Category: Food

So, I tried making grilled corn using the Ninja Foodi Grill and surprisingly, it came out really good!

Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

• Corn ears (make sure the kernels are big so you’ve got some meat to bite in to)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Canola oil
• Butter

Instructions

1. Remove the husk (outer layers of the corn)
2. Massage the kernels with canola oil
3. Sprinkle salt and pepper
4. Turn on Ninja Foodi Grill, click Grill button to Max setting, set time to 12 minutes, let preheat, wait till it says “Add food”, then put in the corn
5. Set a timer for 6 minutes then turn the corn over
6. When done, massage butter over the corn or melt butter in the microwave and baste the corn with the liquid butter

Moroccan Shakshouka and Turkish Menemen are very similar. Here’s my version of these dishes.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 8oz can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes (Target / FoodMaxx)
• 2/3 cup frozen diced onions (Smart n Final)
• 1//4 cup cilantro for garnish
• 2 tbsp wet minced garlic
• 10 tbsp olive oil
• Smoked paprika (not regular paprika)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
• Pita bread

Instructions

1. Pour olive oil in medium 10″ pan on medium-high heat
2. Fry onions and garlic until slight brown
3. Pour in diced tomatoes and sprinkle in smoked paprika, salt and pepper to taste (optionally, add tomato paste)
4. When mixture is not too runny, make 3 deep dimples in the pan and crack each egg into them
5. Cover and poach on low heat until egg white changes from translucent to white. Turn off heat so that egg yolk is still runny.
6. Garnish with cilantro
7. Cut some pita bread in quarters and warm for 15 seconds in microwave
8. Eat

So, I just got the Ninja Foodi Smart Indoor Grill which doubles as an air fryer and mini oven. I have another cheaper indoor grill but tends to produce smoke and always triggers my smoke sensor. So far, though the Ninja grill is larger, it hasn’t emitted any smoke nor triggered my smoke sensor and produces better grill results.

Here’s how to make steak using it.

Ingredients for Marinade

• 2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee black pepper sauce
• 2 tbsp water
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Get your steak (minimum 1″ thick and preferably from Costco).
2. Put that steak in a ziploc bag.
3. Mix water and sauce and pour into the ziploc bag.
4. Zip the bag and turn a few times and let marinate for 1 to 8 hours.

Cooking Instructions

1. Insert thermometer into middle of side of steak such that the tip is at the center of the thickest part.
2. Turn on the Ninja grill by pushing the grill button.
3. Click the left up/down arrows to choose a doneness level. I like medium rare.
4. Push the thermometer / preset button to start the preheat phase
5. Sprinkle salt on both sides of the meat.
6. When preheating is done, it will beep and tell you to insert the steak. Do so.
7. Sometime later, it will beep and tell you to flip the steak. Do so, preferably using silicone-tipped tongs.
8. Sometime later, it will be done and tell you to get the steak out. Do so and wait 5 minutes before enjoying.

Grill Vegetables (optional)

To complement the steak, you can grill some vegetables in the Ninja grill also. Here are the veggies that grill well.

• Asparagus
• Zucchini
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Bell pepper
• Jalapeno peppers
• Tomatillo peppers
• Corn

Instructions

1. Cut vegetable in half or in slices.
2. Remove spicy seeds from peppers.
3. Slather with / baste in oil.
4. Sprinkle coarse salt and pepper.
5. Turn on Ninja grill
6. Push grill button
7. Push right up/down to set the time to 6 minutes
8. Push thermometer / preset button twice to skip preheating
9. Put veggies in grill
10. The grill will beep when done.

Last week I made an egg sandwich with spinach, smoked sliced beef brisket, cheddar cheese and ciabatta bread. It was good but messy as the ingredients kept falling out as I’d eat it. Also, it wasn’t easy tasting all of the ingredients with every bite since they’d move around while holding the sandwich.

Since the sandwich would end up all mixed up in your mouth and stomach, I figured why not just mix all the ingredients up in a pan. It turns out this was not only much easier to cook and eat but also tastier as you could taste more of the ingredients.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• pita bread (available at Costco)
• potatoes (optional)
  • pre-cooked tater tots
  • pre-cooked chopped baby potatoes
• chopped tomatoes
• diced onions
• diced red, green and yellow bell pepper (can get it pre-diced and frozen)
• diced jalapeno peppers
• baby spinach
• shredded cheddar cheese
• pre-cooked smoked sliced beef brisket (available at Costco)
• 3 eggs
• maybe broccoli?

Instructions:

1. If the bread is a bit hard, warm it up in the microwave for 50 secs to soften it.
2. Pour / spray cooking on in a pan and turn the heat up to medium
3. Put in all ingredients except eggs and mix for a minute or so
4. Put in eggs and mix for a minute.

I prefer my eggs half cooked with the yolk still wet so I’d turn off the heat and transfer everything to a play in time for the yolk to remain wet.

To eat, you can stuff the pita bread with the egg scramble though it may be hard separating the two sides of the bread without breaking it. Otherwise, just rip pieces of pita bread and scoop up some of the eggs scramble with it as you would for curry.

To save time in the morning, prepare everything the night before.

1. Add all ingredients except eggs in a zip lock bag and put in freezer
2. In the morning, transfer frozen ingredients to a bowl and defrost in microwave
3. Transfer defrosted ingredients to a pan and cook
4. Put in eggs, mix and cook to desired doneness

Roasting turkey or chicken can often lead to very dry meat. The secret to getting most, tender, juice chicken or turkey meat is by smothering it in mayonnaise or plain yogurt.

Ingredients

• 1 (12- to 14-pound) whole turkey, thawed, neck and giblets removed
• 1-1/2 cups of mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves, plus extra whole leaves
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme leaves, plus extra whole stems of leaves
• 2 tablespoons minced rosemary, plus extra whole sprigs
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano, plus extra whole sprigs
• 2 tablespoons coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 stalks celery, rough chopped
• 1 large onion, rough chopped
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cubed
• 2 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450F.
2. Place turkey on a roasting rack in a roasting pan.
3. Tie the turkey legs together with twine and tuck the wings underneath.
4. In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, minced sage, thyme, rosemary and oregano.
5. Rub mayonnaise and herb mixture all over the outside of the turkey.
6. Season the turkey with salt and pepper.
7. Place celery and onion inside the turkey cavity and drop extra pieces in the bottom of the roasting pan.
8. Place the cubed butter inside of the turkey cavity. Insert the additional whole herbs into the turkey cavity.
9. Pour two cups of chicken broth into the bottom of the roasting pan. Continue to add broth or water as the turkey is roasting if pan becomes dry.
10. Roast the turkey for one hour. Reduce the oven heat to 350F and continue roasting, uncovered, until internal thermometer reaches 165F. Cover legs and breasts with foil halfway through the cooking process if the turkey begins getting too brown.  
11. Remove the turkey from the oven. Cover loosely with foil and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
12. Carve and serve.

View original recipe.