Quick and Yummy Sloppy Joe's

[side note] I seem to be having hot sandwich cravings during our not-as-sunny-as-usual winter in California. ;-)

A hot sandwich is perfect for those nights (quite a few actually in my house) where I need to get dinner on the table fast! One of my favorite "Go To" dishes is good ol' hearty Sloppy Joes. Tuesday was one of those days, so I got my hands on a Sloopy Joes season packet (yes sometimes season packs can be your BF in a pinch) and followed the directions which were as follows:

ingredients:

1 Lb ground beef (I like ground turkey just as much, though it it cooks up finer)

1 Sloppy Joe season packet

1 4oz can of Tomato paste

1 cup of water

6 rolls, Kaiser, Ciabatta, French or other

saute ground beef in a pan then drain and add water, season pack, tomato paste and let simmer per package directions.

In the meantime toast the buns in the broiler for a few minutes then, add sloppy joe meat to open roll, garnish with grated mozzarella and serve-yum!

A Quick Side: Wild Rice

Tonight, I know there will be chicken on my Grill-A-Vator. (Yup, I have the amazing O'Keefe and Merritt with a working broiler.) And right next to it will be a delicious salad with Easter Egg radishes, avocado and my favorite Dijon Vinaigrette along with Wild Rice.  

Wild Rice is such a great side dish. It's actually a grass more than a grain. A grainy grass. Trader Joe's has a Fully Cooked and ready-to-eat pack that serves well when you want to eat beautifully by compiling great ingredients but don't have the luxury of slow cooking. You won't find microwave instructions here either. Not on my radar.

Wild Rice And:

1 package Trader Joe's fully-cooked Wild Rice.

2 Tablespoons EV Olive Oil

1 cup diced red onion

1/2 cup diced scallions

Salt (your choice)

Fresh Ground Pepper

Lemon juice (optional, but yummy)

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium flame. Add red onion, cook until translucent. Toss in Trader Joe's Wild Rice. Cook on medium for about 10 minutes. Add scallions. Cook 5 to 10 minutes, to wilt the scallions. Salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze the juice of 1/4 lemon. Serve. 20 minutes max cooking time.

Variation inspiration:

- Add garlic salt

- Start with onion and minced garlic

- Without garlic and scallions add 1 cup chopped fresh or canned peaches

- Add chopped celery

- Add brown rice, butter, feta cheese, cilantro, fresh tomato, herbs, herbs, herbs

Cooking with: A New Pan - Ice Cream Sandwich Pans

I'm all for checking out a new utensil or pan. It seems Sur La Table has a bunch of new pans, a doughnut twist pan (I think of them as fried though, not baked) and this dreamy Ice Cream Sandwich Pan. I see a recipe book in the left background, but, I might need to have a few good recipes for this now! 

It might be too cold for ice cream sandwiches today, even on the Southern California coast, but spring is around the corner.

So, how about this? Send us your recipe, we'll dig through our files and we'll spend the last week of March celebrating Ice Cream Sandwich week! Could be a fun way to tuck away some summer recipes before the heat and busy joy overtakes us and we end up looking for the ice cream truck!

What do you think? Leave us a comment so we know you're in! And just maybe we'll have a fun giveaway to go with it.

Check back!