Tag Archives: sandwiches

Turkey Sloppy Joes

June 6, 2012
Shannon
1 comment
barbecue, food, sandwiches, tomatoes, turkey

Were you one of those kids whose mom/dad opened up canned sloppy joe sauce and “made” sloppy joes for dinner? Well, I’m proud to say that I wasn’t. What I am not proud to admit is that I have absolutely no idea how my mom made sloppy joes from scratch or what she put in it. Or maybe it was my dad who made them. Anyway, I think maybe there was some ketchup and maybe there was some mustard. And maybe some brown sugar. Beyond that, I’m clueless. As easy of a recipe as it seems, I honestly didn’t have the first clue as to how to make sloppy joes from scratch. Now, I introduce you to Turkey Sloppy Joes. I think I’ve bought canned sloppy joe sauce once in my life, which shows how little I eat said sandwiches. Until now.

I’m assuming we used to enjoy sloppy joes in the summer because for no good reason, it seems like a summer food to me (even though there is nothing “warm weather” about standing over a stove stirring ground meat and sauce). I’m happy to say that after making these Turkey Sloppy Joes, I’m feeling confident about making them again in the future…and soon. Made with tomato sauce, brown sugar, barbecue sauce, and Worcestershire sauce, this was everything you want in a sloppy joe – sweet, tangy, sloppy, and finger-licking. Just for kicks and giggles, try this next time you are in the mood for a sloppy mess of a sandwich.

The ingredients:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the turkey, onion, and garlic. Cook, breaking the meat up with a spoon, until browned and fully cooked.

In a medium bowl, combine the tomato sauce, brown sugar, barbecue sauce, and Worcestershire. Mix into the turkey mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Spoon into your favorite bun and keep some napkins nearby.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Source: Real Simple Magazine

Strawberry-Chocolate Paninis

June 1, 2012
Shannon
0 comments
chocolate, dessert, food, sandwiches, strawberries

I’ve been on a little bit of a strawberry kick ever since one day last week when I went to this relatively new eatery in Philadelphia’s Suburban Station called Yoshi which sells – wait for it – yogurt and sushi. The thought of yogurt and sushi grosses out the majority of us but I finally got to a point where I just couldn’t listen to another person rave about the yogurt (not one word on how the individually wrapped sushi is selling) without trying it myself. I grabbed a co-worker and stepped into this vibrant little shop which offered several different kinds of non-fat yogurt (like vanilla, peach, cheesecake, chocolate, and mint) and all kinds of toppings. From Oreo cookies, gummy bears, and peanut butter chips to kiwi fruit, blueberries, and lychee, you can make your treat as good or as bad as you want. I was in a fruity mood so I chose peach yogurt with fresh slices of strawberries. I generally choose other berries to snack on over strawberries but that day, they seemed to go well with the peach frozen yogurt and the whole dessert was fresh, light and tasty. Now, I can’t get enough of those plump little berries.

Since then, I’ve been craving strawberries and bought a pint earlier this week that never seems to end. Looking around my kitchen and noticing some whole-wheat buns that I probably wouldn’t finish and a few ounces of cream cheese that I had nothing to eat with, I decided to make a Strawberry-Chocolate Paninis using my sweet, sweet strawberries as the star of the show. Cream cheese is spread on whole-wheat bread and topped with slices of fresh strawberries and semi-sweet chocolate chips before being smooshed and toasted in a panini press. The cream cheese provides the slightest bit of tang to balance out the sweetness from the strawberries and chocolate. Any kind of bread will do here (like sourdough or French) and dark chocolate could easily be substituted too. My ingredients below made two sandwiches but you can easily double everything to make more. This is a nice little dessert panini that’s perfect for when plain strawberries just won’t do the trick. I mean, who doesn’t like strawberries and chocolate?

Strawberry-Chocolate Paninis (makes 2 sandwiches)

2 whole-wheat hamburger buns or any 4 slices of preferred bread
4-6 medium sized strawberries
2 ounces cream cheese, reduced-fat or regular, preferrably room temperature
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat a panini maker over medium-high heat. Spread 1 ounce of cream cheese onto the bottom sides of each bun. Layer strawberries slices over the cream cheese. Evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips over the strawberries. Top each with the remaining bun halves. Grill sandwiches in the panini press until golden on both sides (about 2-3 minutes). Halve sandwiches and serve.

The ingredients:

Spread 1 ounce of cream cheese onto the bottom sides of each bun.

Layer strawberries slices over the cream cheese. Evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips over the strawberries.

Top each with the remaining bun halves. Grill sandwiches in the panini press until golden on both sides (about 2-3 minutes).

Halve sandwiches and serve.

Enlightened Egg Salad Pitas

I’m a sucker for hard-boiled eggs. Whether it’s deviled eggs or egg salad sandwiches, I’m all over it. Eggs were a big source of protein for me when I was a vegetarian and egg salad was a staple for me. But, as we all know, any kind of “salad” sandwich – egg salad, chicken salad, pasta salad – usually means tons of mayonnaise and tons of calories. So, I was intrigued when I came across Shape Magazine’s Enlightened Egg Salad Pita. Sounds light and lovely, right?

This recipe uses a tablespoon of light mayonnaise and two tablespoons of fat-free plain Greek yogurt which keeps this salad creamy. I have to say that I enjoyed the yogurt in this and didn’t feel like I was missing out on any flavor. But I have to say that I don’t think they got the measurements of the spices right. I’m not a huge salt fan and this was extremely salty to me. Also, I like curry but I think that a little less would have been a lot more. Overall, this had too much curry and too much salt. A little less of both and I think this would have been a much better sandwich. I usually add cayenne to my egg salad so I didn’t mind the flavor of the curry here since I’m used to a little extra something mixed in. But I might experiment with this recipe since I like the addition of the yogurt. If I can get it just right, this will be a mighty fine egg salad sandwich!