Remix Round Up!

WOW! We are truly impressed--not counting Robin and myself we have 15-entries for the First Installment of Recipe Remix! We didn't think we would get this many entries our first time our of the gate--thanks to all who participated! Thanks to our "Remixer" turnout we will be back for a second installment within the next couple of weeks so check back often! We want to see you back again and hope to add a few more entrants this time around!

We had some amazing recipes comes our way this time--never would I have thought to have tomato soup and grilled cheese as a breakfast item! And a burger that is a taco?! Everyone had wonderful recipes, and I know that I can speak for Robin and say that we have some recipes on our "to try" list! Thanks again to everyone that participated--we are really happy with the turn out and couldn't have done it without your help!

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup (Robin)

Grilled cheese and tomato soup. What is it about the combination that makes our taste buds tingle? I think we all have memories of dipping our piping-hot-from-the-griddle grilled cheese right into our steaming bowl of tomato soup as a kid. Nothing says comfort food like this combination and it seems as though many of you agreed as I believe we got the most entries for this category!

First up is Amy of Washington D.C. of Tart Reform. Amy made an absolutely delectable looking Italian Grilled Cheese and a Tortellini Tomato soup! She chose the grilled cheese to be an appetizer idea for a party she is hosting. She decided to give the whole meal an Italian twist with the Vodka sauce in the grilled cheese and pasta in the soup. I tell you, my mouth is watering right now just looking at the picture! Amy, when is your party? (so I know when to stop by of course!)



Next we have Kim of Portsmouth, VA from Live Laugh Love Eat, with her Grilled Cheese on Focaccia with Tomato Pesto Bisque. Kim chose this since it is one of her all-time favorite comfort food dishes (mine too!). What a great idea to put the grilled cheese on focaccia, which she had made herself from scratch, with the Kerrygold aged cheddar. I can almost taste it now! Great job, Kim!!

An entry from New York comes via Amanda of Mrs. W’s Kitchen who brings a great creative twist to our challenge by taking the bread out of the grilled cheese and making it into a frico, a crispy bite of romano cheese. I never would have thought of this in a million years! Her Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup along with the Frico looks absolutely delicious and something you could serve to company. Nothing like taking a comfort food and making it elegant. Amanda also had health in mind when making this dish and opted to lighten up the soup and of course the grilled cheese by going sans bread. Thanks, Amanda!

Next we have Kate from Orange County, CA of Paved with Good Intentions. I feel like Kate and I have become blogging buddies. I love getting comments from her and leaving her some of my own! She has a great sense of humor so I was psyched when she participated. Because of the hot weather out in California (I’m so jealous!) Kate didn’t want to make a hot soup and instead made a killer looking Gazpacho and a Toasted Cheese with Olives. I feel like I’m back in Madrid right now looking at that gazpacho and man, that toasted cheese with olives is calling my name.

Another entry came to us from sunny California, San Diego to be exact, from Ashley of Introducing Ashley. Ashley dove from the creative cooking diving board and executed a perfect reverse double pike (Ok, I know nothing about diving and had to look that up on Wikipedia, sounds cool at least, right?) by turning dinner, into breakfast! Yes, that’s right with her Grilled Cream Cheese and Strawberry Soup Ashley has forever changed the face of Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup. First off this looks delicious and I wish it was sitting on my breakfast table each and every morning, but secondly, this is a very well-balanced and healthy way to start your day. Thanks for taking our idea for this challenge and totally rocking it out, Ashley!

Alexandra from New York State of Addicted Sweet Tooth brings us what I like to call a "why didn't I think of that myself?" moment. With the tomato soup being served in a grilled cheese cup Alexandra really showed us her creative genius! After reading this entry I pretty much day dreamt about this variation the rest of the day. Not only is this a great twist on the original, but it’s easy to do which I love. Thanks, Alexandra, for making us Recipe Remixers proud!

Last but not least is Danielle of Make No Little Meals, yes, the same Danielle who co-hosts this challenge. Both her and I wanted to enter ourselves by picking one of the other's 3 choices. If we challenge others we should be challenging ourselves as well, right? Danielle made an awesome Fennel-Apple Grilled Cheese with Onion-Fennel Tomato Soup Puree. Yeah...one word: YUM! Danielle was not only able to make a healthy gourmet meal out of the old grilled cheese and tomato soup, but she was also able to turn her “doubting Thomas” hubby (who cringed at the original site of the un-pureed soup) to a believer. I can see why, this sounds and looks like a fabulous meal!

Shepherd's Pie (Robin)

Next up, Shepherd’s Pie! This was the dish that was the inspiration to start Recipe Remix and was the meal I most looked forward to my mother making when I was a kid. I hearty meal wrapped up into one dish is simply the definition of comfort food. This was another popular entry into our first event. We received some really wonderful recipes that showcase some of the never thought of possibilities this dish presents. They are sure to knock your socks off!

Our first entry came all the way from Hamburg, Germany courtesy of Petra of Food Freak! Petra chose this dish because she wanted to make a low carb Shepherd’s Pie for some time and came up with a creative twist to her Not Your Mother’s Shepherd’s Pie. She used a combination of cauliflower and celeriac for the mashed layer and a 50/50 combination of ground beef and ground lamb. Along with many other creative touches, including the addition of ginger and chili, Petra gives us a rich new fresh look at the traditional. Thanks, Petra!






