Grilled Corn Tomato and Avocado Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

I was at my mom's today when she got a knock on her back door. It was neighbor passing along some of the bounty from his garden. He gave her a whole sack of beautiful tomatoes. Now with it just being my mom and dad, I knew they wouldn't eat them all so...being the good daughter that I am, I helped myself to a few. I knew just what I was going to make because at home...sitting on my counter...were three pretty avocados just waiting to be used. I've been wanting some kind of salad lately, so I knew this was it! If you've got any tomatoes left in your garden, try this yummy salad. It's light...refreshing and so simple to make. I can eat the whole thing by myself....but that's probably TMI, isn't it?

Grilled Corn Tomato and Avocado Salad with Honey Lime Dressing



1 10-ounce bag frozen corn ~ about 2 cups
1 cup large diced tomatoes
2 avocados ~ large diced
1 small red onion ~ diced
Salt & pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey

Heat a large grill pan or skillet over medium heat with a little olive oil.

Add the corn to the heated skillet and cook corn until hot and slightly grilled. Cool the corn.

In a medium bowl, combine the corn, tomatoes, onion and avocados.

In a small bowl, mix together the lime juice, oil, honey and salt & pepper.

Drizzle over salad and toss to coat.

 

Okay...here we go. Except the honey. 

Oops. But I'm sure YOU'LL remember it!

 

Grill the corn then let it cool.

 

Mix together the cooled corn, 

and the rest of the veggies.

 

Mix up the stuff for the dressing! Yumm-o!

 

Drizzle, toss and eat!!!

Grilled Cheese Bacon and Avocado Sandwiches

There's probably nothing as homey as a grilled cheese sandwich, right? I've been eating them since I was a kid and I bet you have too. But who says a grilled cheese sandwich has to be only cheese? Let's throw some stuff inside that will get your taste buds rockin' and rollin'. Since we are a bacon lovin' family and also a family that can't get enough avocado (we ARE from California, after all!)...I decided to throw those bits of deliciousness in there to see what would happen. Want to know what happened? Well...I'll tell you...a bunch of crazy yumminess happened, that's what! You guys have got to try these! So good! Would I steer your taste buds wrong? 

Grilled Cheese Bacon 
and Avocado Sandwiches



1 loaf good crusty bread (sourdough, Italian, etc)
Sliced cheese of your choice (I used sharp cheddar)
2 - 3 ripe avocados ~ cut in half then sliced
1 pound bacon ~ cooked to your liking
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
Olive oil

Heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat. 

Decide how many sandwiches you're going to make.

Brush one side of each piece of bread with olive oil.

Lay one piece of bread in the pan then layer the other ingredients, starting with the cheese.

I put down two cheese slices, side by side because my bread was large. Then I put down the avocado. Next comes a very important part. Sprinkle the avocado with Lawry's Seaoning Salt. You won't be sorry. Next comes the bacon then two more slices of cheese. The cheese should be next to the bread so it melts and also to act as "the glue" to hold everything together.

Grill until cheese has melted and sandwich is golden brown on both sides.

Slice and serve! 


 

Here's what you'll need!

 

Brush olive oil on one side 

of each piece of bread.

 

Plop it in a hot pan then start layering 

your cheese, avocado, bacon then more cheese.

 

Top with another piece of bread then grill!

 

Delicious!

Glazed and Grilled Ham Steaks

This was so easy...it's almost embarrassing. When I find something that feeds two or three people, I am all over it. As you can imagine, there's a lot of food cooked here and if I can do without leftovers a couple of nights a week, that means my fridge can breathe a little bit. I had two small ham steaks in my freezer and some apricot preserves in my fridge that were calling to be used with the ham. Below is the result....and IT Guy proclaimed it delicious!


Grilled & Glazed Ham Steaks



2 tablespoons apricot preserves
2 teaspoons prepared mustard (I used Dijon)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
dash ground cinnamon
1 (1 pound) 1 inch thick ham steak

Combine preserves, mustard, lemon juice and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set glaze aside. Score one side of each ham steak. Grill, uncovered, over medium heat for 5 - 7  minutes on each side, brushing with glaze during the last few minutes of grilling.

Serves 2 - 3

Here's what you'll need. I used apricot 

preserves but peach would be great, too!

Mix together the preserves, 

mustard, cinnamon and lemon juice.

Combine it well....

Score your ham steaks on one side...or both. Whatev.

Brush the scored side with the sauce 

mixture and plop it on your grill or in 

your grill pan. Let it cook for a few minutes.

Flip it over and do the other side. 

I made sure the glaze was good and 

caramelized on each side. I think I 

turned each piece at least 4 times. 

Pretty and yummy and also pretty yummy.

Grilled Cheese Puffs

Okay...so these aren't actually grilled...they're more oven baked but it doesn't really matter what you call them when they're as good as these little guys. I made a small pan because I wasn't sure how they'd go over. Note to self: double the batch next time. We inhaled these gooey little dough balls of wonderment. Spice yours up any way you want...but I went the plain route. Did you know Velveeta comes in a spicy Mexican flavor? Who knew? I bet those would be super good. These are great with pasta or soup...or as snack. Just delicious!

