PHEW what a week!  Happy Friday to you and thanks for stopping in again for another food filled post.  I was unsure as to what to have for dinner on Wednesday night as I was getting ready for work in the morning – when I remembered that I had some lean ground beef in the freezer.  Every time I would open the freezer it would make a little chirp to me that it was too cold and wanted to be cooked.  I could only take that for so long so finally I took it out to thaw and here we are today.

I was kind of in the mood for a cheeseburger but was unsure because we had no whole wheat buns to go with it and really any toppings outside of mustard and ketchup but I convinced myself…. GO FOR IT!

What a reward…. take a look at this.  I topped a few with cheese and left a few without for a leftover treat that you will see next week.  I may have even impressed Mrs. Zesty to a whole new level.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs Lean ground beef
• 2 Cloves garlic ( chopped)
• 1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp. Dried/frozen basil
• Cheddar/marble cheese
• 1 Tsp. Chili powder
• 1 Tsp. Dried Thyme
• 1 Tsp. Salt
• 1 Tsp. Black pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, add ground beef and all the dry ingredients and mix well together.











Have you ever tried this frozen basil before. It is amazing. So fresh and so convenient especially in the off season.



3. Form patties and place on roasting rack.





4. Bake for 35-40 minutes until no longer pink inside the meat ( you can peek if you need to)





5. Remove from oven and top with cheese; place back in the oven until melted.
6. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When baking ground beef, I like to use the roasting pan with slats in it to allow the grease to follow away from the meat.  This ensures you are getting the leanest most healthy form of that particular meat.

This little treat goes well with a side of salad or just on it’s own between your favorite whole grain bun.  Heck I just eat them by itself.  Sometimes you can’t just beat a homemade cheeseburger.  What is your little trick you put in your ground beef/turkey/chicken before cooking it to add that flavor you love?

Around the Blogsphere

Well as I have been wandering around the blogsphere this week…. I have bumped into a couple of wicked recipes that are must try’s in my books.  Take a look over here and let me know what you think.

• A recipe for stove-top granola by the Hungry Yogini.  This will knock your socks off for sure and I cannot wait to try it.
• A somewhat genius idea for salad dressings can be found over at Choosing Raw.  This I have to sink my gums into.
• And last but not least… I found two things I love wrapped into one over at Joy’s site – Can you believe an Avocado Pound Cake?  YUM!

That is all I have for this week.  I hope everyone has a decent fun filled friday and a great weekend.  Today is the last day you can tell all your friends about the Blog Makeover giveaway so “Let it out” and I will be announcing the poor soul that has to work with me for a makeover on MONDAY!

Take care

zesty

SORRY for the last 13 hours of NO Zesty.  My hosting account was suspended due to excessive usage!!!  GRRR anyway we are backup and running and I have a post for you.

Happy Wednesday to you!

Before we get on to the most exciting part of your day ( I mean you reading this post) let me mention that Blake from Blake Makes is doing something really cool today.  He is hosting a giveaway but guess what, the giveaway is for a chance to win Zesty’s Blog makeover.  How cool is that?  So everyone that votes enters over at Blake makes will also be entered into the blog makeover contest.  As i write this post, we are so close to getting 200 comments – not too mention all the blog mentions and tweets.  When all is said and done we will be well over 300 entries… so exciting.

On to the Food

What do you get when you have one piece of boneless chicken left, a cup of Jasmine rice, a head of broccoli on it’s last leg, a carrot and one can of Wolfgang Puck’s Organic Vegetable soup on hand?

I give you Zesty’s All in the Pot Goulash.  It tasted quite good actually.  It was not something I h ave ever whipped up before I can honestly admit that.  I used the soup as a sauce almost and added it early after the carrot and chicken sauteed so that it would reduce and thicken without the lid.  It worked like a charm.  I cooked the rice separately to avoid to much complication with measurements and liquid balance ratios.

In the end you have something that looks like this…

Ingredients

• 1 Carrot ( chopped)
• 1 Chicken Breast
• 1 Cup rice
• 1 Head of broccoli
• 1 Can of Wolfgang Puck’s Organic Vegetable soup
• 1/2 can of water
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 1 Tsp. red pepper flakes
• Dash of chili powder

Method

1. Preheat pot to medium heat; add olive oil.
2. Toss in carrot, garlic and chicken and let brown about 5-7 minutes
3. Cook rice in a separate pot according to directions
4. Add soup, water, chili powder and red pepper flakes; let simmer for 10 minutes while rice cooks.
5. Toss in broccoli for final 3 minutes; add salt and pepper
6. Once rice is cooked, add rice to the mixture and stir.
7. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Keep the heat up to medium when you add the soup and the lid off.  This will allow the soup to thicken.  Add your seasonings once the soup has been added.  Do note, add whatever flavors you like…. curry would work well in here as well.

Again – sorry for the delay in posting and all the hiccups I have caused.  Hopefully the issue is solved and we can move on as per usual.  Have a great Wednesday and don’t forget to enter in the makeover.  The final day is Friday.

Take care

zesty