Cherry Tomatoes Red Clam Sauce with Linguine with Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad

The beginning of the summer Denis and I got a puppy named Cooper. He's honestly the cutest! So a few weeks ago our friends The Beeney's (Matt, Nicole and their cute little Pit,Maya) came over for dinner and we had a puppy playdate! This was the first time they met and it was super cute. I served Cherry Tomatoes Red Clam Sauce with Linguine and Grilled Caesar Salad. It was pretty yummy. I didn't really change anything but the clams, I used little necks instead of the Manila. The biggest difference is the size, littlenecks are slightly smaller than Manila clams. And don't be afraid of the anchovy ingredient it just adds a little something extra to the flavor and the anchovy taste is not strong in this recipe.

Since we had our dinner party/playdate at the end of the summer I used sunflowers to decorate the table with a yellow and blue color scheme. I love tablescaping!

Cherry Tomatoes Red Clam Sauce with Linguine

Rachael Ray

Serves 6

Ingredients

Salt

1 pound linguine

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

5-6 anchovies

1 pint small cherry tomatoes

1 red onion, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 stems oregano, leaves stripped and finely chopped

a handful flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

black pepper

1 cup dry white wine

3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

3 pounds Manila clams, scrubbed

1/2 cup basil leaves, torn

Preparation

Bring water to a boil for the pasta; salt the water and cook the pasta just shy of al dente

While the water comes to a boil, heat olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add the anchovies and melt into the olive oil. And the tomatoes, onion and garlic to the pan and season with crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, parsley and pepper. Saute until the tomatoes and onions are soft, 8-10 minutes.

Add the wine and reduce for 1-2 minutes, then melt the butter into the sauce and add the clams to pot. Cover the pot and cook the clams until they open, 6-7 minutes.

Remove any unopened clams and add the pasta to the pan. Toss the linguine with the sauce for about 2-3 minutes so the pasta absorbs the flavors. Add the basil to the pasta and taste to adjust the seasonings.

Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad

Adapted from Cooking Light 15 Minute Recipes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 romaine hearts, cut in half lengthwise

Olive oil-flavored cooking spray

4 (1-ounce) slices French bread baguette (1 inch thick)

Caesar Dressing (recipe follows)

1. Prepare grill

2. Coat romaine hearts with cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Coat both sides of bread slices generously with cooking spray.

3. Place romaine and bread on a grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill romaine halves 4 to 5 minutes. Grill bread slices 3 minutes on each side or until toasted.

4. Arrange grilled crouton evenly over romaine halves; drizzle evenly with caesar dressing.

Caesar Dressing

1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk

1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

2 tablespoons light mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, pressed

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Yields 3/4 cups.

NOTE: I used a hand held blender to make it really smooth and blended.

Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I never made large portobello mushrooms, so I thought this recipe would be a good place to try them out. It tasted really fresh and light and was very low in calories. We used the indoor grill pan to make these, which I think tasted just as yummy. I served it with some whole wheat spaghetti tossed with basil, chopped tomatoes and a little olive oil. You could definitely make these into a sandwich as well.

Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

CookingLight.com

Serves 4 - 1 mushroom per person

Ingredients

2/3 cup chopped plum tomato

1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 teaspoon olive oil, divided

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh or 1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, crushed

4 (5-inch) portobello mushroom caps

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce

Cooking spray

2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

Combine the tomato, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon oil, rosemary, pepper, and garlic in a small bowl.

Remove brown gils from the undersides of mushroom caps using a spoon, and discard gills. Remove stems; discard. Combine 1/2 teaspoon oil, juice, and soy sauce in a small bowl; brush over both side of mushroom caps. Place the mushroom caps, stem side down, on grill rack (or grill pan) coated with cooking spray, and grill for 5 minutes on each side or until soft.

Spoon 1/4 cup tomato mixture into each mushroom cap. Cover (I covered the grill pan with foil) and grill 3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with parsley.

Note: Since the garlic isn't really cooked, the mushrooms have a strong garlic flavor. Grill the mushrooms stem sides down first, so that when they're turned they'll be in the right position to be filled. If you want to plan ahead, remove the gills and stems from the mushrooms and combine the filling, then cover and chill until ready to grill.

Crab Stuffed Flounder and Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Gorgonzola and Herbs

This year in Ocean City our family decided that everyone would have a different night to cook. I had Wednesday night and Denis and I made a fish dinner. I have never cooked flounder before because I'm not a huge fan but this was really delish. It was tough because I had to change the recipe for 12 people (I multiplied it by 3). The fillets that we had were thin so instead of cutting pockets as the recipe calls for I rolled them with the crab stuffing on the inside and baked it like a casserole, there was also some extra stuffing so I spread that on top too. Even though I didn't cut pockets in the fillets I included the original recipe below. The tomatoes we made were really easy and really tasty I would definitely make them again. We also served some oven fries with old bay and garlic cheese bread on the side.

Crab Stuffed Flounder

Paula Deen

Ingredients

2 (10-ounce ) flounder fillets

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Uncle Bubba's Crab Cake Mix, recipe follows

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Cooking Spray

1 (1-inch) slice of Crab Butter, recipe follows

Fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sprinkle flounder with salt and pepper. Using a fillet knife, carefully open the flounder by cutting along the left and right sides of the seam down the middle of the fish to make pockets. Lay cut sides back.

Stuff the flounder with the Crab Cake Mix, and press the sides down to cover the filling. Sprinkle with paprika.

Coat a glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place the fish in the dish and bake for 20 minutes. Without removing the dish from the oven, turn the oven to broil and broil for 5 additional minutes. When the fish is done, remove it from the oven. Slice a medallion of crab butter and place it on top of the grilled fish. Sprinkle with fresh parsley on top for added color.

Crab Cake Mix

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

3 green onions, green tops, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

1 small green pepper, finley chopped

1 egg

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 garlic powder

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 1/2 tablespoons spicy mustard

1/2 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

10 saltine crackers, crumbled medium to fine

1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked clean of shells

1/2 pound claw crabmeat, picked clean of shells

salt and freshly ground pepper

In a medium skillet, melt the butter and saute the onions, garlic, parsley and peppers until soft. Let cool.

In a mixing bowl, combine the egg, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, heavy cream, mustard, lemon juice and mayonnaise together. Gently mix in saltine crackers and crabmeat. Add salt and pepper, if needed. Set aside to stuff in flounder.

Yield: 24 ounces

Crab Butter

2 ounces claw crabmeat, picked clean of shells

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 tablespoon seafood base

1 green onion, thinly sliced

Fold the crab, butter, seafood base, and onions together in a medium bowl and mix until smooth. Remove from the bowl and shape into a log on a piece of parchment paper. Roll up and place in the freezer. Reserve for flounder.

Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Gorgonzola and Herbs

Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

12 Roma tomatoes, sliced in 1/2 lenghtwise

1/4 cups olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup plain bread crumbs

3/4 cup finely crumbled Gorgonzola or grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using a teaspoon or grapefruit spoon, remove the seeds from the tomatoes. Place the tomato halves, cut side down, on paper towels to drain, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Using clean hands, gently toss the drained tomato halves in the oil mixture until coated. Marinate the tomatoes for 10 minutes.

In a small mix together the bread crumbs and Gorgonzola cheese.

Place the marinated tomato halves, cut side up, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Fill each tomato half with te bread crumb filling. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until slightly softened and the underside of the tomatoes are brown.

Arrange the cooked tomatoes on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve immediately.