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Grinder Sandwich (TikTok Viral Salad Sandwich)

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Grinder Salad Dressing

• 1/4 red onion thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning I used Penzey's frozen pizza seasoning
• 1 to 2 Tablespoons banana peppers chopped with juice
• 4 to 5 cloves minced garlic
• dash crushed red pepper optional
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 to 1/3 head iceberg lettuce sliced

Grinder Sandwich

• 2 to 3 sub rolls
• sliced ham
• salami
• Munster cheese
• 1 tomato sliced
• grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Grinder Salad Dressing

• Slice your red onion and place in a small bowl with cold water. Set aside.
• In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add mayo, red wine vinegar and Italian seasoning.
• Remove onions from water and allow to drain.
• Add the onions, banana peppers, garlic and crushed red pepper, if you're using. Mix together and then add salt and pepper and mix again.
• Add lettuce and mix together. (If you're making this a day ahead of time, don't mix the lettuce in until you're ready to serve.)

Grinder Sandwich Assembly

• Turn your oven on to the broiler setting.
• Cut into your sub rolls and place on a lined baking dish.
• Add ham and then salami to your sub rolls. Then, add the Munster cheese.
• Place in the oven until the cheese has melted and is bubbly, about 1 to 3 minutes. Be careful and don't burn your bread!
• Add sliced tomatoes on top and then season the tomatoes with salt and pepper.
• Scoop the mixed grinder salad dressing on top of the sandwich and then add the Parmesan cheese.
• Close the sub roll up and cut in half and serve immediately.

The post Grinder Sandwich (TikTok Viral Salad Sandwich) appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

This recipe was originally published June 14, 2010. I recently updated this post with new photos!

These aren't the traditional Vietnamese spring rolls you're used to seeing. They usually come served with pork and shrimp and they are served cold.

These spring rolls are served with a grilled lemongrass beef and onions as well as red or green peppers and are served hot, immediately after the beef and veggies are cooked. My Mom has been making this recipe for as long as I can remember. My husband calls them Viet Fajitas…because of the onions and peppers…which Curtis totally suggested to my Mom! And she happily incorporated! The Vietnamese name for this dish is: Besides pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup), this dish is my other favorite Vietnamese dish. I have many memories of crowded dinner tables…the table full of condiments and a butane-powered camping stove. My Mom would stir-fry the lemongrass beef right there and everyone around the table passed around ingredients. We rolled the spring rolls and ate them as soon as they were rolled right at the table. BTW, my Mom even calls them Viet Fajitas now.

One other thing, you can totally substitute the beef for grilled shrimp or serve it with both!

I like to use really thin (vermicelli) rice noodles. This brand of rice paper is my favorite! They can be found at your local Asian or Vietnamese grocery store.

Boil the rice noodles according to the package instructions.

Prep the cilantro, the onions, peppers and then prep the beef.

Heat a nonstick skillet and melt some butter. Everything is better with butter!

Cook the beef, onions and peppers in batches. See the sear marks on the beef?

Now, let me show you how to roll a spring roll.

First, wet the rice paper on both sides, no need to soak. Just a quick wetting. You want it to be completely wet but you don't want it to soak that it becomes way too soft. Place the paper on a plate and wait about 30 to 45 seconds. (I usually have two plates prepped and ready to go, wet two pieces at a time, one on each plate.)

I add the beef, peppers and onions on the lower third of the round spring roll wrapper. Add the lettuce and the rice noodles. (I really should have used a non-white plate to show you.)

Be careful to not overfill. My brother is a master of overfilling and it never breaks…I'm not that talented!

Fold over the sides.

Grab the bottom, end closest to you, tuck it in and start rolling up.

And there you have it! Easy peasy!

So there is two ways of doing this…

I told you how we sit around a table and my Mom would cook the beef right there at the table.

Another way is cooking the beef and veggies in the kitchen and then wrapping the spring rolls as you go along and then eating them after you're done wrapping a bunch of them up. That's the way Curtis prefers to do it. And it's less mess on our table for us.

He likes to make a whole pile of them whereas while I'm cooking the beef on the stove, I'm wrapping and rolling and eating!

This dish is so popular with my family and with friends! I could have these every week!

