For dinner last night I decided to try something a little different for us, and judging by all of the good comments from my hubby, it was a success!

Roasted Jalapeño Burger

1 large jalapeño, sliced in rings, deseeded
1 large ripe avocado, diced
cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper
pepper jack cheese, sliced
mayo
burger meat of choice (ground beef for us)
burger buns

1. Place sheet of aluminum foil on baking sheet. Arrange jalapeño slices on foil. Roast in oven at about 300 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until they start to look just slightly charred and softer. (You can also roast whole jalapeño and then slice later, whichever you prefer!)

2. After cooking burger to preference (we seasoned with a little salt and fresh ground pepper), warm buns in microwave (wrap in paper towel) for about 10 seconds. Place sliced pepper jack cheese on bun and top with burger to melt cheese.

3. Put a thin layer of mayo on top bun, and top off burger with chunks of avocado, cilantro and roasted jalapeño.

Enjoy! We ate it with a side of Salt & Pepper Kettle Chips. Yum-o!

How about a little salsa to spice things up? Chips and salsa may be one of my favorite snacks, but this recipe is also great to add as a side (or ingredient!) to any of your Mexican recipes! I like to mix it up in my Mexican casserole or quesadillas, or as a side with enchiladas or nachos. I pretty much need no excuse to make this as often as possible!

So without further ado…

Grace’s Slammin’ Salsa Recipe

4-5 plum tomatoes, cut in quarters
1/4 large red onion (or 1/2 – 1 whole small, depending on how much you like onion)
1 jalepeño, seeds removed, cut in quarters
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1 bunch/handful of fresh cilantro leaves (this is my favorite part so I always use quite a bit)
juice from 1 lime
salt & pepper, to taste
Texas Pete or Tabasco sauce for an extra kick (optional)

1. Wash and prepare the first 6 ingredients ingredients. I usually chop everything in large quarters, except for the garlic which I mince or chop very fine.

2. Place all of your ingredients together in food processor.

3. Pulse food processor, stirring occasionally as needed, until chopped up to your desired size. (Try to make sure there aren’t any large chunks.)

4. Pour in to a sealable dish and add salt and pepper to taste. This is also when you may want to add a splash or two (or four or five…) of your hot sauce for an added kick, depending on the heat of your jalepeños.

5. Stir well. Taste often (to make sure you got it right, of course!).

Enjoy!

And hope you have a wonderful weekend!

We had a very grey, icy weekend. After hibernating most of Saturday, hubby and I spent Sunday afternoon taking in a movie (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is great, by the way), shopping and running a few errands to prepare for the week.

By the time we got back home I was so cold and ready to warm up in some cuddly clothes and some kind of hot tasty soup. I decided to whip up a yummy white bean, bacon soup and tried my hand at making cheesy garlic knots. Whatcha think?

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I don’t know about you but sometimes I just have a craving for something tasty and I have to have it. Recently one of those cravings was for those delicious cheddar bay biscuits at Red Lobster. I have to say, I’m not a huge Red Lobster fan, but I can eat those biscuits all night long!

So, lucky for me, one of my favorite recipe blogs, The Girl Who Ate Everything, posted a recipe to try at home and of course I had to!

Success!

If you decide to try these, they definitely taste best fresh from the oven. If you let them cool, just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds before serving (or enjoying, yourself!). Yummmm! Warm garlic-cheesy goodness!

So here’s the scoop, courtesy of The Girl Who Ate Everything:

Biscuits
2 1/2 cups Bisquick
4 Tbsp cold butter
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Garlic Butter Glaze
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.

2. Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using two forks (or a pastry cutter, if you have one). Don’t worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix, about the size of peas. Add shredded cheddar cheese, milk and garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined; don’t over mix.

3. Drop ~1/4 cup portions of the dough onto the lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes in preheated oven until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

4. While the biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the freshly coated biscuits.

Makes one dozen.