Artichoke Heart Sammiches

Inspiration for this recipe comes from an episode of Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. It was originally made by a vegan cafe, but I can't leave well enough alone, so I added bacon.

Sorry. Except I'm not. At all.

I really love sandwiches. Except in my head, they're called sammiches, because that part of my brain is perpetually like 5 years old. But I digress. I love complicated, exciting sammiches, like the ones you see recipes for online. I don't know why I get so excited about them, but I do.

Also, toasted bread. I'm currently in love with buying the nice, bakery bread from Publix. It's so good. It goes bad faster than I wish it did, because I don't eat a ton of bread on a daily basis, but wow. It's surprising how yummy bread with butter or, better yet, toast with butter, can be. I also adore toasting bread in a skillet or pan instead of a toaster.

Artichoke Heart Sammiches
Ingredients
2-12 oz. jars of artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp garlic, minced
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
2 thick slices of bread (I used sourdough), toasted

1. Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl, stirring gently.
2. Add a generous amount to the toast, you know how to make a sandwich. Enjoy!

Harvest Pie

Guys, orange food is harrrrrd to photograph. Because no matter how pretty and rustic that sweet potato looked in person....the photos just look too bright and neon to me.

Oh well I guess. It's also not the right time of year for something harvest-y, but I guess I don't care about that either. This is yummy, I promise. Don't let my blase attitude fool you.

I'm pretty sure it counts as healthy, too. It's low carb and sweet potatoes are soooo good for you. So I'm counting it. It's a nice contrast to a lot of the sugar and butter that's becoming the norm around here. That being said, unlike many (unfortunate) healthy foods, this stuff is hearty. Think Shepherd's pie, only with chicken. And curry. And sweet potatoes.

Essentially, my goal in life (or one of my goals, anyway) is to crank out delicious food. If it happens to be healthy, that's a bonus. Today we met the goal, and got the bonus.

Harvest Pie

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 lb ground chicken

2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 can corn

1/4 cup craisins (dried cranberries)

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2 tbsp salted butter

3 tbsp milk

1. Add the olive oil to a pan over medium heat, and cook the onions for 3 minutes, then add garlic. Cook another minute, then add the chicken. Season with curry and salt, then stir, taking care to break up the chicken. Cook another 5 minutes or so, until no more pink remains.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low, then add corn and cranberries. Simmer another 5 minutes. Pour into a casserole dish.
3. Meanwhile, add the potato to a pot with water and bring to a boil. Boil until potato is fork tender.
4. Once cooked, drain the potato and mash, adding the butter and milk.
5. Using a fork, add the potato to the top of the casserole dish, smoothing carefully.
6. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Enjoy!
   
   
   

Breakfast Burgers

So, here we have breakfast burgers. Are we eating burgers for breakfast? Um, you can, but that's not the goal here. It's just burgers with breakfast inspired toppings.

Oh yeah, I also made an egg in the middle of a burger. Highly recommend. 

I'm sort of in love with brunch right now, which was probably the catalyst behind these burgers. But like, name one bad thing about brunch. You can't. It's a lazy weekend meal, with some of the best food. I love breakfast food, but I'm so rarely ready to eat right when I wake up. Hence my love for a later breakfast meal, which often includes more substantial food. Wow.

Be my friend so we can have brunch together. I'll cook if you clean.

Breakfast Burgers
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
4 eggs (or one per burger, but I made 4)
8 pieces of bacon, cooked
4 ciabatta rolls
salt

maple mustard
3 tbsp Dijon mustard (with the specks)
2 tbsp maple syrup (or other syrup)

1. Make the maple mustard by stirring together both ingredients until smooth.
2. Shape the patties, carefully removing a circle from the center of each, large enough to hold an egg. This will require you to make the patties bigger than you probably would normally.
3. Add the patty to the pan, over medium heat. Crack an egg into the hole, then salt to taste. Cook for about 5 minutes on the first side, flip carefully, then cook another 3 minutes.
4. Toast buns lightly, then butter each side.
5. Add the burgers to the buns, then top with bacon and maple mustard. Enjoy!
   
   
   

Skillet Monkey Bread

Um, hi. Carb Fest 2k16 continues. Welcome to Kimmie's Kitchen. But LOOK AT THIS STUFF.

Yeah. So, now that I've got your attention, let's talk about life. I've recently rediscovered my love for the humanities. No, I'm not saying I suddenly love people. I LOVE literature. And linguistics. And poetry. And theatre. AND PSYCHOLOGY (which isn't actually one of the humanities, but shhhh).

I don't know how I managed to convince myself that I just wanted to take science classes all through college. I was sitting in the library the other night, studying for Developmental Psych, when all the sudden I just really wanted to read some poetry. And analyze it. Take me back to AP Lit, I guess? I don't know. We've read some poetry for my Spanish Composition class, and I think that's helped to reawaken my love.

So, the next day I marched myself back to the library (post exam) and checked out Sylvia Plath's complete poetry. And The Bell Jar. And Jane Eyre. And y'all, I'm reading Jane Eyre right now, and I'm loving it. Just getting closer to being the pretentious literature nerd I am deep down inside. Living the dream.

Skillet Monkey Bread
Ingredients
1 stick butter (I prefer salted)
1/3 cup brown sugar
5 cans refrigerated biscuits
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

glaze
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir until they melt together. Remove from heat.
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Cut each biscuit into quarters, then roll each piece into a bowl and roll in cinnamon sugar until coated. Add to pan.
3. Continue until pan is full, then cover loosely with tin foil. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, remove foil, then bake for another 15.
4. Stir together glaze ingredients. Dip the baked bread in it. Yum!

   

   That's a BUTTER RIVER down the middle, friends.

Potato Bacon Leek Pizza

Um, this is pretty much a carb fest. Oops. But it has bacon, which is protein, so maybe it cancels out a little? I like to tell myself it does.

Is anyone else like super-attached to the music they loved in middle and high school? Like, maybe you recognize that it's not all that good, and overly angsty (I'm looking at you, Evanescence), but you listen to it still sometimes because um, you still love it a lot? That's not just me. I know it.

Orrr, maybe you're hella attached to the angsty, angry, emo pop you loved (who am I kidding, I still love this stuff) when you were like 14? I mean, as I write this, I'm alternating listening to Taking Back Sunday and Fall Out Boy. Angst? Yes, please. Bring it on.

Does this middle school music nostalgia bridge ages and generations? Like, am I just obsessed with this music still because I was 14 only 5 years ago? Or am I going to love Evanescence and All Time Low just as much when I'm 32? Tbh, I sorta hope I still love them.

Potato Bacon Leek Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza dough (I'm a fan of the ones Publix sells in the bakery)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp garlic, minced
2 red potatoes, thinly sliced (you might need slightly more or less depending on potato size)
1 leek, thinly sliced
6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1. Stretch the dough into shape. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle on the garlic.
2. Layer the leeks, then potatoes. Keep the potatoes in a single layer to make sure they actually cook.
3. Sprinkle on the bacon and cheese.
4. Bake at 350 for 18 to 20 minutes, or until crust is golden and potatoes are starting to crisp and brown. Enjoy!