Smoked Paprika Butter (topping for steaks)

My sister, Krista came across this recipe the other day when searching for "legal" foods while she is on her boring Crohn's diet. We made it to top off a flank steak and it was amazing! The smoked paprika really comes to life when mixed with the butter and garlic! Very easy to make! I even used the pre-made minced garlic to save time and mess. I personally hate getting fresh garlic smell on my fingers so I almost always use the pre-made minced garlic - especially since it is now in a squeeze bottle!

I am not sure where Krista found her original recipe, but the below recipe was adapted from Food & Wine...

Serves 2 to 3

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

3/4 teaspoon smoked hot paprika

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Method

In a small saucepan melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook over low heat, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the paprika and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and keep warm until your steaks are done. You can also make ahead and reheat gently when needed. When steaks are ready, spoon paprika butter over and serve immediately.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Lime and Cilantro

My bootcamp instructor handed out this recipe the other day during one of our "fun" workouts! It was called the junk-yard workout and we got a "treat/healthy snack" for every exercise we completed. If he is handing this out - it has to be healthy :) Tim and I made them this week and the taste was great! I was thinking that the parboil method would be quick, so I didn't boil the potatoes long enough. Our potatoes were medium to large, so I think that for that size, we should have boilded them about 15 - 20 minutes before putting them on the grill. Will definitely be making this again! Was a great side to our steak!

Ingredients

3 sweet potatoes, unpeeled
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Parcook the potatoes: Place in a pot of water and boil until fork-tender; let cool. Slice each potato lengthwise into eighths.
Preheat a grill to medium or place a cast-iron grill pan over medium heat. Mix 1 tablespoon salt, the lime zest and cayenne in a small bowl.
Brush the potato wedges with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown on all sides (including the skin) and just cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter; immediately season with the salt mixture and sprinkle with cilantro.

Original recipe is from Bobby Flay, for Food Network Magazine.
Photograph by Steve Giralt

Ham & Cheese Buns

This looks like the perfect party/tailgate appetizer! Yummy!

2 TBSP dried minced onions
1 TBSP prepared mustard (I used honey dijon)
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 stick melted butter
1 dozen dinner rolls or 2 dozen party rolls (I used King's Hawaiian Sweet rolls - 2 pkgs)
1/2 lb ham
1/2 lb thinly sliced swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 325. In a small mixing bowl, mix onion, mustard, poppy seeds, & melted butter. Leaving the dinner rolls intact, slice them open horizontally so that you have one solid top and one solid bottom. Place the bottom half on a baking sheet. Line bottom half of rolls with cheese slices & ham. Return the top part of the rolls & drizzle butter mixture evenly over top.Cover w/ foil & bake for 20 min. Use a sharp knife to separate the little sandwiches. Serve immediately.

Can be made ahead of time & refrigerated or frozen. Just thaw overnight and add 5 more min onto baking time.

Greek Yogurt Substitutions

I came across this on Pinterest, which is great for recipes by the way (I am collecting several that I would love to try and hopefully get on here some day soon! Anyway, this is a conversion chart for substituting Chobani Greek yogurt in a lot of foods that we might not think of using it. I thought it was a good way to sneak a little extra protein in some dishes and cut the fat!

Click here for a link to their website for recipes!