Pepperoncini Beef (or Pork) Sandwiches

Source: Our Best Bites

Ingredients:
1/2+ teaspoon kosher salt
1/2+ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of olive or cooking oil
3 lb. beef roast, trimmed of excess fat (OR, and I might even like this better: ~3 lbs boneless pork ribs)
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 16-oz. jar sliced pepperoncinis, undrained  (these come in various heat levels - apparently the jar that looks exactly like this but is labeled "mild pepper rings" are the ones I need to look for next time for Callie's zero heat tolerance level)
Optional: 1 small packet dry Italian dressing
Crusty sandwich rolls (my fave are ciabatta rolls)
Sliced provolone cheese
Mayo

Directions:
Heat oil in a pot or high-sided skillet over high heat. While the oil is heating, combine the salt and pepper and rub it into the meat. Add more if necessary. When the oil is hot, sear the roast on all sides so the outsides of it is browned and a little crispy.  (Or you can just skip the searing part like I do - especially when I have frozen pork ribs - I just toss them in the bottom of the crock pot and sprinkle the salt and pepper on top.)

Transfer the roast to a slow cooker and add the minced garlic and the entire jar of pepperoncinis and dressing mix if using. If possible, cook on high until the liquid comes to a boil and then turn it to low and cook until the roast shreds easily with a fork, for a total cooking time of about 6-8 hours. If not possible, cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the beef is fork tender.


For sandwiches, slice the rolls and spread lightly with mayonnaise and then top with the shredded beef. Add a slice of provolone cheese and then place open face under the broiler for 1-3 minutes or until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted.  Place the top of the bun on the melted cheesy/meat side.  Serve immediately. Makes 12 large sandwiches.  Leftovers freeze wonderfully and are especially good in Creamy Baked Taquitos, or on salads, nachos, burritos, etc.

Notes:
I made this first for my birthday dinner a few years ago and have made it occasionally since (when my mom has generously gifted me a frozen beef roast, usually - this is my favorite way to make roast beef).  But recently I when I was craving it and all I had in my freezer was pork ribs, I decided to try it that way (the idea was sparked by a commenter in the original post, so thank you to that anonymous person!).  I made the sandwiches the same way as described and was licking my lips the whole meal.  And the few meals that followed.  And then I mixed the leftovers into our favorite taquito recipe instead of shredded chicken and about died all over again.  Seriously.  Fave status, for sure.

Curry Chicken Salad Wraps

Source

Ingredients:
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. curry powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup grapes, sliced in half
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
3-4 flour tortillas

Directions:
1. Combine mayonnaise and curry powder in medium bowl; mix well. Add chicken, grapes, red bell pepper, celery, and cilantro. Fold ingredients to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.

2. Spoon into center of tortilla - add other fillings as desired (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese, etc.); roll up and enjoy!

Notes: Served these last night with a bowl of summer soup - delish!! My changes: omitted bell pepper and cheese, added pineapple and diced cucumber, served on whole wheat tortillas.

Sloppy Joes

Source: a mix of places, including Better Homes and Gardens, The Essential Mormon Cookbook, and my grandma Elwood

Ingredients: (warning - there was not a lot of measuring that went into these babies, I just kind of threw stuff in - which is a new feat for me and it was kind of fun!)
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
3 (smallish size) cloves garlic, minced
1 10 3/4 ounce can tomato soup (or 1 8 oz can tomato sauce)
~1/4 - 1/2 cup ketchup (no measuring, just squirting)
~1 - 2 teaspoons mustard (again with the squirting)
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
~1 teaspoon chili powder (shake shake shake)
~1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (straight from the bottle into the pan)
6-7 hamburger (or hotdog, if you run out of hamburger) buns

Directions:
Brown ground beef, onion, pepper and garlic in a medium saucepan.  Drain off fat.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until your guests arrive and you're ready to eat.  ;)

Makes about 6 sandwiches (or 7, if you stretch the last two a little thinner and make one on a hotdog bun).