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Grilled Lemongrass Beef Spring Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 package rice noodles cooked according to instructions on the package
• lettuce cilantro, sliced jalapenos (optional)
• 1 medium onion cut in half and thinly sliced
• 1 green bell pepper cut into thin strips
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped lemongrass
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 pounds London Broil beef sliced thinly across the grain, cut into 1-inch x 2-3-inch pieces
• 1/2 to 1 pound shrimp peeled and deveined (optional)
• 4 Tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 Tablespoons sesame oil
• 4 to 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter for each batch of cooking
• 1 package rice paper
•  

Instructions

• Start a large pot of boiling water and cook rice noodles according to instructions on the package. Watch carefully, because they cook quickly. Remove noodles and place in a colander. Drain and rinse continuously with cold water for 2 to 3 minutes. Shake the colander several times to drain the water. Place on a large plate and set aside and allow the noodles to dry.
• Prep and clean the lettuce, cilantro and jalapenos.
• Prep the onion, pepper, lemongrass and the garlic.
• Slice the beef and place in a large bowl along with the lemongrass, garlic, oyster sauce and sesame oil. Marinate the beef for at least 15 minutes and up to a few hours in the refrigerator.
• Heat a 9-inch nonstick skillet at medium-high and add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon butter. Allow the butter to melt and add beef  with 1/2 to 1 Tbsp of butter. Cook beef (& shrimp) along with a little bit of peppers and onions in small batches, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through and browned. Repeat until you have cooked all of the meat. (You may need to wipe the skillet clean in between batches so you don't burn the beef.)
• Roll into spring rolls with rice noodles, lettuce and cilantro along with the beef and shrimp (if using). Serve immediately.

Tips:

• Be sure to not overfill the skillet, cook the beef in batches. If you overfill, the meat will not brown quickly and you will have overcooked your beef and make it tougher.
• Always, watch the noodles very carefully, they cook very fast in some cases in just 3 minutes! Drain in a colander and drain. You definitely want to drain and rinse with cold water because you do not want them to stick together. Allow them to cool and I like to warm them up in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds before adding them to the rice paper.
• If you want to do shrimp as well, marinate in a separate container from the beef. I often stir fry it along with the beef unless someone does not eat beef or is allergic to shellfish.

The post Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Grilled Lemongrass Beef appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Side note: When I think of Jessica, I smile. She's hilarious, caring and amazingly talented and humble. I remember a couple of years ago spending time with her on a brand trip, I had just gotten laid off from my job and she was incredibly supportive and encouraging. I appreciate her so much! When I was thinking about what recipe I would make for this virtual (so sad we can't do it in person) baby shower, I thought of her Salmon BLT sliders and wanted to include avocado in some kind of way because she LOVES avocado. And the brie, it was an afterthought and it might sound really weird and strange but it's perfect. I'm a just a little too obsessed with brie cheese lately…

Add all of the ingredients with the liquids first for the aioli into a blender.

Blend until smooth and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

Cut the salmon into 8 pieces. It's up to you if you want to remove the skin.

Broil for 5 minutes on each side.

Stack the bacon, lettuce and tomato sliders. First spread the aioli on the bottom of slider or dinner rolls, then add the salmon, some brie cheese and then stack the bacon, lettuce and tomato.

I'm so excited for Jessica…she's an amazing person who is extremely supportive of her friends, so talented and humble at the same time, she's going to make an amazing Mom! I hope she enjoy the shower we threw for her and these Salmon BLT sliders!!

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Salmon BLT Sliders with an Avocado Aioli & Brie Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

Avocado Aioli

• 2 large egg yolks
• 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 ripe avocado peeled and sliced
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Salmon BLT Sliders

• 1 to 1 1/4 pound salmon
• Brie cheese rind removed, cut into chunks (or your favorite cheese)
• 8 dinner rolls
• sliced bacon cooked
• red or green leaf lettuce
• one plum tomato sliced

Instructions

• Turn on your oven broiler (mine goes to 550 degrees F).
• Add aioli ingredients to your blender (liquids first) and blend until smooth. Pour into a small bowl and cover and refrigerate until use.
• Cut salmon into 8 equal pieces and sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Place on a foil lined baking sheet. Broil salmon for 5 minutes on each side.
• While salmon is broiling, prep the other ingredients.
• Cut dinner rolls/slider buns in half and spread aioli on the bottom, place one piece of salmon, a few pieces of brie on top of the salmon and then stack the bacon, lettuce and tomato on top. Serve immediately.

