Innie or Outie

Hubby decided to take a try at Southern-style chicken-fried cooking, Papa’s Chicken-Fried Ham Dinner:

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For the meal hubby used ham slices stuffed with cheese and arugula (coated and cooked Southern chicken-fried style) and rice smothered in mushroom gravy, accompanied by an Oregon bean medley with minced chili peppers and a small side salad of iceberg lettuce, arugula, yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and bacon bits with a creamy cheese dressing.

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With all the humidity this time of year, standing in a hot kitchen to cook just doesn’t fit the bill. Hubby avoided the heat and went back to the basics with this light yet filling meal, Toasted Ham Sandwich:

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The sandwich consisted of ham and iceberg lettuce on toasted white bread spread with mayonnaise and whole grain mustard. As accompaniments, hubby chose low sodium potato chips and dill pickle slices. Finally, cream of mushroom soup was added to complete the meal.

The weather’s giving us a break and allowing for outdoor cooking fun. Here’s another simple meal I came-up with for the BBQ pit, Grilled Foil-Wrapped Pork and Potato Dinner:

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The meal consisted of Grilled Foil-Wrapped Garlic-Mustard Pork with Onions:

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Pork roast strips, whole grain mustard, red wine vinegar, minced garlic paste, fresh parsley, white pepper, sesame oil, and white onion slices wrapped in foil and grilled on medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes.

Also included in the meal was Grilled Foil-Wrapped Ginger-Basil Potatoes with Red Bell Pepper:

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Potato slices, chopped fresh basil, minced ginger paste, lemon juice, diced red bell pepper, black pepper, olive oil, and grated parmesan cheese wrapped in foil and grilled on medium heat for 30 to 40 minutes. (Please make sure the heat is not too high or you end up with a bit of charring as a result.)

To finish the meal, I added a fresh salad of homegrown arugula, iceberg lettuce, sliced cherry tomatoes, and bacon bits with a creamy cheese dressing sprinkled with dried oregano flakes.

Hubby came up with this tasty meal for a hot summer’s day, Fish Sandwich:

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The sandwich consisted of red snapper sautéed in olive oil and iceberg lettuce on whole grain bread with horseradish, mayonnaise, and dill weed. Accompanying the sandwich were dill pickle sticks and a side salad of arugula, spring onions, cherry tomatoes, and bacon bits topped with a creamy cheese dressing.

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A creative use hubby came up with for leftover salad, Papa’s Asian-Style Pork and Chicken with Greens Medley:

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For this dish, hubby used sliced pork lightly sautéed in sesame oil, dried sliced garlic chips, minced ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, chicken broth, chopped bok choy, rosemary, and leftover Hot & Tangy Mixed Greens with Chicken Salad served on a bed of rice and sprinkled with cracked toasted sesame seeds.

With alll the humidity, hubby was in the mood for something quick and simple, Papa’s Simple Fried Rice:

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In this version, hubby used seasame oil, spam (pork luncehon meat), red onion, garlic chives, soy sauce, white pepper, and rice.

This is an easy way to have a cool meal during the hot summer days, Summer Salad:

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This tasty salad consisted of iceberg lettuce, arugula, Hubby’s salad greens, tuna, scampi, avocado, cherry tomatoes, bacon chunks, basil, parsley, oregano, lemon juice, white pepper, ared bell pepper topped with a creamy French dressing. To accompany the salad, we had assorted cheese wraps.

When we grill, I usually help with the food prep. Hubby decided to give me a day off and did all the prep and cooking on this dish, Papa’s Grilled Foil-Wrapped Sausage-Liver Penne:

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The pasta was precooked on the stove. Then topped with spicy sausage, smoked liver, mushrooms, and rosemary that had been grilled in a foil wrap on the BBQ pit. He added a simple salad made with homegrown greens from his first patio garden boxes. The greens were mixed with iceberg lettuce and cherry tomatoes and dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette.

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We finally had a few good days of weather and a break in our schedules. So we decided to give a try to a new outdoor dish, Papa’s Grilled Almost-Seafoodless Paella:

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For this version Hubby used rice, olive oil, Italian sausage, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, clams, onion, chicken, garlic slices, oregano, parsley, white pepper, saffron, chicken broth, thyme, bay leaves, and lemon slices.

Hubby’s in the mood for local food again, Papa’s Eggless Fried Rice:

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Hubby used sesame oil, spam, mushrooms, garlic slices, bacon, and spring onions for this version of fried rice. He didn’t use eggs because they tend to upset my stomach on occasion.