Beef Patties with Garlic, Bacon, and Fresh Mozzarella

Another patty meal - these are my "easy" meals, where I use different kinds of stuffed ground meat to make a quick and cheap entree that still tastes awesome.  I asked my hubbie if he ever gets bored of eating ground meat and I got a pretty serious NO as a response.  Enjoy!

The Meat

- 1 pound ground beef

- 8 cloves garlic, sliced

- 2 mushrooms, sliced

- salt, pepper, dill, basil to taste

- 3 slices bacon

The Garnish

- green onion, sliced

- mozzarella cut into large chunks

The Veggies

- 1 zucchini, sliced

1 summer squash, sliced

- 2 turnips, sliced

- 2 cups spinach, raw

- 1 cup water, divided

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- salt, pepper, dill to taste

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sliced garlic, mushrooms, and ground beef with the seasonings. Form the patties by picking up a fistful of the mixture and rolling it into a ball, then patting the ball flat on both sides.

In a large pan, bring the zucchini and turnips to a boil with the oil and 1/2 cup of water.  Season liberally and let cook for 15 minutes or until the turnips are soft.

Fry up 3 slices of bacon on high heat on a griddle pan.  Once cooked crispy, cut up the bacon and mix it with the zucchini and turnip mixture.  On the still greasy griddle pan, cook your patties, around 6 minutes a side - check with a knife to see how the centers of the patties look - you want them to still be a little pink in the middle so the meat is juicy and full of flavor, not dried out or burnt.

Wilt the spinach with the remaining half cup water.  Drain the spinach and toss it with the bacon, zucchini, and turnip mixture.  Layer the veggies on the plate, then the patties, and cover everything with green onion and mozzarella.  Yum-o.

Lemon Butter Salmon With Turnips and Zucchini

The combination of bacon grease and butter makes this meal so tasty.  Indulge in delicious fats!

The Meat

- 2 fillets of boneless, skinless salmon

- salt, pepper, dill to taste

- 1 teaspoon bacon grease for frying

- 1 teaspoon lemon juice

- green onion, diced for topping

The Sauce

- 4 tablespoons of butter

- 2 cloves garlic, diced

- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

- salt, dill to taste

The Veggies

- 2-3 turnips, thinly sliced and cut

- 1 large zucchini, thinly sliced

- 3 mushrooms, thinly sliced

- 6 Padron peppers, diced

- 1 tablespoon bacon grease

- salt, pepper, dill, basil to taste

- 1/2 heirloom tomato, sliced

- fresh mozzarella to taste

- 1 teaspoon olive oil

- salt, pepper, basil, oregano to taste

Begin by dicing the veggies and putting them in a large pan.  Add the bacon grease, season everything, and bring the heat up to medium.  Saute all the veggies for around 15 minutes, until the turnips and zucchini are soft.  

Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium heat, and cook the chopped garlic until it is soft and has brown edges.  Add the salt, dill, and lemon juice, and bring it down to a low heat to let all the flavors meld together.

Cook the salmon on a griddle pan, using high heat.  Season the salmon while the bacon grease warms up in the pan.  Sear each side of the salmon, a minute per side, and sprinkle the seared sides with the lemon juice before letting them sit longer, around 4-5 minutes per side.  The salmon should be pinkish, opaque, and flake apart with a fork.  Watch it so it doesn't overcook and dry out.  

Toss the mozzarella and tomato in oil and the seasonings, then add them to the vegetables.

Put the cooked vegetables on the plates and place the salmon next to/somewhat on top of them.  Drizzle the salmon liberally with the lemon butter and garnish the dish with the diced green onion.  Enjoy!

Insalata Caprese

This is a really easy appetizer, but you can make it whenever you want for a light and satisfying lunch, too.  Ultimately fresh basil works best, but since I was making this in a pinch, I just used lots of dried basil from my spice rack.  I also usually don't use the boccini mozzarella balls, but instead get the larger slices, but again...in a pinch, it'll work!

Insalata Caprese

- 1-2 medium sized heirloom (or slicing) tomatoes. sliced thickly

- 14-16 boccini mozzarella balls (or one large slice of mozzarella per slice of tomato)

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 2 tablespoons Moden balsamic vinegar 

- salt, pepper, basil to taste (or put 1 leaf basil per slice of tomato)

Slice the tomato and mozzarella. Layer them with basil on the plate.  Season, and drizzle the dish with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  It's that easy.  

Wilted Spinach Salad with Sausage

Another easy lunch.  We never get tired of eating salads, and I try to make them in different ways all the time to keep us from getting tired of them, haha. 

The Meat

- 2 chicken sausage

The Veggies

- 1 heirloom carrot, sliced

- 1/2 cup broccoli, chopped

- 1 green onion, diced

- 1 heirloom tomato, sliced

- 2 cup spinach, raw and chopped

- shredded mozzarella to taste

The Dressing

- 2-4 tablespoons of olive oil

- 4-6 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar from Modena

The Fruit

- 10-12 large chunks of musk melon

- two handful of grapes

Cook the chicken sausages approximately 8-10 minutes on high heat until the centers are no longer pink.  Slice them up.

