more pliable. Coat the bottom of 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans with a ladle of enchilada sauce. Using a large shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling, place 8 enchiladas in each pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.
5. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese melts. 
6. Garnish with cilantro, scallion, sour cream and chopped tomatoes before serving. Serve with Spanish rice and beans.

David Menniger's Sweet Potato Salad (courtesy of Nancy Wilson and slightly modified)
Nancy Wilson made this salad when we were home and LOVED it. It's super easy and is so delicious....definitely give this recipe a try!

Ingredients

• 6 Sweet potatoes roasted
• 4 stalks celery- diced
• Cilantro- about 1/2 cup chopped (optional - I didn't add this)
• Red onion- about 1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped
• Chevre log (goat cheese) pinched into pieces and tossed in at the end
• Dressing
• 1/2 c Olive oil
• Juice of 1-2 Lemons
• 1-2 cloves Garlic minced
• Salt
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (optional- I didn't use these)

Directions

1. Cut to bite sized pieces, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, roast 425 degrees for 25 minutes till brown and crispy, let cool. 
2. Mix all ingredients for the dressing.
3. Toss salad ingredients and add dressing just before serving.

Grilled Onions with Gorgonzola Cheese and Balsamic Glaze
These were out of this world tasty and super easy!

Ingredients

• 2-3 large yellow onions sliced into half inch pieces.
• Balsamic glaze (I just bought a bottle of this as it's much easier than making it!)
• Gorgonzola Cheese
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions

1. Slice the onions into .5 inch round pieces. 
2. Drizzle olive oil over onions and place on the grill. 
3. Grill onions for about 5-7 minutes on each side.
4. Place onions on a platter and add the crumbled gorgonzola cheese and drizzle with balsamic glaze.