Catching up

I've been remiss in posting... I blame Rebecca. :) Since my last post I've made M&M cookies, English Muffin Pizzas, Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad, and Open-faced Turkey Patty Melts (Cooking Light).

The cookies were a recipe I found on allrecipes.com, and they turned out pretty well. Some of them didn't cook long enough, and then I almost burned the next batch trying to compensate, but we still ate them all. :)

English Muffin Pizzas are super easy. Just split the muffins in half and put some pizza sauce on them. Top with mozzerella cheese (actually the pre-shredded Italian blend is better) and whatever toppings you like. Our favorites are pepperoni, extra cheese, and Canadian bacon and pineapple. We know what we like and don't experiment much because of that, but as with any type of pizza, any number of toppings would work just fine.

The salad turned out quite well! I'd tried it once before without marinating the chicken, and it was pretty bland. This time I marinated it for a couple hours in pineapple juice, orange juice, lemon and lime juices, and a dash of cardamom and dill. Then I grilled it. The salad was just baby spinach with dried fruit (craisins, blueberries, raspberries, and cherries) mixed in. I had planned to make a citrus vinegarette, but I got lazy and just used a bottled Raspberry Walnut vinegarette instead.

Tonight's dinner was the patty melts. I'd made this once before, and they came out good but very dry, so I decided to try them again. The recipe calls for ricotta, so I added a bit extra, as well as a bit of cottage cheese since I had some. They always take way longer to cook than I expect, so they got a bit black on one side, but they tasted fine. Top them with sliced Swiss cheese, and serve on a slice of Rye with spicy brown or Dijon mustard, then top with cooked sliced onions. Yum! I served them with roasted potatoes since I still had some from last time, and a fresh veggie platter. I was stuffed!