Brandon l-o-v-e-s watermelon. I h-a-t-e watermelon. Well, I don’t hate it, but I don’t get excited like Brandon does when it comes in season, mainly because I hate the seeds. I hate the seeds in oranges too. Must have been some kind of childhood trauma. Haha, just kiddin’. All that being said, Brandon devoured this salad and I thought it was pretty darn good myself. We served this with No-Fry Crispy Chicken Wings and it was the perfect grease cutting kind of summer salad.

Ingredients

• 1 4-5 lb., seedless watermelon (we used a Sugar Baby), diced
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in 1/2
• 1 handful of mint, chopped
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1/4 c champagne or white wine vinegar
• 1 squeeze of the honey bear
• S&P

Method

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and eat!

I L-O-V-E skirt steak. It has a wonderful amount of marbling (read: flavor) and does really, really well charred up on the grill. So what is skirt steak? It’s the diaphragm muscle of the cow, located right next door to the flank steak. It’s usually cheaper than flank steak. If you can’t find a skirt steak, feel free to substitute flank steak or any other meat you like to grill!

The rub was inspired by my disdain for dry rubs that involve combining 200 different ingredients and then turns out tasting like–um, nothing. So here it is, 3 ingredients; the star being smoked paprika. I would like to rename this: powdered bacon.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs. skirt or flank steak
• 4 T smoked paprika
• 1 t salt
• 1 t pepper

Method

Rub the ingredients on both sides of the steak. Place on a preheated grill and let cook for about 12 minutes…that’ll get you a nice medium rare.

Ingredients

• 2 mangoes, cubed
• 1 English cucumber, cubed
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 2 limes, juiced
• handful of mint, chopped
• S&P

Method

Combine all ingredients. Let marinate in the fridge for a few hours or eat immediately.

Beef stew, also known as beef bourguignon, is good, but boring–and we personally think it tastes like straight up sour wine and that is not very tasty, especially by the spoonful. So we’ve added a bit of balsamic vinegar and raisins to counter the sour with a bit of sweet. We’re also swirling in a nice, briny, herbal pesto to brighten up the braise. Another change, we’re not using a crock pot! The dutch oven allows liquid to evaporate from the pot, thus creating a thicker, more intense flavored stew. And heck, I would rather eat in 2 hours than in 6 hours, agreed?

[print_this]

Mediterranean Beef Stew with Green Olive Pesto

Stew Ingredients

• 2 T fat of your choice
• 2 lb. chuck shoulder, cubed
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 3/4 c raisins
• (1) 28 oz. can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• 1 c red wine
• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1 lemon, sliced and seeds removed
• S&P

Pesto Ingredients

• 1 handful of basil leaves
• 1/2 handful of mint leaves
• 1/2 c green olives (about 20)
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In a dutch oven melt your fat. Salt and pepper the cubed chuck pieces, add them to the pot and let them brown on each side. Don’t fidget with them or remove them until you see a visible brown crust on the meat. Remove and reserve on a plate.  To the pot, add the onion, garlic and carrot. Let them sweat and saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the meat back to the pot, along with the tomatoes, raisins, red wine and balsamic vinegar. Stir to combine. Top with sliced lemons.

Lay a piece of parchment paper of the the top of the pot and press it down into the pot. Place in the oven and braise for 2 hours. Taste the meat, it should be super tender, if it’s not give it another half hour or so.

Once you’re about 10 minutes from the stew finishing; combine all the ingredients for the pesto in a mini food processor. Pulse until everything has come together.

When the stew is out of the oven, take the lemon rinds out, but leave in the flesh…it’ll separate very easily. Swirl in the pesto and serve.

[/print_this]

I used to be a chicken thigh trimming Nazi! I would lose a ton of the edible parts trying to cut off all that visible fat and other unappetizing looking stuff. BUT–If you just cook the thighs, un-trimmed, it almost all cooks away!

BBQ Ingredients

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1/3 c honey or molasses
• 1/3 c red wine vinegar
• 3 T worcestershire sauce
• 1 (not 1 can) chipolte pepper in adobo*

Method

Place the chicken thighs in a plastic zip top bag. In a blender or food processor, blend up the rest of the ingredients until smooth and pour into the plastic bag. Let marinate in the fridge up to overnight. If you don’t have time to marinate, just skip it and follow the rest of the steps below.

To cook, place chicken thighs in a pre-heated saute pan and sear on each side, about 4 minutes, or until cooked through. Don’t fidget with the chicken, let it get nice and brown and caramel-ly on each side! Brown=Flavor. Remove the thighs and pour the reserved marinade into the same pan. Boil the marinade for 3-5 minutes to thicken it and kill any raw chicken bacteria. Pour the BBQ sauce over the chicken.

Cukes and Onions Ingredients

• 1/2 English cucumber (doesn’t need peeling or seeding, here’s what you’re looking for)
• 1/2 red onion
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1/2 t sugar
• 1/2 handful mint leaves
• S & P

Method

Slice the cucumbers and onions as thinly as possible and place in a bowl. If you don’t have a hand-held mandoline, I would strongly recommend you look into purchasing one of those handy, time-saving and cheap gadgets.

Whisk together the rest of the ingredients and pour over the top of the cucumbers and onions. If you have a jar with a screw top lid you can just add the ingredients and shake the heck out of it. I think this is easier and dirties up fewer dishes!

Let the cukes and onions marinate–unless you like raw red onions. The lemon juice “cooks” the onions. They become softer and the flavor becomes less harsh with time.

{*You can find these is the Latin section at almost any grocery store. They’re not much more than $1 per can. Here’s what your’e looking for.}

Traditional tabouli (some spell it tabbouleh) is mainly comprised of bulgar wheat and it’s sprinkled with some tomato, onion and spices. So we’re foolin’ ya! We take the grains out completely and punch up the flavor. It’s really refreshing and goes  great with grilled, charred meats and seafood or all by itself.

Ingredients

• 1 pt. cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 English cucumber
• 1/2 red onion
• 4 lemons, juiced and zested
• handful of mint
• 4 glugs of olive oil
• S & P

Method

Roughly chop the tomatoes, cucumber and mint and place in a large bowl. Dice the onion as small as you can and add to the bowl. Add the zest of 2 lemons and the juice of 4, along with the olive oil and some salt & pepper. Let the salad marinate for a few hours so the flavors can meld.

The longer you let this salad sit, the better it tastes.