Lamb Sliders with Spicy Sriracha Mayo

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Summer is here!

Time to graduate from oh-so-common beef burgers and embrace the complex flavors of lamb patties.

Introducing, our new and improved summer staple.

Ingredients:

• 6 slider buns or mini brioche buns
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper
• 6 slices baby swiss cheese
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups loosely packed rainbow mix microgreens (or use any sprouts/greens of your choice)
• 6 slices ripe tomato
• Red onion rings

Direction:

• Pre-heat the grill and lightly oil the grate
• In a large glass bowl, mix ground lamb, oregano, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, salt and pepper until combined. Divide ground lamb into 6 even portions, shape each portion into a medium sized patty. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, mix mayonnaise, Sriracha and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Cover and store in refrigerator.
• Cook patties on the hot grill to your desired doneness, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Place Swiss cheese on each patty, cook a little longer until cheese starts to melt. Transfer patties to plate.
• Spread Sriracha mayo on sliced slider buns. Place microgreens/vegetable on the patty, top with lamb patty, tomato slice and lastly red onion rings. Cover with the top of the bun. Serve immediately.

Strawberry Cherry Fruit Leather

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So now here I am, forcing myself to sit down in front of the computer and start typing.

I know I have not been diligent in keeping up with my recipe blog lately. But hey, all I can say is that the last few weeks before school ends were borderline crazy.

Big C was immersing himself in track and field program at school for almost 3 months, that involved daily practice after school, and track meets in various locations near and far. 

That being said, 14-year-old boy can't (legally) drive himself to and from practices and meets, plus the other 14-year-old team mates also need transportation from time to time, leaving me with lots of driving and carpooling. 

And many hours of sitting around on the bleacher, obliviously roasting myself in hot pre-summer Bay Area sun, cheering and 'whoo-hoo''-ing appropriately when necessary.

He did wonderfully well, though. Having done very well in 100 meters and high jump. This mom could not be more proud!

Little C had memorable 3-day camping trip with his class, in which I decided to go along with.

We went to Malakoff Diggins State Park, did gold panning (we got zilch!), hiked many miles, learned a lot of California gold rush history, and did all kinds of camping stuff.

While the trip was fun, I was so glad to come home and sleep on my bed again. After all this years, flimsy air mattress and I don't like each other very much, still.

So, those busy days are over, for now.

Last day of school was happening last Friday.

Today, the boys and the dog have already been complaining about boredom, after only 3 days off school. And I'm thinking that I can't wait until their summer camps start.

For the time being, I will enjoy my free time this week. I'll even try to cook, photograph and post new recipes, because next week the word 'busy' will come back into my vocabulary.

Strawberry Cherry Fruit Leather

Ingredients:

Almost any kind of fruit can be used to make fruit leather, but for this particular one, I used strawberries and cherries.

• 1/2 pound strawberries, hulled
• 1/2 pound cherries, pitted
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar (depending on the sweetness of the fruit)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

• Quarter strawberries, place in the food processor together with pitted cherries, and pulse until a smooth puree forms. This should yield about 2 cups of puree. Transfer fruit puree to a Dutch pan, add sugar and lemon juice.
• Cook fruit puree over medium heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring often, until the puree thickens.
• Pre-heat oven to 140 degree F or use dehydrate feature if your oven support it. 
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat, spray with cooking spray. Divide fruit puree into 2 baking sheets, spread evenly to form rectangle using rubber spatula. 
• Place the baking sheets in the oven, leave the door slightly open to let the moisture out. Dehydrate the puree in the oven for 5-8 hours, until the surface is no longer sticky. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Cut into 2 inch strips and roll them up (you can use wax paper to roll them up, if you choose to). Store in airtight container for up to one week.

Pics below are from Malakoff Diggins trip.

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with Grilled Cumin Chicken

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Our little journey to healthier living continues....

Now that you found this recipe, there is only one thing for you to do: run to the kitchen and start cooking this.

Believe me, you won't be sorry.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup raw quinoa
• 1 large cucumber; quartered lengthwise, remove the soft core, slice each quarter crosswise into 1/2" strips
• 1 large ripe but firm tomato; quartered, remove the core, and slice each quarter crosswise into 1/2" strips
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2 boneless chicken breast
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Rinse quinoa under running water and drain. Place in a saucepan with 1 cup of water and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover the saucepan and continue cooking for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, let the quinoa stand covered for about 5 minutes.   Fluff with fork and cool completely.
• Add cooked quinoa, cucumber, tomato, red onion, capers, feta cheese, oregano, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil into a large salad bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Toss until combine and store in refrigerator while you're grilling the chicken.
• Wash the chicken breasts and pat dry with paper towel. Season both sides of chicken breast with ground cumin, salt and pepper. Cook the breasts on the grill, 5-7 minutes on each side, or until the center is no longer pink and the chicken is cooked through. 
• Transfer the chicken breasts to a cutting board and slice. Place salad and chicken slices in individual plates and serve.

Sriracha Caramel Corn

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Jackie from domesticfits.com was absolutely right!

This caramel corn is twice as good as she said it was, and it's has perfect balance between sweet and spicy (I'm a sucker for anything spicy!).

About 7 cups of popcorn.

Roughly 1 hour to prepare.

Less than 10 minutes for 4 people to eat the entire bowl of corn.

Yeah, it's that good.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup corn kernels (7 cups popped)
• 1 brown paper lunch bag
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon Sriracha
• Pinch of Cayenne

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
• Place the corn kernels in a brown paper bag. Place in the microwave (long side down), microwave on high for 4 minutes. When the popping starts to slow to about one pop per second, remove the bag from microwave. Measure out 7 cups of popcorn (if there's less than 7 cups, pop additional kernels in the same manner, if there's more than 7 cups, reserve the remaining popped corn for another use).
• Spray a large baking pan with butter flavored cooking spray. 
• Add the popped corn to the baking sheet in an even layer, place in the oven until the caramel sauce is ready.
• Add the brown sugar, butter, light corn syrup and salt into a saucepan over high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, stop stirring. Allow to boil for 5 minutes, without stirring, or until dark amber color is reached. Remove from heat, immediately add Sriracha and cayenne.
• Spray a silicon spatula with cooking spray.
• Gently pour the caramel sauce over the popcorn, stirring to coat.
• Bake for 20 minutes at 250 degrees, stir and bake for another 20 minutes.
• Remove form the oven and spread evenly on a piece of wax paper. Allow to cool, break apart, store in air-tight container.

If you can wait that long.........

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

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Ingredients:

• 12 lasagna noodles, cook according to package direction, drain and set aside.
• 3 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 cup finely chopped fresh spinach (or 10 ounces thawed and squeezed dry frozen spinach)
• Salt and pepper 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups homemade quick marinara sauce (recipe below), or store-bought marinara sauce
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Pour one cup of marinara sauce into the bottom of a 9 X 13-inch lasagna dish. 
• In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, chopped spinach, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Divide the cheese mixture into 12 portions, spread each portion onto lasagna noodle and roll up carefully. Place lasagna roll seam-side down in the lasagna dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and cheese mixture. 
• Top the lasagna rolls with the remaining marinara sauce. Spread grated mozzarella cheese over the sauce and sprinkle with oregano. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the cheese on top turned bubbly and golden brown. Serve immediately.

Quick Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes 
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook garlic until tender, then add crushed tomatoes, oregano and basil. Bring to boil and reduce the heat. Let the sauce simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or store in a refrigerator for up to 1 week.