Open Faced Turkey Sandwich with Garlic Aioli

Grayson Shark Halloween/2011

 Hi everyone!!  Wow - I can't believe it's the middle of November already!  My little boy turns one tomorrow!

New updates on our life:
-Grayson is walking!
-I got a new job! I am now working in the College of Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan as the newest Clinical Placement Coordinator!  (Yay for no more shift work or nights!)
-Grayson started daycare last week
-Mike successfully went hunting white tail for the first time.  We have the tenderloin in the fridge, ready for tomorrow nights supper!

 This fall has just flown by and I haven't been able to keep up with my blog.  I have been keeping track of different recipes that I've tried or new twists on old recipes.  As much as I like my new recipes that I try, there's nothing like a good old comfort recipe to satisfy your cravings.  After Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough to have some turkey leftovers sent home with us from my MIL and some fresh garden tomatoes from my mom.  Mike and I were both starving one night and we wanted something quick, so I whipped up these yummy open faced turkey sandwiches, and they were a total hit!  You might ask why I am putting something as simple as a sandwich in my blog, as I asked myself that same question.  I guess the answer would be because sometimes you just don't know what to do with those turkey leftovers!

Open Faced Turkey Sandwiches with Garlic Aioli

4 slices of bread, toasted (I use Alsask bread from Family Bakery - a multigrain type bread)
1/3 cup mayo
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 clove garlic, minced (or more if you prefer!)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 large tomatoes, sliced
1 cup leftover turkey
1/2 cup grated cheese (I like using old cheddar as it gives it more cheesy flavor!)

Preheat oven to broil.  Mix mayo, lemon juice, garlic and salt and pepper together.  Spread on each slice of toast.  Top with tomatoes, turkey, and grated cheese.  Broil for 3-5 minutes, watching closely so it doesn't burn!

Toasted Quinoa with Okra, Tomato, & Shrimp

My friend Holly introduced me to quinoa last winter, however, I never made it until the other night. Fate, more than anything, brought me to this recipe. I saw quinoa on sale at coop the other week when I was there, and decided to pick some up not knowing when/if I'd actually get around to making it. I had bought some okra quite a few months ago, canned of course, as it reminded me of my trip to Louisiana in Jan/09 and figured I needed to diversify my veggie intake. And I usually have a large supply of canned tomatoes of varying preparations but my stock has run exceedingly dry lately, so I picked up a couple cans at Walmart last week.

So as the story goes, our roomate Trevor (friend of Mike's who's in taking a welding course) bought this HUGE bag of shrimp a few weeks ago at Costco. Now, I've cooked shrimp like four times in my life... not a huge shrimp fan and don't really know what to do with it other than a quick white wine shrimp pasta (ooh , I should post the recipe for this) or just plain old fried garlicky lemon shrimp.

So Mike and I are browsing through my pantry, trying to come up with some other pairing for shrimp other than pasta. He finds my box of quinoa! On to the world wide web I go to find a recipe for quinoa and shrimp. After maybe browsing four recipes, I come to the most perfect recipe in the world ---- (perfect = I have all the ingredients!!!). So Mike and I set out to make this, and we had a blast! My mom was enjoying entertaining Gray, while mommy and daddy were busy in the kitchen and we all had fun.

The recipe for this is: Toasted Quinoa with Okra, Tomato, & Shrimp

The only substitution I used was hot pepper sauce instead of dicing up hot peppers... oh and I don't have a fine enough strainer so I kinda just added some water to the quinoa to rinse it in a bowl. It took a bit more time to toast, but still turned out fine. I also used 1/3 cup more chicken stock as I didn't want 1/3 cup sitting in my fridge!

I really truly enjoyed this dish and it's much different than the casseroles that I usually make. I'd highly recommend trying it as it uses ingredients that aren't common staples in Saskatchewan! If you do try it, let me know what you think!

Tomato Pie

Okay, I had never heard of tomato pie before last night, but I love everything tomato so I thought I'd give it a try. Besides the fact that I love tomatoes, it has ooey gooey cheese on top, and really who could turn that down! Holly was also pro on the tomato pie, albeit a little unsure of the mayo used in the cheese mixture on top, but it ended up turning out great! We use bought pie shells, quickly tossed them in the oven for 10 minutes to cook first, then piled fried onions, fresh garden tomatoes with the juice/seeds removed, sprinkled fresh chopped basil from Holly's garden on top of that and finished with a mayo and cheese mixture that had a shot of tobasco mixed in and voila! Delicious ooey gooey cheesey goodness! The link to the recipe from the SimplyRecipes website : Tomato Pie

This pic is right before the cheese/mayo mixture was dished on top.

You have to let it sit for a few minutes after taking it out of the oven, as it won't stay together the greatest when you serve it piping hot, but it still tastes good either way!

We used smoked gouda and a kraft four cheese blend, plus a bit of feta, so it was smoky, tangy, and delicious! I will definitely make this again!