Egg Salad Muffin Melts

I am married to an egg salad junkie. Sometimes I will make egg salad for lunch and call him at work while I eat it…yes, I am that mean! I usually leave him enough to snack on after work but I think he would appreciate it if I would stop teasing him with egg salad.

What I’m saying is, he was happy to get egg salad muffin melts over the weekend. They were kind of like a creamier version of a Bacon & Egg McMuffin. Of course, I have one strange kid who doesn’t like bacon….I’m pretty sure he was switched for another baby in the hospital. 

Egg Salad Muffin Melts

Makes 12

Ingredients

12 whole hard boiled eggs, peeled & chopped

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise

12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

3 dashes worcestershire sauce

6 whole wheat English Muffins, split

Directions

Combine eggs, cheese, mayonnaise, bacon, dijon mustard, garlic powder, and worcestershire sauce in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight or pile it onto the English muffin halves. Broil for 3-5 minutes, until cheese is bubbling. Serve while hot! 

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Pork Chops

Spinach is an extremely versatile vegetable and has become a staple in my diet. I’m accustomed to having it with chicken or eggs but was excited to try it mixed with feta cheese and stuffed into a pork chop. We picked up some thick-cut pork chops and I stuffed them so full that it was oozing out of the pocket.

Being ever aware of the kids’ scrutinizing my offerings, I made no mention of what was stuffed into their pork chops. For this I was rewarded with 4 kids that ate every bit of pork and stuffing on their plates. This includes 1 child that ate all of the stuffing first and announced “This is delicious!” before finishing their meal.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Pork Chops

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

5 sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil, diced

10 ounces fresh baby spinach, chopped

1/4 cup reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled

3 tablespoons fat free cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon lemon rind, grated

4 boneless pork chops, trimmed of fat

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions

Preheat broiler. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add 2 garlic cloves and chopped spinach, saute for 3 minutes until spinach is wilted. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes. Saute until moisture evaporates. Remove from heat. Stir in feta cheese, cream cheese, and lemon rind.

Cut a horizontal slit in the side of each pork chop and form a pocket. Stuff each pork chop pocket with 1/4 cup of spinach mixture. Sprinkle the pork chops with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Arrange pork in a single layer on a broiler pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Combine 2 garlic cloves, lemon juice, dijon mustard, and oregano in a bowl. Brush the mustard mixture over the pork. Broil pork for 15 minutes or until done. If pork is browning too quickly, reduce heat on broiler or lower the rack to the next level.

Recipe adapted from MyRecipes.

Tandoori Chicken Drumsticks

This is obviously not real tandoori chicken since I have no tandoori oven. Heck, it’s not even grilled because of my fear of the barbecue. And I bought pre-blended spice mixes (in the Indian food aisle next to a whole slew of things I could not read or figure out what to do with). It’s the final result that counts though, right? We had juicy drumstick that were spicy and sweet. Yum!

I think back to when I was younger and the drumstick was the most coveted of all chicken parts. Why chickens haven’t evolved into 4-legged animals is beyond me! Nowadays I prefer the breast but I have 4 kids who go ga-ga for the drumsticks so it’s nice to find a recipe for them that tastes good.

Tandoori Chicken Drumsticks

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

1 cup plain non-fat yogurt

1 2″ piece of ginger root, peeled and grated

2 cloves of garlic, minced or finely grated

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon mustard seed

1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

8-10 skinless chicken drumsticks

1/2 teaspoon chaat masala

Directions

In a small bowl, combine yogurt, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, mustard seed, garam masala, salt, and cayenne pepper. Using a small, sharp knife, slice 1 inch shallow slits across chicken. Pour yogurt marinade over chicken drumsticks in a large ziploc bag. Seal and marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Preheat broiler on high and raise rack to 6″ away from broiler. Lay chicken drumsticks in a single layer on a broiler pan sprayed with cooking spray. Broil for 15 minutes, flip, and broil for another 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through. If the chicken is starting to burn, turn broiler down to low. When chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and sprinkle with chaat masala.

Recipe adapted from delish.ca

Supper 01/17 ~ Broiled Salmon with Herb Mustard Glaze

Broiled Salmon with Herb Mustard Glaze

I swear I am not intentionally choosing Giada’s recipes all of the time. Most times I don’t look at the chef’s name before planning my menu. But what can I say, she has the most appealing recipes! I’m not a grilling in the winter kind of gal so my broiler has been getting some good use. Salmon is a family favourite and the boys all love mustard..this recipe was made for us.

I combined the glaze ingredients and skipped the mini food processor entirely because I don’t own a mini food processor (although I saw an infomercial for the Ninja food processor and now I desperately want one of those). The salmon took a little longer to cook because we just bought a large salmon fillet to cut up at home.

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• Nonstick olive oil cooking spray
• 6 (6 to 8-ounce) salmon fillets
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 lemon wedges

Directions

In a mini food processor, combine garlic, rosemary, thyme, wine, oil, Dijon mustard, and 1 tablespoon of whole-grain mustard. Grind the mustard sauce until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of whole-grain mustard to the sauce and stir to combine. Set aside mustard sauce.

Preheat the broiler. Line a heavy rimmed baking sheet with foil. Spray the foil with nonstick spray. Arrange the salmon fillets on the baking sheet and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Broil for 2 minutes. Spoon the mustard sauce over the fillets. Continue broiling until the fillets are just cooked through and golden brown, about 5 minutes longer.

Transfer the fillets to plates and serve with lemon wedges.

For such a large salmon fillet, we ended up with very little left over. Stating the obvious here, the salmon was great! Logan ‘hoovered’ his and was the first one finished. He hovered around the tray of salmon for a bit afterwards, debating whether or not to have more but the giant chocolate cake for dessert made him re-consider seconds.