Quick and Easy Caprese

My husband is a big salad guy, but Abby and I are not. I love a restaurant house salad, but at home they never taste as good. So, Marcus ends up eating a boring bag salad with dinner most nights. The other night I switched things up and made him a quick and easy caprese salad and I think it might be his new favorite.

Quick and Easy Caprese

2 handfuls of cherry/grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1 cube frozen basil

2 string cheese sticks, cut into bite sized pieces.

Place cube of basil in bowl and microwave about 15 seconds. Mash up the basil with the back of your spoon. Add in the tomatoes and cheese and stir. Done! Quick and Easy!

We have also experimented and added a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. It all works well!

Enjoy!

Broccoli & Bacon Salad

 At our Sunday school party last month, a friend brought this Broccoli & Bacon salad. I don't normally like broccoli, but my plate was full of carbs and I needed something green. Plus I thought with bacon it must be good. And, it was good!

I made it for Christmas Eve lunch with family and we all liked it. Well, except the picky kids. We also shared leftovers with other family and friends, and the verdict was good from them too. It makes a lot and doesn't stay well long, so it is perfect for a potluck.

Kati's Broccoli & Bacon Salad

4 broccoli crowns, cut very finely

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds

1/2 cup cooked and chopped bacon pieces

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 jar of HEB "Better than Good" Bacon Jam*

Combine bacon jam and mayo in a medium serving bowl. Mix well. 

Add all other ingredients and toss to coat.

If possible, chill for 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to mix well and settle in.

*Note: HEB is a local grocery store. I'm not sure if this product is made by other regional stores as well. Here is a recipe for bacon jam if you couldn't find it in store. If you had to make your own, I would just coat the salad well using your eye as the measurement. Or, I would just use a salad dressing with a bacon flavor in place of the mayo and jam.

Black Bean and Pico Dip

This dip is one of my all time favorites! I hadn't made it in ages and my friend Carrie brought it to a party recently and reminded me how much I love it. When another friend asked for the recipe, I realized I last blogged it in 2008, before I had started this blog. You are in for a treat with this fresh, healthy dip. I promise you won't leave with leftovers!

Black Bean and Pico Dip

6  tomatoes (we use Roma)
4 large avocado
1 onion (I buy this one already chopped)
1 can drained black beans
1 bunch cilantro
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper

Chop all ingredients and mix well. Chill and serve the same day with tortilla chips.

Paulina's Sweet Slaw

Remember my foodie friend Paulina and the cooking school she created for me in July? At that time we talked about getting together in the fall to do some fall veggies. At the beginning of December, Paulina's Cooking School 2.0 was in session!

Paulina is a fabulous cook, uses natural ingredients, and would love to open a cooking school one day. She has been so kind to help me on two different occasions to learn to cook with some ingredients outside the box for me. I resolve to eat better in 2013 and Paulina can help us all do that!

Let's start with hearts of palm.... I had no idea what this even was! Due to limitations, either seasonal or geographic, we ended up buying this in a can. My face says it all- it was gummy and tasted like the vinegar it was canned with. Gross!

We also had this FUNKY cauliflower from the farmer's market. I had no interest in eating it, so we skipped right over it. It came in green or orange. Funky!

 But, lucky for us, we came away from the day with three recipes that I really liked and would make again, starting with Paulina's Sweet Slaw. This is made with brussel sprouts! I had no idea a brussel sprout can be eaten raw and is essentially a small cabbage. So, a salad made from brussel sprouts is a slaw.

For the slaw, we simply cut the brown stalk part of the spout off, then sliced them up to edible size pieces. Paulina wanted a sweet dressing, so she mixed up lemon juice, honey, olive oil and some whole grain Dijon mustard, pictured below. The mustard serves as a binding agent in salads and gave us the tangy taste to counter the sweet of the honey.

We also added crumbled bacon and it was a great option when you are tired of a standard lettuce salad. 

Paulina took the remaining brussel sprouts and cooked them according to 101 Cookbooks blog. I wasn't a huge fan of them cooked (they were soggy to me after just loving them as a slaw), but if you like sprouts, this recipes gives them good flavor and the cheese is delish on them.

More cooking school coming soon!

Quinoa & Black Bean Salad

Our Sunday school class recently merged with another class and it has given us the opportunity to make new friends and visit with "old" ones. We had dinner last month with some "old" friends and she made the best quinoa salad to go with our burgers. I took one bite and proclaimed a recipe was in order!

Enjoy Amanda's yummy quinoa and black bean salad- 

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

2 cups quinoa
3 1/2 cups water

Cook quinoa in rice cooker or on the stove top. Prepare ahead and allow to cool.

Whisk together a dressing made from:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lime juice
1 t. cumin
1 1/2 t. sea salt

Pour dressing over quiona and stir.

