last weekend i got a new grill (a weber genesis e-320 in bright blue) and so i've been putting it to heavy use lately... so far i've made beef and chicken kabobs, italian sausage, seasoned potato wedges, portabello mushrooms, and pork chops. as long as the weather holds up, i'm going to grill as much as possible — gotta get a whole summer out of this thing! the menu for tonight includes seasoned potato wedges (again), smoked sausage, corn-on-the-cob, and some asian-themed shrimp skewers. i'll put the recipe up for the seasoned potato wedges (and probably some of the other stuff) as soon as i perfect it...

a while back i posted this about how i'm an awesome cook... certainly (despite the crappy photo) that meal rocked, but i now realize just how fantabulous i truly am. last week i made 3 kickass dinners ("stott's spinach salad," "holy-shit-that's-spicy italian sausage omelet," and "teriyaki-ginger stir fry") and i've decided to share the wealth with you all in the form of recipes the stottsan way. so give these a shot and let me know what you think.

stott's spinach salad

ingredients:
» a boatload of fresh spinach
» 3 strips bacon
» 1 sweet red bell pepper
» 2 hard boiled eggs
» 2 green onions
» cherry tomatos
» creamy caesar dressing
» fresh-ground pepper

instructions:
» cook bacon well-done, then crumble
» tear up the spinach, duh
» cut up pepper into chunks, slice onions & eggs
» mix all ingredients in bowl adding dressing to taste
» add some fresh-ground pepper if you like
» serve and worship my genius

tonight i made dinner. and not just your everyday lipton noodles or reheated pizza, but the type of dinner you want to tell everyone about. (but not quite in the in progress sense of tell...)

it started off as just a frozen steak left to me by my recently-floridianized parents. defrosted that in the micro for a few minutes, then marinated in italian dressing and coated in garlic powder. smellin great already! i broiled that in the oven for a while, flipping every 10 minutes or so. then i started thinking: what else can i add? cheese, always good. red onions, of course. and salsa. definitely a mexican theme, i can't deny it.

i grilled the onions for a bit in a frying pan, just to get them a little browned. but i needed a side. creamed spinach (don't laugh, i love it) seemed like a perfect fit. so i nuked that, and did the steak decorating in the meantime. tossed it all together, garnished with a nice red ring of salsa, beautiful. how did it taste? i am the iron chef.