Avocado, Corn and Tomato Salad

Ingredients
2 cans of corn or 1 bag frozen corn, thawed
2 avocados, chopped
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 small red onion, diced
1 large cucumber, diced
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

For the dressing:

6 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbs fresh cilantro, minced
½ tsp salt
10 grinds of fresh ground pepper

Directions

Combine all vegetables in a large bowl.  You can either add the dressing to the whole batch (as I did), or set it aside and add only when serving.

I found this was a great addition to our fish tacos!

Adapted from this recipe. 

Avocado Salsa for Cinco de Mayo!

There are few things I love more in life than delicious fresh salsa.  This is a fantastic, simple salsa recipe I've been making for years, and it seemed appropriate to share it on Cinco de Mayo!

INGREDIENTS

3 ripe avocados, chopped
5 large roma tomatoes, chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper, diced
1 banana pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Hot peppers, as desired, diced*
Large handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Mix it all together and enjoy with tortilla chips and a nice cold Corona!

*A note on the hot peppers: I like to experiment, and try a different assortment of hot peppers just about every time I make this.  It really just depends on how spicy you like your salsa!  A couple of jalapeños are a pretty safe choice to start with.  I tried adding an orange habanero once - that was a little too hot for me.  Just be careful and wear disposable gloves whenever you handle them!  I had an unfortunate incident once where I handled some hot peppers with my bare hands.  Hours went by, and I washed my hands numerous times, but I discovered there was still some hot pepper oil on my hands when I went to take my contacts out later that night.  It wasn't fun...

Potatoes and Onions

This recipe is ultra simple, but surprisingly yummy!  The onions give the potatoes a really great flavor.  I made it a few times as a last-minute side dish with dinner, but just recently discovered it also works great with our weekend brunch (kind of a hash browns substitute). 

INGREDIENTS

2 large russet potatoes, chopped [the perfect amount for 2 people - double the recipe if you need to feed more]

1 medium-sized onion, chopped

2 Tbs cooking oil

Salt, black pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning as desired

DIRECTIONS

1.  Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add potatoes and onions and cook over medium heat, covered, for about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. 

2.  Add seasonings (I go pretty light on the salt - you can always add more at the table if necessary).  Cook for another 10 minutes or so, uncovered, until potatoes are tender and browned.   

Sweet Potato Fries

I was a little skeptical about these, because I've never been a huge fan of sweet potatoes.  But I heard they were good, and good for you, so I decided to give them a try.  Since the first time I made them about a month ago, I've made them at least three times!  What can I say, they're delicious!!!  They make a great side dish to just about anything, but I especially love them with hamburgers.  And I don't have to feel as guilty about eating them because they're so healthy!  

INGREDIENTS:

5 sweet potatoes (try to find long skinny straight ones - it makes the slicing much easier!)

Olive oil

Lawry's seasoned salt (or desired seasonings)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Slice your sweet potatoes to desired thickness.  Thinner is better (they'll cook faster and turn crispier).  I cut most of mine into eighths, but it all depends on the size of your potato.  If it's too long, you might want to cut it in half first.  Also, a good sharp knife is really important, because they're not easy to cut! (hence why I suggested buying skinny potatoes)

3.  Coat your potato slices in olive oil.  I have a cool Misto oil sprayer that we received as a wedding present, so I used that.  I basically sprayed the pan, arranged the potato slices so they're all laying flat on the pan, then sprayed the other side of the slices.  You could also toss them in a bowl or a ziplock plastic bag.  But I think spraying worked the best.

4.  Arrange potato slices in a single layer flat on a couple of cookie sheets.  Sprinkle with your desired seasonings.  I used Lawry's seasoned salt, and I thought it was perfect!  But feel free to experiment with whatever you think would taste good.  I've heard of people using everything from just salt, salt and pepper, lemon pepper, garlic, paprika, Italian seasoning, and even brown sugar and cinnamon.  I don't think you can go wrong here!

5. Bake for 30-45 minutes.  Some recipes suggest turning them half way through.  If you're really picky about having them evenly browned, go ahead.  I'm kind of lazy and I thought it took way too much time to flip them, and wasn't really worth it.  Do keep an eye on them though.  Check them at 30 minutes, and about every 5 minutes after that.  They go from light brown to black pretty quickly near the end!  

