no-cook summer chickpea salad

Oh hey, it's me.



Truth be told, this recipe was never going to make it to the internets.
It was a salad that I threw together one night a few weeks ago when husband was gone, and I wanted something healthy and fast and super easy, probably to balance all the cookies or chocolate almonds I had eaten that day (just a guess), and girls were coming over soon to swoon with me over Jef  watch the Bachelorette.



So I made this salad. It was really good. But I didn't really think much more about it until my sister-in-law came over, starving, and finished up the rest of it, and loved it so much that she asked me for the recipe and then made it like 5 times in the next two weeks. And told me I had to post it.

So here I am. And here it is. I think it's perfect for summer. It's crunchy, light, slightly sweet, and has avocado, which automatically makes anything at least 52% better. And you really you don't have to cook a thing. If you buy those ready-to-eat edamame from Trader Joes, you literally just have to cut up a couple of veggies and stir some dressing together and shovel this into your mouth straight from the mixing bowl. I have really good manners.



(P.S. I love you, T. Thanks for liking my food.)

Summer chickpea salad
Serves  2-3
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup shelled, ready-to-eat edamame
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1 ear of corn on the cob, kernels removed
1 green onion, sliced
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes, optional (I added them mostly for color)
1/2 of an avocado
2 T. chopped cilantro

Note: If you are making this salad ahead of time, or would like to save some for the next day, I'd recommend leaving out the tomatoes and avocado until just before serving.

Dressing
1 T. white wine vinegar
1 T. sugar
Juice from 1/2 lime
3 T. olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

red chili flakes, optional

Combine vinegar, sugar and lime juice in a small bowl. Add olive oil slowly while whisking. Add salt and pepper and chili flakes. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

Combine all salad ingredients in a medium bowl and gently stir. Pour dressing over the salad and toss. Serve cool or at room temperature.

citrus salad

My fridge has been rather barren of late. Holidays and travel and work have robbed it of it's bounty and sapped me of time or energy to make stuff.

So last night when an intense chocolate craving hit, and my sad half stick of butter made it virtually impossible to bake something (excuses), rather than going to the store to get more butter (which would have been the logical thing), I drove 20 minutes each way to get my sorry self a sinfully rich chocolate/peanut butter cupcake.

It was SO worth it.

But thanks to a quick Whole Foods run for milk and bananas the other morning (which turned into a long Whole Foods run for milk, bananas, blueberries, citrus, bacon, cheese, cookies and other stuff), I found my fridge stocked with just enough good stuff to make this wonderful salad for snack today.

It's a perfect way to use those beautiful winter citruses, and I think you'll find it refreshing and incredibly energizing as I did. I felt so great afterwards that I probably would have been annoyingly upbeat to anyone who might have been around. Fortunately I was alone.

Citrus Salad
Serves 1-2

1 grapefruit
2 blood oranges
2 clementines
1/2 -1 whole avocado, depending on preference 
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Olive oil
Sea salt and Fresh ground pepper
Salad greens, optional

Section all the citrus into a bowl. (Here's a helpful tutorial if you need it.) Slice the avocado and add it to the bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lime over the fruit. Drizzle with a tablespoon or so of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss gently. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Eat as is, or serve (mostly drained) over greens (like watercress or arugula or baby greens).

I ate it first with watercress, then ended up eating the rest straight from the bowl and actually preferred it like that!

harvest grain salad (?)

I'm sorry that I'm presenting you with another salad. On a Monday.

I'm sorry that this salad looks eerily similar to this one. Or perhaps this one. I promise you it's different.

I'm sorry that I haven't had coffee yet. I'm sorry I keep putting off my workout today. I'm sorry my house is dirty. Let's move on to happier things.

...Salad? A happier thing? I think so. I say it's a salad but you really can't call it a salad any more than you can call a Hollywood marriage permanent.

Eat this. It has everything in it. Deep, earthy flavors from the grains and nuts combine with the richness of the goat cheese and squash, only to be balanced out by the bright pop of pomegranate seeds and sweet chewy Craisins. How's that for a description? May be my best yet.

Note: The farro has to soak overnight or for about 8 hours, so you kind of have to plan this in advance.

Harvest Grain Salad
About 3 servings

2/3 cup Isreali Couscous (uncooked)
1/2 cup Farro (uncooked)
1/2 of a butternut squash
1/4 cup of pistachios, shelled
1/4 cup of Craisins
1/4 cup of pomegranate seeds
2 oz. of crumbled goat cheese
1-2 cups of spinach
olive oil and red wine vinegar
kosher salt and lemon pepper (or regular pepper)

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil. Prepare squash by cutting off the rind and cutting the squash into small cubes. Put it into a bowl and toss it with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Pour onto prepare baking sheet and roast, for about 15 minutes or until soft and starting to brown. (Stir or turn once or twice as needed during roasting.)

