Breakfast Burger

With Fourth of July weekend fast approaching, having a large arsenal of recipes for grilling is a must. While even the plainest burger is delicious cooked on the grill, a Fourth of July cookout is also a great chance to try out some creative recipes and impress your guests, so I offer up to you this recipe for your holiday grilling. This supremely savory burger is wonderfully decadent, with smoky bacon, pungent cheddar cheese, and decadent egg yolk melding together in an incredible collection of rich flavors. If you want to take it completely over the top, use a combination of ground pork and pork sausage instead of ground beef to make this burger maximally indulgent. Runny egg yolk melding all the ingredients together is one of the best parts of this burger, but if you're not a fan of runny egg yolks, this burger will still be fantastic if you cook the yolk through. I've put together many burger creations this summer, but my husband cites this as probably his favorite creation so far, so I know this is a recipe worth sharing. Go forth and fire up the grill this holiday weekend, enjoying some quality time and good eats with friends and family.

Breakfast Burger
serves 2

2-4 slices bacon (depending on size)
8-12 ounces ground beef (local, grass-fed organic is the best if you find/afford it)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon maple syrup (preferably Grade B)
2 whole grain buns or English muffins
2 oz. sliced sharp cheddar cheese

1. Preheat a pan over medium heat. Cook bacon to desired level of crispness, remove from pan, drain, and break each slice into two pieces, if large. Reserve bacon grease in the pan. While the bacon is cooking, mix mayonnaise and maple syrup together in a small bowl. Spread evenly over the top halves of the two buns.

2. Meanwhile, preheat a grill pan or gas grill over medium to medium-high heat or prepare a charcoal grill (my personal preference). Divide ground beef into two even patties and season each side with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook burgers to just shy of desired level of doneness (I like my burgers medium-rare). Preheat the pan containing the bacon grease over medium heat towards the end of the burger cooking time.

3. Placed sliced bacon and cheese on top of burgers and continue cooking until cheese is melted. While the cheese is melting, cook the eggs until the whites are set, but the yolks are still runny, flipping halfway through. Place the burgers with the bacon and cheese on top of the bottom halves of the buns, top with the fried egg, and the other half of the bun.

Pistachio Apricot Grilled Chicken Salad

Main course salads are an absolute staple of summer dining for me. They showcase the wonderful plethora of produce available at the farmer's market, don't take much effort to put together, and don't require turning on the oven. Salads often get a bad wrap and people often assume that they're just a boring collection of veggies with dressing, when they are in fact one of the best palates for combining flavors. In this salad I combined fresh and crunchy greens and peas with sweet and chewy dried apricots, salty and savory Parmesan cheese and pistachios, and grilled chicken for a healthy and immensely flavorful salad. If you're a vegetarian, eliminate the chicken and increase the amount of the other toppings or use tofu, seitan, or even chickpeas, cannellini beans, or grilled mushrooms instead. Grilled chicken contributes more to the texture than the flavor of the dish so vegetarians will still get to experience the full flavor range of this delicious salad. Hopefully this recipe will not only encourage you give this particular salad a try, but to go forth and create your own unique recipes, using the best produce that summer has to offer.

Pistachio Apricot Grilled Chicken Salad
serves 2

8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces mixed salad greens
4 ounces baby spinach
4 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed and strings removed
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/4 cup roasted salted pistachios
1 oz. shaved Parmesan cheese
Salad dressing, for serving (I like Newman's Own Orange Ginger Dressing)

1. Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium heat. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Cook chicken breast until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F, remove from heat, and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice evenly into thin slices.

2. Meanwhile, wash and dry greens and spinach and chop, if necessary. Divide greens and spinach between two large plates, topping each with half of the peas, apricots, and pistachios. Add the sliced chicken and sprinkle shaved Parmesan over the top. Drizzle with salad dressing and enjoy!

