Tomato Avocado Sandwich

This is one of those sandwiches that I ate quite frequently during my post-college days. I ate it quite a bit as a budget conscious strategy. Well, I'm still budget conscious. But at the time it was really a budget crunch especially with just having graduated.I think most of you readers know that I love avocado, so it should no surprise that I'd plop in between to slices of bread. It's actually better than my other sandwich option. A mayo sandwich. Can you guys what ingredients go into that? Anyway...it's always nice to revisit eats that I used to constantly eat on a nearly daily basis.

Makes 2 sandwiches

Tomato Avocado Sandwich

4 slices of bread
1 small avocado - sliced
1 small tomato - sliced
1/4 c pineapple tidbit - sliced
mayo
mustard

Note: You may pretoast your bread before assembling.

To make one sandwich:
Take two slices of bread. Spread a thin layer of mayo on one and a thin layer of mustard on the other.
Place half of the avocado slices over the mayo slice, followed by half of the tomato slices, and half of the pineapple tidbits. Top with the mustard slice of bread.

heat  the sandwich in a panini press or skillet until the bread is toasted. If using a skillet (on medium heat), apply pressure with a place and a 12 oz can over it for 3-5 minutes. Flip and do the same for the other side.

Buko Pandan Shake and an award

It was a sunny, yet slightly breezy afternoon as I had helped my mom with a couple errands. By the end of it all we were starving. We decided upon a little Filipino food to appease the stomach. We ventured into Chow King. It a "fast food" joint that serves up some family Philippine meals. I've glod about them before and this particular meal. (here) My mom and I both ordered the half bangus meal.

 But this time around I decided to order up a shake to wash it all down. A buko pandan shake.

 Look at that nice green color. What's the best way to describe this drink? Well first off...buko (boo-ko) is made from the meat of young coconut. Pandan according to About.com :

Pandan (screwpine pandanus) is a type of tree that grows in tropical areas of Asia. Pandan leaves have a sweet, unique flavor that is commmonly used in Southeast-Asian countries to enhance both desserts and savory dishes.

In actuality it's a dessert made from buko, pandan, gulaman (firm jello-green), cream and condensed milk.  They just decided to turn it into a shake over at Chow King.  You can see the little bits of jello, and cocnut at the bottom there. So it's a coconut-y drink. But so delicious.

I'd like to give a shoutout to Michelle at All Home Cooking All Year Long for passing this award along to me. Thanks a bunch.

You can find out more about this nifty award here.

1.Display the Stiletto badge of honor.
2. Brag about it-post a link to the page to highlight what the award is about
3.Say thanks! Include a link to the friend who nominated you.
4. Share the love-nominate 5-10 more blogs. Leave links to their blogs and leave them a comment so they know they won!
5.Do what you do! Keep at it and keep inspiring others!

As far as passing along to 5-10. I'm the type who doesn't like to choose. I'd like to share it with all of you. Because quite frankly you readers are the awesomest!!

Creamy Mushroom and Orzo pasta

It's kind of like a risotto. Kind of, but not really. I saw a few recipes out there using orzo as a kind of risotto. I thought that was a great idea. I had the orzo. To the ingredient list were also some baby bella mushrooms that I chopped up. As well as an onion. So I saute the those then added the orzo and vegetable stock. It's still lent, so chicken stock was out of the question. Cook that up until the orzo cooks up and absorbs the stock. then season with the usual S&P with the addition of some dry thyme, oregano and my favorite spice paprika.  To give it that creamy texture i used evaporated milk instead of cream and some white wine. Risotto usually has parmesan in it, which I didn't have. So I used shredded mozzarella. It worked just fine. I was a little intimidated by how it would turn out, yet I ate it all up. Not because I was hungry as heck, but it was really good. A nice hint of the white wine with the mushroom. Delicious.

Serve 2

Creamy Mushroom and Orzo pasta

1 c uncooked orzo pasta
1 12oz can vegetable stock
1 small onion - chopped
8 oz baby portobella mushrooms - sliced
1/4 c evaporated milk
1/4 c white wine
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp dry thyme
1 Tbsp dry oregano
1 Tbsp paprika


Melted the butter in a pot and saute the onions and mushrooms until both are tender. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add the orzo and vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer. When orzo has cooked and absorbed the stock, add the milk and wine. Stir occasionally and combine and then add the dry thyme, oregano, and paprika. Simmer for a couple minutes before serving.

Calzone

Lately my mind's been everywhere. I'm working on a couple different projects right now, so most of my time is spent getting things together for those. So that uses up a lot of my mental energy. By the time it comes to eat I'm a t a loss as to what my belly is craving. In this case pizza was on my mind again.

