Salmon + Veggie Salad

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I’ve got another salad combo for you.

Juicy tomatoes.

Creamy avocado.

Salty capers.

Pickled red onions.

And fresh, delicious salmon.

Piled high on a bed of greens.

This salad is amazing. Everything goes so well together. Also great for these warm days. It requires very little cooking and prep work.

In the directions, I tell you how I prepared my salmon for this salad. But you should definitely prepare it your favorite way. If you have a grill, I am sure that would be perfect {dreaming of the day I can have a grill}.

I suggest an oil-based dressing for this salad, but again, use what you love. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Oh, I have to mention! This salad was inspired by a delicious meal we ate the The Tomato Bistro.

Ingredients
*This is for two salads. Double, triple, etc., as you please.
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 avocado, sliced
4 tablespoons capers
1/4 of a red onion, sliced
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
2 fillets of salmon, whatever size you like to eat
Juice from one half of a lemon
Salt and pepper
Mixed greens (or your favorite lettuce)

First prep your veggies. Cut the grape tomatoes in half. Slice the avocado. Slice 1/4 of a red onion. Place the onion slices in a bowl and completely cover with red wine vinegar. Let this sit while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a pan over medium-high heat. Let the oil get hot and then add the salmon fillets. I cooked mine for about 2 minutes on each side. Once the first side was done, I sprinkled salt and pepper on each fillet, squeezed some lemon juice into the pan over the salmon and then flipped them. I cooked the other side for 2 minutes and squeezed the rest of the lemon juice on the salmon.

To arrange the salad, I would suggest tossing the greens with dressing first. You can do this in a big bowl and then transfer the dressed greens to smaller serving bowls. In each serving bowl, arrange the tomatoes, 1/2 of an avocado, 2 tablespoons capers, one half of the red onions and one fillet of salmon.

Enjoy!

Notes:
– Letting the onion sit in red wine vinegar is sort of a really quick pickling process. It takes the bite out of the onion, makes them soft and almost sweet. You can let the onion soak in the vinegar as long as you want, even overnight!

Coffee Banana Date Smoothie

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My new favorite thing!

(^^ No, that date is not my new favorite thing.) It’s the smoothie that the date goes in.

I had so many titles to choose from for this post.

First, I didn’t know if I should call it a shake or a smoothie. It is creamy in texture, almost like a shake. But, I thought, it’s too healthy to be called a shake. Let’s go with smoothie.

I wanted to call it amazingly-simple-four-ingredient smoothie. Because really? Four ingredients made this cup of deliciousness? They did! Coffee, bananas, dates and frozen almond milk.

And really, should I have just added almond milk to the title? That’s the only ingredient I used and didn’t add to the title. It just didn’t sound right.

Also, I wanted to add the word vegan. Because I made a vegan smoothie sort of milkshake-y thing. If I were vegan (or on days that I feel like being one) this would be the perfect drink for a creamy milkshake/sweet tooth craving.

Now, I don’t want to scare you away, but do you know how much I love coffee ice cream? Ice cream that tastes like coffee? That most people won’t go near? Yes, I love it. If you love it too, you will love this smoothie. There is a subtle flavor in this smoothie that reminds me of the ice cream. But! If you don’t love it, I think you will love this too. You probably wouldn’t even think of it if I hadn’t mentioned it. 🙂 Every ingredient pulls equal weight in this. All the flavors are noticeable, and just enough of each.

This would be so good in the morning as a way to have morning coffee and breakfast all in one delicious and healthy smoothie. Or great as an afternoon snack (using decaf coffee, because if you know me, you know that I can’t drink caffeine past 10 or 11 a.m.).

So, what do you think? Is this something you would try? Don’t be scared of the color. It’s delicious, sweet, healthy, refreshing, an energy-booster and vegan! I hope that you try and enjoy!

Ingredients
2 bananas, frozen
4 frozen almond milk cubes (almond milk poured into an ice cube tray and frozen)
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
2 medjool dates, pitted

I started by add the bananas and frozen almond milk cubes to the blender. I blended them up, adding a little bit of the coffee, until it was very smooth. I then added the rest of the coffee and dates, and blended longer, until smooth again.

