quick

Turkey Pesto Pizza

Well I am a little late to the party with this recipe I originally planned to have it up right after Thanksgiving, except I kind of suck 🙂 and the time just got away from me!  Since it is the middle of January it is safe to say that we have safely survived the holidays.  Unfortunately this means you probably do not have any left over turkey breast waiting in the fridge to be gobbled up anymore.  But hopefully even though the holidays have passed you aren’t too burnt out on turkey because you are going to want to try this pizza recipe; at least one time!  Now since we are assuming you do not have any leftover turkey you can head over to the recipe I posted awhile back for crockpot turkey breast.  If you whip this up you can then come back and make this recipe with the leftovers; well if there are any leftovers after that meal.  😉

If you’re anything like me you get bored easily eating the same thing over and over and I am guilty of wasting perfectly good leftovers because I just can’t bare to eat the same thing again which is why this recipe is good because you can use leftover turkey or even chicken that you have in your fridge.  During the holidays I had all this leftover turkey and I didn’t want any of it to go to waste I wanted to make sure I try something different with the meat to keep my taste buds from getting bored.  This pizza recipe started with me being at the grocery store picking up a few basics when I came across garlic & herb pizza dough in the refrigerator section of my Fresh & Easy.  This was something I hadn’t seen before and it sounded yummy and different, but I wasn’t quite sure how to make a pizza with this dough.  It isn’t a plain crust so not just anything would go with it.  That was when I saw the pesto just below the crust and realized that the mix of pesto and turkey could make for an interesting pizza.  That was how this pizza was quickly born and luckily for me the flavors of the turkey with the pesto and the herb crust was just perfect.

This is a quick and easy dinner or in my case lunch.

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Ingredients

1 package premade pizza dough (you can use homemade or any pizza dough you love)

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup pesto sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup precooked turkey(chicken); I used both white & dark meat

Follow any preparation directions on the pizza dough; for the Fresh & Easy dough you have to leave the dough at room temperature for 30 mins before you can begin.  This dough cooks at 425 degrees so I preheated my oven after I let the dough rest at room temperature.  This way once I assembled the pizza the oven would be ready.

Once your dough has been rolled place 1/2 cup of pesto sauce and spread it out leaving 1/2″ border of exposed dough.  I noticed that 1/2 cup covered only a portion of the dough so I added about 1/4 cup more.  You want it to look like this:

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Once the pesto has been spread out take your shredded cheese and sprinkle it around the dough.

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Now you are going to top the pizza with your chunks of white and dark meat.  Feel free to use whichever meat you prefer, I liked a little dark meat mixed in because it brings a different flavor to the dish than just white meat.  The flavor is a lot more pronounced which I think is why you get some people that will only eat white meat.

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You will then placed your prepared pizza into your preheated oven for 18 – 20 mins or until the crust is a nice golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.

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If you give this recipe a try please be sure to come back and leave a comment letting me know how it came out!  For me it was very good the first day and just as good as leftovers even after it had been refrigerated.  At this point I noticed that the pesto was more prominent the next day, I take it  was because it had time to meld with all the other ingredients.

Spicy Tuna Sushi

 
10345 S. Eastern Ave. #190
Las Vegas, NV 89102
 
702-722-2424
 

Spicy Tuna Sushi is located in the southeast side of the valley just past St. Rose Parkway and has quickly become one of my favorites in Las Vegas, they have a wide range of sushi rolls, shashimi & entrees that would please anyone.  They are located in a strip mall right next to a Trader Joes.  If my friend hadn’t taken me here I don’t think I would’ve known the place existed.  When you walk in right in the center of the room is the sushi bar with the chefs working away behind it.  Along the sides of the restaurants are these tiny private booths, which I love because it is a lot more private and you can really just focus on your friends or family.  It is a little dark inside because the floors are black and so is the ceiling but each of the booths do have their own light.

I went here with my friend over the weekend she suggested a few days before that if I need a sushi fix this was the place to go, and we just happened to be on this side of town that day.

