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Hot green vegetables cooked with bacon, mushrooms, and onion are classic and delcious, and there is no reason to give that up just because it is too hot for hot vegetables. The combo makes a great salad too.

Need I say that sour cream is certainly better than yogurt? But you have to do what you have to do. Yogurt isnt half bad either.

2 to 4 servings
40 minutes prep time


Make the Dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise (light is fine)
1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Whisk the above together, and cover it and put it in the fridge until ready to proceed.

Make the Salad:
1/2 of a medium sweet onion
salt
450 grams (1 pound) green or yellow wax beans
125 grams (1/4 pound) button mushrooms
125 grams (1/4 pound) bacon

Peel the onion, and cut it in half from pole to pole. Reserve half for another use. Cut the half-onion in half again, then cut it into thin slices. Salt them and set them in a dish to drain while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Wash and trim the beans, and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Put them in a pot with water to boil, and boil until just tender, 4 or 5 minutes. Rinse in cold water to cool them, and drain them well.

Clean, trim, and slice the mushrooms thinly. Rinse the onions and drain them well. Mix the beans, mushrooms, and onion in a salad bowl and toss in the dressing.

Chop the bacon into half-inch pieces, and fry it slowly until crisp. Drain well and cool, on a piece of paper towel, then mix about 2/3 to 3/4 of it into the salad. Sprinkle the remainder over the top of the salad, and serve. 




Last year at this time I made Mexican Pickled Carrots & Jalapeños.

While watching Worst Cooks in America with Steve a couple of weeks ago we saw a recipe that we really wanted to try. It was called Cheeseburger Roulade and considered to be upscale football party food. So what better to make for a football party we were attending, right?  Well I thought that since we were traveling I didnt really want to use puff pastry.  I dont want it to get soggy and fall apart by the time we got there.  So I decided to use pizza dough.  I actually used refrigerated thin crust pizza dough so I didnt have to worry about too much dough and not enough filling.  Regular pizza dough that I get from the pizzeria tends to be a lot thicker and I have a hard time getting it thin enough.  So once I decided on that I took a better look at that recipe and decided that there just wasnt enough seasoning for me and I didnt want to bother with a dipping sauce.  I decided to do a search for Cheeseburger Bread to see if I could find a recipe and what do you know...one of my blogging friends had a recipe for Meatloaf Bread. What do you know!  I loved that she used caramelized onions - brilliant and its a topping I do love on my burgers!  Thanks Dawn for your creative mind! Please check out her blog Vanilla Sugar for some more great recipes!  I also came across a Rachael Ray recipe and why wouldnt the self proclaimed Queen of the burger have a recipe for this already - so I added some of her recipe as well.  Here is my version of this tasty crowd pleaser!  Oh and a word of advice - MAKE TWO!!!



Bacon Cheeseburger Bread

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon butter
4-6 slices center cut bacon, cut into lardons
1 pound ground beef (I prefer chuck 85% lean)
1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Salt and ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup of white wine
1 tube refrigerated thin crust pizza dough, stretched out a bit
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375°F.

2.  Place bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook until crispy.  Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Drain all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat and add butter.   When butter is melted add onions sugar, salt and pepper and saute over medium high heat.  The onions will cook for about 30 minutes or so.  When they stick and begin to brown add white wine.  Continue to cook until onions are tender and golden in color.

3.  Meanwhile in another pan heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.  Add the meat to the pan and cook until golden brown, 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic powder, chili powder and smoked paprika to the pan, season with salt and pepper.  Add the mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce to the pot, bring up to a bubble and simmer until thickened, 4-5 minutes. Add reserved bacon. Let cool. Add a beaten egg. 


4.  Dust a clean surface with cornmeal and then roll out dough onto the work surface. Roll out the dough slightly so its approximately 11x16".


5.  Top the dough with the cooled meat mixture on the bottom third of the dough.  Top that with the  caramelized onions and cheese. Leave a one-inch border on each side. Fold all the borders in and pull top over to cover meat mixture. Pinch sides and if you have any holes just pinch them closed.  Make a few cuts into the top of the dough so steam releases. 

6.  Brush the roll with egg wash and sprinkle it with sesame seeds. Transfer the roll to a baking sheet and bake until dough is evenly golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly. Slice and serve. 

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.