Enjoy!

Notes:
-Your blender may be strong enough to add all of the ingredients at once. I added them separately because mine is not high-powered enough to handle all at once.
-I froze my bananas a day in advance. I took 2 very ripe bananas, broke them into thirds and put them in a zip bag into the freezer.
-I also froze my almond milk a day in advance. Just pour almond milk into an ice cube tray and into the freezer.

Summertime Pasta Salad

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Another cool salad for these hot summer days.

And this pasta is so, so good. And, I just realized, it’s not actually summer yet. This is still summertime pasta salad. 🙂

My mom has always made a pasta salad that I like. She uses Italian dressing and salad supreme. I have always enjoyed it. It kind of reminds me of more “traditional” pasta salad compared to this one.

This idea came from Greg’s mom. Last summer she made some amazing pasta salad with this Gazebo Room Greek dressing on it. I loved it. So did Greg. We made it several times on our own that summer.

I have made this pasta salad three times in the last two weeks. It is that good.

I don’t know what it is about the dressing. It just has the perfect taste. It’s flavorful but not overly Greek-y. Sometimes Greek dressing can be very strong, but this one is just enough.

And for noodles, any noodle can work in this! Use what you love. We have made it with these spinach linguine noodles, with spiral noodles and, this time, with whole wheat chiocciole noodles (which I also used in this pasta). It has been good with every single noodle we’ve tried.

Same with veggies. Add what you like. Add a lot or add a little. In this one I used cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes and corn. Also good in this is cucumber and black beans. You have got to try those too (I just didn’t have them).

Also, cheese. Try cheese. I didn’t have it on hand, so I left it out this time. It’s just as good without, but cheese is never a bad decision. I would suggest mozzarella, any kind of cubed cheddar or feta. But try any that you like!

It’s delicious, simple and completely customizable. Pick your favorite noodle, pick your favorite veggies and pick your favorite cheese. Use this Greek dressing. If your store doesn’t have this brand, I would just try another one. I just know that I love using this one for this noodle salad.

Boil noodles, mix in veggies, pour on dressing, stir well and enjoy! Delicious food can be that simple.

Ingredients
1 pound of noodles (I used chiocciole noodles)
1 bottle of Gazebo Room Greek salad dressing and marinade
2 cups of cauliflower, chopped small
2 cups of broccoli, chopped small
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, quartered
1 can of corn, drained and rinsed
Other ideas: chopped cucumber, black beans, cheese, or any veggie that you love (I would love to hear what you would use!)

Chop all of your veggies. I chop the veggies very small for this pasta salad. Use cauliflower, broccoli, tomato, corn, cucumber or any other veggie that you love. Also chop or prepare the cheese, if using.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook noodles according to directions on package. Rinse the pasta with cold water when it’s done cooking so that it won’t be sticky in the salad.

Add the noodles and the chopped veggies (and the cheese, if using) to a very large bowl. Start with once cup of the dressing and give everything a very good stir. If it seems like it needs more, add more dressing until you are satisfied with the taste and “wetness” of the salad. A lot of times pasta salad will dry out as it sits in the refrigerator so it is nice to have some dressing left over to add when you are ready to serve it.

Serve cold and enjoy!

Notes:
-This makes excellent leftovers. Like I said above, if it seems like it needs more dressing after a day or two, add more right before serving. The amount of dressing you use will vary depending on the type of noodle you use, the amount of veggies and how long you have it as leftovers.

How I Do My Green Smoothie

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Happy Saturday everyone!

I am going to stop posting regularly on Saturdays, but since I have taken several days off the last couple of weeks, I thought I would share something today.

Let’s talk about green smoothies! Or smoothies in general. Or juices. I don’t have a juicer or Vitamix but I make my smoothies in a blender. And I want to hear your favorite smoothie/juice combinations!

