a fiesta for your fourth

summer is upon us and summer brings all sorts of wonderful things, including weather so hot you cannot imagine wanting to stand inside and cook a meal. so what do we do? we take it outside to the grill. ahhhh, the grill, the most manly cooking accoutrement since we emerged from the cave and stopped consuming raw dinosaur meat. ladies, don't let them fool you, you more than capable of holding your own out there (but if they're willing why not let them do all the work?). we have reached the height of summer, the fourth of july, and that means 2 things: fireworks and hamburgers. yeehaw! two of my very favorite things brought together on one fabulous day. but in a summer filled with grill marks, burgers can be a little mundane. worry no more, my friends, i am about to introduce you to the anti-mundane burger-well, one of them anyway...

fiesta burger with all the fixings

fiesta cheeseburger (and toppings)

1 lb ground beef

3 tbs fajita seasoning (that's 1 1/2 packets of the store bought stuff)

2 bell peppers, sliced (1 used 1 yellow, half a red and half a green, but do your own thing here)

1 small/medium or 1/2 large onion, any variety you like, sliced (use more if you like, less if you don't)

5-7 mushrooms, sliced (optional)

2 tbs oil (vegetable, canola, olive, i'm not picky)

1/4 cup water

sliced tomato, sliced avocado and sliced cheese (i use this great chipotle cheddar i found at winco)

mix 2 tablespoons (1 packet) fajita seasoning, water, and oil in a large ziploc bag, seal and shake to mix. add peppers, onion and mushroom slices, seal and shake again. set aside while you prepare the burger.

add remaining seasoning mix to ground beef and get handsy with it. combine well, but be careful not to over-mix because that will make your burgers dry and tough. form beef into patties (4 to be exact) and let them rest a minute while you tend to the peppers. now, i live in a small apartment, with a small kitchen, and no yard, which means no grill. so i'm using a grill pan and sauteing my vegetables in a large skillet over high heat. if i were grilling for realsies i would pop my veggies into a foil packet (just fold the foil in half and crimp the edges into something resembling an envelope) include the liquid from the baggie, and throw them on the grill while you cook the burgers. speaking over burgers, it's time to throw them on the grill too. i'm gonna go ahead and assume that you know how to proceed from this point and jump to the end. put your now cooked burgers on a bun and top with the cheese, your also finished veggies (they need the same amount of time as your burgers, and need to be flipped once, just like your beef), tomato and avocado. i find that tongs are the best tool for this job. this is not a ketchup and mustard kinda burger, so if you need a condiment stick with mayo-the creaminess can help counteract the heat in the seasonings and such.

chili spiced corn on the cob

4 ears of corn, in the husk

1 stick of butter, softened

1 tbs chili powder

soak the corn in water for 3-5 minutes. leave it in the husk. i know it sounds weird, but this is my favorite way to grill corn. now place your husky, soaked corn directly on the grill for 10-15 minutes. since i don't actually have a grill, i put mine directly on the rack of a 425 degree oven. you'll know the corn is done when you can smell it, or, for you visual people, when you pull the husk back a bit and it looks done. while your corn is cooking, mix up a little chili spiced butter by combined the chili powder and butter. that's really all there is to it. remove the husk, smother your corn with the spiced butter and enjoy.

classic creamy coleslaw

okay, not my recipe (i don't have one) so click the link and use that recipe.