Notes

Inspired by Crispy Salmon BLT Sliders with Chipotle Mayo.

Seriously, the oozy brie drives me crazy. Brie and salmon, it's a thing.

And be sure to visit these other blogs for more recipes to celebrate Jessica's impending arrival!!

Salads!
Asian Broccoli Salad with Peanut Sauce from Gimme Some Oven | Brussels Slaw with Tahini Dressing and Za'atar Crostini from The Lemon Bowl | Kale Salad with Apple, Hazelnuts & Bacon from With Style & Grace

Cocktails!
Hot Buttered Rum Cocktail from Dine & Dish | Cranberry Orange Dark and Stormy Cocktail from Food For My Family | Bourbon Pumpkin Milkshakes from Minimalist Baker | Apple Cider Shandy from Stylish, Stealthy & (sometimes) Healthy | Preggy Punch Mocktail from A Spicy Perspective | Boozy Maple Peanut Butter Cup Milkshake from Girl vs. Dough | Maple Bacon Pisco Sour from Honestly Yum | Pink Grapefruit Margaritas from Cookin Canuck | Mezcal Citrico Cocktail from A Thought For Food | Pomegranate Rosemary Spritzer from A House in the Hills | Ginger Bourbon Apple Cider from The Novice Chef  | Citrus Cider Punch Floats from Bran Appetit

Burgers!
Meatloaf Veggie Burgers with Mashed Potatoes + Gravy from Edible Perspective | Salmon BLT Sliders with an Avocado Aioli & Brie from The Little Kitchen | Balsamic Beef Burger with Mac and Cheese from Daisy At Home | Candied Bacon Maple Cheddar Burger from Cookies & Cups | Trashed-Up Steak Burger with Chicken Fried Bacon & Dijon Gravy from Climbing Grier Mountain | Bleu Cheese Burgers + Sweet Potato Fries from Dessert For Two | Fig Rosemary Roast Chicken Brie Brussels Sprout Panini from Country Clever | The Best Cheeseburger Soup from Foodie Crush | Spicy Sambal Chicken Meatball Sub with Eggs from Lady and Pups | Sweet Potato and Kale Grilled Cheese from Two Peas & Their Pod | Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich from Bake Your Day

Tacos!
Crunchy Ground Beef and Cheesy Tacos from Spoon Fork Bacon | Boozy Beef and Butternut Tacos from The Fauxmartha | Harvest Hash Breakfast Tacos from With Food + Love | Crispy Kale and Brussels Sprout Tacos with Bacon from Mountain Mama Cooks | Banh Mi Tacos with Spicy Sriracha Honey Sauce from Heather Christo |  Loaded Huevos Rancheros Tacos from A Couple Cooks | San Diego Lobster Street Tacos from Fitnessista

Desserts!
Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate, and Brown Butter Shortbread Bars with Sprinkles from Table for Two | Mini Vanilla Loaf Cakes, All Trashed Up from My Name is Yeh | Pumpkin Spice Butterscotch Sprinkle Cupcakes from Picky Palate | Cake Batter Confetti Cupcakes from Sprinkle Bakes | Easy Homemade Funfetti Cake with Vanilla Buttercream from Averie Cooks | Trashed Up Shortbread Cookie Bars from Sweet Phi | Loaded Junk Food Brownies from Love & Olive Oil | Bakery Sugar Cookies from Lauren’s Latest | Peanut Butter, Banana, Honey and Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cookie + Kate | Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting from Flourishing Foodie | Salted Caramel Popcorn Ice Cream Cake from The Sugar Hit | Breakfast Cereal Cake Donuts from Hummingbird High | Triple Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Crumb Cake from Top With Cinnamon | Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sundaes from Bake at 350 | Lemon Layer Cake from Simple Bites | Baby Block Cake Pops from Bakerella | Chocolate Covered Grapefruit from She Wears Many Hats

