Open-Face Bacon Marsala Burgers

Trust me on this, you need the fresh lemon juice. It makes the dish by brightening up the bacon. Trust me, the bacon gets brighter.

OPEN-FACE BACON MARSALA BURGERS

Chili Sauce Chicken Skewers

Turns out it’s Grill Week here at saladcheese. From sausages to tomatoes to today’s wonderful skewers to the pizzas I’m making tomorrow. I’m even doing grilled cheese sandwiches in a few days.

Tonight’s dinner is a nice jaunt into pseudo-Asian party food. You can make a bunch of these for a cookout and fashion a bunch of different mixes of varying spiciness to accommodate taste levels.

CHILI SAUCE CHICKEN SKEWERS

Garlic Parmesan Grilled Tomatoes

Sometimes the simplest things can make a great side dish. You don’t need elaborate oils, special vegetables, or fancy herbs. This time, less is more.

GARLIC PARMESAN GRILLED TOMATOES

Kielbasa and Monterey Penne

First off, let me just say that Wasilewski Polska Kielbasa is the best sausage I have ever had. When I lived in Cleveland—the land of cased meats and potatoes—for a dozen years, I tried all sort of sausage-y products. There was the lobster mac-and-cheese sausage from Gibb’s, the ultra-pungent smoked Hungarian paprika sausage from the West Side Market, and even the sausage offerings of Iron Chef Michael Symon.

This is the best one. It cooks nice, releases a good amount of grease, and works in a simple dish of sausage and peppers. The only problem with it is that I can only get it at Market District stores and the nearest one is an hour away in Pittsburgh. It’s worth the drive. That said, here’s today’s delightful dish:

KIELBASA AND MONTEREY PENNE

Zucchini Gnocchi with Grilled Chicken

So it’s a little while since I’ve posted, but this one was too good to pass up. It has a nice balance of protein, starch, and vegetables. Which sometimes, is the best thing you can ask for in a meal. Also, if you’re a vegetarian, all you have to do is leave out the chicken.

ZUCCHINI GNOCCHI WITH GRILLED CHICKEN

Kielbasa Knoepfla Paprikash

That’s right, folks: I made a dumpling dough from scratch. I’ve seen people do it before but somehow it was just some parlor trick other people do and out pops delicious, delicious noodly goodness. So, here’s my first crack at a fusion of German-Hungarian delight. Knoepfla is traditionally a soup dumpling, but with a nice hearty sausage, it works just fine.

KIELBASA KNOEPFLA PAPRIKASH

Slow Golden Chicken and Rice

Today was “put a bunch of tasty things in a slow cooker and see what happens” day. I usually have one of these a month. Luckily, these have a pretty good track record of coming out deliciously. This was no exception.

SLOW GOLDEN CHICKEN AND RICE