Tri tip w/ fresh corn salad and scallion cheddar cornbread

I was down in Palo Alto yesterday and stopped by Schaubs Meat and Poultry which is one of my favorite little butcher shops. They sell this tri tip called "Freds Steak" and it is ohhhhh sooo good! I have no idea what the secret marinade is but its tasty. After picking up some Freds Steak I stopped over at the produce stand next door and got some fresh white corn.

Ive been wanting to duplicate a corn salad I had at Karens Bakery Cafe in Folsom last week while out to lunch with my girl Kerry. It was so flipping good. I cant say my corn salad turned out as good as Karens but it wasn't bad. I need to tweak it a bit....if anyone can get me the recipe from Karens Bakery I will love you forever!





This dinner was super easy...not much cooking involved other than throwing tri tip in oven (375 for 35 min) and cooking corn and bread. Perfect for a weeknight meal.

You don't need to actually have "Fred Steak" to make this dinner. Any tri tip with your favorite marinade will do.


Corn Salad:

4 ears white corn (boil in water for 10 min, cut corn off cob and refrigerate)
2 tomato (diced)
1 cucumber (diced)
Salt & Pepper
Dash of balsamic

After corn has been cut off cob and cooled toss all ingredients together. Add balsamic to taste.

Corn bread:

I use the Marie Calendars brand mix. Its really good.

Toss in diced scallions and enough shredded cheese to suit your liking (I use about 1/2 cup). Bake according to package directions.

Pasta with chicken sausage and broccoli

This is a recipe from the Sept '09 issue of Real Simple magazine. It was pretty good but didn't knock my socks off. I added artichoke hearts to spice it up a bit but it still needed more zest. Maybe ill throw in some sun dried tomato next time.

One thing that's great about this meal is its SUPER EASY (plus, H loved it). It only took about 20 min total.




12 oz rigatoni
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion, sliced thin
6 oz fully cooked chicken sausage, sliced (I used Aidells spinach and feta)
1 small head broccoli, cut into florets and trim stems
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1. Cook pasta according to package directions

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Cook the onion until slightly browned. About 3 min. Add the sausage and cook until brown. About 3 min. Add the broccoli and 1 cup water and simmer until broccoli is tender. About 3 min.

3. Toss the pasta with sausage mixture and any remaining liquid and Parmesan

** NOTES: Recipe calls for 1 1/4 water to be added in step 2 but I only added 1 cup. I still felt like it was to much. I ended up removing about 1/4 cup after broccoli was done cooking just so there was not to much water mixed in with pasta and sausage in the end.

Nutty Asian chicken over noodles

Here is yet another easy weeknight dinner using the leftover chipotle-honey mustard chicken. So far that's 3 recipes its been incorporated into. Woohoo! Im really bad at planning ahead when it comes to dinner so I love these Robin Miller recipes that show me how to stretch 1 meal into several. My life is getting easier by the minute.

If you are thinking that using the chipotle chicken several times in 1 week is going to be a bit repetitive...think again, it wasn't at all. All 3 of the recipes I used are so different that you couldn't even tell it was actually leftovers. Score!!

Recipe from Robin Rescues Dinner by Robin Miller


Total time: 15min
Serves 4

8oz cellophane noodles (found in Asian section at supermarket)
1 cup frozen green peas
1 1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tbs ponzu* sauce or reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
4 cooked chicken breasts cut into strips (I used 3 leftover chipotle-honey mustard chicken breasts)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped roasted cashews
1/3 cup chopped roasted macadamia nuts

Soak cellophane noodles and frozen green peas in enough hot water to cover for 10 min until noodles are soft and peas defrosted. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, in medium saucepan, whisk together chicken broth, peanut butter, ponzu/soy sauce, and sesame oil. Set pan over med heat and simmer. ( I let simmer for about 10 min until it became a little thicker). Remove from heat.

Pile noodles and peas in bowl, arrange sliced chicken on top (Note: I didn't even heat up chicken. Just used it cold). Top with cilantro, cashews and macadamia nuts. Spoon peanut sauce over top. Enjoy!!!

*Ponzu sauce is a citrus flavored soy sauce. Can be found in most supermarkets.

Chicken and sausage sandwiches with peppers and onions

Remember those chipotle-honey mustard chicken breasts I made the other day? By making a few extra you can use the leftovers for this super duper fast dinner.

This is another recipe from Robin to the Rescue by Robin Miller (she is secretly my new BFF even though she doesn't know it yet).

Pretty lettuce, eh? Its from our garden!!

Total time: 15-20min

Makes 4 sandwiches

2 tbs olive oil

2 medium red bell peppers, cut into strips (I used 1 red and 1 green)

1 cup onion sliced into half moons

Salt & Pepper

1lb chicken breast, cut into cubes (I used 3 leftover chipotle-honey mustard chicken breasts)

1 cup diced precooked spicy sausage (I used Aidells andouille)

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

4 Hoagie rolls

Heat 1 tbs oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and onions. Cook until soft and slightly caramelized. About 5 min. Season with salt and pepper and remove from pan.

Heat remaining oil in same skillet over med-high heat. Add the chicken (if using leftover chipotle chicken you don't need to cook it again, simply reheat in pan). Add the precooked sausage to pan with chicken until warmed through. Add balsamic vinegar and cook for 1 min.

Toast hoagie rolls if desired. Using tongs pile on chicken mixture then top with onion and peppers. Enjoy!