Blueberries, Burgers And Haricot Verts- A Fresh Weeknight Meal.

Blueberry Turkey Burgers, Tater Tots (you know we love them) & Lemon- Rosemary Scented Haricot Verts.

In this month's Southern Living blueberries are the star!

This is a simple one, but the flavor is so fresh and light. This is a really great one for weeknight grilling.

1 lb of ground turkey, blueberries, parsley & shallots.

I mixed 1 lb of ground turkey with torn parsley, torn basil, minced shallots, chopped blueberries & salt and pepper to taste.

I used a food processor to chop blueberries and herbs.

I formed 4 patties from the turkey mixture.

In the meantime, I cooked the haricot verts in boiling water, then (once bright green) I submerged them in an ice bath to stop the cooking. I drained them and patted them dry. I then heated lemon zest, olive oil and a sprig of rosemary in a skillet for approximately 3 minutes. I tossed the rosemary sprig and then tossed the green beans until coated and heated through. I set them aside on some paper towels to soak up remaining oil.

Lemon zest, olive oil & rosemary sprig.

Be sure to spray your grill, the sugar from the berries will cause them to stick a bit. 

We topped our burgers with crumbled goat cheese- delicious!

We enjoyed this fairly fancy burger, with very little effort.

La Bonne Vie Y'all!

Skinny Dipping...

Oh...please! It's an appetizer! 

But this does remind me of a sign that my friend Mason had in her home:

Actually, I'm talking about the best dip I've EVER MADE!!!!

It is the most versatile dip...and it's low on the calorie count too!

The base of this low cal, yummy dip!!!

So the base is yogurt, and you add the brightness of citrus and basil. 

I found the recipe in this month's Southern Living, in the "5 Porch Perfect Appetizers" section. They suggested using the dip with grilled veggies, but I used it with steak and scallops too!

So let's skinny dip!

Orange- Basil Yogurt Dip:

Grate zest of 1 orange to equal 2 tsp. Cut orange in half and squeeze juice from orange to equal 3 Tbsp. Stir together zest; orange juice; 1 1/2 cups of Greek yogurt; 1 small garlic glove- grated; and 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil in a medium bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Makes 6 servings. Hands-on 20 mins.

Yum! Yum Yum!

We used this dip for Cajun catfish, grilled scallops and mixed grilled veggies!

It is so delicious! And it goes with practically anything!

So start skinny dipping...it's good for ya!

La Bonne Vie Y'all!

Oh My Gosh...I Just Grilled My First Pizza!

I've been seeing all these recipes for pizza on the grill. There's one with a Thai Peanut sauce that will have to be in my future...but for now, I thought, let's just try the simple Margherita Pizza. 

There is actually an interesting legend about this pizza- how it got its name...it involves an Italian queen and a letter with a royal seal. Was it the queen's letter or was it not? You decide: BBC Food: Was the margherita pizza really named after Italy's queen?

Actually, the word margherita means daisy...which happens to be my favorite flower!

So enough with the sleuthing and flowers...let's cook!

Ingredients:

Fresh Basil- this came from a tiny herb garden in my back yard.

I love tomato- you can use pizza sauce, but I opted for Classico's Bruschetta. You will need refrigerated pizza dough (no- I do not make my own), fresh sliced tomato, fresh mozzarella- sliced, olive oil, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper.
(Note: the ingredients of the pizza are the same colors of the Italian flag. And yes- that is a crab made out of forks and spoons in the background.)

Grilling:

Heat your grill (pizza stone already on grill top) to 400 degrees. I sprinkled cornmeal on the top to make it easier to get the dough off later. I painted  the bottom of the dough with olive oil. Pre-bake the dough for roughly 6 minutes. (Let me pause here...notice the dough is shaped strangely...yes- it is. I did not make a perfect round- the stone it hot and transferring dough to a hot stone doesn't allow for lovely shaped dough. Plus- it kind of fits my personality- perfection is overrated...I think the imperfection makes it interesting!)
Then top with Bruchetta, mozzarella, basil and tomato. Grill an additional 8 to 10 minutes- cheese is gooey, tomatoes soften and basil wilts a bit. 

Here is the finished product!
I did put the tomatoes directly on the grill briefly to char a bit. I would start with that next time, and then put them on the pizza; but due to the constancy of the fresh mozzarella, I didn't have a problem removing them and then adding them back.
I topped with fresh ground sea salt and pepper.
(Note: the tomatoes and bruschetta will release juice as it cooks. Watch out- it's hot. Before topping with salt and pepper, you might want to dab some of the juices off.)

Okay- so I was pretty proud of myself. This was a first try, and pushing my grilling boundaries turned out to be good thing! It was incredibly tasty...and the smell- heaven! 

I will definitely try this again...maybe next time with prosciutto...Yum!

Happy Grilling! 

La Bonne Vie Y'all!