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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.

I’m excited to once again partner with Tuttorosso Tomatoes to bring you this post and recipe.

Can you believe I have never made salsa at home before? I never bothered trying to make it at home and now that I have, I LOVE it.

I'm going to show you how to make salsa and it's so easy. Takes less than ten minutes and super easy with Tuttorosso canned tomatoes!

Our favorite tomatoes, Tuttorosso cares so much about quality ingredients.

I open the can and then start prepping the other ingredients.

Add the lime juice, garlic, onion, jalapeno and green pepper to a food processor.

And pulse for a few seconds. Right about now, you will be smelling all of the goodness!

Pour in the tomatoes!

They are red and gorgeous…don't they look amazing!

Pulse for a few seconds…

And you get this goodness! But wait, you need to refrigerate so all of the flavors can combine.

For an amazing salsa! It's so easy! It lasts for a few days in the fridge.

And the amazing aroma of this salsa…you will want to put this on everything! See, how to make salsa, was so easy, right?

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Homemade Salsa Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 5 cups approx.

Ingredients

• 1 lime juiced
• 2 large garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/2 medium onion roughly chopped
• 1 jalapeno roughly chopped (ribs removed)
• 1/4 green pepper roughly chopped
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
• 28 ounce can Tuttorosso diced tomatoes

Instructions

• Add lime juice, garlic, onion, jalapeno and green pepper to the a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds.
• Add salt and Tuttorosso diced tomatoes to the food processor. Pulse until chopped and blended to your preference. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
• Pour salsa into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. You can make this ahead of time for a party or get together!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Tuttorosso. I only share with you brands and products that I love and always only share with you my own opinions. Thank you for supporting the brands that I work with so I can keep doing what I love here on The Little Kitchen!

The post How to Make Salsa appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I’m excited to once again partner with Tuttorosso Tomatoes to bring you this post and recipe.

I'm a huge fan of quick and easy meals. Weeknights are hard right? We don't have kids but sometimes I feel like we have so much going on. Too much to do and yes, even though I write and cook and run this blog, we also run out of ideas for dinner.

When one pot pastas came on to the scene, I was so intrigued and once I started trying them like this one and this one with mushrooms, I became obsessed.

The only reason I call this one a one pot lasagna pasta is because I added ricotta and mozzarella cheeses and of course beef…and it's so easy to make.

It's so simple to make and as long as you have great ingredients, it tastes amazing!

Can we talk tomatoes? Namely canned tomatoes…I am in love with Tuttorosso tomatoes. Last year, I attended an event in Atlanta with them and they showed us how to cut and taste tomatoes. It might sound strange but have you ever tasted the canned tomatoes that you buy?

They sent me their whole plum tomatoes along with another brand's whole plum tomatoes. When I opened both cans, I can tell the difference in quality. The Tuttorosso tomatoes are whole tomatoes, the other ones are in pieces. The texture and color, such a difference. When you taste the two different brands, there's a huge difference, you guys.

And my friend was really interested in this when I told her about this…she did a blind taste test and told me she liked the taste of Tuttorosso's tomatoes better.

Let's talk about this recipe. First we're going to cook the onions…

and the ground beef.

Once it's browned, remove the beef with a slotted spoon and then wipe the pan clean.

Add the pasta with the Tuttorosso tomatoes…

and also add the olive oil, water, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and basil.

And then mix it all up.

Bring it to a boil, once it's boiling, cook it for another 9 to 10 minutes.

Add the beef and mix.

Add both cheeses.

This recipe is soooo good! We loved it, our friends loved it…and even better, it reheats well.

What to have for dinner, problem solved and you'll thank me for it!

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One Pot Lasagna Pasta Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4 to 6

Ingredients

Beef

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 12- ounce package of bowtie pasta
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 28- ounce can Tuttorosso diced tomatoes
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 5 garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil plus more for serving
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese (plus more for serving)

Instructions

• Preparing the beef: Heat the olive oil in large skillet on medium for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and onions and cook for 1 minute. Add the ground beef, season with salt and pepper. Cook the beef for 3 to 4 minutes until browned. As you’re cooking the beef, break it up the beef with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
• Remove the cooked ground beef with a slotted spoon and place in a medium sized bowl, set aside. Wipe the pan with a paper towel.
• Add pasta, olive oil, Tuttorosso diced tomatoes, water, garlic, oregano, thyme, fresh basil, salt and pepper to skillet. Stir ingredients together and bring to a boil on high. Once it comes to a boil, boil for about 9 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Turn the heat down to low and add the cooked beef and cook for 1 minute to heat through. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary. Add the ricotta and mozzarella and serve.
• Serve with fresh chopped basil and more mozzarella cheese on top.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Tuttorosso. I only share with you brands and products that I love and always only share with you my own opinions.