We were seated quickly in one of the side booths, the waitress took our drink order and before she could get two steps away another server brought us each a small cucumber salad with a spicy dressing as well as a bowl of edamame to share.  After our day out in the sun we were starving so we ordered five rolls!  Well really I ordered the 5th roll because I just couldn’t help myself, they all sounded so good.  We got the Aloha roll, Double D Special, Monkey Special, Sun Devil Roll & Tempura Roll.

First up the Aloha Roll: (I apologize for the glarey photo there was no way to get a good picture in the light of the restaurant with red tuna on a red plate)

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The Aloha roll is crab, cucumber, avocado & fresh tuna.  This was a very simplistic and delicious roll, the tuna was very fresh and really made this roll.  I did have to add wasabi and soy to really make it pop and if you are like me who prefers pieces of tuna over minced up spicy tuna this is one I would suggest.

Next up we have the Double D special:

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The Double D special roll is shrimp tempura, crab, cucumber, spicy salmon & avocado on top served with orgasm sauce.  This was also really good, the spicy salmon on top was just the right amount of spicy, but you loose the salmon flavor with it being minced up.  The avocado did cool down the spicy and blend well with the shrimp and crab that are rolled up inside.  The orgasm sauce isn’t pretty to look at it but it has great flavor and I ended up keeping it on the side to dip the aloha roll in instead of soy sauce.

The next one we had was the Monkey Special:

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Now the monkey roll was the most interesting of the night it is a fried banana, topped with a crab mixture and then there is a slice of tuna and it is all topped off with a drizzle of eel sauce.  I was surprised on how much I liked this one.  I mean really it sounds strange with fried banana, but it really works.  The sweetness of the banana counteracts the sour of the crab mixture and the sauces on top.  Really I could’ve just eaten a bowl of the crab mixture that was inside this roll, it was so light and refreshing.  The biggest problem with this is that it is hard to eat, especially with chop sticks it will easily fall apart and you have to eat it in sections.  I would certainly order this one on my next trip here, and I would suggest that you take the chance on the weird banana roll and go for it.

Next up was the Sun Devil Roll:

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The Sun Devil roll is smoked salmon, cream cheese, avocado, ebi & spicy crap all fried and served with yum yum sauce.  This was one of my favorites of the night, it was just the right amount of spicy and the yum yum sauce was the perfect match to this roll.  You got a nice kick of spice and then the flavor of the smoked salmon, it wasn’t too prominent just enough to know it is there and honestly it could’ve used more for my taste.  If you want something that is spicy I would suggest this roll, it isn’t overly spicy so don’t expect it to burn your mouth it is just the perfect balance.

Last up is the Tempura Roll:

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The tempura roll is eel, crab, avocado & cream cheese deep fried then it is drizzled with eel sauce.  This was my other favorite roll of the evening.  The eel sauce was perfectly sweet and really help elevate the flavor of the eel and crab inside.  If you like fried rolls this is one to be sure to get, you won’t be disappointed.

They do have over 80 rolls on their menu so it may take you awhile to pick what you want, but to start with look to any one of these and you won’t be disappointed.  The only reason they are not getting a five star rating is that at the start of the meal we waited a long time to get our order placed.  Our waitress was busy up front talking to the hostess to notice that we had decided and wanted to order.  Another server that came to the table next to us ended up taking our order.  After this though they were quick to clear our plates through out the meal and refill our waters.  The one nice thing about most sushi places is that their entire wait staff seems to help with food deliver and plate clearing the same goes for Spicy Tuna.  The rolls did come out to our table quickly, one at a time with to me just the right amount of time in between.  Definitely put this place on your to try list for sushi in the valley.

Joe’s New York Pizza

 
 
 
7580 S. Las Vegas Blvd. #105
Las Vegas, NV 89123
702-897-1717
 

I stumbled across Joe’s New York Pizza on my lunch from work a few weeks back, it is located on Las Vegas Blvd in front of the Premium Outlets.  When you walk in it is a small pizza joint and you walk up to the case of pizzas on display and order by the slice for their no delay lunch.  They do have other menu options like whole pizzas, salads, calzones, subs & pastas.  Once you pick out your slice or slices they will put them in their rotating oven and warm them up.  The choices of pizza seem to change per visit so you can always get something different.