Well it's doesn't look like much of the familiar calzone shape. But i like to consider it as one. I used one of those Pillsbury pizza crusts. When you take it out it look square shaped. I halved the dough to make two. Spread some shredded mozzarella, layered on some fresh sliced roma tomatoes and baby portabella mushrooms and some avocado. Why not? If you've been following this blog over the past year, you'd know that I love avocados. Besides it's one of those ingredients you wouldn't necessarily find in a calzone. Let alone as a topping on pizza. To I place accordingly on the dough and seal it up. poked a tiny hold on top to let the steam out. Easy last minute meal for the busy mind.

Just look at that tiny string of cheese hanging in between the two pieces. Tempting ain't it?

Makes two plump calzones

Calzone

1 can Pillsbury pizza dough - halved width-wise
1 c sliced baby portobella mushrooms.
2 roma tomatoes - sliced
1 c shredded mozzarella - plus extra
1 small ripe avocado


Preheat your oven to 425˚F

To make one:
Place the dough flat on an ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle some of the mozzarella on one side of the dough.  Leave the other half untouched. Be sure there is a 1-inch space from the edge of the dough. Top a slices of the roma tomato, mushroom the avocado.

Bring the other halve of the dough over and seal the edges. Cut a small slit at the top to let the steam out while baking.

Bake for 15-17 minutes until the crust is browned.

Sourdough Bread Pizza

Remember those Stouffers french bread pizzas? I remember eating that to snack on after school. Just heat them up in the oven for a few minutes and you've got yourself a personalized pizza on a baguette. I remember I used to pick off the pepperoni pieces and save them for last.

Anyway...I (sort of) had a craving for them recently. To delve back into my teenagehood of memories from after school snacks. I decided to revisit that memories by making myself a sourdough bread pizza. Since i had given up meat for lent, I was lucky enough to have a can of sardines in the pantry. And a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes.  The sardines covered the "peppeproni" part. Also, since bread is so common in most households, you got no excuse not to make pizza anytime you want.

Makes 4 pizza slices

Sourdough Bread Pizza

4 1-inch thick slices sourdough bread
1 c diced fire-roasted tomato
1 c shredded cheese - your choice
extra virgin olive oil

optional topping:
sardines
pepperoni
sausage
veggies
mushrooms

Preheat your oven to to 375˚F

Lay the pieces of bread on an ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle some of the cheese, then the fire-roasted tomato and any additional topping you desire.

Baked in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bread is crisp.

Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette (with a crunchy salad)

I remember buy this bottle of sesame dressing from some Asian market.  It was pretty tasty. i would drizzle it all over coating everything with that sesame goodness. I went to a crunchy salad. Chopped carrots, bell pepper, almond slices. and to add an extra crunch, instead of croutons I put in ramen noodle. straight from the pack that i crunched up into pieces. In reality those ramen noodles are precooked to help dehydtrate them for packaging. So they're really ready to eat.

Makes 1/3 cup - Serves 2-3

Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette (with a crunchy salad)

3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp fresh ginger - grated or fine chopped
1/2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients together.and drizzle of your salad

Salad
1 small head of lettuce - chopped
1 carrot - chopped
1 bell pepper - chopped
1/2 c almond slices
1 pack ramen noodles - minus seasoning and crumbled

Toss all the ingredients together and drizzle the vinaigrette over.

Guinness Battered Fish Sandwich

I had a few pieces of the Guinness batter fish left over. I figured it was sandwich time. Besides I couldn't think of anything else at the time of what to make with it. Fish sandwiches are good. Beat the fillet o'fish at McDonald's right?

I paired it with some sun-dried tomatoes and lettuce leaves. A little bit of mustard and mayo on a couple slices of sourdough bread and voila. I stuck the fish in the oven for several minutes to re-crisp the crust of the batter. The mircowave would have just gotten it soft. No one likes a soggy crust on anything that's been "fried" or pan-fried. Then I pressed it on ol' georgie to get those press markes and chowed down.

makes 2 sandwiches

Guinness Battered Fish Sandwich

3-4 pieces of Guinness Battered Fish
4 slices of bread
1/4 c sun-dried tomato
lettuce leaves
mayonnaise
yellow mustard

To make a sandwich:
Spread a thin layer of mustard on one slice of bread and a thin layer of mayo on another. Place some lettuce, the sun dried tomato and fish on one slice of bread. Place the other slice on top.

Heat the bread in a panini press or skillet. If using a skillet, apply some pressure on top of the sandwich to give it that panini style look by using a clean plate and put a heavy can on top. Flip the sandwich to cook the other side.

Note: You may toast the bread before assembling the sandwich.