Hot Dog Quesadillas

Don't get too grossed out over this recipe. Sometimes, I like a hot dog with mustard, relish and more.

You may have noticed I like sandwiches of all kinds.

Part of this stems from the fact sandwiches are easy to make and part of it stems from fond memories of visits to a restaurant, Roy's Place, in Maryland that has a multi-page menu of sandwiches made with a wide variety of fillings and breads.

For example, the sandwiches are numbered 1 - 216 and they have funny titles like:

121. THE CHESTER A. CHESTER™ (A real two-breasted sandwich) Special brisket roasted in ale and chili with sharp cheese & tomatoes on three decks, spread with our own chili mayonnaise and showered with onions........$10.19

If you follow the link to Roy's Place, you can see the menu.

Hot Dog Quesadillas

Ingredients:

Olive oil

2 large tortillas

2 hotdogs, cut into pieces

Bottled relish

Mustard

Beans, Black or any kind

Grated Cheese

Process:

Cook the hot dog pieces in the microwave 1 1/2 minutes on high.

Add a dab of oil to skillet.

Add tortilla.

Once one side is brown, turn it over.

Add hot dog pieces on top, on one side.

Top hot dog pieces with beans.

Add cheese.

Add relish and mustard.

Fold tortilla over.

Remove from skillet to plate.

Servings: 2

Jackson Pollock Wedge Salad

You won't see creatively decorated cupcakes on this blog. Nor, will you see artistic plating. I don't have a creative bone in my body but I do like art and trying to be creative even if it's just using a empty bean can to hold pens.

I like wedge salads because they are easy, fun, creative and hopefully healthy.

The foundation of a wedge salad is a wedge of iceberg lettuce, where a head of lettuce is cut into quarters or more.

Then you add whatever salad additions and dressing you want.

I am calling this wedge salad, my Jackson Pollock wedge salad, named after a famous abstract artist who painted by dripping paints onto a canvas. With this salad, I used several leftovers.


Jackson Pollock Wedge Salad

Ingredients:
1 wedge iceberg lettuce
1/8 Red onion, cut however you like
1/4 Green pepper, cut however you like
1/2 Tomato, cut however you like
2 tbspns black beans, drained
2 tbspns cottage cheese
grated carrot
ground black pepper
Dressing

Additions: Add whatever else you can find like: sliced olives, artichoke pieces, mushrooms, carrots or other items.

Process:
Place 1 wedge of lettuce in a bowl.
Sprinkle with onions, peppers, tomato pieces.
Add black beans.
Add cottage cheese.
Sprinkle with grated carrot.
Sprinkle with  black pepper.
Dribble dressing over salad.

I used my Yogurt/Mayo Sauce as a dressing. Here's the recipe.

Yogurt/Mayo Sauce with Paprika

Ingredients:
1/3 cup plain yogurt*
2 tablespoons mayo
A dollop of vinegar
A dash of salt
1/8 tspn sugar
A dash of paprika

Process:
Mix ingredients in a bowl or container with a lid.
Stir well to blend all ingredients.

*Note: Yogurt in Mexico is more liquid than solid, add a little milk, if needed, to thin the sauce.

Salmon Salad Stuffed Tomatoes with a Yogurt/Mayo Sauce

I was in the mood for a snack and also wanted to try and make a sauce.

Thought I'd use my leftover Salmon Salad Mixture.

With this recipe, you can make stuffed tomatoes for a snack or a meal depending on the size of the tomatoes.

While this recipe calls for 1-4 tomatoes, I just used one small one to test the recipe. It made a great snack.

What's great about both recipes is that if you have leftovers, they can be used in other ways.


Salmon Salad Mixture


Ingredients:
1/2 418g/14.75 oz can Salmon, drained
1/4 Green pepper, diced
1/4 Red onion, diced
1 - 1.5 Tablespoons mayo
Ground black pepper to taste
A dash of paprika

Process:
Mix ingredients thoroughly in a container with a lid.
Store in frig to cool.


Salmon Salad Stuffed Tomatoes
(Adapted from: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/Recipes/Tomato-Stuffed-with-Dill-Salmon-Salad_UCM_468791_RecipeDetail.jsp)

Ingredients:
Salmon Salad Mixture
1-4 Tomatoes, small to medium
Yogurt/Mayo Sauce (See recipe below.)

Process:
After washing tomatoes, slice off the top of the tomatoes.
Using a knife and spoon, scoop out the inside of the tomatoes.
Fill tomatoes with the Salmon Salad Mixture.
With a spoon, pour a little Yogurt/Mayo Sauce over the tomatoes.

Will need a knife to cut tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.


Yogurt/Mayo Sauce with Paprika

Ingredients:
1/3 cup plain yogurt*
2 tablespoons mayo
A dollop of vinegar
A dash of salt
1/8 tspn sugar
A dash of paprika

Process:
Mix ingredients in a bowl or container with a lid.
Stir well to blend all ingredients.

*Note: Yogurt in Mexico is more liquid than solid, add a little milk to make thin the sauce.

Canned Salmon Vegetable Salad - In Two Stages

I love crunchy and ground black pepper, so when I make this salmon mixture for a salad, I double down on diced vegetables and black pepper.

Salmon Salad Mixture*:


Ingredients:
1/2 418g/14.75 oz can Salmon, drained
1/4 Green pepper, diced
1/4 Red onion, diced
1 - 1.5 Tablespoons mayo
Ground black pepper to taste
A dash of paprika

Process:
Mix ingredients thoroughly in a container with a lid.
Store in frig to cool.

