Cooking On the Side

Sweet & Spicy Grilled Steak with Tomato Relish

by Kathy on July 27, 2010 · 0 comments Click to Print

Sweet & Spicy Grilled Steaks with Tomato Relish

You’ve watched over your steak on the grill in hopes of getting it to your desired doneness. You’ve patiently waited while it rests and redistributes all of its juices. Then finally it’s the moment of truth…time to carve.

I was full of pride (and relief) when I made that first incision into this Sweet & Spicy Grilled Steak. A perfect medium rare! I can’t take all of the credit, I did have a little help from a pretty cool meat thermometer. OXO recently sent me their digital meat thermometer to try out and I ended up really loving the thing. Read on to hear what I liked so much about it and what makes this steak taste so incredible (hint…roasted cumin!).

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Chocolate-Layered No-Bake Cheesecake Bars

by Kathy on July 14, 2010 · 14 comments Click to Print

I brought dinner and a few of these Chocolate-Layered No-Bake Cheesecake Bars over to my friend Catherine, who just welcomed a new baby boy a few weeks ago. She e-mailed me a few hours later: “I sneaked a ‘before dinner taste’ of the cheesecake bars and it was the best thing I’ve ever eaten!”

Granted, Catherine is big chocolate fan (which is why I knew she’d love these bars), but I have to agree with her that they’re pretty amazing. Without question, they’re rich. But at least in bar form you feel a little less guilt since they’re small. And now that the sun is finally back in San Diego, I’m finding the opportunity to make desserts without having to turn on the oven very appealing!

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Spinach-Pesto Lasagna

by Kathy on July 8, 2010 · 7 comments Click to Print

Baked pasta – seriously??

I know that for a lot of folks the weather this week has been an absolute scorcher. But here in San Diego, we’ve kind of been experiencing the opposite (but not at all severe) phenomenon…it’s actually been a bit cold and blustery. In fact, I nearly turned the car around as I was taking my kids out to the Wild Animal Park – the fog was dense and drizzly on the way out there and my duo are still pretty little. Fortunately, the sky cleared up and we had a blast with the flamingos, meerkats and gorillas.

The brisk, gray weather put me in the mood for a good spinach lasagna, using the basil pesto I recently made. The recipe, from the back of a package of shredded cheese, uses no-boil noodles so it was actually easy to prepare on a weeknight. Although you can’t really see it in the photos, the pesto is prominent throughout the lasagna layers and full of flavor. There’s a fair amount of spinach in there as well so you can feel good about getting your veggies in.

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Basil Pesto

July 5, 2010

I need to know from the gardeners among you – is it too late in the season for me to try (again) to grow my own basil? Seriously, I’d love your advice. I’ve got a sunny yard and a continual desire for basil in the summer. The only thing I seem to be lacking is [...]

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Teriyaki Burgers

June 27, 2010

Teriyaki burgers. Sweet onions. Spicy mayo. Hawaiian rolls. Pineapple. Is your mouth watering yet? This is my kind of burger: medium-rare, grass-fed (Food Inc. opened my eyes), eighty-five percent lean beef bathed in homemade teriyaki marinade. The idea for the burger comes from the back of my favorite brand of hamburger buns, King’s Hawaiian. A [...]

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Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie & Gelato Sliders

June 25, 2010

They look like hamburgers, don’t they? Or maybe it’s just me and my current obsession with sliders. I don’t know why I’ve been finding mini-sandwiches so appealing, but if they’re on the menu I order them. I’ve justified it as a means of portion control – I eat two and share the third. But in [...]

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Braised Short Ribs

June 21, 2010

Once, a few years ago, my sisters and I ran into Wolfgang Puck in Vegas. Or at least we saw him. We were having a late lunch at one of his restaurants, Trattoria del Lupo, at Mandalay Bay, and I noticed him from afar. He was just sitting by himself, at a table right in [...]

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It’s Dip Week! ~ Queso

June 18, 2010

Whenever I used to travel to Texas on business my hosts would never take me to a Mexican restaurant, assuming that since I’m from San Diego I probably have it often enough at home. But the Mexican food we have in California isn’t quite the same as in Texas. True Tex-Mex is a variety all [...]

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It’s Dip Week! ~ Fresh Tomatillo-Lime Salsa

June 16, 2010

Dip Week on Cooking On the Side continues…with Tomatillo-Lime Salsa. I wish I could let you taste this salsa through your computer screen because it’s unlike most salsas I’ve ever tasted. It’s not zesty like a pico de gallo or spicy like a chipotle salsa. It’s not sweet like a mango salsa, although the lime [...]

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It’s Dip Week! ~ 7-Layer Dip

June 13, 2010

I hit the mother lode…on the back of a bag of tortilla chips. A whole menu of fabulous Mexican and southwestern party dips is printed on the Mission Tortilla Strips bag! With lots of celebrations and family gatherings coming up this time of year I’m declaring this week Dip Week on Cooking On the Side [...]