On this trip I ordered their lasagna pizza and the super meaty, their pizzas are mainly served on a thin crust, but there are a couple that do have a thicker crust.

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The slice on the left is the lasagna slice.  The lasagna pizza is ricotta, ham, sausage, meatballs, mozzarella, parmesan & oregano.  I really liked this pizza the ricotta was perfectly smooth and added a lovely flavor to the meats & mozzarella cheese.  I personally took off a piece of the crust and spread the ricotta around so that I got a little bit in each bite because it worked so well with this pizza.  My only complaint is that I think it could have used an extra turn or two through the oven, to be hotter, it was warm but needed more heat.  I would not hesitate to order this slice again if it’s on display on my next visit.

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The super meaty on the right is pepperoni, sausage, ham, meatball, topped with bacon & mozzarella.  This was another good pizza all the meats work well together but it did need more cheese.  The sauce had great flavor and the crust is nice and crispy and it too has great flavor, kind of salty & sweet which works well with all the toppings.  This slice could’ve used another turn through the oven too and it would’ve been perfect.

Next up we have the antipasto salad.

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The antipasto salad is made of field greens, tomato, cucumber, red onion, green pepper, mozzarella, pepperoni, ham & croutons.  You get a nice size salad, the only thing that would’ve made it a better was that instead of pepperoni it was salami.  But over all this was a very filling salad and could easily be shared between two people and then get a slice of pizza and make a nice quick lunch.

If you are in the area and looking for a good slice of pizza this is a great place to stop at.  Our bill came to $27.34 w/tax.  This was for three people and we got three slices of pizza, the salad and 2 large drinks, so for me the prices are really reasonable for a lunch meal that is quick and satisfying.

I Love Burgers

 

 

6605 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89119
 
(702) 675-7800
 

I am a huge fan of the cheeseburger, I often joke that if I had to choose one item to eat forever this would be it.  So I was kind of excited to make it over to I Love Burgers, I mean the title says it all.  They are located in the back of Town Square and could easily be missed, since not a lot of things are open right by it.  This is the type of place where you order when you walk in then you pick your seat and the food will be delivered separately, I thought it was an actual sit down restaurant so this was a bit of a surprise for me.

The menu is pretty straight forward, the only thing I found interesting was that they had columns for pricing they had a classic & more to love, I had to ask what the difference was because there was no information.  Turns out the classic is a 5 oz patty and the more to love is a 7 oz.  You would think this would be on the menu and it wouldn’t be something we would have to ask, but maybe that is what they ultimately want for the customer to ask questions.

They did have a pretty decent selection of burgers as well as meat choices, you can get chicken, salmon & veggie.  They also have a variety of shakes, that I was able to watch get made from my seat and they all looked delicious.  I was focused on the burger so I didn’t order one, but if I go back I will give one a shot.

I went for the Inferno Burger; angus burger, pepper jack cheese, roasted jalapeños & habonaro-jalapeño mayo.  I must be a kid a heart because I couldn’t resist getting tator tots on the side.

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If you are looking for a spicy burger this is for you, but I was disappointed that the jalapeños that topped the burger were not actually roasted like they were described on the menu but were actually raw.  I ended up picking off pieces of jalapeño because it was overpowering everything.  I couldn’t taste the meat, mayo or cheese because all I got flavor wise was jalapeño.  Now I know ordering a burger that is covered in jalapeños it would taste like them, but when basically all I am eating is jalapeños it really distracts from the actual meal.  If the jalapeños had actually been roasted this would’ve been better and actually enhanced the burger.  Plus the roasted jalapeños would be a bit tamer and sweeter in a sense which would make it more palatable meal overall.  The tator tots were cooked perfectly and really helped when I needed to cool down my mouth.

My friend went with the standard which was just a basic burger with lettuce, tomatoes & onions with a side of the natural cut fries.

