Intro: Welcome to Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can get on the table any night of the week. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Hello, hello everyone. It’s dinnertime. What are you making for dinner? I have a great recipe for you that’s perfect when you are craving pasta, but maybe you don’t want something really heavy like an Alfredo or meat sauce, or you don’t want to take the time to make homemade meatballs. We’re talking about a Lemon Penne with Roasted Broccoli. This recipe was actually created because I would make Ina Garten, Bow Ties, and Broccoli. It’s actually a kid’s recipe in one of her cookbooks. Over the years I have added this, changed this, roasted the broccoli instead of boiling it and it came out to be this Lemon Penne with Oven Roasted Broccoli recipe.

Intro: So there are really just three steps in making this dish. You’re going to cook your pasta, you’re going to oven-roast your broccoli, and you’re going to make a lemon garlic butter sauce. Then you’re going to mix it all together and serve it. 

Tips and Tricks: My one tip is to multitask with this recipe. So while the pasta is cooking and while the broccoli is roasting, go ahead and make that lemon butter sauce and it will make the whole recipe come together a lot quicker.

Lemon Penne with Broccoli Recipe: This is pretty much a straightforward recipe, so I don’t have a lot of tips to share with this recipe. So we’re just going to go ahead and get started. First, you want to go ahead and get your oven preheated to 400 degrees. You want to get some water boiling to cook your pasta. We use half a pound of penne pasta, just cooked al dente per the package instructions, and then drain that and set that aside until we’re ready to assemble.

Now for the roasted broccoli, you’ll need about three cups of broccoli florets that are cut into really bite-sized pieces because it’s going to be mixed with that penne pasta. So your best bet is to cut the florets to a similar size as the penne. Once your oven is preheated, you’re going to place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan that’s lined with foil or parchment paper, drizzle with a generous couple tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with some kosher salt and then toss it all together with clean hands or you can use a spatula or forks. You’re going to roast that in the oven for about 10 minutes. If you like your broccoli a little bit more roasty, then roasted it a little bit longer. This part is totally up to your preference. For the last, about a minute and a half to two minutes, you’re going to add two tablespoons of pine nuts. If you’ve never used pine nuts, they can be just a little bit expensive. They’re more expensive than walnuts or cashews. They’re delicious. They actually have a meaty flavor to them. I always compare them once they’re roasted, to bacon. They have a salty bacon flavor. They’re perfect in this recipe. So go ahead and add them onto that sheet pan and just roast them for about an additional one and a half to two minutes. Take that out of the oven and set that aside.

Now we’re going to make the lemon garlic butter sauce. So in a small saucepan that you’re going to put over low heat, you want to add two tablespoons of butter, and two tablespoons of olive oil, and you can use extra virgin olive oil or regular olive oil will work here. Once the butter is melted, you’re going to add one tablespoon of lemon zest. That’s usually about the zest from one full, medium size lemon and two plump garlic cloves that have been thinly sliced. You’re going to cook that for about two to three minutes and just make sure that the garlic does not brown or burn. Once garlic goes to that burning phase, where it starts to turn really dark brown, it will get a little bit bitter, so you just want to soften it up and let it infuse its flavor into that butter sauce.

Pull that off of the heat, and then you’re going to pour in three tablespoons of lemon juice and half a teaspoon of kosher salt. Stir that all together and now it’s time to assemble everything. 

In a really large bowl, you’ll want to add the pasta, the pine nuts, and the broccoli, and then drizzle that lemon garlic butter sauce all over the pasta. Then toss to coat everything with that lemon garlic butter.

When you serve this, you can absolutely grate some fresh Parmesan cheese over top, but it is not necessary. It is delicious as is. We kind of think of this as a complete meal, a vegetarian meal, and we don’t usually add any type of protein. Because you have your pasta, you’ve got the Pine nuts in there, and you have a veggie.

You of course could add some garlic bread or breadsticks on the side, or if you wanted to add a protein, a grilled chicken would be perfect here. If you’re feeding kids, add some chicken nuggets. 

That’s it for the super simple recipe. I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes for you so you can make this for dinner when you’re ready. 

If you’re enjoying these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you rate and review the show in your preferred podcast player which will just help other people like you find this show. 

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes your dinner time a little easier.