The post One Pot Lasagna Pasta appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Can we just all agree that soup heals the body and the soul? I feel like soup when I'm sick or even when I'm having a bad day. Soup heals all, right? I eat soup all year long…it doesn't matter how hot it is. I think the craving for soup when I'm sick comes from my childhood, probably yours too right? My mom would make us a good chicken and rice soup when we were sick.

I have been dealing with some crazy health issues for the last few months. I wrote a little bit about it when I shared these chicken wings. I ended up not having an upper endoscopy but a bronchoscopy because a CT scan showed a lot of pneumonia going on in my lungs. And then 6 weeks ago, I ended up in the hospital.

I have a huge appreciation for nurses, nurses who go above and beyond every day. And I have a greater appreciation for what it's like to be a patient in a hospital. This was my first time in the hospital and my first time in an ER. You don't know how it is until you experience it, it's one of those things and until you understand how to navigate pushing the button to get the nurses' attention, asking for medications including pain medications.

When I was in the hospital, they told me it would take a full two months before I would get a definitive answer on what I have…on what was causing my persistent cough and trouble breathing. And now, we're almost six weeks in and the medications they gave me are working. Thank goodness for that. Sorry for being cagey about what I have…I will probably share once I get word they are 100% sure.

When Curtis took me home from the hospital after my bronchoscopy procedure, he went to Panera to pick up soup and sourdough rolls for me. He came home with a cup of of their Low-Fat Vegetarian Garden Vegetable Soup with Pesto. Besides their broccoli cheddar soup, their garden vegetable soup is one of my favorites!

It has so much flavor and and it's so soothing! I have been wanting to make a homemade or copycat version at home for some time now!

Imagine how excited I was when I made this vegetable soup and it tasted sooo good!

There's a lot of chopping involved but it's worth it.

I cut the cauliflower up into tiny pieces.

And I was so happy to find wax beans at my grocery store. You can use green beans if you can't find them though.

And tons of swiss chard…

The zucchini and the tomatoes are my favorite parts of this soup!

Cook the barley with vegetable broth first and then set aside. This takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Be sure to watch this because the broth evaporates!

Then, cook the red pepper and onions in olive oil.

Add garlic and continue to cook.

Then, add cauliflower, wax beans and chickpeas. Chickpeas are one thing I added that are not in the Panera vegetable soup. I decided to add them when developing this soup and loved the texture it adds to the soup. You can omit them if you would like.

Next add tomatoes, remaining vegetable broth and water.

Add the herbs and spices.

And then, bring the soup to a boil. Once it boils, reduce to a simmer and cook for at least 15 minutes.

Add the cooked barley, swiss chard and the zucchini. Cook for a few more minutes.

Serve the soup with a scoop of pesto. This is totally optional. (You can use store bought or homemade pesto, here's my favorite recipe.) My friend, who used to work at Panera, told me that people often requested the soup without the pesto. Even better, the soup is vegan if you omit the pesto.

So there's my version of the Panera vegetable soup. It is so comforting but it's not heavy. It's so perfect for when you want soup even though the weather is warm. And perfect even when the weather is cold.

I love freezing soup…I froze a bunch for when the craving sets in, I just reheat and I have a meal all ready to go!