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I didn’t try any of the plain burger but it looked really good, and my friend enjoyed it.  The fries were cooked perfectly also.  But truthfully this place is nothing special.  I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here, but if I was in the mood for something casual I would certainly not be turned off of going here while in town square.

Overall I will say that it is a bit pricy for what you get.  For my 7 oz burger the cost was $7.99 and to add the tots & small soda it was an additional $4.00.  So it made my total meal $12.96 w/tax.  Considering that it is “fast food” I am not a big fan of spending $13 on my meal when I can go to a drive-thru and get basically the same meal for about $5 less and get a way bigger drink.  That being said I do think that I will go back because I would like to try the I Love Bacon burger because it sounded interesting and a bacon lovers dream and maybe it is what I should’ve went with from the beginning and maybe my trip would’ve been better.

I would say that if you are in the neighborhood and want something fast, because in town square there are limited choices on fast food, this would be a decent choice.  Overall it had potential to be a good burger and I would think it is worth a second chance.

Bob’s Eastside Deli

 
 
2900 E. Patrick Ln. #9
Las Vegas, NV 89120
 
702-739-5860
 
http://bobseastsidedeli.com
 

I have been going to Bob’s Deli for quite some time; I was first introduced to this place about 10 yrs ago when I worked right down the street.  We often would go here on our lunches because it was quick, great prices & delicious food.  And about 3 yrs ago my current job moved into this area of town and we have been using them for in office lunches for the whole team or just for a needed break away and they have never let me down with their quality and service.

They are a family run business and that really shows in their service and food.  They know their customers by name and always make people feel welcome.  It is a small place inside of an industrial business park off the beaten path, and truthfully you could easily miss it if you aren’t looking for it.  Since I have been eating here for years there are too many items that I can talk about but I am only going to focus on my last visit here and what we got.

I went here on my lunch break because I was craving their cabo pockets, which is of course what I ordered.

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The cabo pockets have got to be the most basic thing but are just crazy good, they only make a select amount a day so when they sell out they sell out, and honestly there are some days where they just don’t make them at all.  I often have to make sure I have a backup just in case, because of course I have gotten there just a little too late and could not get my fix.

The cabo pockets are 3 tortillas that are stuffed with cheese and a piece of chicken, it isn’t shredded or cubed like most places an actual piece of chicken breast.  I assume this is marinated in some kind of lime and seasoning, but I do not know for sure, but the chicken often has this fresh lime taste to it.  The tortillas are then put on the flat griddle and toasted up a bit to melt the cheese.  But the crowning jewel to this meal is the cabo sauce; which comes on the side.  And I have found out recently is a mix of mayo and chipotle sauce; I love this sauce so much I was trying to make it at home and I can not come close to getting the same sauce.  Also with each order you get a side a fries, and you get all of this for $7.

There is something to be said for a dish that is so simple but has all these components that meld so well together, the melted cheese, perfectly cooked tender chicken & then you add the cabo sauce it is just one perfect bite.  To me this is one of the best things on their menu and if you go there you need to get it at least once.

My mother ordered her favorite thing on the menu which is their veggie sub and added American cheese.

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The veggie sub comes with a mixture of cucumbers, red bell peppers, lettuce, olives, tomatoes & onions on a sub roll.  You can add cheese if you prefer which she does.  We always joke that it is a salad with some bread, because you end up needing a fork to finish it off.  As you can see from the picture they are quite generous with their portions, so you are truly getting your monies worth when eating here, this sandwich is $6.79.  The ingredients are always fresh and just work so well together.

I would highly recommend this place to anyone who is looking for a great local lunch spot, like I said this is just a snippet of what you can get here.  The bob’s favorite & toll’s creation are two of my favorite sandwiches, they have such a large menu that you really can’t go wrong with anything.  My mother likes the egg salad sandwich and the grilled ham & cheese.  Oh and their soda sizes are not for wimps when they say large it is large which is great if you want to take a soda back to the office that will last you through the afternoon.  Be sure to check them out if your in their neck of the woods you won’t be disappointed.