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Mediterranean Salmon Salad

Mediterranean Salmon Salad with Feta, Artichoke Hearts and Orzo | doughseedough.net

Okay, so I’m a bit of a bad dietitian. I don’t eat fish once a week. Or even once a month, honestly. I can’t really tell you why. I like it, but it just never seems to make it into my menu plan. I almost always have a salmon and tilapia in my freezer, but I very rarely reach for it when I’m putting dinner together. Hmm. Something’s gotta change. To start us off? This delicious salad. This salad isn’t your traditional mostly-lettuce salad. Don’t get me wrong – I love my mostly veggie salads. I eat one for lunch every day during the work week.  But sometimes a basic veg salad just doesn’t hit the spot. But this salad most definitely does. It is chock-full of all sorts of goodies from salmon to artichoke hearts to feta to…  well, everything I love. I made this again a couple weeks later and forgot the feta and it still tasted great. Best of all, it was super easy to put together. From start to finish, it only took about 20 minutes.

Mediterranean Salmon Salad with Artichokes, Feta, and Orzo | doughseedough.net

Mediterranean Salmon Salad
slightly adapted from Weekly Bite via Prevention RD

for the dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

for the salad:
1 pound salmon filet
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup orzo
1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved
1 bell pepper, chopped (~3/4 cup)
1/2 red onion, chopped (~3/4 cup)
5 ounces feta, crumbled
14 ounce can of artichoke hearts, quartered
2 cups spring salad mix
dressing (see above)

  1. To make the dressing: whisk all ingredients together and set aside. 
  2. To make the salad: Preheat broiler to high. Sprinkle salmon with salt, pepper, and oregano. Place under broiler and cook for 5 minutes, or until center is cooked.
  3. Cook orzo according to package directions. Drain and place into a large bowl. Pour 1/4 cup dressing over pasta and gently toss. Add in olives, bell pepper, red onion, feta, artichoke hearts, and salad mix to orzo and toss to combine.
  4. Flake salmon with two forks and place on top of salad. Serve with additional dressing on the side.


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Beef & Ricotta Meatballs

Nothing quite beats a good plate of spaghetti and meatballs. I have been looking for ways to use up the cans of marinara I have in my pantry. You see, last summer our garden did really well. However, we planted mostly tomatoes. This meant that at the end of summer we had roughly a bajillion tomatoes in our garden. And as much as I love tomatoes, there was no way we could eat all of them. I decided to make salsa and marinara with the tomatoes. In hindsight, I wish I had canned whole tomatoes, because now I have a lot of marinara and salsa to use up.

So, this summer we plan to plant even more tomatoes. And I promise to be much smarter about how I go about canning them!!

I saw this recipe on Prevention RD and was intrigued – I’ve never put ricotta into my meatballs before. Since I’m always looking for new things to cook up, I decided to give it a try. The result? Absolutely delish. They were wonderful and tender and best of all, I was able to use up a jar of marinara 🙂

beef & ricotta meatballs

Beef & Ricotta Meatballs
from The Lemon Bowl via Prevention RD

1 pound ground sirloin (90% lean)
2/3 cup low-fat ricotta
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 egg whites, whisked
1 garlic clove, grated
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F and spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and set aside. 
  2. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients, being careful not to over-mix.
  3. Using a small cooking scoop, scoop out meat mixture and shape into balls. Place in an even layer on the  baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until browned.
  5. Serve with pasta and sauce of choice.


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Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

Ok, so this recipe was a total accident. A wonderful, delicious accident. You see, last weekend we went shopping and bought four types of cheese. Yes, four. I was supposed to buy cheddar, cheddar jack, mozzarella, and smoked gouda. But instead of buying smoked gouda, I accidentally bought buffalo jack. So, we went back to the store and got smoked gouda. So we ended up buying five types of cheese this weekend. They are now sitting happily with 3 other types of cheese in our fridge. I guess we really, really like cheese or something.

I had plans for four of the cheeses that we purchased, but since I wasn’t planning on buying a buffalo cheese, I obviously didn’t have anything to do with it. Yet. As I was making barbecue sauce it suddenly dawned on me – buffalo chicken mac & cheese. Bingo.

I encourage you to make this delicious, messy goodness. I definitely do not encourage you to calculate the nutritional info for this. It will make you cry. If you can’t find buffalo jack cheese, feel free to sub in a sharp cheddar.