Intro: Welcome to Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can get on the table any night of the week. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Hello, hello everyone. It’s dinnertime. What are you making for dinner? I have a great recipe for you that’s perfect when you are craving pasta, but maybe you don’t want something really heavy like an Alfredo or meat sauce, or you don’t want to take the time to make homemade meatballs. We’re talking about a Lemon Penne with Roasted Broccoli. This recipe was actually created because I would make Ina Garten, Bow Ties, and Broccoli. It’s actually a kid’s recipe in one of her cookbooks. Over the years I have added this, changed this, roasted the broccoli instead of boiling it and it came out to be this Lemon Penne with Oven Roasted Broccoli recipe.

Intro: So there are really just three steps in making this dish. You’re going to cook your pasta, you’re going to oven-roast your broccoli, and you’re going to make a lemon garlic butter sauce. Then you’re going to mix it all together and serve it. 

Tips and Tricks: My one tip is to multitask with this recipe. So while the pasta is cooking and while the broccoli is roasting, go ahead and make that lemon butter sauce and it will make the whole recipe come together a lot quicker.

Lemon Penne with Broccoli Recipe: This is pretty much a straightforward recipe, so I don’t have a lot of tips to share with this recipe. So we’re just going to go ahead and get started. First, you want to go ahead and get your oven preheated to 400 degrees. You want to get some water boiling to cook your pasta. We use half a pound of penne pasta, just cooked al dente per the package instructions, and then drain that and set that aside until we’re ready to assemble.

Now for the roasted broccoli, you’ll need about three cups of broccoli florets that are cut into really bite-sized pieces because it’s going to be mixed with that penne pasta. So your best bet is to cut the florets to a similar size as the penne. Once your oven is preheated, you’re going to place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan that’s lined with foil or parchment paper, drizzle with a generous couple tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with some kosher salt and then toss it all together with clean hands or you can use a spatula or forks. You’re going to roast that in the oven for about 10 minutes. If you like your broccoli a little bit more roasty, then roasted it a little bit longer. This part is totally up to your preference. For the last, about a minute and a half to two minutes, you’re going to add two tablespoons of pine nuts. If you’ve never used pine nuts, they can be just a little bit expensive. They’re more expensive than walnuts or cashews. They’re delicious. They actually have a meaty flavor to them. I always compare them once they’re roasted, to bacon. They have a salty bacon flavor. They’re perfect in this recipe. So go ahead and add them onto that sheet pan and just roast them for about an additional one and a half to two minutes. Take that out of the oven and set that aside.

Now we’re going to make the lemon garlic butter sauce. So in a small saucepan that you’re going to put over low heat, you want to add two tablespoons of butter, and two tablespoons of olive oil, and you can use extra virgin olive oil or regular olive oil will work here. Once the butter is melted, you’re going to add one tablespoon of lemon zest. That’s usually about the zest from one full, medium size lemon and two plump garlic cloves that have been thinly sliced. You’re going to cook that for about two to three minutes and just make sure that the garlic does not brown or burn. Once garlic goes to that burning phase, where it starts to turn really dark brown, it will get a little bit bitter, so you just want to soften it up and let it infuse its flavor into that butter sauce.

Pull that off of the heat, and then you’re going to pour in three tablespoons of lemon juice and half a teaspoon of kosher salt. Stir that all together and now it’s time to assemble everything. 

In a really large bowl, you’ll want to add the pasta, the pine nuts, and the broccoli, and then drizzle that lemon garlic butter sauce all over the pasta. Then toss to coat everything with that lemon garlic butter.

When you serve this, you can absolutely grate some fresh Parmesan cheese over top, but it is not necessary. It is delicious as is. We kind of think of this as a complete meal, a vegetarian meal, and we don’t usually add any type of protein. Because you have your pasta, you’ve got the Pine nuts in there, and you have a veggie.

You of course could add some garlic bread or breadsticks on the side, or if you wanted to add a protein, a grilled chicken would be perfect here. If you’re feeding kids, add some chicken nuggets. 

That’s it for the super simple recipe. I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes for you so you can make this for dinner when you’re ready. 

If you’re enjoying these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you rate and review the show in your preferred podcast player which will just help other people like you find this show. 

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes your dinner time a little easier.

Intro: Welcome everybody to another awesome episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can always get on the table. Promise. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Back in episode 16, we talked about making a fresh basil pesto, that is so delicious. But today we are talking about making a 15-minute pesto cream sauce that is so good and perfectly tossed with pasta for dinner. There are a ton of different options when you are buying pesto. Of course, your very, very, very best option is going to be to make your own fresh basil pesto, just like we did in episode 16. Of course, I will link that recipe right in the show notes here for this episode so you can find it.