To start, let’s talk about the green part of the smoothie. I’ll tell you — I don’t really want to make and drink a smoothie unless it has spinach (or something green) in it. It seems not worth it to me. Sure, blended fruit and yogurt is good, but there are many other things I would rather be eating/drinking. Now, add spinach and it becomes much more worth it to me. I am now consuming a huge amount of leafy greens, easily! To start my day. Before I do anything else, I have an entire cup of raw spinach in me. Now that is worth it. If you haven’t had a green smoothie before, you really can’t taste the greens! How I can describe the taste is purely refreshing. The greens add this amazing feeling and taste of freshness, and I love it. Also, I haven’t adventured much past spinach, except for one time when I used kale. What kind of greens do you add to you smoothie or juice?

Let’s talk taste/sweetness. I don’t love smoothies that are overly sweet. It’s like I’m having dessert for breakfast. I know, who doesn’t love that? Dessert-y things for breakfast. I don’t! I love oatmeal for breakfast, but not if it is overly sweet. Same with my smoothies. I don’t add any extra sweetener other than the fruit itself. And, like I said above, you can’t taste the spinach, but I feel that it counteracts even more of the sweetness, which is perfect for me. Do you like your smoothies sweet? What do you add to make it sweet? If I ever were to add extra sweet, I would probably add honey.

Now on to texture. I like it thin. I want to be able to drink it without a straw. I want it to flow easily out of my glass and into my mouth. Almost juice-ish. But, like I said, my smoothies are technically not juice because I just use a blender. I try to get them as close to juice-y as I can. I tried a green smoothie from a local coffee shop about a week ago. It sounded so good. Spinach, avocado, banana and pineapple. Great combination. But, this smoothie was so thick. I took one sip and I loved the flavor, but the texture was way too thick for me. It is almost too heavy? Like I get way too full drinking thick smoothies. I want to feel light and refreshed after drinking my smoothie. Not full and weighed down.

Liquid. Every smoothie needs liquid. Juice is good, but not for me. It’s makes it too sweet for my taste and also in some cases, adds a lot of extra sugar and non-real ingredients. My preference is coconut or almond milk. Once I made the switch to coconut and almond milk, I haven’t looked back. My thoughts on dairy are the same as they are on gluten. I don’t have an allergy or intolerance, but it just makes sense to me to use the least amount as possible.* I would rather consume my dairy in the form of cheese, ice cream or other delicious creamy desserts. Let’s keep the dairy out of the smoothie (for me). I also add yogurt to my smoothie. I don’t add much, but I think it lends a creamy texture to the smoothie. I absolutely love this coconut yogurt. It is the best.

Fruit. You need it (I think). Even though I don’t like too much sweetness, I do like some. And the natural sweetness from fruit is perfect. A mix of fresh and frozen is what I prefer. Frozen to give a bit of coolness and icy-ness to the smoothie. Fresh because, well just because it is fresh. I have been doing some kind of yellow or orange frozen fruit. Peach or mango, mostly. Peach is what I am loving right now. Does anyone freeze their own fruit? Is there anything special I need to know about doing it? Or do I just slice it up and put it in a bag and then to the freezer? Freezing my own fruit is something I have been wanting to do. For fresh, I have been doing some kind of berry – mostly blueberry or strawberry but I really want to try fresh blackberries!

My favorite part of this blog is the sharing. I share with you and I love to hear what you would like to share with me as well. I do love the smoothie that I am drinking now, but I am ready to try some new things. So share away!

Do you drink smoothies? Green smoothies?

What is your all-time favorite combination?

Do you like your smoothie thick or thin?

What kinds of things do you add to your smoothie to make it extra healthy?

*Interesting fact: Greg once told me that we are the only mammals that consume milk beyond the time that it’s needed from the mother for survival (unless it is given to a pet). He had a professor who didn’t consume dairy for that reason. That fact wouldn’t stop me, but it is definitely something to think about.

How I make my smoothie:

Ingredients
*This will make two smoothies (or one really big one). I make enough smoothie for two at a time. I drink one and put the other in the fridge for the next day.
1 cup coconut or almond milk
1 cup frozen peaches or mangoes
1/2 cup fresh blueberries or strawberries
1/4 – 1/3 cup coconut yogurt
2-3 cups fresh spinach

Pour the coconut or almond milk into a blender. Then add the frozen fruit, fresh fruit, yogurt and the spinach last. Blend on high for several minutes, or until everything is completely blended and smooth.

Enjoy!