Welcome to Wisconsin, folks.

buffalo chicken mac & cheese | doughseedough.net

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese
adapted from Food Network

1 pound whole wheat macaroni
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 pound cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, shredded
3/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot or hot sauce of choice, divided
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced, divided
1 jalapeño, minced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 cups skim milk
2 cups shredded buffalo jack cheese, divided
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly coat a 9×13″ baking dish with olive oil. Set aside.
  2. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain.
  3. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in celery and onion and cook until soft, about 3 – 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and chicken and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 2 more minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of the hot sauce and 3/4 of the sliced green onions.
  4. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a small pan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and mustard until smooth. Whisk in milk and remaining hot sauce and cook, stirring frequently, until thick, about 3 – 5 minutes. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups of buffalo jack cheese and 3/4 cup of the cheddar cheese until smooth.
  5. Spread half the pasta into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with half the chicken mixture and half the cheese sauce. Repeat with the remaining pasta, chicken, and cheese sauce.
  6. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small dish and toss with panko to combine. Toss with remaining 1/2 cup buffalo jack cheese and 1/4 cup cheddar cheese. Sprinkle panko cheese crumbs on top of casserole.
  7. Bake in preheated oven until bubbly, 30 – 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with remaining green onions before serving.


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BBQ Chicken Pizza

BBQ chicken pizza | doughseedough.net

This pizza kicks some serious butt. I stumbled across it in Food Network magazine a while ago (ahem, a year ago) but never got around to making it because our pizza stone cracked in half. I don’t even know what happened. I baked a loaf of bread on it, took it out of the oven, set it down and… it died. We actually kept the larger half for a while, baking sad little loaves of bread on it. We finally got around to buying a replacement, but it just sat on our kitchen cart for months. I finally got around to using it this weekend!

Anyway, this recipe is supposed to be the copycat of California Pizza Kitchen’s BBQ Chicken Pizza. I can’t attest to whether or not this tastes like CPK’s pizza (I’ve only been there once a million years ago), but I will say that it is really, really good.

I opted to make the pizza dough and BBQ sauce from scratch, but store bought will do just fine! I don’t think I will ever buy bottled sauce again – I absolutely love the recipe that I have now. It’s tangy with the perfect balance of sweet and spicy. I’ve retyped the recipe for dough and sauce below. The dough recipes yields about 1 pound of dough and the sauce will yield 1/2 cup of sauce.

BBQ Chicken Pizza | DoughSeeDough.net

BBQ Chicken Pizza
adapted from Food Network

for the pizza dough:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 – .25 ounce package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water (~110°F)

for the barbecue sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

for the pizza:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 8-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast
3/4 cup grated smoked peppercorn gouda cheese or smoked gouda cheese
3/4 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

  1. To make the dough: Fit stand mixer with dough hook. Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Pour in oil and water. Mix on low speed until dough pulls away from side of bowl and gathers around hook and is smooth and elastic. Place dough in a large lightly greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Set aside and let rise for 30 – 40 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, make the BBQ sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 – 40 minutes or until thick.
  3. Preheat oven to 425°F and position rack in lower third of oven. Place a pizza stone on rack and let heat for at least 30 minutes.
  4. Lay out a sheet of parchment paper and lightly grease with olive oil. Transfer dough to parchment and roll and/or stretch it out into a 12-inch round. Gently roll up edges to form a crust. Lightly brush with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 30 minutes.
  5. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Cook chicken until juices run clear. Remove chicken and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Lightly toss with 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce. Set aside.
  6. Uncover pizza dough and spread remaining barbecue sauce on top. Top with gouda, mozzarella, red onion, and chicken. Slide pizza (on parchment paper) onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake for 25 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned and cheese is bubbly.
  7. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.


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Honey Mustard Chicken Skewers

Happy Friday! It’s time for another recipe swap! Before I get into that though, I have a funny story. I had first typed up this post over the weekend and (stupidly) wrote about how wonderful the weather was and how excited we were to start grilling again. Fast forward to Tuesday night/Wednesday. Ice storm. What the what?!?!

That said, Mike was such a trooper and grilled this for me so I would be able to post this as planned. I’m just thankful he didn’t get impaled by a falling icicle or tree branch. When is winter going to be over?

ice storm appleton | doughseedough.net

I loved that Jen at Becoming Pigzilla used a chardonnay jalapeno mustard, but I have no idea where I would even find something like that. I also don’t think I can justify another jar of mustard in my fridge, taking up very valuable fridge real estate. When I get around to buying more mustard, I’ll have to keep my eye out for more interesting flavors! I ended up using a small jar of sweet & hot mustard that we received a long time ago as part of a gift basket. It was absolutely perfect! I’m hoping to make this again soon… without the nasty weather!

honey mustard chicken skewers | doughseedough.net

Honey Mustard Chicken Skewers
adapted from Becoming Pigzilla

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup mustard
2 teaspoons curry powder
salt and pepper, to taste
3 – 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in 2-inch pieces

  1. In a medium bowl, mix together olive oil, honey, mustard, and curry powder. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Place chicken in a large dish and cover with 3/4 of the mustard sauce. Reserve the remaining sauce in an airtight container for serving.
  3. Marinate chicken for 4 – 24 hours in the refrigerator.
  4. Soak skewers for 30 minutes before grilling. Preheat grill to medium heat. Skewer chicken and grill until cooked through, about 12 minutes, turning every 3 – 4 minutes.
  5. Serve hot with remaining sauce.