Grilled Cheese Puffs



1 8-count container Grands biscuits 
1 16-ounce Velveeta cheese
3 tablespoons butter ~ melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a small baking pan or cake pan with cooking spray.

Remove biscuits from container and flatten out to about 4 - 5 inches in diameter.

Place a piece of cheese, about 1/2 inch x 2 inches on top of flattened biscuit. Flatten cheese a little bit.

Gather biscuit up around cheese and place seam side down in prepared pan.

Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter.

Bake for about 20 minutes until biscuits are golden brown.

Here's all you need right here.

Flatten out the biscuits then place a 

hunk of cheese on top and flatten that out a bit.

Gather up into a little ball, 

securing the cheese inside 

then place seam side down 

into a baking dish. Brush the 

tops with melted butter.

Bake!!

Ooey-gooey goodness!

Grilled Corn & Avocado Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

Oh man...I love this! I'd never grilled corn before so I pulled out my cast iron skillet and gave it whirl. I added all the other things I love and thought would go well and it turned out great! The dressing is REALLY good. Slightly sweet due to the honey and the lime flavor comes through at the end. Just really tasty!! A really good little summer salad!



Grilled Corn & Avocado Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

Dressing

1/2 cup cilantro ~ stems removed
1 6-ounce container plain yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
juice from 1 lime
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 - 2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until well combined. Chill.

Here's what you need for the dressing.

Put everything into a food processor and blend.

See? Easy peasy. Chill in the fridge 

for a while to let the flavors blend.

Grilled Corn Salad

2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups corn
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 small red onion ~ diced
1 red bell pepper ~ diced
2 avocados ~ diced

Coat the bottom of a hot cast iron skillet with olive oil.

Pour in corn and allow to cook until lightly browned.

Remove corn from pan.

Add a little more olive oil and saute onion and bell pepper until tender/crisp.

Add corn back into pan, along with the cherry tomatoes and heat through.

Pour mixture into a bowl, cover and allow to come to room temperature.

Serve with Cilantro Lime Dressing.

Now for the salad.

Put the corn in a hot skillet with some olive oil.

Allow it to brown a little bit.

Remove the corn from the skillet then 

saute the onion and bell pepper for a bit.

Add the corn back in along with 

the tomatoes and heat through.

Place the mixture in a bowl and 

allow to come to room temp.

Then add the diced avocados.

Serve with the dressing!!! Yummers!

Grilled Shrimp with Garlic Butter Dipping Sauce

I love shrimp!! Always have, always will. IT Guy...not so much. So when I grilled him a steak I decided to grill me some shrimp, too cuz I knew he wouldn't touch it! Woo-hoo!!! So delicious! This shrimp is a little bit spicy but not bad...although you could certainly increase the amount of red pepper flakes if you want more heat. It was perfect for me, though. Loved every bite!

Grilled Shrimp 

with Garlic Butter Dipping Sauce



1 -2 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 garlic cloves  ~ minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes and salt in a zip top bag.

Add shrimp and marinate in the fridge for 2 - 3 hours.

Grill for a couple minutes on each side until shrimp is pink.
 
Serve with garlic butter dipping sauce. (recipe follows)


Garlic Butter Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup butter ~ melted
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Stir to combine and heat for 30 seconds in the microwave or until warm.

Okay...so here we go.

Add the soy sauce, olive oil, 

lemon juice, salt, garlic and red 

pepper flakes together in a plastic zip top bag.

Then add the shrimp and let it 

hang out in the fridge for a couple of hours.

In the meantime, soak your 

skewers if you're using the wooden kind.

Here's the stuff for the dipping sauce.

Combine it all in a bowl and heat it 

in the microwave for about 30 seconds 

to warm it up, right before serving.

Skewer the shrimp then grill them 

for a few minutes per side until they're no longer pink.

So good!!!!!

Some of you may remember Jeff the Chef's Pork Tenderloin. Jeff gave me a bottle of his favorite marinade and I just got around to using it on some flat iron steak. Oh yum! Of course this marinade can be used on anything, but it was THE BOMB on this steak! You gotta try it!!! I don't have a grill so I used my grill pan on the stove-top and it was great. I'm sure an outdoor grill would be the way to go but ya' gotta work with what you have, right?

Marinated Flat Iron Steak



1 bottle Allegro marinade
1 - 2 pound flat iron steak

Place meat in a large zip-top bag or a shallow pan. Pour marinade over the steak, cover and place in the fridge for several hours. I just let mine sit from morning until dinnertime, turning it a few times throughout the day.

Heat a grill pan then pour in some olive oil. Remove steak from marinade and place in heated pan. Allow to cook 5 - 7 minutes per side. Let meat sit for about 10 minutes before slicing. Add the meat to a salad or serve with a side dish!

Here's all you need. This marinade is excellent!

Throw the steak in a bag then pour in the whole bottle of marinade. Let hang out overnight or at least all day in the fridge.

Then grill it. Either on your outdoor grill on your grill pan.

Let the meat rest for about 10 minutes before slicing then 

throw it on a salad or serve with some veggies. SO good!