Tips and Tricks: You’re going to need about one cup of basil pesto. If you don’t want to make your own. If you want to keep this super simple, you can absolutely use store-bought pesto. However, the quality of pesto ranges drastically. Your best bet for a store-bought pesto is going to be from the refrigerated section, absolutely, hands down. Now if your store doesn’t have that option and you need to get something shelf stable, your best bet is to turn over the bottles and look at the ingredients. You’re going to find that the shelf-stable pestos use a lot of fillers, and some of them don’t even have basil as one of the first ingredients, which is wild. Try to find one that uses Basil as one of the first ingredients. And doesn’t have a lot of fillers like potato starch, and spinach. Those are my best tips for finding a good pesto.

Pesto Cream Sauce Recipe: Let’s go ahead and get into making this recipe. If you plan on serving this overcooked pasta, then I recommend going ahead and getting your pasta boiling and just cooking it to al dente per the package instructions. Then take a large, non-stick skillet and pop it over medium-low heat. You’re going to melt two tablespoons of butter, and then you’re going to add two minced garlic cloves and just saute them for about one minute, so you can start to smell that delicious garlic flavor. Then you’re going to add one teaspoon of dried basil. My tip here with any dried herb that you add is, to measure it out, put it in the palm of your hand, and then take your fingers and just kind of rub it into the palm of your hand. What that’s doing is releasing those essential oils and bringing them to life again. So add that one teaspoon of dried basil, half a teaspoon of kosher salt, and then saute it for an additional 30 seconds with that garlic.

Here’s where your pesto comes in. You’re going to add one cup of good-quality pesto and one cup of heavy cream. Stir to combine everything, and then just simmer that over medium-low heat for about three minutes. Finally, remove that pan from the heat and stir in half a cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. 

That’s it. That’s the whole recipe. You’re going to let the sauce cool and thicken for just a couple of minutes and then serve it tossed with your cooked pasta. You want to have a creamy and super decadent pasta dish that only took about 15 minutes to make, which is excellent.

If you like to grill, I highly recommend adding a little bit of grilled chicken on top, but it’s totally not necessary. I also have a recipe for a big Italian salad that would be great on the side if you want more of a big dinner. Then, of course, garlic bread. Who doesn’t love garlic bread? 

You could store any leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to four days. But when you’re reheating this, you have to be a little careful because just like when you reheat Alfredo, It can kind of separate, the oil and the cream can separate a little bit, so you want to reheat it in portions just for 30 seconds at a time. Give it a good stir. You may want to add a little more milk. Give it a stir. 30 more seconds and it should reheat okay. 

That does it for this episode of Let’s Make Dinner. As always, I will link all of the recipes right in the show notes for you to find when you’re ready to make dinner. 

If you’re enjoying these episodes, I would love to have you rate and review this show in your favorite podcast player.

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner Makes your dinner time a little easier.

Intro: Welcome to Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can get on the table any night of the week. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Some of my very favorite flavor profiles in the kitchen are all included in Cajun cuisine. We’re talking smoked paprika. That’s probably in one of my top five spices outta my spice cabinet. Oregano, red pepper, lemon, onion powder, cayenne pepper. Doesn’t all of that sound so delicious? 

Well, today for dinner, we are going to be making the easiest Skillet Cajun Shrimp. These shrimp are lightly marinated in all of these Cajun flavors, and then they get cooked hot and fast in a skillet. Then we’re going to add a few side dishes to make it a delicious dinner. Or you can add a Cajun aioli and have a fantastic appetizer. 

Tips and Tricks: So let’s get started with a few tips on buying shrimp and getting started with this recipe. 

When you buy shrimp for this recipe, you want to get a shrimp that is raw de veined, and shelled, but still has the tail on. Well, and actually you can have a tail on or tail off. It doesn’t matter. But you definitely want raw shrimp that has been shelled or peeled for this recipe. Now, when you’re looking at shrimp, it is sold by size, count, and pound, which is a lot all in one. But basically what you’re looking at is the number of shrimp per pound also refers to the size of the shrimp. So for this recipe, we call for an extra large shrimp, which then also turns into about 26 to 30 shrimp per pound. So I hope that makes sense. 