Thanks to Taste of Home Cooking for organizing! Make sure to check out the other recipe swap posts!




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Chicken Gyros & Homemade Pocketless Pita

chicken gyros | doughseedough.net

I love gyros. I love watching the cooks shave off pieces of the tender lamb from the… meat cone or whatever you might call it. This time, I tried making my own at home. I chose to make the pita versus buying it, but if you’re looking to save some time then by all means use a pocketless pita from the grocery store!

pocketless pita | doughseedough.net

The entire process took me just under two hours, but the results were so worth it. My schedule was like this: marinate chicken and refrigerate, mix dough for pita and let rise for 30 minutes, make tzatziki while waiting for chicken and dough. Refrigerate finished tzatziki, roll out dough for pita, cook chicken and pita simultaneously. In between flipping pitas, slice tomatoes and onions. Assemble and serve.

Sure, it’s quite a bit of multitasking, but I think I made pretty good use of my time and when I got around to assembling, the chicken was still piping hot and the pitas were perfectly warm. The best part? I had all ingredients on hand already. Yes, I do keep a huge tub of Greek yogurt in my fridge at all times.

chicken gyros | doughseedough.net

Chicken Gyros
adapted from Elly Says Opa and Kalofagas

For the chicken:
1.25 pounds chicken breast
4 cloves garlic, smashed
juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon dried oregano
salt and pepper

For the tzatziki:
1 – 17.6 ounce tub of plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 cucumber, seeded
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

For the pita:
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cup warm water (110°F)
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
canola oil

For toppings:

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
3 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced

  1. Make a marinade for the chicken by whisking together garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, yogurt, oregano, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken and rub the marinade in. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. 
  2. Heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and lightly coat with olive oil. Brown chicken on both sides and cook until juices run clear, about 4 – 6 minutes per side.  Let rest before slicing into strips.
  3. To make the tzatziki: shred or grate the cucumbers and squeeze excess moisture out. Make sure to get as much liquid out as possible! Mix together yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving to allow flavors to meld.
  4. To make the pitas: in a large bowl, mix together yeast, salt, sugar, olive and water and let stand for 5 minutes or until top is foamy.
  5. Using your hands, gradually add in flour 1/2 cup at a time to the wet ingredients. Knead until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
  6. Divide dough into 6 pieces and roll out on a floured surface into 8-inch rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Lightly poke the surface with the tines of a fork, being careful not to poke through the dough.
  7. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly coat the skillet with oil and place one dough round into the skillet and fry the bread until it starts to puff and bubble, about 1 – 2 minutes. Flip and fry the other side. Repeat with remaining dough.
  8. Assemble gyros by piling a pita with chicken, tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, and onions. Enjoy!


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Grilled Kimcheese Sandwich

Is there such thing as too much kimchi? I don’t think so. Or at least I haven’t reached that point yet. Today I have yet another kimchi dish. This time, in sandwich form. Yeah, you read the title right. It’s a grilled cheese sandwich with kimchi. Grilled kimcheese. See what I did there?

So, this dish doesn’t really need a recipe because nothing is easier to cook than grilled cheese, but… why not? I just  had to. Imagine it: ooey, gooey cheese with crunchy, tangy, spicy kimchi.

grilled kimcheese sandwich | doughseedough.net

Grilled Kimcheese Sandwich
makes 2 sandwiches

1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 slices sourdough bread
1/2 cup kimchi, chopped
4 ounces havarti cheese, sliced

  1. Heat a large pan over medium heat. 
  2. Butter bread slices with butter on one side and place 2 of  them in the pan butter side down.
  3. Distribute the 1/4 of the cheese onto each bread slice in the pan. Top with 1/4 cup kimchi, remaining cheese, and the remaining 2 slices of sourdough bread, butter side up.
  4. Cook for 1 minute or until golden brown and cheese has started to melt. With a spatula, flip sandwiches and cook until other side is golden brown and cheese is completely melted. Serve immediately.


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Korean Steak & Mushroom Tacos with Kimchi

korean steak & mushroom tacos with kimchi | doughseedough.net

Have you ever eaten something so good that you wanted nothing more than to eat it alone?

Not because you didn’t want people to distract you from the deliciousness, but because you were ashamed at the rate in which you were shoveling the food into your mouth.

