Mushroom Bleu Cheese Turkey Burgers

It was gorgeous today! It was the perfect jeans-and-a-t-shirt weather, which is my absolute favorite. It's not so chilly that you wish you had a sweater but also not so hot that you wish you had a pool.

Pure perfection.

The weather in NY is so bipolar. Two posts ago, I shared a recipe for white hot chocolate because I so cold all the time!

Well, nice weather makes me crave summer food. For me, summer food is anything that either requires no cooking or can be made on the grill.

Burgers are one of those foods. And I think a burger tastes best when eaten straight from the grill while wearing Aviators and sitting on a deck. So that's what I did.

Except mine came off of a grill PAN on the oven because my landlord doesn't allow grills. Major summer bummer.

My favorite part of a burger is the toppings. I generally use a Sandwich Thin or two pieces of lettuce (don't judge... it creates more room in my stomach for meat) because I don't want a bun distracting from the juicy burger and the plethora of toppings. However, this can make for a pretty messy situation because I don't have a huge bun to hold all of the goodies in. So for this burger, I decided to throw some of my favorite toppings INSIDE the burger. Mushrooms, bleu cheese, and onions.

I'm a genius.

I think the additions helped to keep the turkey burgers really juicy. But it also made them a little tricky to flip without breaking because they were so jam packed with veggies and cheese. I found that making the burgers a little smaller and thicker made them stay together better. If you think the mixture has too much moisture, just add some breadcrumbs to soak it up!

I ate mine with lettuce, tomato, and onion and a combination of spicy barbecue sauce and bleu cheese dressing. Unfortunately, I did not have any bacon in my fridge. But if I did, I probably would have skipped the Sandwich Thin and wrapped this burger in bacon. Because that wouldn't counteract the idea of a healthy turkey burger at all. Nope.

Mushroom Bleu Cheese Turkey Burgers

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
• Buns
• Lettuce, tomato, and onion for topping

1. Lightly saute the onion and mushrooms.  Drain well (you may even want to pat them dry).
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground turkey, mushrooms, onion, bleu cheese and soy sauce. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Form into 4 burger patties.
3. Spray the grill pan with cooking spray. Place patties on the pan and cook for 10 minutes per side, or until well done.   
4. Serve with buns and any desired toppings!

look at the beautifully browned exterior!

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

This is one of my favorite appetizers. I think that might be true of most people.

It's great because it's all the deliciousness of wings without the mess. This never used to matter to me because I had a boyfriend so it was totally acceptable for me to have wing sauce all over my face and up to my elbows because... who was I trying to impress? Well, now that I'm single, I can't just go around looking like a caveman while enjoying party snacks. I figure that I have to at least put on a show of being civilized for a little while. So this means I'll have to step away from the large glasses of gin and saucy finger foods. Or smuggle them into the bathroom in my oversized purse to enjoy in private. Either way.

I love that you can eat this dip on crackers, bread, veggies, chips, etc. My favorite is the celery. I throw a legitimate tantrum if I order wings and they don't come with celery or, even worse, warm carrots. Unacceptable.

This is definitely a staple for any party. With all of the sporting events that are always going on (don't ask me what they are, I only pay attention to the NFL) and graduation parties coming up and summer BBQs that are quickly approaching, I figured this would be an appropriate recipe to share. Or just make it for yourself for a personal party because you're great!

You can experiment with various cheeses and amounts of ingredients but this is my favorite combination. It's not too soupy or too dry. I like to only use blue cheese dressing whereas some recipes call for ranch and blue cheese. I add A LOT of hot sauce. To the point where eating it makes me sweat a little. Like probably more than is in the written recipe because I'm famous for being like... ok, just one more dash... I mean, just like a couple more squirts... well, this bottle is half empty so I might as well just use it too...   I'm probably going to get a stomach ulcer.

Oh, and I make the leftovers into the BEST grilled cheese ever. I'd do a post about that but I've never managed to take a picture before I devour it in like two bites. Sorry, but I knew you'd understand.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

• 4 boneless breasts of chicken (I use the equivalent in chicken tenders because they cook faster)
• salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder (or anything else you like to season chicken)
• 1 jar/bottle blue cheese dressing (I use Marie's extra chunky or low fat, depending on my mood)
• 1 bar low fat cream cheese
• 1 6-8 oz package reduced fat shredded white sharp cheddar (other shredded cheese can be used)
• 1 bottle hot sauce (I use Frank's)

1. Season the chicken breasts as desired (I use the ones listed above). Saute in a pan until completely cooked through. Let the chicken cool and then shred. Set aside in a bowl.
2. Pour the wing sauce over the shredded chicken and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or as long as overnight (depending on how much heat you want the chicken to absorb). 
3. When ready to assemble the dip, drain the chicken in a strainer. This will ensure that your dip is not soupy. 
4. Spread the cream cheese evenly over the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish. Next distribute the drained chicken evenly. Cover the chicken with the blue cheese dressing. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar on top.
5. Bake at 325 for about 25 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned and dip is warmed all the way through. 
6. Serve with tortilla chips, baguette slices, crackers, baby carrots, and celery sticks.

cream cheese layer

spicy chicken

blue cheese layer

shredded cheese layer

all baked and ready to be dipped into!

