Lettuce-Wrap Burgers and Baked Sweet Potato Fries {Gluten-free, Beef, Grilling}

This is a two-for-one recipe! My hubby's deliciously simple grass-fed beef burgers wrapped in crisp lettuce AND sweet and savory, baked sweet potato fries! You can absolutely add your favorite bun or roll for the burger if you prefer, but crunchy lettuce is a really tasty compliment. Sometimes I just put my burger over a giant green salad and it's wonderful. Click here for Lettuce-Wrap Burgers and here for my Baked Sweet Potato Fries recipe. Enjoy! ...click here for the recipe!

Sesame Garlic Pork Tenderloin

Pork is a rare treat for us and when we have it we choose a nice lean pork tenderloin.  We like to buy the 4 pack at Costco and freeze them, just defrost overnight in the fridge.  This delicious marinade  infuses great flavor, which is a must when you are cooking lean proteins like tenderloin or chicken breast.  The combination of sweet agave, salty tamari and smokey sesame oil is amazing.  Give yourself some time as you'll want to marinate your pork for about 4 hours before grilling.  Our organic broccolini mushroom saute and fresh grilled corn on the cob made for the perfect summer dinner tonight.  Enjoy!

1 pork tenderloin
1/2 Tablespoon agave nectar
1 Tablespoon tamari
1/3 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ginger powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup water

For the dipping sauce:
3 Tablespoons agave nectar 
1.5 Tablespoons tamari
3 drops of toasted sesame oil

Directions:
1. Slice pork tenderloin into about 4-5 thick medallions.  Combine agave, tamari, salt, ginger, garlic powder, sesame oil and water in a bowl.  Add pork medallions to marinade, turn to coat, cover and and let marinate in the fridge for 4 hrs.
2. When you are ready to cook your meat, pull it out of the fridge and let it rest for 20 minutes on the counter.
3. Place meat on a hot grill and cook about 10-15 minutes until slightly golden, juices run clear and internal temperature of 150'F.  Remove pork to plate, tent with foil and let rest at least 5 minutes before slicing.  Slice large medallion cuts into 1/2" thick slices, serve hot with dipping sauce on the side.
...click here for the recipe!

Quinoa Turkey Burgers {Gluten Free}

These are a new variation of an old favorite, J's Turkey Burgers.  We recently tried quinoa turkey burgers while visiting family and loved them!  It's an easy way to stretch out your ground turkey while adding in the nutrition of quinoa and shredded carrot!  Have you tried Udi's gluten free breads yet?  They are some of the best we've found.  For our burgers we love Udi's gluten free whole grain buns, they are phenomenal (no, they don't pay me to say that).  They are soft and fluffy and I also love that they are a smaller, more reasonable portion size.  We served our burgers up with fresh grilled corn on the cob and thin cut sweet potato fries. Enjoy!

Recipe: (makes 8-10 burgers)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (~2/3 cup dry quinoa cooked in 1 1/3 cups water)
1 lb ground turkey
1 medium carrot, finely shredded
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/3 cup favorite bread crumbs (we like gluten free corn flake crumbs)

Directions:
1. Place ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until well combined. Shape meat into 8-10 patties (press into flat patties, not domed)
2. Spray patties with cooking spray on both sides to prevent sticking, place on a hot GRILL.
4. Once the lower 1/3 of the patty is browned and the meat is easy to turn, FLIP ONCE, continue cooking until the patty reaches an internal temperature of 160'F.  Remove from the grill and place on your favorite bun and top with all the fixings!

...click here for the recipe!

Grilled Zucchini with Lemon and Thyme

Our little backyard vegetable garden is starting to produce and like every other year the zucchini is thriving! Time to get creative with more ways to cook it. Tonight I marinated it along with some red bell pepper wedges in a zesty lemon-garlic and fresh thyme sauce. The lemon paired so well with the mild zucchini it was delicious! We had ours along side some chicken sausages and quinoa, which I flavored with garlic and thyme as well. Enjoy!

Recipe: (Serves 4-6)
Ingredients:
5-6 large zucchini squash (or one the size of your forearm like we used), thickly sliced in rounds or strips (~1/4 inch thick)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 5 large wedges
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1 lemon (~2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
1. Whisk vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, thyme and olive oil in the bottom of a large glass baking dish with sides.
2. Add the sliced zucchini and peppers and toss to coat in the marinade using tongs.
3. Place marinaded veggies on a hot grill or grill pan (dredge each one again in the marinade before placing on the grill).  Grill approximately 7-9 minutes, flipping once 1/2 way through or until crisp tender.  Every grill is different so watch your veggies.  Once they have nice grill marks they are ready to flip.
4. Serve hot along side your favorite summer entree.  We served ours with some garlic thyme quinoa.  Simply prepare quinoa using low-sodium chicken broth as a substitute for the water and add 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme and 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder.  Cook per package instructions, fluff with a fork and serve hot. ...click here for the recipe!