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Panera Garden Vegetable Soup with Pesto Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8

Ingredients

• three 14-ounce cans vegetable broth or 6 cups homemade
• 1/2 cup pearled barley
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 onion peeled and diced (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 red pepper diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 large garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florets (about 2 cups)
• 8 ounces wax beans or green beans ends trimmed and chopped into bite-sized pieces (about 1 3/4 cups)
• 16 ounce can chickpeas rinsed and drained
• 28 ounce can Tuttorosso diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 large swiss chard stems remove stems and chop (about 2 cups)
• 2 small zucchini diced (about 2 1/2 cups)
• store-bought or homemade pesto optional, for serving

Instructions

• In a heavy bottom Dutch oven, add 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth and 1/2 cup pearled barley. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat and allow the pearl barley to simmer at least 10 minutes. Check it often and stir as the broth will evaporate. Once the barley has reached its desired chewiness, it’s done cooking. Fluff with a fork and scoop the barley into a clean bowl. Set aside.
• Add olive oil to the Dutch oven and heat high on medium for 2 minutes. Add onion and red pepper, cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula. Add garlic and cook for 90 seconds. Add cauliflower, beans and chickpeas. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and the remaining vegetable broth and 1 1/2 to 2 cups water. Add thyme, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and stir. Bring soup to a boil.
• Once soup comes to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add swiss chard, zucchini and cooked barley. Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, stirring to combine. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Portion soup to serving bowls and serve with a scoop of pesto on top of each bowl.

The post Panera Vegetable Soup appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

You guys, it's spring!! Time for picnics and just plain enjoying the outdoors! For spring, I love love pasta salads.

So when Hidden Valley® Ranch and Walmart reached out to work together, I knew I wanted to make a pasta salad with Hidden Valley's new Sriracha Ranch dressing…so perfect, right?

I bought all of my ingredients at Walmart, it's a great place to get ingredients to make delicious meals.

First, grill two ears of corn. I love grilled corn in pasta salad!

Cut up your red pepper.

Dice it up for the salad.

Love love, grape tomatoes…quarter these up for the salad.

Dice up half of a cucumber.

After the corn is grilled, cut off the kernels for the salad.

Set up all of your ingredients.

Including the Hidden Valley Ranch Sriracha dressing, one of their new dressings they just launched. It tastes like the ranch dressing you know and love and at the end, you get a kick with the sriracha!

Check out their other new Ranch dressings: Buffalo, Honey BBQ and Cilantro Lime, all available at Walmart!

Combine the corn, red pepper, onion and cucumber in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the pasta too.

Then, add the Hidden Valley Ranch Sriracha dressing.

Mix it together, add the tomatoes and mix again. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. After refrigerating, remove the pasta and mix it again. You might need to add more dressing at this point.

Serve the pasta salad with sliced green onions, sesame seeds and lime wedges. This is the perfect salad for a picnic, a potluck or a great side for a weekend meal. You will LOVE it, I just know it!

To try this sriracha dressing and Hidden Valley Ranch's other new dressings: buffalo, honey BBQ and cilantro lime…be sure to check out this coupon (psst! it's a coupon for $0.75 off any 12 oz or 16 oz bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch)!

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Sriracha Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 12- ounce package tri-color rotini pasta cooked according to package instructions
• 2 ears of fresh corn uncooked
• 1 red pepper chopped
• 1/4 red onion diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cucumber chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Sriracha dressing plus additional for serving
• 1 lime cut into wedges
• 8 ounces grape tomatoes quartered
• 3 green onions sliced
• 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

Instructions

• Bring a pot of water to boil. Follow instructions on package to cook the pasta. After the pasta cooks, set it aside and allow it to cool.
• While the water is boiling, heat a grill pan on medium hight for 5 to 7 minutes. Cook corn for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, about 10 to 12 minutes. (Being careful not to burn the corn.) Allow to cool on a plate and then cut the kernels off.
• Prep your other vegetables.
• In a large mixing bowl, add corn, red pepper, onion and cucumber. Mix together well with a rubber spatula. Add pasta and mix together. Add Hidden Valley Ranch Sriracha dressing and mix together. Squeeze a couple of lime wedges into the bowl with the pasta salad.
• Add to the bowl with the pasta salad, grape tomatoes and mix well. Refrigerate the pasta salad covered for at least 30 minutes.
• Before serving, mix the pasta salad and add more Hidden Valley Ranch Sriracha dressing if necessary. Serve the pasta salad with green onions, sesame seeds and lime wedges.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hidden Valley Ranch. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Sriracha Ranch Pasta Salad appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Snack, appetizer or meal? I'm not sure but I first had ‘totchos' in Portland earlier this year and believe me they were memorable. Totchos are tater tot nachos! Instead of tortilla chips, the tater tots serve as nacho chips…and usually topped with nacho cheese and other toppings, they are amazing.