No? Well, that happens to me once in a while. Most recently with these tacos. These tacos were a-ma-zing. One of my favorite ways to get kimchi into my mouth, I think. These tacos were so good that I couldn’t decide if one was enough. If I only had one that meant I would have more leftovers for future meals. But… one just wasn’t enough. And if I ate only one that meant I might have to share the leftovers with Mike. Hmm…

I mean, seriously. These tacos are the perfect balance of sweet, savory and crunchy. And they were super easy to cook.

korean steak & mushroom tacos with kimchi | doughseedough.net

Korean Steak & Mushroom Tacos with Kimchi
adapted from Eating Well

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons gochujang
5 cloves garlic, minced
1.25 pounds skirt steak, trimmed
1 teaspoon canola oil
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
8 flour tortillas
1 cup kimchi, roughly chopped
2 large carrots, shredded
4 scallions, thinly sliced

  1. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. 
  2. Combine soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, mirin, gochujang, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Cover and keep warm.
  3. Add oil to heated pan and cook steak until browned and desired level of doneness is reached (I cooked about 3 minutes on each side). Remove from pan and set on cutting board to rest for 5 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, add mushrooms to skillet and cook until heated through and slightly soft, about 1 – 2 minutes on each side. Remove mushrooms from skillet and slice. Slice steak across the grain. Add steak and mushrooms to sauce and stir to combine.
  5. To assemble tacos, divide and steak and mushrooms among the tortillas. Top with chopped kimchi, shredded carrots, and scallions.

Ok, now get off your computer/iPad/phone and go to the grocery store and pick up the ingredients you need to make this. Then, kick everyone out of your house and eat in silence and with reckless abandon.

I swear I’m not an animal…


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Kimchi Fried Rice

Fried rice is good. Kimchi is good. Together, they are phenomenal. The addition of a sunny-side up egg makes it even better.

kimchi fried rice | doughseedough.net

Breaking an egg yolk and watching it run all over the place and slowly soak into the rice is the most beautiful thing.

kimchi fried rice | doughseedough.net

I can’t stress the importance of using day-old rice enough. Day old as in you cook it the night before, stick it in the fridge, and then use it the next day. Day-old rice has a harder texture and will give you a much better fried rice. If you don’t have time to make the rice the day before, cook it and then spread it out in a thin layer and stick it in the fridge to cool it quickly.

I used to make all my fried rice in a wok, but this time I used a huge nonstick skillet and I think it worked out a lot better. This is probably mostly due to the fact that I made less of a mess in the skillet. There’s just something about a wok that causes me to violently stir the food in it. Obviously, this creates a mess. Either way, this fried rice is a winner and it couldn’t be easier.

kimchi fried rice | doughseedough.net

Kimchi Fried Rice

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup kimchi, roughly chopped
4 cups day-old white rice
1 tablespoon gochujang (chili paste)
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 green onions, green parts sliced, divided
4 eggs, cooked sunny side up

  1. Heat canola oil in a large nonstick oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent. Stir in kimchi and stir until well combined.
  2. Add in rice and stir to break up large pieces. Cook, stirring frequently, until the rice is well incorporated with the kimchi.
  3. Stir in gochujang, soy sauce, pepper, and half the green onions until well combined.
  4. Portion into 4 serving dishes and sprinkle with remaining green onions. Top with egg and serve immediately.


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Meatballs in Creamy Dill Sauce

My work hours are still really unpredictable. Because of this, I like to find foods that I can make in big batches and freeze. I rely on meals like this to get me through super busy weeks. I ended up making a double batch of the meatballs and freezing half of them for later. I mean, let’s be real – this dish is super easy to make after the meatballs are cooked and it sure beats a bowl of mac & cheese or ramen for dinner!

After I typed up this post I went digging through the freezer to find the rest of the meatballs… there were none. I guess I cooked them up already. Sad, sad day. Guess I’ll be making some mac & cheese 😉

meatballs in creamy dill sauce

Meatballs in Creamy Dill Sauce

for the meatballs:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 slice of day-old whole wheat bread, processed into crumbs (or 1/3 cup whole wheat bread crumbs)
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper
1 egg

for the sauce:
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tablespoon flour
2 cups beef broth
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

cooked egg noodles or other pasta of your choice for serving

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 
  2. Combine beef, bread crumbs, skim milk, salt, pepper and egg in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Roll into 1″ balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 40 minutes or until browned and no longer pink in the middle.
  3. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent and slightly browned. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in beef broth, mushrooms, and meatballs. Bring to a simmer and cook until sauce reduced and slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
  4. Remove sauce from heat and stir in Greek yogurt and dill until well combined.
  5. Serve meatballs and sauce over egg noodles. Serve immediately.