Add the following:

1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1 bunch sliced green onions
1 small chopped jalapeno
1 medium chopped red bell pepper
1 can drained and rinsed black beans

Enjoy!

Note, I made half this recipe and it still made about 5 servings. It lasts a few days in the fridge and you can add grilled chicken to it as well.

Massaged Kale Salad

When I met up with Paulina for cooking school I told her I wanted to know what kale is and how to eat it. I had heard so much about it, but I didn't know if it was green or purple, leafy or gourd-like. I was clueless!

So, I quickly learned that kale is not currently in season in Texas. It grows here in the fall, I think. But, our local Whole Foods store carries it so we stopped there on our way home. Kale is like lettuce, but way more beneficial to our bodies. It is low in calories and high in fiber. 

There are a variety of kinds- we bought dinosaur kale to make kale chips and green kale for our salad. More on the chips coming soon!

Because kale is so rich in fiber, it can be hard for our bodies to break it down, so it helps to break it up a little before eating it in raw form, like a salad. After washing the green kale, we placed it in a bowl with a little olive oil, the juice of a fresh squeezed lemon, and coarse sea salt. For about five minutes we tossed the salad, rubbing the liquids and salt into it. 

The kale will darken from the oils and becomes such a pretty shade of green. After you have massaged the leaves, you are ready to turn your bowl of kale into a yummy salad!

For our salad, we simply added fresh white peaches and toasted almonds. We also made a simple sweet homemade dressing from lemon juice, honey, olive oil and pepper. We let it all chill for about 30 minutes and dug in!

The salad might have been my favorite dish of the day. It was sweet and light and so nutritious. I ate a big bowl of it and I will not lie, I had a tummy ache later that day. I think my body was in shock to be eating something so rich in fiber! Super healthy kale!

Up next, kale chips and smoothies!

Making Rainbows- Memorial Day Snack

Abby and I made rainbows for her friends at school last week and had so much fun! When strawberries look this good, you can't help but want to buy them up!

Here is our rainbow of colors. I really wanted green grapes, but not at $2.98/pound. Crazy talk! Abby loves honeydew, so she was thrilled with our back up choice.

We put the in rainbow order onto our kebab sticks and the morning of, we added marshmallow clouds on the ends! This was super fun to do with a three year old and really enforced the rainbow colors and her fruits for her.

We plan to make more rainbows for summer parties- they would be great for Memorial Day!

Sweet and Salty Salad (and a skinny version)

I love how blogging and Pinterest have made me a more creative cook. When I am looking for new recipes, I don't ever look in my cookbook cabinets, I go online and start playing around. One of my favorite bloggers, Erin from Blue Eyed Bride, shared this pineapple and pretzel salad on her blog in November, and I have craved it since. 

Minted Watermelon Salad

I read one that adding fresh mint to fruit salad really enhances the taste of the fruits, so I sought out a mint salad recently. Knowing how much my family loves watermelon, I took my chances with this one.... and, it was a winner! It is really sweet and you can subtly taste each of the ingredients in each bite.

Recipe courtesy of Weight Watchers magazine

1 1/2 cups watermelon and cantaloupe

1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons fresh mint, minced

1 tablespoon honey

Combine all ingredients and enjoy cold!

This was just as good the second day which I always appreciate with a big fruit salad.

Cowboy Cavier

My husband and I are on the final leg of a 40 day very low carb diet. We have both been successful, but are wanting "real" food as we celebrate with friends pool side this weekend. So, I dug around and found a pretty healthy side dish. It isn't real low carb (corn and beans), but it isn't potato salad which I almost always make.

If you are looking for a semi-healthy and colorful side dish, give this one a try!

Cowboy Cavier

1 can drained- corn, black beans, black eyed peas

1/2 each- red bell pepper, green bell pepper

1 bunch chopped green onions

1 sm. caron grape tomatoes, sliced in half

Mix all ingredients and toss with 3/4 cup Zesty Free Italian Dressing by Kraft. Let it set overnight and enjoy with Baked Tostitos or as a salad.

Enjoy!

Tortellini Salad

Last summer I took the day off to visit my friend Alison in San Antonio. It was a great day to just chat with a girlfriend, see our kids play, and enjoy the fun of summer! She made us a wonderful and easy pasta salad for lunch and since it is summer- we've enjoyed it for dinner lately! Alison's Tortelloni Salad

Cook and drain according to package

1 small package Buitoni Sweet Italian Sausage Tortelloni

They also have cheese or chicken if you'd prefer!

Add:

1 package pine nuts

a handful of chopped grape tomatoes

a handful chopped fresh basil

Parmesan cheese

Coat with La Martinique French Vinaigrette

It is wonderful as a side dish or as your main dish with some bread on the side!