Pizza!
Beer Battered Fried Calamari Pizza from Bev Cooks | Apple and Chicken Sausage Pizza with Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Crust from Rachel Cooks | Trashed Up Barbecue Turkey Pizza from Foodie With Family | Pesto Potato Bacon Pizza from Shutterbean | Grilled Cheese Pizza from i am a food blog | Chili Cheese Dog Pizza from My Life as a Mrs | Steak + Blue Cheese Pizza with Crispy Fried Shallots and Honey Balsamic Drizzle from Simply Scratch | Beer Cheese Tater Tot Pizza from The Beeroness | Roasted Pumpkin Pizza from Yes I Want Cake | Bacon Mashed Potato Pizza from Two Red Bowls | Pork Banh Mi Pizza from Dula Notes | Trashed Up Mexican Pizza Pockets from Weelicious | Roasted Beet Pizza from Take a Megabite | Hard Cider Braised Pork with Sour Cherries and Cheesy Polenta from Hungry Girl Por Vida

The post Salmon BLT Sliders with an Avocado Aioli & Brie appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I'm all giddy thinking about sharing this recipe with you. This is another installment on my project with McCormick Gourmet. Thinking about what kind of recipe I wanted to make with farm-to-table ingredients and pairing with their high quality spices, I immediately thought of wonton soup. It's officially Fall and even though it's still warm here in Florida, I'm ready for soup. Okay, let's face it, I can have soup year-round.

I remember my Mom making wonton soup for us when I was a kid and how comforting it was. I would cut the wontons with the edge of my spoon and eat the dumpling part first and leave the “pasta” in the bowl and eat that last.

Although, this is a little different from the recipe she would make for us and a little non-traditional, it has so much flavor, it's very filling; good enough for a meal but not overfilling and full of fresh ingredients. It will make you feel good to make and eat. The wonderful thing about this recipe is you can switch out the fresh produce for what's in season and what you have on hand that's fresh. 

I used cabbage for the filling but you can use shredded Brussels sprouts if that's what you have on hand.

For the soup, I used escarole lettuce but you can use romaine lettuce or even sliced mushrooms if that's what you have. And instead of broccoli, you can use cauliflower or kale. The sky's the limit on what you can do as far as fresh produce in this soup!

Traditional wontons have a pork filling but I opted for a mixture of ground pork and shrimp. You can go all the way pork, all the way shrimp or mix it up like I did.

I smashed the shrimp with the side of my knife and then chopped it up.

Here's the line-up for this recipe: McCormick Gourmet Ground Ginger, Ground Coriander Seed, California Garlic Powder and Ground Cayenne Red Pepper. These are quality spices…a little bit goes a long way.

Add all of the filling ingredients along with the spices, salt and pepper.

And seriously, just use your hands to mix the filling up.

All done.

Add 1/2 tablespoon of filling to the middle of the wonton shell.

Fold up the opposite corners to meet.

I pat around the filling to make sure there are no air bubbles when you cook them.

A little easier to see.

Using your thumbs and fingers, pinch the wonton shell.

Pinch, pinch…

Pinch.

See my hands?

Almost done.

See how easy it is?

And I always say, when you turn it upside down, it looks like a ghost!

Doesn't this look like fun?

I boil them in small batches, 6 to 8 at a time for 4 minutes.

The soup broth is easy, it's chicken broth with McCormick Gourmet Ground Ginger and Ground Cayenne Red Pepper.

And guess what? These freeze rather nicely! Freeze them on a baking sheet in one layer and then place them in a zippered plastic bag and date it with a permanent marker. You can boil them straight from the freezer!

It's so warm and comforting. The little bit of Ground Cayenne Red Pepper gives the broth a nice little kick. The veggies in the soup make you feel good. This dinner was a winner in Curtis' book. Love love love, I hope you try this soon!