Butternut Squash Pasta with Blue Cheese and Spinach

Hi guys! I meant to update sooner but I've been pretty busy with school work and the stomach flu. Yeah... the flu. It was terrible. Oh, and it kicked in on the night before I had to take my last teacher certification test. And I was headed home for the weekend. When it rains, it pours.  Luckily (?), my mom and sister weren't feeling wonderful either so we spent the weekend lounging and trying to recover. 

But there were a couple positive notes:
#1 - I bought about six cardigans in bright spring colors at Forever21 for $13 dollars each. Short cardigans were on my "need-to-buy-right-this-instant" list because all of mine are long winter ones so I didn't feel guilty at all. Even with the flu, my shopping addiction cannot be stopped. No really, it's a problem. My new purchases are folded nicely on my couch because there is no more room in my pathetic excuse for a closet.

#2 - The movie In Time with Justin Timberlake. It doesn't seem like a movie I would normally like but I loved it! It's basically about living in a world where time is the currency instead of money so the few rich people could live forever and the poor people never know if they'll be alive at the end of the day. It really made me think about society and the disparity between different socioeconomic statuses. Definitely worth the dollar at RedBox!

Well after a couple days of not being able to eat or move, I'm feeling 100% better and ready to talk about some food!

I made this butternut squash pasta a while ago. It first grabbed my attention because it had a " withoucreamy" sauce without all of the calories of a cream or cheese sauce. I'm constantly looking for ways to lighten up hearty favorites so this seemed perfect.

The color combination of the bright orange squash with the green spinach was gorgeous! The texture was very creamy without being heavy. The squash and onions gave the pasta a pleasant sweetness, which was counteracted by the bite of the blue cheese. I found that the blue cheese in the sauce gave the perfect flavor combination. When I topped my serving of pasta with a little extra blue cheese for garnish, I thought the flavor was too strong and completely overpowered the flavor of the squash and onions so I scarped it off.

Unlike most of my other recipes, this one is not freezer friendly. I tried to freeze some and when I thawed it out, it had a really strange and unpleasant consistency so I threw it out. Lesson learned - next time I'll only make what I can eat, which is still a lot :)

Make this if you love a pasta with a creamy texture but would like to consume less calories and more veggies!

Butternut Squash Pasta with Blue Cheese and Spinach (6 servings) from Budget Bytes

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1.5 tsp chicken bouillon
• 2 cups water
• 12 oz pasta
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 3 oz blue cheese

1. If you are using fresh butternut squash, peel, scoop out the seeds and cut into one inch cubes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Spread the squash cubes out on the baking sheet, sprinkle with 2 Tbsp of olive oil, salt, pepper and sage. Toss to coat then roast in the oven for about 40 minutes or until the squash is soft and golden along the edges (stir once half way through). 
2. Dice the onion and cook it until soft with 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a medium sauce pan. When the onion is soft, add the water, bouillon and roasted squash cubes. Cook for about 5 minutes more or until it is hot and the squash is mushy.
3. Transfer the squash, bouillon and onions to a blender and puree. Pour the pureed squash sauce back into the sauce pan and keep warm over low heat. 
4. Boil the pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the squash sauce and spinach. Stir it all together until evenly mixed and the spinach has wilted. Add the blue cheese crumbles and stir once more. 

beautiful colors!

Grilled Strip Steak with Onion Blue Cheese Sauce

About a year ago Tom and I tried to grill steaks.  We called my dad and asked him how to do it.  Tom insisted that I back off and let him do the grilling so, as per his request, I left him and the steaks alone. We didn't know that Tom's dad's grill is really high quality and gets RIDICULOUSLY hot.  Tom put the steaks on, didn't watch them, came back in like 8 minutes, and they were completely charred.  He threw a temper tantrum and refused to eat or talk to me for the rest of the evening.  Needless to say, we have not attempted to make steaks since that fiasco.

We decided to give it another shot. I was terrified. 

Yet again, I promised to leave him alone with his steaks. He decided (after I sweetly suggested it) to first cook a steak that we would use for a salad the next day, so he could adjust the grilling time/temperature as necessary.  It came out a little rare for our tastes so he threw it back on for a couple minutes and it came out great!

 Look at the grill master himself, totally absorbed in the task at hand.

Then it was time for the true test of the two main steaks.  In order to distract myself from bothering him and looking over his shoulder the whole time, I decided to make some sort of sauce. As soon as I saw Pioneer Woman's onion blue cheese sauce, I knew I had to make it. Plus it would be potent enough to disguise less-than-perfect steaks (just in case).

EVERYTHING CAME OUT AMAZING! Tom cooked the steaks perfectly.  Deep pink on the inside, grill marks on the outside, so juicy.  The sauce was absolutely decadent.  It was rich and creamy and... just heaven in a sauce.  Just one small note: the recipe makes a TON of sauce. You could definitely cut it in half and still have way more than enough. Neither Tom nor I react well when we try to make something and it's an utter failure so thank God for the complete success :)

There's not much time left in grilling season so go make this now! I promise, you won't be disappointed.  Skip the steakhouse, pop open a bottle of wine, and enjoy!

Grilled Strip Steak with Onion Blue Cheese Sauce (2 servings)

• 2 whole strip steaks
• salt and pepper or steak seasoning
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 whole very large yellow onion, sliced
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1.       Salt and pepper both sides of the steaks. Grill until medium rare or however you like them.

2.       Sauté onions in 4 tablespoons butter over high heat. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until dark and caramelized. Reduce heat to simmer and pour in cream. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until reduced by half. Stir in blue cheese until melted. Serve steaks with sauce on top.