I love to buy my shrimp for this recipe at Trader Joe’s. They have the perfect shrimp in their frozen section, and they call it just like a medium to large size shrimp because I think they kind of mix the sizes in the bag, but they are perfect. They come frozen, but they are raw, they’re deveined, they’re shelled or peeled, and they have the tail on. So it is perfect. I actually have a picture of the bag in the recipe post, so I will link that recipe of course in the show notes for you. 

So since I’m buying frozen shrimp, and if you buy frozen shrimp, you’re going to need to thaw it for this recipe. There are two different methods that I use for thawing shrimp. There’s the overnight method and the quick method. A quick method is for those of you out there that always forget to thaw your meat, I am included with you. 

So we’ll go over the overnight method first. If you know you’re going to have this the next day, you can take the shrimp package out of the freezer. I like to put it in some kind of bowl or dish so that if there’s any leakage, it gets caught in there and doesn’t run over all of your other food in the fridge. Pop that in the fridge overnight, and it should be thawed and ready to make for dinner the next day. Now if you forgot to do that and you need the quick thaw method, what you’re going to want to do is take the shrimp out of the package, pop them in a bowl, and run just a little bit of cool temped water over the shrimp until they are thawed. This will be like 15 minutes, so you can just let it kind of trickle into the bowl and keep it right in the sink. Now, before you move on to the recipe, if you use this method, make sure you give the shrimp a good pat with paper towels to dry them. 

The only other tip before we get started with this recipe is for your paprika.

Paprika comes in, I don’t even know. I’m going to Google it right now. Hold on. How many different varieties of paprika are there? I’m going to find out. Okay. It says there are only three varieties of paprika, but I know that’s not true. They say there’s hot paprika, sweet paprika, and smoked paprika, but I know there’s also regular paprika. I’ve seen bitter paprika and bittersweet paprika. Then there’s also Hungarian paprika. So they are lying, whoever wrote that post. But what we are looking for in this recipe is smoked paprika. It has such a very specific flavor profile that’s delicious by the way. It’s slightly smokey, but not offensively smokey, and really earthy flavor. So make sure you get smoked. 

Skillet Cajun Shrimp Recipe: Let’s get to making your Skillet Cajun Shrimp. You’re going to start with one pound of raw deveined shelled tail-on or tail-off shrimp. That is around 26 to 30 shrimp per pound. Now we’re going to get that marinating. To mix your marinade, just do it in like a little bowl or a Ziploc baggy, add two tablespoons of olive oil, two minced garlic cloves, one and a half teaspoons of smoked paprika, and one teaspoon of dried oregano. You can also substitute dried thyme if oregano is not your jam. One and a half teaspoons of red pepper flakes. If you like it a little spicier, you can definitely add more red pepper flakes. Half a teaspoon of lemon zest and that is going to be the zest of a fresh lemon. A quarter teaspoon of black pepper, a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt, a quarter teaspoon of onion powder, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. You can absolutely add more. Again, if you want more heat, more spice. Give that a really good stir and then you’re going to add the shrimp in there and stir that up to coat all of the shrimp. You’re going to marinate it for at least 30 minutes and you can marinate it for up to six hours, but I would not marinate it any more than six hours because it can start to break down the actual shrimp. 

Now, once that’s all marinated and you are good to go, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add one tablespoon of olive oil and one tablespoon of butter. Once that’s nice and hot, you’re going to add half of the marinated shrimp. You’re only adding half because you want to really like pan-fry the shrimp. If you crowd all of that shrimp in there at one time, you’re actually going to steam the shrimp instead of pan-frying. So we’re going to do two batches.

Hop half that shrimp in the hot skillet. Cook for two minutes on the first side, and then grab a pair of tongs and flip all of the shrimp and cook for two minutes on the other side. These cook hot and fast. Then you’re going to remove all of that shrimp to a plate. Set it aside, and then you’re going to repeat all of that for the second half of the shrimp. Then remove your skillet from the heat, and add all of the shrimp and all of the juices back into that pan. You’ll squeeze in two fresh lemon wedges all over the shrimp and give it a good stir. Any little bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan, kind of scrape those up because that’s really delicious flavor.

