Peach Sauce

Trader Joe's used to sell (maybe still does) this amazing peach sauce and I developed quite a bit of an addiction to it. I weaned myself from it years ago, but then a couple weeks ago, I picked up some seconds peaches at the farmers' market for the freezer. Then I screwed up blanching them. Just when everything was going to crap, I remembered that TJ's peach sauce. Delicious all by itself, over ice cream, with yogurt, etc.


Peach Sauce
3 lbs seconds peaches cut into chunks
1 tblsp sugar (or more if you want)
1 tblsp lemon juice
Put everything in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens, at least an hour. Transfer to a glass container and store in fridge. 

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

I had a couple of rolls left over from making steak sandwiches the other night, so I made these to use them up. Very simple, but the sandwiches ended up tasting even better than I expected. Kevin says, "If Atwaters served that, I would order it every time." There was also a lot of rambling about it being a vegetarian substitute for cheese steak subs or Novakians (perish the thought). He says the toasted roll made the sammie, so you shouldn't skip that step.


Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches
1 long skinny eggplant, cut in half and sliced in 1/4" slices lengthwise
1 summer squash, cut in half and sliced in 1/4" slices lengthwise
2 medium carrots, sliced in 1/4" slices lengthwise
2 portabella mushrooms
olive oil
salt, pepper, garlic powder, crushed red pepper
1 green pepper
2 sub rolls
1 cup grated mixed cheese (I used mozzarella, parmesan, and cheddar)
pickled onions
Place sliced veggies in a bowl together and mix with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper to taste. Let sit for at least an hour. Clean mushrooms and coat in oil, salt, and pepper and let sit for a half hour. Heat your grill to high. Place the green pepper on the grill and turn until blackened. Remove from grill and let cool. (Theoretically, you should be able to peel it like a roasted pepper, but that didn't work, so I just ran with it and ate the burned up skin.) Slice it and set it aside. Place all other veggies on grill and cook to your taste. Meanwhile, brush olive oil on the inside of the sub rolls. Place them face down on the grill and toast for a couple of minutes. Flip them over and top with cheese. Cook until melted. Cut mushrooms into slices so they fit on the rolls. Top with all other veggies and pickled onions. 

Janis' Potato Bar

This is not so much a recipe as it is a place to help me remember this was a fun party dinner. Plus, I figured I would take the opportunity to ask for additional suggestions. 


I wanted to make something for my MIL for her birthday, but I have never really figured out what she likes to eat. I thought a baked potato bar would be nice so that people would have options and could just skip whatever they didn't like. I went with some basic stuff (listed below), but really wished I could have thought of something a little unusual. Any thoughts? What do you like on your baked potatoes? I'm partial to turning them into tacos. I'm thinking I'd like to do a sweet potato bar sometime as well, so I'd love your sweet potato ideas as well. 


Baked Potato Bar
Baked potatoes
Turkey chili
Garden salsa
Grated cheddar cheese
Plain Greek yogurt
Bacon crumbles
Steamed broccoli

Garden Salsa

This is a pretty basic recipe, but we've been enjoying it quite a bit this week. If I didn't kill my cilantro, as usual, I would have put some in, but it was tasty without it.


Garden Salsa
6-9 ripe plum tomatoes, diced
1 small cucumber, cut in small dice
1 small bell pepper, cut in small dice
2 jalapenos, seeded, minced
1 tblsp lemon juice (I would have preferred a little more lime juice, but didn't have any limes)
ground cumin to taste
salt
Place cut tomatoes and cucumbers in a small colander over a bowl. Toss with salt. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain and mix with remaining ingredients. Let sit for at least an hour to let flavors combine.  

Grilled Stuffed Tomatoes

I came home from vacation to find my tomatoes had ripened! Joy! Instead of just plopping them on a plate with every meal, I figured I should try something a little different. It was also hot as heck, which meant I was not interested in firing up the oven, so I decided to try stuffed tomatoes on the grill. They were delicious, but definitely a mess.

Grilled Stuffed Tomatoes
3 plum tomatoes, halved, seeds removed
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated romano cheese
1 tblsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tblsp fresh basil, chopped
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients except tomatoes. Add olive oil until the bread crumb mixture just comes together. Grill tomatoes, meat side down, for a minute to warm up and add a little grill flavor. Flip tomatoes over and spoon filling into the tomato and grill until the cheese melts and the filling browns lightly.

Greek Tomato Sandwich

This is way too easy and probably doesn't deserve its own blog entry, but I'm putting it here anyway. It's mostly the mayonnaise. I tried to make this without making the mayo and it was just a mess of a sandwich. And I'm sure "Greek" is a bit of a stretch, but it's what I think of when I taste it, so that's what it is here.

Greek Tomato Sandwich
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tblsp chopped fresh oregano
1 oz crumbled feta
1 large tomato, sliced
sliced onion
lettuce
whole wheat bread
Combine mayo, oregano, and feta in a small blender. Let sit in fridge for at least an hour. Assemble sandwich on toasted bread. Enjoy!