Cheeseburger Dinner Salad and Father's Day

Are you running out of ideas for hot weather dinners yet? It seems like all over the country places are having record breaking hot weather these days, as we are, too, in Seattle. We are eating lots of salads and I just added this one to my list. It's like a taco salad except it has a cheeseburger-take instead. And I like it better than just making a cheeseburger and wrapping it in lettuce as a bun like the paleo people do. I thought this salad was a good idea. I got the recipe from Hannah Freese, RD and we had it for dinner tonight and Bruce really liked it, too. We had three days of over 100 degrees recently that broke records around here but fortunately we have air conditioning upstairs, plus a cool basement, and a big east-facing deck that cools off at night. Less than 50% of households have air conditioning in Seattle so it's a big deal when the weather gets hot here. People's houses get over 90 degrees inside and it can get dangerous. And then, who feels like cooking! Fortunately, our state has "opened up"at the end of June and people are slowly starting to crawl out of their shells and restaurants are opening back up as best as they can after such a horrendous year. And we are having people over to our house again. I'm so happy about that.

This warm weather is perfect for eating al fresco, although since we are all vaccinated against covid, we don't have to worry about outdoor ventilation like last year. Now, we're eating outside because it's hot. We had a great Father's Day celebration at our house with friends which was really our first "party" at our house since the pandemic.

Plus, it was our first time celebrating Father's Day with Nick since he became a dad so that was really special. Two great dads to celebrate. (Nick gave Bruce some Yamasaki whiskey from Japan and we gave Nick some Wagyu beef from Japan so we had a very Japan-themed gift exchange. LOL)

We barbecued steaks for Father's Day and all the Wagyu beef we gave Nick was eaten. It was so melt-in-your-mouth tender. It was from the region of Miyazaki in Japan which Nick knew about. The rest of the steaks were local. We got the Miyazaki steaks at a local meat market in our neighborhood called Lady Jaye. They get a shipment in from Japan about every three months or so. I knew it would be a perfect gift for Nick and everybody enjoyed it immensely!

We've been eating pretty well during these warm days and if you need ideas, just go to my recipe page and look up recipes under salads or barbecue. This Cheeseburger Dinner salad is very hardy, filling and satisfying and you might find that you'll crave it even when the weather cools down. Go for it!

Makes 4 servings

2 lbs ground beef
sea salt and black pepper (to taste)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

2 heads Boston lettuce

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup red onion, diced or I used Walla Walla sweet onions

1/2 cup pickle, chopped

1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

1. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the beef to the pan, breaking it up as it browns. Once it is cooked through and no longer pink, season with salt and pepper.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, and mustard. Thin dressing with a bit of water to your desired consistency.

3. Divide the lettuce, tomatoes, ground beef, cheese, onion, and pickle between plates. Drizzle the dressing over the top, sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy.

Meatloaf by Mark Bittman

Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of meatloaf . This must be meatloaf season. It was surprisingly similar to the Pioneer Woman's version who was also recently on. I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book, Food Matters . His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese! I must be doing something wrong. The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life. If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health. He tells his story in Food Matters and provides a plan for responsible eating that covers a no-nonsense rundown on

Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have very many gluten-free cookies on my blog because quite frankly, I usually don't like gluten-free. But occasionally, I do find a good recipe and this is one that is from the back of the Trader Joe's oatmeal and it's a good one. My friend brought some over to our house last weekend when Nick and family were here for our birthday celebrations and we all loved them. My friend lives a few blocks away and we walk the neighborhood together on weekends. We can easily go 5 miles in no time, talking non-stop. She loves exploring our neighborhood as much as I do and we discover so many favorite little spots. We even found a property with a horse (or more like a pony, I should say.) The views are always quite lovely, too. Bruce and I had our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary on July 18th and I made a point of walking past the house where we had our wedding reception. I told my friend, "Thirty-nine years ago today, there was a big party go

Waking Up in Vegas

and just like that...we were Waking Up in Vegas. Just like the Katy Perry song. We went to her 78th performance which was her second-to-last Las Vegas residency show entitled "Play". That was perfect for us because we went to Vegas simply to play. Her concert was a great finale for us because it was high energy and full of silliness, just the way Katy Perry is. And we were feeling it after three nights in Las Vegas. "Get up, and shake the gutter off your clothes now, That's what you get for waking up in Vegas". Here's what she said about her show: "I created this show after the birth of my daughter, Daisy Dove. When I met her, it was like all the love I was ever searching for finally showed up. This show is for everyone’s inner child and for the hope that maybe if we could all see life through the eyes of a child, we would be free. Because never forget, love is and will always be the key,” she said. We went to Vegas spur of the moment because Br

Sylvia's Scenario

Search This Blog