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Pork and Shrimp Wonton Soup with Broccoli and Escarole Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

Wonton Filling

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound shrimp peeled, deveined and washed, smashed and chopped
• 2/3 cup chopped small green cabbage
• 2 green onions sliced thin (divided in half)
• 1/4 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Ground Ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Ground Coriander Seed
• 1/2 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet California Garlic Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• wonton wrappers
• 8 to 10 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Ground Ginger
• one or two pinches McCormick Gourmet Ground Cayenne Red Pepper optional
• broccoli cut into florets
• sliced escarole or romaine lettuce

Instructions

• Add wonton filling ingredients to a medium-sized mixing bowl and mix together, you may have to use your hands.
• Add water to a medium-sized pot and bring a boil. Add chicken broth, sesame oil, ground ginger and ground cayenne red pepper to a large pot. Turn on low heat.
• Add 1/2 tablespoon filling to the middle of a wonton wrapper, fold so it's a triangle. Flatten out to ensure there are no air bubbles when boiling. Using your fingers and thumbs, pinch the wrapper shut.
• Boil wontons 6 to 8 at a time for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and portion out to bowls for serving.
• Increase heat of the broth to high and allow to boil for about 5 minutes. About one or two minutes before ready to serve, add broccoli and green onions.
• Ladle broth over wontons and serve topped with escarole.

Notes

Freezing Tips: Freeze the filled wontons on a baking sheet in one layer for at least 20 minutes (not touching). and then place them in a zippered plastic bag and date it with a permanent marker. You can boil them straight from the freezer! When boiling them, add 1 or 2 minutes to the cook time for the wontons.

from The Little Kitchen

Disclosure: This post by McCormick Gourmet. I’m thrilled to be working with them, I always share with you my own words and opinions and only work with brands that I love.

The post Pork and Shrimp Wonton Soup with Broccoli and Escarole appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

It seems kind of wrong, right? But it's so wrong in a good way. I have been so obsessed with sriracha lately, especially since I made these spicy shrimp and grits and my sweet & spicy wings. I have been thinking of other ways to use sriracha…so when I made tempura-fried sushi for my friends (I'm still trying to perfect that recipe and will share when it's ready ) along with a sriracha mayo dipping sauce…I knew I had to make more stuff I could so I could dip in the mayo…so these were born.

Well, kind of. Todd & Diane made BLT spring rolls a while back and I have always wanted to try them! I did it a little differently by using rice noodles like most spring rolls have and made the wonderfully easy sriracha mayo dipping sauce to go along with it. <3!

This is my family's absolute favorite spring roll wrappers! They are thick and pretty durable. I have step by step photos on how to wrap a spring roll.

As far as making bacon, I have given up on doing it on my stove top a long time ago. We microwave it in this bacon grill from Nordic Ware. You can buy it here and here with the lid or as a whole set.

It's super easy to use and we wash it in the dishwasher. I usually microwave the bacon in two 90 second intervals and then additional 30 seconds if needed. If I need to make more than one batch, I drain the bacon fat into a glass bowl and then use it again. Then, it goes into the dishwasher. No mess and no wasting paper towels to microwave it on a regular plate.

These are so easy to wrap up – check out my post on how to wrap a spring roll. And a word of warning, these are so addictive. The first time I made these, I ate 8 of them. Did I just admit that? Haha and the dipping sauce…oh man!

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Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato Spring Rolls with Sriracha Mayo Dipping Sauce Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 8 to 10 spring rolls

Ingredients

Sriracha Mayo Dipping Sauce

• 2 teaspoons sriracha
• 3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
• rice vermicelli noodles
• 8-10 pieces of bacon cooked
• red or green leaf lettuce
• spring roll rice paper
• tomatoes sliced and then cut strips

Instructions

• Measure out sriracha and mayonnaise into a small mixing bowl. Whisk until completely combined. Cover and place in the refrigerator.
• Place a pot of water on your stove and bring to a boil. Boil rice vermicelli noodles according to instructions. Be careful, it usually only takes 3 to 4 minutes to cook the noodles. Drain noodles in a colander. Run cold water over the noodles while mixing it. Rinsing the noodles will keep them from sticking together. Shake colander and drain as much waster as possible, place colander on a plate and set aside.
• Cook bacon.
• Wrap spring rolls and serve immediately. (You only need to wet the rice paper for a few seconds-- for full instructions on how to wrap them, visit this.)

Notes

Inspired by White on Rice Couple

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post.

The post Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato (BLT) Spring Rolls with Sriracha Mayo Dipping Sauce appeared first on The Little Kitchen.