From Alabama, Deborah of What’s in My Kitchen takes Shepherd’s Pie and turned it into a vegetarian Indian dish. Deborah’s best friend is a vegetarian, so when she was coming over for dinner, Deborah turned to the inspiration of Indian cooking to create Indian Shepherd’s Pie. And boy, does it look good! I can just imagine how wonderful Deborah’s kitchen must have smelled while her awesome variation of this dish was in her oven!

Next is Heather of Sherry Trifle with her Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie with Goats' Cheese Mash. When I read this entry, I think I may have drooled a little. I literally wished I had a huge heaping plate of this sitting in front of me that very moment. I heart goat cheese! And I love the fact that this entry represents another vegetarian version of a typically meat-ridden dish! This is exactly the kind of creativity we were looking for, Heather, thanks so much for your entry (oh, and send me some when you get a chance!)

Baked Ziti (Robin)

Last but certainly not least is Baked Ziti. For me, there are few things that are better than a hot plate of baked ziti with tons of gooey-melty cheese on top. It screams comfort food, but I was curious what other variations participants could devise. We only received one Baked Ziti entry but it’s one I want to go out and try – like tomorrow - so it was all worth it!


From our neighboring New England state comes Jessica from Braintree, MA of Fearless Kitchen. She brings us a delectable looking Baked Ziti with Chorizo and Three Cheeses. Jessica chose this dish because Baked Ziti felt most natural to her being of Italian decent but she wanted to make it a bit healthier by adding veggies and she wanted something that could be made ahead and reheated and still retain its quality. Looks like she did both. Plus she also gave us a very tasty twist on the original dish! Mmmmmmm…I really think I could just stare at that picture all day! Thank you, Jessica!

Tacos! (Dani)

We got a lot of taco entries—and why not? Tacos are great! Some of my fondest memories of family dinners revolve around tacos—from me chopping away at veggies with my mom at the ripe old age of 8 to my grandmother not being able to pronounce the word properly and calling them “tac-osh”, tacos have been a staple in my family for years. I’ve had tacos so often that I could make them in my sleep, but what happens when you get bored with the same old taco? These four Recipe Remixers have taken the family staple of tacos and remixed them into a new and fun recipe.

Kristy of Kristy’s Recipes in South Carolina took a bold step and made her tacos into a burger! Kristy’s ground chicken taco burgers were inspired by a recipe she saw on allrecipes.com. With the summer months coming up quickly I’ll be breaking out my grill and I know that this recipe will be one of the first I try. Great job on being so creative and inventive—I never would have thought to shed the tortilla for a hamburger bun!


Holly of Phe/MOM/enon in Utah created a great recipe for a black bean and corn salad! What I love about this recipe is its versatility—you could place it inside a taco shell, use a tortilla bowl, wrap it in a flour tortilla, or even serve it over or along side a steak or chicken! This recipe is really great for the summer as there is no “cooking” involved—just chopping. What better recipe to beat the summer heat than one that doesn’t require you to turn on the stove or the oven?!


Another recipe from out west is Rachel’s of Culinary Kicks in Arizona. Rachel prepared for us a dish from allrecipes.com called Lentil Tacos! First off-thanks for making us your very first Food Blog Challenge Rachel!! You will become addicted to challenges—trust me! What I liked about this recipe was that it was a vegetarian friendly dish. Using lentils instead of traditional meat is great. I’m not typically a lentil fan but this recipe seems to pack a lot of flavor into it—I will plan on trying this recipe in the future for sure! Great job Rachel!


Lastly, tacos are not just popular family meals in America as Dell from Cooking in the City all the way in Australia shows us! Dell used sliced beef in lieu of ground beef for her recipe, which is a nice reminder of just by changing the cut of meat you change the texture and flavor of the meal. Dell had a great idea of also using pitas instead of hard taco shells—again, change the wrapper you remix the meal! Great job Dell!


Meatloaf! (Dani)

Our first and only meat recipe comes from Jennifer from our neck of the woods in New England. Jennifer has a great blog entitled The Spice Must Flow. Jennifer prepared a Middle Eastern Meatloaf Roll for us. Jennifer’s recipe is really great—she really took the challenge head on. Not being a fan of meatloaf (I completely sympathize with you Jennifer!), she really challenged herself and used non-traditional ingredients such as ground lamb, cumin, and cinnamon. Also, another great aspect of this recipe is it replaces the traditional ketchup topping with a yogurt topping—these flavors really remind me of fresh, bright, springtime. Thanks for this marvelous addition to our round up—this recipe really inspired me to test my limits with what dishes I dislike and how I can make them into something that I would like! Photo Credit: Michael Curry


Franks and Beans (Dani)

Our only entry for franks and beans comes from co-host Robin of Made With Love . Right off the bat—I HATE franks and beans ha ha! I had them as a kid and just one day decided that I didn’t like them. It’s not the franks or the beans I don’t like—I’ll eat them separately but for some reason the combination of the two makes me want to gag—until I saw Robin’s Franks n’ Beans Panini! Seriously—franks and beans in a sandwich?! Robin that is great! I also love the fact that Robin used kielbasa instead of regular hot dogs! Honestly, I never would have thought to put this in a sandwich, never mind subbing in the kielbasa. This is a recipe I will be trying this summer—I love making paninis on the grill outside, and what says summer more than baked beans? It was a staple at all of our summer picnics growing up!