Sugar Snap Peas and Pasta

Sugar snap peas are one of the vegetables I most look forward to coming into season and they are abundant at the farmer's market now, much to my delight. I'll eat them pretty much any way they are prepared (as long as they aren't overcooked), but this is the first time I've made a pasta dish where the sauce is also composed of peas, as opposed to being tossed in whole. The rich olive oil and salty, savory cheese are balanced perfectly by the fresh flavor of the peas, achieving a flavor profile similar to that of pesto. Because this is a simple sauce, the quality of each of the ingredients is of the utmost importance, so use good olive oil and cheese for the best results. You can either pass the sauce through a chinois or fine mesh strainer to achieve a smooth consistency, but you can also skip that step for a sauce with a more rustic texture, my personal preference. If you're a fan of Meatless Mondays, give this fresh summer pasta dish a try tomorrow for dinner and you won't regret it.

Sugar Snap Peas and Pasta
adapted from Gourmet, via Epicurious
serves 4

1 lb sugar snap peas, trimmed and strings discarded

12 oz. whole wheat penne

1 medium garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/2 cup) plus additional for serving

1. Cook sugar snaps in an 8-quart pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes, then transfer 1 cup sugar snaps to a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Transfer cooled sugar snaps to a cutting board. Cook sugar snaps remaining in pot until tender, about 2 1/2 minutes more, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Measure out and save 1 cup cooking water, reserving remaining water in pot.

2. Return cooking water in pot to a boil and cook pasta until al dente, then drain in colander. While pasta is cooking, cut 1 cup sugar snaps (on cutting board) crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Purée half of sugar snaps from bowl, half of garlic paste, 2 tablespoons oil, 1/4 cup cheese, and 1/4 cup saved cooking water in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids), then force purée with a rubber spatula through a medium-mesh sieve into a large bowl, if desired (I actually like a rustic, chunky texture). Purée another batch in same manner, forcing through sieve into bowl, and add cut sugar snaps.

3. Toss hot pasta with sugar snap sauce and, if necessary, enough of remaining 1/2 cup saved cooking water to thin sauce to desired consistency, then season pasta with salt and pepper.

BBQ Tuna Melts

If you haven't make Pickled Red Onions yet, for BBQ Bacon Burgers or for another of the myriad uses they have, here's a bit more motivation. As I've said before, I try to eat fish at least once a week, and canned tuna, though not ideal, is a convenient and inexpensive way to get fish into my diet. Even when I was kid and would say I didn't like fish, I was always happy to have tuna salad on a sandwich or crackers. While I still enjoy your typical mayo-and-relish tuna salad as an adult, I prefer something a bit more interesting with some bolder flavors. I picked up some smoked tuna on a lark on a recent shopping trip, thinking that the smoked flavor would immediately elevate even your basic tuna salad, but it inspired me to make this delicious barbecue-inspired tuna salad. I recommend choosing a smoky, vinegary barbecue sauce for this recipe rather than the overly sweet (and high fructose corn syrup filled) that seem to dominate these days. The tuna and barbecue sauce imbue this tuna salad with a delicious smoky flavor, the pickled red onions add a sharp and crunchy element with rich, melty cheese blending it all together for a not-so-average tuna melt that makes adding fish to your diet simple, inexpensive, and just plain delicious.

BBQ Tuna Melts
serves 2

One 4.5-ounce pouch Hickory Smoked tuna (or plain canned or pouch tuna)
2 tablespoons light mayo
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
4 slices whole grain bread
Pickled Red Onions
2 oz. shredded quesadilla, Monterey Jack, or other good melting cheese
Cooking spray

1. Preheat a panini press according to manufacturer's directions (alternatively, preheat a pan over medium to medium-high heat). In a small bowl, combine tuna, mayo, and barbecue sauce and mix well to combine.

2. Place half of the mixture on each of two slices of bread. Top with pickled red onions and shredded cheese and place second slice of bread on top.

3. Open the preheated panini press and spray with cooking spray. Place the assembled tuna melts on the bottom plate, close the lid, and grill until bread is browned and cheese is melted, 4 to 7 minutes. Serve hot.