Notes:
I made these sloppy joes to eat the first night Heather and the boys were here visiting us.  I didn't have tomato juice (which my grandma's recipe called for) and I only had one can of tomato sauce (which BHG called for, but I was saving it for pizza later in the week) and I didn't really feel like driving the 7 miles into the grocery store just to buy some, so I kept looking.  And lo and behold, I found the tomato soup suggestion from those lovely Mormons.  Worked like a charm.  :)  Definitely not a fancy meal, but it hits the spot, and can definitely be scaled up to feed a crowd.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

Source: this blog, via Pinterest

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs chicken breasts (or about 4 nice-sized ones)
1 18 oz bottle of barbecue sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar (I completely forgot this!  - turned out darn tasty, but next time I think I'll throw it in to see how it changes the flavors)
3/4 cup Italian dressing
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Place the chicken in your crockpot.  In a bowl mix the BBQ sauce, brown sugar, Italian dressing and Worcestershire sauce together.  Pour over chicken and set on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4.  Once the chicken is fork tender (I did this at about hour 6 on low, and let it go another couple of hours till Gregg got home from work - it just fell apart it was so tender!) go ahead and shred it up.  All done!

Notes:
I've been wanting to making this one for a while and I finally got around to it this weekend.  Oh my, was it ever delicious!  I served it up on these homemade buns that I had left over (stored in the freezer) from when I made them before.  We had coleslaw and sweet potato fries as sides and it made a mighty fine summery feast, enjoyed out on our deck with the company of some rather intriguing magpies in the tree next to us.  Ah, summer!

One more note: I halved the recipe for the two of us, and it made probably 8-10 servings on our buns (which are probably your normal size hamburger bun - not huge, but not tiny) - plenty for leftovers for the next couple of days!

Grilled Ham, Swiss and Asparagus Sandwiches

Source: Mostly me, but I was inspired by these crepes I made last week

Ingredients:
2 slices bread
2-3 slices deli ham
2-3 slices swiss cheese (enough to cover the bread)
4-5 asparagus twigs (is that what you call them?), cut in half
your favorite mustard (I used this homemade honey mustard)
butter

Directions:
Spread a thin layer of mustard on each slice of bread.  Layer the ham on one mustard-sided slice of bread, then the asparagus, then the cheese and top the sandwich off with the other slice of bread, mustard-side down.  Butter the top, outside slice of bread and place the sandwich butter-side down on a hot (but not too hot - the key is to grill it nice and slow) griddle or frying pan.  Butter the other side (now on top).  Grill till you've got a lovely golden brown bread and soft, melty cheese.  Devour and enjoy!

Notes:
I eat a lot of grilled sandwiches around here - cheese, tuna, ham - and when I had some leftover asparagus from the crepes last week, I decided to sass up my boring ham 'n' swiss with a few spears (that's what they're called!).  I've eaten one every day for the last three days, they're just that good.  I know it's kind of a simple "recipe" but I just had to share because it's my new favorite lunch.

Philly Cheeseteak Sloppy Joes

Source: this site, via Pinterest

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil (skipped it)
1 pound ground beef
1 softball-sized onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons steak sauce (didn't have any, so added 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce + 1 Tablespoon ketchup)
1 cup beef stock
Salt and ground black pepper
8 hamburger buns (the smaller ones)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 cup provolone, shredded (only had mozzarella, which was really kind of bland by itself, so I added a squirt of horseradish sauce and a squirt of mustard to sass it up a bit)

Directions:
In large skillet over medium-high heat add the oil and then brown the ground beef, about 5-6 minutes. Add the onion and green pepper and cook another 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables start to get tender. Stir in the steak sauce and beef stock, season with salt and pepper, bring up to a bubble and cook about 2 minutes.  (I found that two minutes wasn't quite long enough - it was really soupy stuff, so I let it simmer and bubble for a while longer to let a lot of the moisture evaporate.)

If you like toasted buns, go ahead and do that now.  If not, move on to the next step.

