Lamb Kebabs with Greek Yogurt Sauce

The great thing about living in Texas is that you can grill pretty much any time of the year. I had some Greek yogurt in the fridge, a hankering for lamb, and an itch to use the grill. What seemed more perfect that to make some tasty lamb kebabs with a Greek yogurt dipping sauce? This was a really flavorful meal that was super simple to create.

Lamb Kebabs with Greek Yogurt Sauce

Lamb
1 1/2 pounds leg of lamb, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch pieces
5 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Vegetables
10 small red potatoes, halved as needed
1 green bell pepper, halved, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
20 mushrooms
20 cherry tomatoes

First, soak about 20 wooden skewers in water for at least 30 minutes. Start the grill and let the coals go for 30 minutes. When skewers are ready, thread 5 to 6 pieces of lamb on 6 skewers, reserve about 15 skewers for vegetables.

Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and brush 1/2 of the mixture over the lamb, reserving the rest for later. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed. Grill lamb for about 6 minutes on each side until browned and medium to medium rare in the middle.

For the vegetable kebabs, thread assorted veggies on skewers. Brush with the remaining canola oil mixture and grill 10 to 15 minutes. Be warned, the potatoes may take longer, so you may want to cook them separately to prevent scorching of the remaining vegetables.

Greek Yogurt Sauce

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
2 tablespoons cilantro
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and serve on the side of lamb kebabs for dipping. Enjoy!

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Cranberry Rice

We had extra pecans and fresh cranberries from our holiday cooking, so I gladly took the leftovers to create a new dish. I loved the rice because it turned out pink :)

Pecan Crusted Chicken
1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted
1 cup baking mix (like Bisquick)
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pulse pecans in food processor, then combine with remaining dry ingredients and place in a shallow dish. Whisk together egg and milk and place in a shallow dish. Dunk chicken breasts in egg then dredge in pecan mixture and place on a baking dish. Bake 50 to 60 minutes until juices run clear. Serve with honey mustard or barbecue sauce.

Cranberry Rice

1 1/2 cups rice, prepared
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Heat cranberries and orange juice in a saucepan until reduced. Stir in vinegar, mustard and salt and pepper, then cool. Stir into prepared rice with celery and dried cranberries and serve.

Orange Broccoli

4 cups broccoli
1 orange
Salt and pepper to taste

Steam broccoli, then toss with zest and juice of one orange and salt and pepper.

Ham and Veggie Quiche

Happy New Year! My apologies for the delay, but here's another leftovers recipe I created last week with some honey glazed ham from Christmas. I love eggs and saw a delicious quiche at the bakery by my office, so I thought this was the perfect time to experiment with my own.

Ham and Veggie Quiche

1 pie crust
1 cup cooked ham
1 cup steamed broccoli
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1 cup roasted cherry tomatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar
4 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Layer pie crust with ham, vegetables and cheese. Whisk together eggs, cream, milk and salt and pepper and pour over ham and vegetables. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes and serve.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

One of my favorite gifts this Christmas was a Dutch oven from my mom, so naturally the first thing I did when I got back to Austin was make pulled pork. I also used the leftover mashed potatoes (we had a ton!) to make a potato salad- delish!

Pulled Pork

Barbecue Sauce

1 1/2 cups ketchup

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon molasses

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Pulled Pork

1 tablespoon olive oil

3-4 pound pork butt, trimmed of fat

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 cup diced yellow onion

Hamburger buns

For the sauce, combine all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the pork, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a Dutch oven on medium high heat. Rub the pork with salt and pepper and then place in oven. Brown on all sides, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Add onion and 1 cup barbecue sauce, reduce heat to low and cover. Turn pork about every 30 minutes, cooking for about 4 hours total (longer if desired). Remove pork from heat and pull into bite-sized pieces. Toss with extra 1/2 cup barbecue sauce and. Serve on a hamburger bun with extra sauce as desired and cole slaw, recipe listed below.

Simple Cole Slaw

4 cups coleslaw mix (found in the produce pre-cut veggie section)

1/2 to 3/4 cup light mayo

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons apple juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use. Excellent on sandwich or as a side dish.

Mashed Potato Salad

3 cups mashed potatoes (mine were herbed mashed potatoes)

1/2 cup light mayo

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup minced yellow onion

1/4 cup diced pickles

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and enjoy! Go light on the salt and pepper at first, since the mashed potatoes will have already been seasoned if you're using leftovers.

Spicy Turkey Peanut Stir-fry

In an effort to use up Christmas leftovers, my next few posts will all feature fun leftovers meals. These are all new recipes for me, and they're quite tasty! Enjoy!

Spicy Turkey Peanut Stir-fry

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup red onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 poblano pepper, cut into thin strips

1 cup carrots, julienned

1 tablespoon chili paste

2 tablespoons peanut butter

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons chicken or turkey broth

1 cup cooked turkey (I used breast meat)

4 cups swiss chard

1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet, add onion and garlic and saute about 2 or 3 minutes. Add all peppers and carrots and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in chili paste, peanut butter, lime and broth and reduce, about 2 minutes. Stir in turkey to heat through and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes. Stir in chard until wilted, about 2 minutes. Finally, top with peanuts and enjoy!

Happy Holidays From My Kitchen to Yours

Tis the season to celebrate with your friends and loved ones. No matter what you celebrate or who you celebrate with, I hope you are happy and healthy! Here are a few ways that I celebrated the holidays this year:

Early "Christmas morning" with the roommates which consisted of a traditional Lehfeld family breakfast and a traditional Noteware breakfast, a secret santa gift exchange and of course, mimosas!

Decorating a gingerbread house with my sister. This is a lot tougher than I remember! It looks like a 6 year old made it, but we had so much fun doing it (and didn't even eat the gumdrops!) Too bad there were no soda cans to support the walls while the icing dried, so we resorted to beer :)

Presents! Need I say more?

Games and wine- if you know me or any of my family members, this is quite fitting :)

A delicious dinner. It was so much fun cooking and having help from all the family members- I love a good Christmas feast!

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta

I've recently discovered my affinity for olives and have therefore started to include them more in my meals. I'm in Kingwood this week celebrating Christmas with my family, and since we usually eat out a lot whenever I come in town, I thought it might be a treat to cook dinner for them. We usually have a good bit of wine around, so I thought a Mediterranean pasta with a wine sauce would be the perfect thing.

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 red onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup artichoke hearts

1/2 cup pitted olives

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cherry tomatoes

8 ounces fettuccini

4 ounces fresh spinach

1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese

Cut chicken breasts into pieces and sprinkle with herbs. Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium heat and add oil. Cook chicken breasts until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes. Add onion and garlic and sautee about 3 minutes. Stir in artichoke hearts and olives and cook addition 2 minutes. Stir in broth, wine, salt and pepper and tomatoes, cover, reduce heat and let simmer about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a large pot of water until boiling. Salt well and add fettuccini, cook until al dente. Drain and reserve.

When chicken mixture is done simmering, stir in spinach to wilt, about 2 minutes. Then divide fettuccini evenly among 4 plates, top with chicken mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Enjoy!

My mom and sister loved it :)