Southwestern Jalapeño Cheddar Burgers

My husband and I came up with this burger recipe last night.  The recipe is inspired by the ingredients in pico de gallo, one of our favorite foods to snack on.  Also, if you like the cilantro ranch sauce, you can double the recipe and it makes for a great dip for chips, veggies, etc.

Burgers


Ingredients:

1.5 lbs. ground beef
2 jalapeños, minced (if you prefer less heat, remove the seeds ... I like my burger with a little kick to it, so I leave all the seeds in)
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Cilantro ranch sauce (see recipe below)
Sliced tomato, for garnish
Sliced onion, for garnish
4 - 6 hamburger buns (toasted, if you prefer)

Directions:

In a large bowl, mash up ground beef with your hands.  Add jalapeños, salt, and pepper; knead to incorporate fully.  Add Worcestershire and work it into the meat (beef should now be slightly sticky).  Add cheese and knead until all ingredients are mixed in evenly.

Divide beef into four to six patties, depending on how big you want your burgers to be.  Grill on both sides until burgers reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees on a meat thermometer (if you don't have access to a grill, you can cook them in a pan on your stovetop).

Garnish with tomato, onion, and cilantro ranch sauce.

Cilantro Ranch Sauce


Ingredients:

1/2 c. ranch salad dressing
2 handfuls of cilantro
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  I like to use my Magic Bullet for this one, as I think the smaller capacity of the blending chamber lends itself well to small quantities of sauce.

Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

After my holiday travel-induced cooking hiatus, I am finally back in my kitchen!  These pizzas are easy to make and really fun to eat ... perfect for a weeknight meal.  I don't really use exact measures when I make these, so feel free to use however much sauce, cheese, toppings, and seasoning as you want ... there's really no wrong way to do the filling; it's based on whatever you like.


Ingredients


Nonstick cooking spray
1 Roll refrigerated pre-made pizza dough (Pillsbury or similar)
Marinara sauce (since this is something I make when I'm a little strapped for time, I just use sauce from a jar ... this is also a great way to use up leftover sauce)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Pepperonis, or whatever your favorite pizza topping is
Garlic salt
Garlic pepper
Dried oregano
Dried basil

Directions


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray six-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

Unroll pizza dough.  Use a wide-mouth cup (something with a diameter a couple inches longer than that of the muffin cups) to press circles in the dough.  Use a paring knife to trace through the circles and cut out the dough.  If you can't get six circles out of the original sheet of dough, feel free to knead the scraps back into a ball and then flatten it out again.  For this, I like to start with a rolling pin, and then hand-toss it to get the dough nice and thin.  Once you have your six circles, press them down into the muffin tin cups, like you're making a pie crust.  The dough might shrink down into the tin a little bit; this is okay.

Spoon a little bit of marinara sauce into the bottom of each cup.  Sprinkle in a little mozzarella, and then add your pepperoni or other pizza toppings.  Add another spoonful of sauce, and sprinkle in seasonings.  Top with cheese so each cup is filled to the top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Let cool for five minutes, and use a fork to pop mini pizzas out of muffin tin.