You have a couple of options when you’re serving this shrimp. You can absolutely serve this as just an appetizer. I have an excellent Cajun aioli recipe on Mom’s Dinner that I will link in the show notes for you. If you’re serving this as an appetizer, I highly recommend putting some jicama sticks on the side. They’re nice and cooling and perfectly paired with the spicy Cajun shrimp. It’s kind of like when you serve celery with hot wings.

But if you want to serve this as a dinner, then let’s talk about some side dishes. If it’s a weeknight and you want to keep this just fast and easy, then I highly recommend just getting a box of Zatteran’s Dirty Rice or Cajun rice and serving that on the side. If you have a little bit more time, I have such a good recipe for dirty rice and beans. It’s just a Skillet of Dirty Rice and Beans, so you can make it right on the stovetop next to your Cajun shrimp. That would be a perfect side dish. It’s got that beef-smoked sausage in it. Mm. You love it. If you like grits, excellent choice. Like shrimp and grits that you get at fancy restaurants? Perfect. Or you could serve cheesy rice. I have an excellent recipe for Cheesy Rice that I will also link in the show notes. Add a little bit of roasted broccoli, and dinner is done. 

As always, I will link all of these recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes for you, so you can make this for dinner whenever you want.

If you are loving these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you rate and review this show in your favorite podcast player that will just help other people find this show too. 

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes your dinner time a little easier.

Intro: Welcome everybody to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can get on the table any night of the week. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Today I have an amazing one-pan dinner that is made on a sheet pan right in your oven, and it’s a little bit healthy too. Super bonus. We’re talking about an Asian Glazed Salmon and Veggie Sheet Pan dinner. So you have your salmon filets that are lightly marinated, and then they cook up super tender and flaky in the oven. Then you’re going to have mini peppers and broccoli that is roasted to perfection right alongside your salmon. You’re going to add an easy side dish, and then dinner is ready, and all of this is going to be done in about, let’s say less than 45 minutes. 

You want to make sure that you find a really good quality salmon, and some of the things you’re going to look for are really bright, like orangeish-reddish skin that doesn’t look dried out. If it’s starting to curl up on the ends or anything like that, or if it has a really fishy smell, do you want to skip that one? Find something that’s a little bit fresher. You’re going to want four, six-ounce filets, and you can do skin on or skin off, both work. If you can’t find individual filets, you can always buy one large filet and then slice it into individual portions. 

Sheet Pan Salmon and Veggies Recipe: Usually I start by going over some recipe tips and tricks, but today I’m going to head right into the recipe and I will add all of those tips and tricks and hacks right into the recipe as we’re going through.

So there are really three steps to this recipe. First, you’re going to make that Asian-flavored marinade and get your salmon marinating. While that is doing its thing, you’re going to prep the vegetables and get those roasting. Then you’re going to add that salmon and get that roasting with the vegetables and simmer the remaining marinade into a glaze that you’ll use for serving.

To get things started, you want to preheat your oven to 400 degrees and then you want to grab your very largest sheet pan. Usually, this will be considered a half-sheet pan, which is about 18 by 13 inches in size. It’s important that you have a really large sheet pan because you want to roast your veggies. If you overcrowd the sheet pan, they will actually end up steaming in the oven instead of roasting. 

Now you want to cover that sheet pan with parchment paper and then give it a really good spray with non-stick spray. Here’s a tip with your parchment paper. If you have some really curly parchment paper that won’t lay flat on your sheet pan, give the sheet pan a spray with non-stick spray and then place the parchment paper down and it will like glue it to the sheet pan and then you can spray the top of the parchment paper.

Now that the prep is done, we can get started on the recipe. We’re going to begin by making that Asian marinade for the salmon. In a shallow bowl or a Ziploc baggy, will work too, you’ll add three tablespoons of soy sauce, two tablespoons of honey, and one teaspoon of toasted or regular sesame oil. One teaspoon of fresh grated Ginger, and I’ve talked about this in other episodes too. I love those Dorot Gardens, little frozen ginger cubes that you can keep right in your freezer. Ginger is not an ingredient that I keep around that often, but to have those little frozen cubes that you can just keep in there and pop right out, it’s excellent. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s, but I think they have them at most grocery stores. So then you’ll also need one teaspoon of unseasoned rice vinegar. You want to make sure that you buy the unseasoned rice vinegar. There’s also something called seasoned rice vinegar, but it has a much stronger flavor that you’re not looking for In this recipe. You’ll use one large garlic clove that you mince or chop an eighth of a teaspoon of red pepper flakes that’s really just going to be a little pinch. Get all of that mixed together and then add your salmon filets. Now if you’re using a shallow bowl and you have skin on salmon, you’ll want to make sure and pop those in the marinade skin up so the flesh can actually soak up that marinade. 