Original photo from when this recipe was originally published October 2, 2012

First, make the pico de gallo. This is my no fuss way to make pico and we love it on top of tacos and with fajitas.

Cut up the tomatoes.

I have to show you how to cut jalapenos. First wear gloves…you don't want to accidentally touch your eyes later in the day and scream! Not that I know from experience.

Cut both ends off and then cut in half lengthwise. Then, working on one half at a time, slide the knife between the ribs and the jalapeno.

There you go, the ribs are detached. Reserve the seeds by scraping with your gloved fingers.

Slice the jalapeno half into thin strips.

And then dice them finely.

Prep the onions.

Mix in the jalapeno with the seeds and the onion.

Add salt and lemon juice.

And stir. Then, cover and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

Heat your oil according to directions on your bag of frozen tater tots. I think it's really important to have a thermometer when deep frying.

Fry those puppies (or tots) up and be patient. I used my slotted spoon to keep them moving around and from sticking to each other while frying.

Using a slotted spoon, add the tater tots to a baking sheet that's lined with foiled and topped with paper towels – to soak up the oil.

You can fry them…or you can bake them according to the instructions on the bag.

Original photo from when this recipe was originally published October 2, 2012

And then eat them! Soooooo I have to give credit where credit is due, while I was frying the tater tots, Curtis looked at me and said why don't you put a fried egg on top? Whatttttttt? was my reaction. He thought I was mad from my reaction but I just answered with “pure genius”. You're a genius, honey!

The funny thing? He doesn't like runny eggs but he knows how obsessed I am with putting eggs on ramen noodles and tons of other things. I wish I thought of this…

Here's how to fry an egg with crispy edges!

I have these mini cast iron skillets that I love to fry eggs in. Melt a pat of butter in the skillet.

Crack an egg.

And let it cook for about 4 minutes if you want the egg to still be runny and the edges crispy. If you don't want it runny, you can cook it for as long as you want.

So there you have it…totchos with a fried egg on top (Curtis' idea). The eggs make it heavenly…this is comfort food!!!

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Totchos Recipe

Popular in Pacific Northwest towns like Portland, Oregon, they are traditionally topped with nacho cheese. I loved creating this twist with pico de gallo, shredded cheddar cheese and a fried egg on top!

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 2 (for a meal) or 4 (for an appetizer)

Ingredients

Pico de Gallo

• 1/2 of a large red onion diced small
• 3-4 medium tomatoes cored and seeded, diced small
• 1 jalapeno pepper seeded & cored, diced small (reserve the seeds)
• 1 1/2 limes juiced
• salt

Tater Tots

• 1 pound frozen tater tots
• vegetable oil for cooking
• salt and pepper

Other toppings

• sharp white cheddar grated
• 3 green onions sliced
• 2 eggs fried
• sour cream optional
• guacamole optional

Instructions

Pico de Gallo

• Combine the diced onions, tomatoes, jalapenos (include seeds if you'd like) and lime juice into a medium-sized bowl. Add salt to taste. Refrigerate while preparing the tater tots and eggs.

Making the Tater Tots

• If you're frying, prepare a baking sheet lined with foil and covered in paper towels. Fry the tater tots according to instructions on the bag. The brand I used instructed to heat the vegetable oil to 375 degrees.
• Allow the tater tots to slightly cool and the oil to drain on the baking sheet. Top the tater tots with salt and pepper.
• If you're baking, follow the instructions on the bag.

Fry the Eggs

• In a cast iron skillet, melt a pat of butter. Add two eggs and fry them sunny side up until crispy, about 4 minutes. Cook them longer if you don't want the yolk to be runny. (If using a nonstick skillet, you might not be able to get the edges as crispy.)

Assembly

• On two plates, add tater tots and top with cheddar cheese. Optional: melt cheese on top the tater tops in the oven on the baking sheet or in the microwave on microwave-safe plates.
• Top with pico de gallo and green onions and then the fried eggs. Serve with lime wedges and sour cream or guacamole.

Notes

Warning: You'll need a fork for this dish!

From The Little Kitchen

 

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