BBQ Bacon Burgers

Made any Picked Red Onions yet? If you haven't had the time or motivation to try out that delicious condiment, let me provide a bit of inspiration. I came up with the recipe for this burger before I ever made pickled red onions, and the desire to put them on this burger was the impetus for finding a recipe. I usually caramelize onions in bacon fat whenever I'm making bacon for a burger, but the bright flavor of the pickled red onions was a welcome change from my usual routine. The sharp and crisp red onions are the perfect contrast to smoky barbecue and rich and savory beef, bacon, and cheese, holding their own against the other big flavors in this burger. This recipe isn't the only place picked red onions have found a home, so check back soon for more ways to incorporate this simple condiment into your culinary repetoire.

BBQ Bacon Burgers
serves 2

2-4 slices bacon (depending on size)
2 whole grain hamburger buns
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce (I used Frontera barbecue sauce)
2 oz. sliced baby Swiss cheese
8 oz. ground beef (local, organic, grass-fed is the best if you can find/afford it)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pickled Red Onions

1. Preheat a pan over medium heat. Cook bacon to desired level of crispness, remove from pan, drain, and break each slice into two pieces.

2. Preheat a grill pan or gas grill over medium to medium-high heat or prepare a charcoal grill (my personal preference). Cook burgers to just shy of desired level of doneness. Placed sliced bacon and cheese on top of burgers and continue cooking until cheese is melted.

3. Meanwhile, spread 1 tablespoon barbecue sauce on the top half of each hamburger bun and top with pickled red onions. Add cooked burger to bottom half of bun, top with upper half, and serve.

Pickled Red Onions

When it comes to making dishes special without expending a lot of time and effort, special condiments are often the way to go. Swapping out mayo for a garlic aioli or taking the time to make your own pickles or barbecue sauce can take a sandwich from ordinary to extra ordinary with just a little initial investment of time. One great way to spice up sandwiches and burgers are homemade pickles, and I'm not just talking about pickled cucumbers. Since I'd never made any quick pickles at home, I looked for a simple recipe that didn't require a run to the store, a big time investment, and would provide a good base for developing my own pickle recipes. Deborah Madison is a name you can count on for quality recipes, and this is no exception. Although this is a very basic recipe, the acidic, crisp onions provide are a great foil to savory meat, salty cheese, and fresh, crunch vegetables on burgers and sandwiches alike. Now that I've found success with the basic recipe, I plan on experimenting with different vinegars and  herbs and spices, as well as different vegetables and hopefully create my own signature recipe along the way.

Pickled Red Onions
from Deborah Madison via Food and Wine
makes approximately 2 cups

1 1/2 cups white wine or cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large, dark red onion, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds
3 cups boiling water

1. In a medium bowl, combine the vinegar and cold water with the sugar and salt. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt.

2. Put the onion slices in a colander and pour the boiling water over them. Rinse under cool water and drain. Add the onion to the vinegar brine, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.

Whole Wheat Penne with Spinach and Cannellini Beans

Lately I've really been making an effort to incorporate more beans into my diet-they're a healthy, inexpensive, and delicious versatile pantry staple. I used to eat beans primarily in baked beans, chili, or soup but recently I've really discovered a love of beans in pasta, salads, and wraps. The nutty flavor of whole wheat pasta complements beans extremely well in this dish, the spinach keeps it light and fresh, and the Parmesan adds richness and saltiness. If you're not a fan of spinach, broccoli rabe or arugula would make excellent substitutions, chickpeas could stand in for the cannellini beans, and this dish can easily be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock in place of chicken broth. Although it's not a culinary masterpiece, this is another tasty, nutritious, and easy-to-prepare dish for gathering the family around the table after a busy work day.

Whole Wheat Penne with Spinach and Cannellini Beans
adapted from Bon Appetit, via Epicurious
serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 cups canned unsalted chicken broth or vegetable stock
1 15 1/2-ounce can low-sodium cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
8 ounces fresh spinach
8 ounces whole wheat penne, freshly cooked
Salt and frshly ground black pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat olive oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and simmer until liquid is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Add spinach by handfuls until wilted, then add cannellini beans and cook until beans are warmed through. Transfer spinach mixture to large bowl and add cooked pasta.  Season pasta with pepper and crushed red pepper, if using; sprinkle with grated Parmesan and toss well. Serve warm.