You’re going to let that marinate for about 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature while you start your veggies. To prep your veggies, you’re going to take three cups of broccoli florets and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Then you’ll take 10 to 12 of those little mini sweet rainbow peppers. They usually come in a bag and cut the stem off and cut them lengthwise, and if you don’t want the seeds, you can scrape out those seeds that are inside. There usually are not that many. Now I like to just put those all right on the sheet pan. Then you’re going to drizzle over one tablespoon of that toasted or regular sesame oil, one tablespoon olive oil, and then about a quarter to a half a teaspoon of kosher salt and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper. Then I like to do it with clean hands, just toss it all together so that olive oil and the sesame oil coat all of the veggies. 

Pop that in the oven to roast for about eight minutes while the salmon continues to marinate. At the end of that eight minutes, you’re going to remove that pan from the oven and then give the veggies a little toss, and then you’re going to scoot them to the edges of the pan so that you have room for the salmon in the middle.

Place the salmon filets on the sheet pan and then pop it back in the oven. At this point, remember to reserve the marinade because we are going to simmer that for a glaze when we serve. Reserve the marinade. Set a timer and roast the salmon filets for about 12 to 15 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when they register 145 degrees with an instant-read thermometer. They’ll be nice and flaky and they will have shrunk up just a little bit. So once they are cooked through, you can remove the salmon and the veggies from the oven and let those cool for about five minutes. While those cool, take a very small little saucepan and pop it over medium-low heat. Pour all of that reserved marinade into the pan and simmer it gently for about two to three minutes until it’s slightly thickened. This becomes the most amazing Asian glaze to serve over top of the salmon. 

This is pretty much a complete meal. You have your veggies and you have your protein. If you want to add a carb side dish, you absolutely can. We love to add just brown rice to the plate. Or you could get fried rice to add to the side. Trader Joe’s has a great frozen fried rice that you just put in a skillet for like five minutes and it’s ready and it’s perfect. It would be delicious with this dish. 

So on the plate, I like to lay down some rice, put my salmon over top of the rice, put the veggies on the side, and then spoon a little bit of that glaze right over the salmon. Then you can also garnish the salmon and the veggies with either toasted sesame seeds, fresh chopped cilantro, or fresh chopped green onions. Those would all be delicious with this dish. 

I have one more little tip about this recipe. So if you like to make grilled salmon or you want to do salmon in your air fryer, or you want to like pan fry your salmon, the marinade that we talked about in the very beginning, that Asian flavored marinade, is a great flavor profile for your salmon any way you want to cook it. So you can use that Asian marinade in more than just the sheet pan recipe. 

That’s it for today. As always, I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode. Write in the show notes for you. If you like what you’re hearing on Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you rate and review this podcast in your favorite podcast player. That will help other people find this show too. 

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner Makes your dinner time a little easier.

Intro: Welcome to Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can get on the table any night of the week. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: I’m about ready to blow the doors right off of your Taco Tuesday, so you’re going to want to add this to your meal plan. Grab a pencil, and write it down. Marinated grilled steak tacos with Chipotle Crema, Tuesday dinner is done. This is a crazy, delicious grilled steak taco. So you’re going to take a top sirloin, you’re going to make a marinade for it and pop it in the fridge for about four hours. Prep your grill up for dinner, grill that marinated steak. Mix up the easiest chipotle lime crema, and you have dinner ready. It’s going to be delicious. 

Tips and Tricks: But before we get to the full recipe, let’s talk about a few tips for your ingredients and for making these steak tacos. First of all, the recipe calls for a top sirloin. When you’re at the grocery store and you’re looking at sirloin steaks, you want to make sure that it says top sirloin. That is not the same cut as just a sirloin steak. A sirloin steak is going to be a different cut that is a little bit tougher. Same with a sirloin tip, which is also going to be a little bit tougher than a top sirloin. So make sure you see the word top on the package. Second of all, top sirloin is actually a very lean cut of beef. So this steak is going to be cooked to a medium at most, medium rare, somewhere in there. So around 135 to 145. If you do not want to see any pink in your steak, then this might not be the recipe for you because top sirloin, as I said, is so lean that if you cook it to like a medium well or well done, it will be a little bit tough. However, if you still want to make this recipe, you could always use a ribeye or something that’s a little bit tender and can handle more of a well-done temperature. 