Salmon Vegetable Salad


Ingredients:
1-2 Tblspns Salmon salad mixture (see above)
Several lettuce leafs
1/4 Green Pepper, diced
1/8 Red onion, diced
1-2 tablespoons, black beans, drained
1/8 cup Grated carrot
Ground black pepper

Lay a few lettuce leafs in a bowl.
Top lettuce, with 1-2 tablespoons of salmon salad mixture.
Sprinkle mixture with green peppers, onion, black beans, and grated carrot.
Sprinkle with black pepper, if desired.

*Leftover salmon mixture can be used in other recipes.

The Battle of the Meatballs - Waikiki Meatballs Appetizer

My friend, C, agreed to participate in a "Battle of the Meatballs" for fun. Here is her contribution.

C is a good cook, so her recipe may be more challenging.


Waikiki Appetizer
To make the following appetizer I combined two different recipes. Basically I used one recipe for the meatball part and the other recipe the sauce part and a few changes.

Meatball Ingredients:
1 ½ pounds bulk pork sausage (or could use ground beef)
1/2 cup bread or cracker crumbs
½ cup minced onion
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ginger (or 1 Tablespoon of fresh ginger)
¼ cup milk or water

Process:
Mix the above and shape mixture into rounded bite-size meatballs.  
Put 1 – 2 tablespoons of olive oil in frying pan; brown and cook meatballs.
Take meatballs out of pan (and if you want drain on paper towels).

Ingredients Sweet & Sour Sauce:
1 can of pineapple (13.5 ounces tidbits) 
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
½ cup chopped green peppers (about the size of the pineapple tidbits)
½ cup drained maraschino cherries, cut in half
Optional: Add ½ cup sliced carrots. (Need to cook carrots ahead of time since they take much longer to cook. After cooking then add to sauce for warming). 

Process:
Drain pineapple; reserve syrup.
Add enough water to syrup to measure 1 cup. 
Add brown sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch and soy sauce in large saucepan.
Cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens.
Add green peppers, cherries, pineapple, and sausage meatballs. 
To serve, you can eat with or without rice.

Makes 6-8 appetizer servings.

"I really liked the sausage instead of ground beef, tasty!" -- C

Thanks C, this was fun.

Vegetable Fritters

Working on the next volume of Recipes from the Kitchen of a Frugal Non-Cook cookbook continues to be an amazing journey.

Right now, I am fascinated by how basic ingredients like flour, baking powder, s/p, eggs, and milk and more used in various combinations can be used to make: Pancakes, Crepes and more.

It's shocking I never thought of making Fritters before, I love Fritters. After a little research, I found that you can make Fritters out of a variety of fruits and vegetables like: apples, bananas, and broccoli, cauliflower, corn, and more.

So, I found another way to use my leftover vegetables.

While I have been focusing on making healthy meals, side dishes, desserts, and snacks, this recipe uses a lot of oil to fry the Fritters.

Plus, I found the recipe fraught with dangers.

I wanted to cut up the vegetables small enough to make a nice addition to the batter rather than making it too lumpy. Luckily, my knife was not super sharp, so I did not cut myself as I have in the past.

Then, adding a lot of oil into my small skillet was nerve-racking because, I was one wrong move away from spilling very hot oil and maybe causing a kitchen fire or burning myself These are some of the things you need to think about when you cook.

Vegetable Fritters
Adapted from: http://www.thriftyfun.com/Corn-Fritter-Recipes.html

Batter:
2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

Fillings:
9 Cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 teaspoons green peppers, diced
1 teaspoon shallot bulb, diced
2 teaspoons canned mushrooms, drained and diced

Other Ingredients:
Olive oil for skillet

Process:

Step One

Dice tomatoes, green peppers, shallot bulb and mushrooms.

Place in a separate bowl.

Step Two

Add dry ingredients into another large bowl.

Crack an egg into a separate bowl to make sure it's a good egg. If so, add to dry mixture.

Stir to mix thoroughly.

Add milk.

Stir and mash batter thoroughly to remove any lumps.

Add diced vegetables.

Stir to distribute vegetables throughout batter.

Step Three

Add about 1-2 inches of oil to skillet.

Heat oil to medium-high.

Once oil appears to sizzle, use a large serving spoon, get a scoop of batter and drop it into the oil.

If there's room, add another scoopful.

Soon, the edges of the fritter will brown.

Caution:

Be careful not to tip the skillet.

Be careful, wear an apron in case the oil splatters.

Using a turner, carefully flip the Fitters, one at a time, to cook on the other side.

They should take about five minutes to cook.

Cook maybe 2 minutes on each side to brown the fritter.

Step Four

Remove to a plate when done.

Use paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Cook more Fritters until batter is exhausted.

Marinated Cherry Tomatoes

I like cherry tomatoes but if I don't use them quickly, so within about two weeks, they go bad. So, I have been looking for recipes using cherry tomatoes.

This recipe is great because the marinated tomatoes can be used as an added ingredient in omelettes; salads; rice dishes, warm or cold; and on sandwiches.

Plus, I am assuming because the tomatoes are marinated they may keep longer. But, I don't know that yet, since I already ate them all.

Marinated Cherry Tomatoes
Adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Marinated-Cherry-Tomato-Salad/

Ingredients:
1.5 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
A dollop of olive oil
1 Tbspn table vinagre
1 Tbspn Balsamic Vinegar
1 palmful dry parsley, crush between hands
1 palmful dry oregano, crush between hands
1 palmful dry basil, crush between hands
Ground Black Pepper to taste.
A dash of salt (optional)
1/3 tspn sugar

Process:
In a bowl or covered container, add olive oil, vinegars, herbs, salt and sugar. Stir.
Add tomatoes. Stir to coat tomatoes. If necessary, add more oil.
Place bowl or container in frig to chill for about an hour.