While squash is cooking, cook your (presoaked) farro and couscous according to package instructions.

When grains are done cooking, put them in a large bowl. Add the cooked squash, the pistachios, the craisins, and the pomegranate seeds. Add in about a tablespoon of olive oil (I used lemon-infused) and about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper (to taste). Toss. Add goat cheese and spinach and toss gently until spinach wilts slightly from the warmth of the other ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings/ingredients as desired. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
 

colorful quinoa salad

You know those weeks days when you just don't feel like doing anything?

Saturday was that day.

I'll spare you the not-so-exciting details and just tell you that the highlights of the day included a lengthy Starbucks visit and this salad. That should give you an idea. It's a shame that Saturday was such an absolutely perfect day and the most I made of the weather was an hour spent in Starbucks' courtyard. It was a nice hour though.

I was so hungry for dinner but felt so lazy but still wanted something so delicious and so good for me. I think I may have used the word 'so' enough in that sentence but I'm not sure. Maybe one more would have been good.

But this salad was just the thing. It was super easy, especially since I found a container of already-cooked plain quinoa leftover from earlier in the week. I wouldn't have wanted to like actually get out a pan and boil something, so that was fortunate.

This is goood stuff, and also, conveniently, good-for-you stuff. Everyone knows that quinoa is the ultimate health food right? And then you have things like mangoes for sweetness, black beans for delicious protein, pomegranates for a nice crunch and some antioxidants, avocado for healthy fat and because they are basically the best food/fruit/vegetable ever.

Your stomach will thank you.

Colorful Quinoa and Black Bean salad 
Serves 1-2

1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup mango, diced
2 T. cilantro, chopped
2 T. pomegranate seeds
1/2 an avocado, diced

Dressing:
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. olive oil (I used lemon-infused)
1 tsp. agave nectar (or sugar)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. pepper or lemon pepper

Add salad ingredients to a bowl except for the avocado. Add dressing ingredients and toss. Adjust seasonings and ingredients to taste. Add avocado and toss gently. If you will be storing some of the salad for later, I'd suggest leaving the avocado out until just before serving.

(You'll notice that I accidently left the avocado out for most of the photos anyway...got it in this last one though.)

israeli couscous salad

The other afternoon I made this really good pear and chocolate tart. 

this isn't it.

The thing that can happen when you make really good pear and chocolate tarts in the afternoon is that you can ruin your dinner. 

It can be 8:30 and you're still not hungry but maybe your husband is, and maybe you have a fridge-full of vegetables you want to use even though you're not hungry.

Your husband you might start chopping vegetables anyway and you might start stirring around cute little balls of couscous and you might take inspiration from one of your favorite salads and make a really tasty dressing too.

You might throw it all together and decide it looks good enough to eat. Even though you're not really hungry. You might eat a whole bowl of the stuff and some of your husband's second bowl of it as well.

If you do all this, your tummy will be happy. It will thank you. Really, it will feel so good.

And then since you feel so good about what you just ate, you might decide that it's okay to have another piece of that tart.

And then your tummy might be mad at you again.

Israeli Couscous Salad

Serves 2

2/3 cup of Israeli couscous

1/3 cup red onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium tomato, chopped

2 persian cucumbers, chopped (or about 1/2 cup regular chopped cucumber)

1 T. chopped dill

1 T. chopped mint

1/4 cup crumbled feta

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Lemon

Dressing:

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil (I use lemon-infused)

2 T. red wine vinegar

1 T. sugar

1 tsp. lemon pepper (or regular fresh ground)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Cook the couscous according to the package instructions. While it is cooking, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a swirl of olive oil and the chopped onion and garlic. Saute for about 2 minutes until onions are tender and slightly translucent. Remove from heat.

When couscous is done cooking, add it to the skillet with the onion and garlic and a sprinkle of salt and pepper (I used lemon pepper) and stir to combine.

Add chopped vegetables and herbs to a medium bowl. Add couscous mixture and dressing and toss to combine. Add in crumbled feta and give it another toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice if desired. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

green bean salad with feta and dill

Did you have a good Labor Day weekend? I hope so.

Want to know what I did for the holiday weekend?

I fed the mosquitos.

I sacrificed my body to the little bloodsuckers for the sake of camping in the woods. These weren't just any mosquitos, no, I think they're special mosquitos. Mosquitos that have built up an immunity to Off. Mosquitos on steroids. Bold, persistent mosquitos.

I counted 16 bites on the front of the upper half of my right leg. Like from knee to hip, just on the top side. 

I hope those mosquitos choke on my blood and die.

But you know what else I did for the holiday weekend?

