What I Ate: Orange Pomegranate Salsa

‘What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

Were you missing the #whatiate series from Fridays? I have a few I need to do now that I’ve regained momentum so stay tuned for more!

We’ve had some hot days, and I’m so thankful for everyday that isn’t a thousand degrees or humid. Some nights dinner’s theme is “how to cook without turning on the oven”. That’s where this came in. I had an event at work and was lucky enough to take home some of this salsa. The food demo encouraged cooks to use these raw salsas over fish, poultry, and beef. Done!

photo

Ingredients:

Oranges, peeled, chopped
Pomegranate seeds
Onion, chopped
Fennel bulb, chopped
Lime juice
Honey
Salt
Pepper
Parsley (to add at the end)

Directions:

Chop & combine everything except the parsley.
Let sit 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Add parsley just before serving.

I marinated & grilled some chicken and served it all over brown rice. Dinner is done.
The Three Bite Rule - Salsa

I love the crunch and tartness of the pomegranate seeds with the oranges. This is great as a salsa to dip with or as a sauce. I know I get stuck thinking summer sauces are BBQ or teriyaki but a cool raw one is really fun. I’ll have to mess around with some other salsa ingredients!

Mexican Mac & Cheese

These Mexican-inspired flavors into mac & cheese are sooo good. I made it wayyy back in 2011 but I thought since I love it so, it deserved a photo re-do. I use cheddar, corn, salsa, taco meat, and top it with tortilla chips. Sometimes I throw in tomatoes, green chilis, and black beans.

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Ingredients:

1/2 pound ground beef, chicken, or turkey
4 tbs taco seasoning
1/2 pound elbow pasta
1 cup corn
8 oz shredded cheddar
3 tbs flour
3 tbs butter
1 1/2 cup milk
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup salsa
1 cup tortilla chips, crumbled

Directions:

Bring plenty of salted water to boil for the pasta.
In a large pan, cook the ground meat until cooked through. Drain, and add taco seasoning, a splash of water, and reduce heat to low.
Add the pasta to the boiling water, and cook according to the package. Be careful not to overcook.
In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir as the roux becomes a paste. Cook for about 3 minutes until it changes from yellow to light tan.
Whisk in the milk and until smooth. Add in 3/4 of the cheese, stirring until smooth. Add the last 2 tbs of taco seasoning.
When the pasta is mostly cooked, add in the corn for the last 2 minutes of cooking.
Remove from the heat, and stir in the taco meat and tomatoes.
The Three Bite Rule - Mexican Mac & Cheese
Preheat the oven to 375-degrees.
Drain the pasta and the corn. Then add to the cheese sauce mix.
The Three Bite Rule - Mexican Mac & Cheese
Gently add the pasta in and mix. Then spread into a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray, dotting with salsa and sprinkling in the last of the shredded cheese.
The Three Bite Rule - Mexican Mac & Cheese
Top with crumbled tortilla chips.
Cover and bake 15 minutes.
Uncover, and bake another 10 minutes.
The Three Bite Rule - Mexican Mac & Cheese
Serve with salsa and enjoy!

I really love the taco seasoning flavors and some of the taco-inspired-additions. The baking time gives it a chance to really come together, and is perfect timing to get everything else washed and away by the time it comes out. I don’t make it very spicy but you can amp it up a notch if you like!
The Three Bite Rule - Mexican Mac & Cheese

BLT Burger

This burger became something more special than I thought it was going to be. It’s nice how dinners can still surprise me.