Grilled Steak Tacos Recipe: All right, so let’s get into making this grilled steak taco recipe with the Chipotle lime crema. We’re going to start with a Chipotle lime crema because that can be made a couple of days in advance and left in the fridge. Just cover it up, in an airtight container, pop it in there, and it’ll be ready for when you are ready to have dinner. So in a small bowl, and this is very, very simple. In a small bowl, you’re going to combine half a cup of mayonnaise, a quarter cup of sour cream, and three teaspoons of fresh squeezed lime juice. Then you need three Chipotle chilies in adobo sauce. That’s going to come in a can, and you can find it anywhere in the Mexican food aisle at your grocery store. They are super spicy. Don’t be fooled by their appearance and their smell. They are spicy, so that’s why this only calls for three. If you like it super spicy, go ahead and put four or five in. If you don’t like it spicy at all, you might want to dial it back to two. But you’re going to finally dice those Chipotle chilies and pop those in the bowl.

Then add one large garlic clove that’s minced and two tablespoons of milk. Then you’re just going to stir it until everything is combined together. Like I said, pop it in the fridge. Now let’s get to the marinade for the steak. You’re going to want to have about a one-and-a-half to two-pound top sirloin steak. If you can’t find one that big, you can always buy two or three top sirloin steaks and put those in the marinade. Start by taking your sirloin steak and using a fork, you will poke holes all over in one side of the steak. That will just allow the marinade to seep in and flavor the beef just a little bit better.

For the marinade, you need three tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Three tablespoons of fresh squeezed lime juice. Three tablespoons of vegetable oil. One tablespoon of sugar, one teaspoon of ground cumin, one tablespoon of chili powder, one teaspoon of ground coriander, and one teaspoon of onion powder. Three large garlic cloves that are just rough chopped, and you don’t want tiny little slices or mince of garlic because you don’t want it to stick to the steak and then burn on the grill. So I like to just give it a really rough chop into large pieces. Then finally add three-quarters teaspoon of kosher salt. Mix that all together and get the steak in the marinade and pop it in the fridge for about four hours. 

Now it’s time to grill the steak for your steak tacos. You want to set your grill up whether you have charcoal or gas for direct high heat. Now while your grill is heating up, you want to take the steak out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes. This is called tempering and it will just help your steak cook more evenly. Anytime you’re grilling, really, whether it’s chicken, beef, or pork, you want to do this so that the outside doesn’t cook really fast, and then it takes forever for the inside to cook and you end up with dry chicken or dry pork or overcooked beef.

So once the grill is heated and ready, you can grill the steak covered on your grill for about four to five minutes per side over direct heat, and that should be about medium, medium rare. You want it to read about 135 to 140 with an instant-read thermometer. Like I said in the tip section, you do not want to cook a top sirloin steak to a medium well or well done. If you have some little charred bits on your steak, those are extra tasty, promise. 

Go ahead and remove the steak from the grill and let it rest at room temperature for about five to 10 minutes. No need to tent your steak at this point because you’re not trying to carry over cook. You just want it to redistribute the juices and be cool enough to slice. Finally, you want to very thinly slice the meat across the grain. You want pretty thin slices here. We’re talking like a quarter-inch thick. 

Now when you’re serving these tacos, of course, get that Chipotle lime crema out that we made at the beginning of this episode, and then we just like to add a little pico de gallo. You can definitely get some at the store. I know Trader Joe’s and Aldi have a killer pico de gallo, or I have a recipe for a homemade pico de gallo and I will link that in the show notes for you. Take your tortilla, and pile on four slices of that thinly sliced, marinated, and grilled steak. Add a little of the chipotle lime crema drizzled over top, and then spoon on some pico de gallo. That’s it. It is so, so, so good. So I really do hope that you will add this to your menu plan and have a really good taco Tuesday. 

Now let’s talk about side dishes. I have a great recipe for a 15-minute refried bean that would go great on the side, as well as just regular Mexican rice. I have an Instant Pot version, or I have a stove top version, and I will link both in the show notes for you. Of course, chips and salsa and guacamole are always good if you’re trying to have a bigger meal. I also have a wonderful cilantro lime pineapple. It’s made with fresh pineapple. That would be a great fresh side dish to add as well. As always, you do not want to forget the margarita, especially if it’s the weekend.