I camped in the woods with some of my favorite people. We ate hot dogs around the campfire, and spun around in the dark, and had volleyball tournaments, and played scattergories under tarps in the rain. We ate s'mores (have you ever spread peanut butter on your graham cracker first? Amazing.) and drank instant coffee in the cool of the morning, and laughed until we almost peed our pants. We all sacrificed our bodies to the mosquitos together and it was so worth it. I wouldn't trade it.

This has nothing to do with green bean salad. But. Make this salad anyway, it is so delicious. The green beans are crunchy and the dressing is tangy and the feta is cheesy and it will make you happy.

Green Bean Salad with Feta and Dill

Serves 2

About 2 cups of fresh green beans

1/4 cup of a vinaigrette dressing, like Italian Dressing. I used Brianna's French Vinaigrette.

2-3 T. crumbled feta

2 T. chopped red onion

2 T. chopped fresh dill

Cook beans in boiling water about 3 minutes or until tender crisp (I like mine on the crispier side, but if you prefer a little more cooked, increase time to 4 minutes or so). Drain and rinse well with cold water to stop cooking. Toss beans with dressing, cheese, onion and dill in a bowl. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve chilled.

southwestern salsa/salad

I don't really know what to call this. It's so versatile. It's so delicious. I made half a batch yesterday and ate it all, then I made another half batch today that I will probably finish before the day is done.

But let's start from the beginning. One day (yesterday, actually), I wanted to make a salsa with my dangerously ripe avocado. As I dreamed up combinations in my head/rummaged through my pantry and fridge, I realized I had black beans and other favorite ingredients like such as*.  As I looked at the stuff sitting on my counter I realized I could come really close to making my favorite burrito combination at Chipotle which goes like this:

Rice

Black Beans
(sometimes chicken)

Pico de Gallo

Corn Salsa

Cheese

Sour Cream

Guacamole

So instead of doing all that work (I wasn't going to make two kinds of salsa and guac. Really.), I decided I could deconstruct the components up there and just use the main ingredients but combine them all together into one perfect salsa/burrito topping/salad.  Make sense?

  It was perfect. Crunchy, fresh, spicy. I wouldn't recommend eating Cap'n Crunch for breakfast and then eating this for lunch because all the spicy juices get into all the cuts on the roof of your mouth from the Cap'n Crunch. Not super pleasant. Oh, then I did the same thing again today. Cap'n Crunch runs my life, apparently. Oh and not just plain ol' Crunch. Crunch Berries. In case you were wondering why I would let plain ol' Crunch run my life.

I did make a mini burrito out of it, with cheese and sour cream, and it was good. However, I found that I preferred it plain (I ate most of it with a spoon from there on out) because I could taste all the flavors better that way. I also found it to be really delish after a couple of hours in the fridge because the flavors married. They fell in love and they married.

I think this would also be excellent on some tortilla chips, which I might get around to doing if I could just stop eating it straight from the bowl.  You know what else? You can add rice and/or chicken or even couscous or quinoa, and make it into a more complete meal. See? So versatile.

Southwestern Salsa/Salad

Makes about 6 cups

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 

1 can whole kernel corn, drained (or use an ear of fresh sweet corn, which I didn't have)

2 small tomatoes, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

1/2 small red onion, chopped

4 T. fresh cilantro, chopped

1 Avocado, diced

Juice from one lime

1 tsp. kosher salt

Mix together all ingredients except avocado, lime and salt. Add avocado, lime juice and salt. Toss.

Serve immediately or let sit in fridge for a few hours. If you are serving it the following day, leave out the avocado and add it just before serving.

 

*referenced from someone who really knows how to put words together.

cucumber, tomato and avocado salad

 

 You guys.

I have made my husband fall in love with vegetables.

Three vegetables, to be exact. And only in this dressing.

It's a conditional love, but love nonetheless.

 

Seriously he asked for this two nights in a row. He even went to the store the second night just to get a tomato and an avocado so I could make it. Actions speak louder than words. And the words were speaking pretty loud.

 

This is a perfect, perfect summer salad. It's incredibly light and fresh-tasting, with just enough depth of flavor from the oil and vinegar.
Take it to a picnic, have it on the patio, eat it in the car with the top down. So hood.

Cucumber, Tomato and Avocado Salad

Serves 2

1/2 Cucumber, peeled and sliced, with the slices then cut in half

1/2 Tomato, coarsely chopped

1/2 Avocado, coarsely chopped

1 T. olive oil (I use lemon-infused)

1 T. red wine vinegar

1/2 T. sugar

1 tsp. lemon pepper

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Add cucumber and tomato to a bowl and sprinkle with all of the ingredients except the avocado. Toss well to coat. Add avocado and toss gently.

You may need to play with the amounts of things for the flavor you want. I actually didn't measure things so these are estimations.