The Three Bite Rule - BLT Burger

Ingredients:

1/4 pound ground beef/chicken/turkey
2-3 tbs sundried tomato pesto
2 tbs minced garlic
2 slices of bacon per burger
sliced cheddar
sliced tomato
lettuce
brioche rolls

Directions:

Mix together the ground meat, sundried tomato pesto, garlic, salt & pepper. (I had ground chicken, Mr. J had ground beef)
The Three Bite Rule - BLT Burger
Form into patties and grill until cooked to your liking.
Meanwhile, pan fry the bacon until crisp.
Optional: mix up some garlic aoli with mayo, garlic powder, minced garlic, salt & pepper
Assemble the burgers with sliced cheddar, bacon, tomato & lettuce.
The Three Bite Rule - BLT Burger
I loved this one! The sundried tomato pesto MADE this burger. It wouldn’t have been as delicious without it. I had in the fridge and can’t remember what I had used it for. The expiration date said it was good-to-go so in it went!
The Three Bite Rule - BLT Burger

Suggested adaptations: 

BLT Burger – burger patty + chicken breast marinated with tomato pesto = chicken BLT
BLT Burger + chopped bacon into the burger + tomato pesto as a spread on the roll = tweak on the BLT burger

4th of July Cookout Ideas

I wanted to throw out some ideas for your holiday weekend. I’m excited for some swimming at my parents’ pool and my hometown fireworks and then a trip to the lake in Maine. Windsor doesn’t even know he’s going to get to swim!!! He’ll be so excited!

Whether you’re hosting and doing the whole menu or just need to bring something, here are my favs.

For a salad:
Corn, Avocado, & Cucumber salad takes 10 minutes to prep but will outshine the run-of-the-mill potato salads, or just provide a fun alternative.
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or I love this Ramen Broccoli Slaw, which also takes 10 minutes. I like it with broccoli slaw but shredded cabbage works too.
The Three Bite Rule - Ramen Slaw
or Greek Pasta Salad with cukes, tomatoes, and feta.

For a burger: 

Ranch Chicken Burgers are always a hit (and deserve a redo)
Onion Dip Burgers are so fun with dried onion soup to mix in, and some french onion dip on top!
The Three Bite Rule - Onion Burger
or check out some of my other fav burgers. A burger bar with all different toppings and a few “specialty” burger ideas on a menu.


For a drink: 

Instant Sangria doesn’t need to sit all day, so if you forget you can whip this up without a lot of lead time.
or creamsicle cocktails
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For dessert: 
S’mores Bread Pudding has 4th of July written all over it, and you can make it in advance and warm it up.
The Three Bite Rule - S'mores Bread Pudding
or PB & J bars
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Happy Independence Day!

June Recap

June has been lovely, and slower paced which I’m loving. I’ve abbreviated my quantity of posts but hopefully you’re still enjoying them. June was pretty meat-less now that I look back.

I did have some really delicious food outings. I went to The Painted Burro and had an amazing duck taco. I had a weeknight date to Figs Boston for some pizza. I went to a food truck festival and almost passed out, so I didn’t take any photos after I finally securing some water. I’m thankful for how many not-too-hot days we’ve had. I spent one Sunday by the pool after hitting of my fav local doughnut joint.

I really loved this super simple Veggie Pasta with Brown Butter Sauce
The Three Bite Rule - Brown Butter Pasta
This Marinated Cucumber Salad and this Spinach & Tomato Tortellini Salad seemed like good summer staples.

I figured we were due for a re-do of zucchini fritters
The Three Bite Rule - Zucchini Fritters

Sis and I took Mom to tea for a belated Mother’s Day outing. It was awesome. I loved it! Let’s have tea and scones every afternoon.
The Three Bite Rule - Afternoon Tea
Mr. J’s birthday burger was a great one! I was worried I wouldn’t come up with a new theme for the traditional burger but this one was great. It was a German burger: pretzel rolls, caramelized onions, mustard, swiss cheese, and a touch of horseradish. I also tossed together some truffle parmesan fries. Can’t beat that!
The Three Bite Rule - German Burgers

 

Let’s check on my goals: 
Buy myself flowers more often – The Year of the flower is going strong, this month was a home ground peony and then this month also had some lupine from the highway in Maine.
send more mail – ehh I didn’t quite get there this month.
make some Pinterest pins a reality 
cook with yeast (yikes!)
try a spin class – um nope. I did a zumba class…not quite the same.
make more cocktails – totally forgot. Stay tuned. I issued a mojito “cross country challenge” to @jessfuel