Toss together all the salad fixings, and drizzle the oil and vinegar on top of everything.  Put the sausages on top and throw on some cheese.  Put the fruit to the side (the melon will soak up some of the balsamic vinegar from the bottom of the plates and taste extra good).  Enjoy your lunch, just like you do everyday.

Lunch Is Served

We love our light Sunday lunches.  This one is no exception.  The cucumbers add an element of crunch to the dish, while the plums are juicy and sweet, and the fresh mozzarella and slicing tomato are creamy and soft.  Each bite delights your taste buds in different ways, but all ways are good ways!

The Meat

- 2 chicken apple sausages, sliced

The Veggies 

- 8-10 stalks of asparagus

- bacon grease as needed

- 1 1/2 cups of raw spinach

- 1 slicing tomato, sliced (duh)

- 2 balls of boccioni mozzarella, sliced

- 2 teaspoons olive oil

- salt, pepper, basil, oregano, marjoram to taste

- 1/2 large cucumber, sliced

- 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

- lemon juice, salt, pepper, dill to taste

The Fruit

- 1 plum, sliced

Slice the plum, cucumber, and tomato.  Place the cucumber and plum on the plate.  Mix together the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and dill into the Greek yogurt and spoon it over the cucumbers.  Toss the tomato with the mozzarella slices, olive oil, and seasoning, then put that onto the plate next to the cucumbers.  Place the plum on the other side of the plate so it doesn't sit in the olive oil from the tomato salad.  

I precut my sausages to make sure they cooked quicker and also to let each piece have that delicious dark brown grilled coating on it.  It took around 5-7 minutes to make the meat, flipping the pieces 1-2 times to prevent charring.

At the same time, I put a small dot of bacon grease and my asparagus on the same griddle pan, rolling them so they cooked evenly.  They also only took around 5 minutes to be soft and ready to eat.  Then I lowered my heat to a low setting and wilted my spinach in the leftover bacon and sausage grease.  

Put the cooked ingredients on the plate and serve!  It doesn't take much time and it is so enjoyable to nibble on every aspect of this dish!

Baked Eggplant And Meatballs

Oh my lordy this was a good meal.  When I brought the dish out to my husband, his face lit up like Christmas day.  This meal involves a bit of prep, but it is everything we love about Italian food - meat balls, fresh sauce, tomatoes galore, roasted eggplant, cheeeeeeeese, and lots of oregano and basil.   I made this meal partially because, as Italians, WE MUST EAT THIS FOOD TO LIVE, and partially because I have tomatoes coming out of my ears over here. 

The Meat

- 1 pound ground beef

- 1 raw egg yolk

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- 1 tablespoon tomato, crushed

- 1 teaspoon onion, minced

- 1 teaspoon olive oil

- salt, pepper, marjoram, basil, oregano, paprika to taste

The Veggies

- 1/2 large eggplant, sliced and brushed in olive oil

- 2 tablespoons tomato, crushed

- salt, pepper, oregano to taste

- 1 large slicing tomato, chopped

- 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella dressed with oil and spices

- 1/2 head of broccoli

- 2 summer squashes, sliced

- 1 green onion, sliced

- shaved parmesan

- 1/3 cup water

- 1 teaspoon olive oil

- salt, pepper, basil, dill, marjoram to taste

The Sauce

- 2 large slicing tomatoes, crushed

- 1 tablespoon tomato puree

- 1/2 cup heavy cream

- pan drippings

- 1 teaspoon olive oil

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- 1 teaspoon lemon juice

- parmesan to taste

- salt, pepper, onion powder, basil, oregano to taste (be liberal!)

Preheat oven to 380 degrees.

Let's roll some meatballs!  Mix together all of the meat ingredients with your hands in a large metal mixing bowl.  Squish it for a few minutes to make sure everything is evenly mixed.  I turned my pound of ground beef into 9 meatballs, but you can make them a little smaller and have an even number if you prefer.  

Throw the sauce ingredients into a small simmer pot and let them cook together for the next hour. I brought the sauce up to a boil and then simmered for the rest of the time, stirring occasionally. 

In order to save space/dishwashing time, I put my meatballs and my eggplant in the same baking dish.  This only helps the flavors, because the eggplant gets infused with the pan drippings of the meat.  I put my meatballs on one side, and layered the other side with my spiced, sliced eggplant and crushed tomato.  I had 3 layers of eggplant and tomato on top of each other.  Into the oven the dish goes, and out it will come after 45 minutes. (If you are really into cheese, you can layer slices or shredded mozzarella in between the eggplant). 

After getting the meatballs and eggplant into the oven I put the rest of the veggies (but not the cheese) into my sauté pan with the water and oil.  I let them cook on medium heat for around 20 minutes and then added the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses a few minutes before serving, so they would be soft and gooey delicious when it was time to chow down.

The veggies went on the bottom of the plate with sauce and then the eggplant and meatballs went on top.  It's a large, satisfying, intensely tomatoey meal.  And we love it.