I will link all of these recipes that I talked about in this episode, right in the show notes so you can find everything you need when you’re ready to make these grilled steak tacos for dinner. If you are listening to this show in your favorite podcast player and you like what you hear, I would love to have you go in and rate and review our show.

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes your dinner time a little easier.

Intro: Welcome back everybody to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your Audio Library of amazing dinner recipes you can get on the table any night of the week. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Today I have a fresh and delicious dinner idea for you that is kind of a follow-up to episode number 27 where we talked about making a fresh basil vinaigrette. This time we are talking about using that vinaigrette in an Italian salad. If you love to have a salad for dinner or maybe you like to have pasta or Italian-style dinners and you’re not quite sure what to serve on the side besides bread, this big, veggie-filled Italian salad is a great side dish.

Or you can certainly serve it as just the main dish. If you want to, you can even add a little bit of protein to it by doing either my buttermilk, marinated grilled chicken, or I have just a marinated grilled chicken that uses Italian dressing, lemon, garlic, those type of flavors. So I will link both of those recipes right in the show notes for you.

Tips and Tricks: Now, before we get on to the full recipe, I have a couple of salad tips for you that I think you’re going to love. The first tip is to try serving the salad on a platter instead of in a bowl. I find sometimes when you serve salad in a bowl, you toss everything together with the dressing and all of the yummy bits fall to the bottom. But when you serve it on a platter, then each person can grab a section of the platter and they get the perfect amount of lettuce and yumminess. It’s a win-win, right? 

So my next tip actually has to do with serving on the platter. What I recommend is you actually start by tossing the lettuce or the salad, the romaine, or whatever you’re using, with dressing first. Lay that down as a base on the platter, and then in that same bowl, add the veggies, add a little bit of more dressing or vinaigrette, toss the veggies with the vinaigrette, and then pour those on top of the salad. Then you have your perfect balance all the way across. 

Two more quick tips, quick tips, quick tips. That’s kind of hard to say. Two more quick tips for your salad. Number one, don’t make your salad ahead. It was meant to be made and served right away. You don’t want the lettuce or any of those softer vegetables to break down and get mushy. 

Second, don’t overdress your salad. Just lightly dress it and then I recommend adding more salad dressing just on the table or on your little dinner buffet so that people can add more salad dressing as they like. 

Italian Salad Recipe: Those are all my salad tips, so let’s get right into making this big old Italian salad. You’re going to start with one head of romaine or green leaf lettuce. You’re going to wash it, chop it, and make sure it’s pretty well dried. This is another tip. The salad dressing will stick to the lettuce a little bit better if the leaves are dry and not wet. So then go ahead in a large bowl and toss that salad with about three tablespoons of the fresh basil vinaigrette that we talked about in episode 27. 

Get out a big old platter and pour the salad right across the platter. Now in that same bowl that is now empty, you’re going to add one cup of cherry tomatoes that have been halved. One cup of pitted black olives or your favorite pitted Italian olives. Anything will work here. One small raw fennel bulb. You cut the core out of the fennel bulb, cut it in half, and then thinly slice it. It’s delicious In a salad. A 14-ounce can of halved or quartered artichoke hearts. You want to get the artichoke hearts that are in brine and go ahead and drain them and then cut them, or just put them right in the bowl. Half an English cucumber that has been sliced, half a red onion, and again, I’m going to repeat my tip that I always say on my podcast. When you have a red onion after you slice it, run it under cool water, just really quickly, it will rinse away that enzyme that will have the red onions overpowering your salad. So put all of that in a bowl. Add the rest of the basil vinaigrette to the bowl, and then just give everything a really good toss. Then pour those veggies right on top of that romaine that you had previously dressed. You’ll finish by shaving Parmesan cheese, and my tip here is to use a potato peeler or a carrot peeler to shave the Parmesan. Shave the Parmesan into the salad, and then add some of your favorite seasoned croutons, whether they’re store-bought or homemade. And that’s it. That’s the whole salad. Super veggie-heavy, super fresh, and healthy. It makes a great dinner or like I said, a great side salad. 

As always, I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes. If you’re loving these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, you definitely should subscribe or follow your preferred podcast player. That will just make it easier for you to find all of our new episodes right in your podcast feed. 

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes your dinner time a little easier.