While the meat is cooking, melt the butter in a medium-size pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook about 1 minute. Whisk in milk, bring up to a bubble and let thicken, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir the cheese.

To serve, place a scoopful of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the rolls, then top with the cheese sauce and replace the top of the roll.

Notes:
Just another of those random recipes I've discovered due to the wonderful world of Pinterest.  This one looked fun, quick and different, so I gave it a go.  I definitely would recommend something a little more flavorful than mozza for the cheese, but other than that I was quite pleased with this recipe.

Pesto, Olive & Tomato Grilled Cheese

Source: Tasty Kitchen, via Pinterest

Prepare sandwich as follows:

Layer 1: Bread
Layer 2: Pesto (I love the Christopher Ranch brand)
Layer 3: Sliced Tomato
Layer 4: Cheese (I suggest Mozzerella or Monterey Jack)
Layer 5: Chopped Black Olives
Layer 6: Miracle Whip or more Pesto
Layer 7: Bread

Cook in a panini press or on a stove top like a grilled cheese sandwich.

Notes: It's not much of a recipe, but it's so incredible that I had to share.

Marv 'n' Joe

Source: Hazel's Bakery in the USU food court - originally inspired by two engineering professors, Marv 'n' Joe, this has been sold in the food court for years.

Ingredients:
1 inch-thick slice of bread or half a bagel (anything you like, really - I love wheat or Hazel's Italian Herb and Spice or Salsa Cheese breads, and the parmesan cheese bagel I tried tonight was heavenly, but a nice thick slice of french bread will do the trick, too)
garlic butter (I just mixed some softened butter with a few shakes of garlic powder and dried parsley)
sliced tomatoes (better if they're fresh off the vine, but use what you have)
salt and pepper
vinegar and oil (which I didn't use, and it turned out just fine)
provolone cheese
parmesan cheese

Directions:
Spread your bread or bagel with garlic butter.  Arrange tomato slices on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper and a dash of vinegar and oil to taste.  Top with a slice of provolone cheese followed by a shake or two of parmesan cheese.  Broil on the highest rack in your oven (or if you have a toaster oven, you're even luckier - use that!) for a few minutes, until the edges of your bread turn golden and toasty and your cheese is bubbly and brown.  Eat with a knife and fork if you can't wait to dig in, or let it cool for a minute and pick it up with your hands.

Notes:
This is one of my all-time favorite lunches at USU - super simple, quick, cheap and filling.  And oh-so-delicious.  Today I picked my first juicy red tomato from my plants on the back patio and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.  Oh goodness, was it delightful!

Chicken Grape Salad

Source: Sister Whitesides (who calls it "Juniper's Chicken Salad" - so maybe it's a secret recipe from Juniper Inn?)

Servings: based on other recipes I found online, I estimated this to serve 5-6 (on regular to biggish dinner rolls) - obviously this can be adjusted depending on the size of your rolls/croissants/etc.

Ingredients:
3-4 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (Sister W. used Sam’s roasted deli chicken)
3-4 stalks celery, diced (or as much or as little as you like)
1 cup grapes, cut in half (or more)
¼ cup sliced or slivered almonds (I've used a can of cashews before and they were great!)
¼ bunch green onions, thinly sliced
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup miracle whip salad dressing
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 t Lawry’s season salt

Directions:
Combine the mayo, miracle whip, lemon juice and seasoned salt and mix till smooth.  Put the dressing on the chicken, celery and onions early in the day . . . then add the grapes and cashews at the last minute, right before serving.  (If you put the grapes in too early, sometimes it gets kinda watery . . . and you want the nuts to be crunchy).

Notes:
I whipped up a triple batch of this salad for girls camp (omitting the nuts because I forgot to buy them!) and it was a hit at lunch on a hot afternoon in the mountains.  I made it on Monday evening, leaving the grapes out until we were ready to serve it on Wednesday after our hike, and it worked out great.  I've also made it for a bridal shower and served it on little dollar rolls.  Very easy and tasty and chic!