Pineapple Salsa with Grilled Tuna

Grilling & Summer go Hand-in-Hand. Recently I went on a little bit of a Non-Tomato Salsa kick, making this pineapple salsa as well as some Peach Salsa and a Savory/Sweet Strawberry Salsa. Savory Summer Fruit Salsas go amazingly well with Fresh Grilled Summer Proteins.

This Pineapple Salsa is beyond adaptable! You can serve this over a fish (we did Tuna, but Salmon or other fish would be great) or over some tasty chicken, over pork and even over some fresh steak. In addition to serving over proteins, this salsa is of course perfect with some tortilla chips or on top of your classic tacos!

Happy Summer, Happy Salsa, & get your Eat On!

Grilled Bottom Round Roast

There is nothing quite like steak. I know that I could never become a vegetarian mostly because of my love of red meat! Last week there was Bottom Round Roast on sale. Now this is a pretty tough cut of meat so it needs some marinating. But once you get a good marinate on a Bottom Roast they can be totally awesome, and pretty darn flavorful. Perfect for eating fresh off the grill with some Potatoes and then sliced thin as leftovers for salads or sandwiches or fajitas or whatever!!

After marinating the steak for 24 hours I knew it was going to be good.

Honey Dijon Crock Pot Corned Beef

I have now made this  Corned Beef twice… that says a lot since I usually like to experiment and see what other exciting things I can come up with. But after making it around St. Patrick’s Day I ran out and got more Corned Beef on sale so that I could cook it again when we were craving it after the March 17 Holiday. Luckily then when we had that craving recently – I was able to pull out this recipe and whip it up again (and finally take the photos to share with you!

London Broil

I love steak, but I have no idea how to grill. Luckily I grew up with a dad who was amazing at grilling and Rich seems to know his way around a grill pretty well and is willing to experiment if I find directions for him. It works out quite well when we grill “together” (I prep & make side dishes and he stands out in the cold)!!

London Broil is a pretty tough cut of meat which needs to be marinated, cooked medium rare, and sliced very thin. This was a good preparation of this meat but was still a little tough (cutting thinner might have helped?). I really enjoyed it and the leftovers have been amazing cut into chunky slices over top of a fresh Caesar Salad. I would not say that this is my favorite steak but it is a great preparation of this tougher (more economical) cut of meat.

Marinated & Grilled London Broil

• 4 -5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
• 1 to 2 pound [top round] London Broil

Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Make several (about 10) small, shallow incisions all over the meat. Place the meat in the bowl and coat both sides with the marinade (rub the salt/pepper/garlic into the meat). Cover and marinate 6-8 hours or overnight. Be sure to flip the meat half-way through. After the meat has marinated, remove meat and discard the marinade.

Heat your outdoor grill on medium, lightly oil grate. Grill 7-9  minutes on each side for medium rare or until desired doneness. (If you can’t use your grill, you can also cook this using the broiler setting on your oven. Place it on a baking sheet on your top oven rack.)

Remove from heat, let rest for about 10 minutes. Slice as thin as possible. Serve with potatoes and a tasty side salad.

And I leave you with this, today’s Question of the Day… whats your favorite thing from the grill?

Pumpkin Mac n Cheese

When I suggested making Pumpkin Maccaroni and Cheese to bring to friends, Rich was pretty skeptical. Then, as I was putting the mac & cheese into the casserole dish to bake he was practically licking the pot with the extra pasta clean! Through mouthfuls he was telling me how much this totally worked even though he didn’t think it would. I’ll take it!

This recipe would work wonders on your Thanksgiving Table (it maybe a bit late for this suggestion, sorry). Everything in this recipe works and is perfect for any of your fall mac & cheese cravings. The pumpkin does not come out and smack you in the face like it would in a pumpkin pie but the flavor balance is spot-on and delicious.

Get out your pots and your stretchy pants, and enjoy some of this amazing savory Pumpkin Macaroni & Cheese!

• 16 oz small shell pasta
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 4 cups milk
• 16 oz grated cheese blend
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree (about half 15-oz can)
• 1.5 tsp minced fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• ½ cup panko breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook pasta in boiling salted water. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

In a heavy pot over medium high heat, melt the butter and add the flour. Whisk together and cook for thirty seconds. Add 2 cups milk and minced rosemary and whisk until smooth. Add another cup of the milk (reserving one cup) and continue to whisk. Cook for four minutes while whisking. The mixture will get very thick! Add 12 ounces of the grated mixed cheese (reserving about a handful of grated cheese) and stir well so that the cheese melts. Add the salt, pepper and cayenne followed by the additional cup of milk and the pumpkin puree. Once everything is smooth, add the cooked macaroni and toss well. Pour into a 9″13″ casserole pan and top with the remaining grated cheese and the breadcrumbs.
Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown and bubbling

Yield: 8 servings

*Note – I had a 12 oz container of pasta so I just took out about 3/4 cup of cheese sauce before mixing the pasta in. Then that can get used in a soup (think cheddar soup, pumpkin soup, beer n cheese soup) or to make more pasta another day or on top of potatoes or whatever you like!

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And I leave you with this, Today’s Question of the Day… What food combinations are you not sure will work but then turns out tastefully delicious?