My left over fries stored really nicely in sealed container in the fridge.  To reheat them, I popped them in the toaster oven for a minute or two, and they were just as good as the day I made them!  

Couscous Salad

It's finally spring, so I decided to celebrate by trying a new light, (healthy!), vegetarian dinner.  I kind of made this up as I went, but it turned out great!  It's only about 400 calories per serving (if you divide the recipe below into 4 servings).  And it's super fast too -- takes about 15 minutes to throw together.  This could also be a nice side dish.

INGREDIENTS:

1 box of plain couscous (or 4.5 cups)
1 cucumber, diced
1 can/jar (12-14oz) of artichoke hearts, chopped
2.5 cups of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
40 kalamata olives, halved
1/2 cup of feta cheese 
4 tablespoons of basalmic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook the box of couscous according to package directions.  Set it aside to cool while you chop the vegetables.

2.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the couscous and stir.  That's it!

Super Bowl Favorites

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone!

In honor of the big game, I'm making this a double recipe post so I can tell you about our two favorite super bowl snack foods.

WARNING: These are diet-busters, big time.  Just want to throw that out there.  However, I feel like--in moderation--it's okay to eat your favorite junk food goodies once a year.  Right?  Just be sure to do your work out the next morning (Jillian Michaels, here I come!).

Potato Skins

INGREDIENTS:

8 Russet potatoes
Vegetable oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Parmesan cheese, grated
Cheddar cheese, shredded
Bacon bits
Sour cream (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Scrub the potatoes and pierce them with a fork several times.  Bake for one hour.  You can either put them on a cookie sheet or directly on the oven rack.  Do NOT wrap them in aluminum foil. 

2.  When the potatoes are fully baked, take them out of the oven but leave the oven on.  Turn up the heat to 475 degrees.  Cut them in half and scoop out their insides, leaving the skins plus about 1/4 inch of potato.  Spray a cookie sheet with a bit of cooking spray oil and place the potato halves on the sheet, skin side up.  Brush lightly with vegetable oil and bake for 8-10 minutes.

3.  Flip the potatoes over and spread the other side lightly with vegetable oil.  Sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and grated parmesan cheese.  Bake for another 8-10 minutes. 

4.  Add a generous amount of cheddar cheese and top with bacon bits.  Bake for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is completely melted.

5.  Serve with a little sour cream if desired.  Enjoy!


Spinach and Artichoke Dip

INGREDIENTS:

One 10oz jar of light Alfredo pasta sauce
One half 8oz package of light sour cream or Neufchatel cheese, softened
One 10 or 12oz package of frozen spinach, cooked per package directions
One 14oz can of artichoke hearts, chopped
Six cloves of garlic
One cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Roast garlic cloves.  I usually do this by placing the garlic in a little aluminum foil pouch, sprayed with just a little olive oil so it doesn't burn.  If your big oven is already pre-heated, just stick it in there.  Otherwise, you can use a toaster oven.  Cook for about 20-30 minutes.

3.  Place roasted garlic and all the other ingredients EXCEPT the mozzarella cheese in a mixing bowl and blend either by hand or with electric beaters.  Once everything else is well blended, add the mozzarella cheese but stir in by hand (otherwise, it sticks to the beaters and won't come off!).

4.  Once the mixture is well blended, put it in a casserole dish or baking dish and cook for 30 minutes until the cheese is all warm and bubbly.  Serve with some tortilla chips.

Gooooooooooooo TEAM!!!!

Party mix

For this second installment of the holiday traditions series, we have party mix.  When everyone comes home for the holidays, we always make up a big batch of this so we have something to snack on while we sit around and talk and catch up.  It's so easy to make, and you can customize it with whatever you'd like to throw in there!

INGREDIENTS:

Approximately 9 cups of cereal - your choice!  I used 3 cups wheat chex, 3 cups corn chex, and 3 cups cheerios
2 cups of bite-sized pretzels
10 oz can of mixed nuts
1 stick of margarine (1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Optional: bagel chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Mix up the cereal, pretzels, nuts, etc.

3. Melt the butter in the microwave.

4. Add seasonings and Worcestershire sauce to the butter.

5. Spoon the butter mixture a little at a time over the cereal mix, stirring the cereal as you go so that's it gets evenly coated.

6. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hr and 15 mins, taking it out to stir it up every 15 minutes or so.

7. Let it cool, then store it in an air-tight container.

8. Feed it to your friends and family and watch them smile! =D