This recipe for steak panzanella salad is currently on heavy rotation in my kitchen, because in case you hadn’t noticed we are on the other side of August, and you know what that means. It is officially use-it-or-lose-it time when it comes to things like sweet, glorious local tomatoes and intoxicating basil. Sob. And so I am pretty much working tomatoes and basil into breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a break here and there for local corn, and this hearty salad is one of my favorite ways to do that. Juicy chunks of grilled steak, lightly toasted pieces of bread tossed with cucumber and a light oil and vinegar sauce along with (say it with me now) tomatoes and basil. Let’s make it!
Roasted Caprese Salad
Before I start rhapsodizing about this roasted caprese salad, I should go on record by saying I love the traditional version of caprese salad a ridiculous amount of love. Sliced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese and chopped basil, all drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil – I mean, what’s not to love there? And I make it over and over and over when the tomatoes are local and the basil is abundant. But then I got to thinking…what if I shook it up just a teeny bit? What if I kept the tomatoes and the basil, but swapped out the mozzarella for its show-off cousin, burrata cheese? What if I added a little torn and toasted bread to sass things up a bit? What if? I’m guessing you know the answer, since I’m about to say (say it with me now), let’s make it!
Gnocchi with Bacon and Spinach
Welcome to one of my favorite pasta recipes, gnocchi with bacon and spinach. Today I’m going to tell you not only how to make this plate full of All The Good Things, but I’m also going to tell you where you can get my favorite bacon in the entire world (and if you have spent any time at all on this website in the past, you know that is a serious statement. Seeing as I have Bacon as a main category of food groups along with breakfast, lunch and dinner. As usual, the bacon has a backstory, but at the end of everything you are going to know how to make yourself a bowl of gnocchi with bacon and spinach, complete with the world’s best bacon, so hang in there with me and let’s make it!
Tomato Caper Chicken
There’s something about tomatoes and capers in any conglomeration that brightens up anything they meet, and this easy peasy tomato caper chicken is no exception. It takes plain old ordinary sautéed chicken and gives it a sassy, tangy personality that is guaranteed to make you believe in the old “winner, winner, chicken dinner” all over again…and it’s ready in less than a half hour, which is yet another reason that it is my current chicken crush. The Southern husband is helpless in the face of anything that involves capers (yep, capers…he’s a mystery) so when this is on the menu at our house, the only one who isn’t in a good mood about dinner is the dog. And actually, I take that back – the dog is ALWAYS in a good mood about dinner. So grab some chicken out of the fridge and let’s make it!
Roasted Vegetable Frittata
There are more nights than I like to admit that I start the day with great plans for making something festive for dinner, and then the day happens and the Southern husband ends up having a lovely plate of scrambled eggs. Because, LIFE. But I’ve finally worked my way to the point where I have realized that with just a little extra bit of effort, my scrambled egg option can turn into this colorful roasted vegetable frittata. Still super easy for those “I don’t feel like making dinner” days, still the comfort that tender gentle eggs provide, but with the healthy deliciousness of roasted veggies mixed in. Good and good for you doesn’t get any better than this!
Spicy Steak with Corn Salsa
I have two very important things to say before I get to the how-to on this recipe for spicy steak with corn salsa. The first is: RED ALERT: CORN SEASON IS ALMOST OVER! Which means I am digging out every recipe I own that calls for fresh corn and making it one more time before they turn the corn bin at our farm market completely over to pumpkins and apples. I know, I know, frozen corn….but it’s not the saaaaaame. And the second is this: Every time I make steak with a dry rub, I wonder why I don’t always make steak with a dry rub. It’s so easy, and it’s all the steak goodness with this rich, wonderful flavor grilled right into the outside of the steak. This recipe for spicy steak with corn salsa addresses both of these burning issues.