Strawberry Chicken Salad :: #recipe

Strawberries and balsamic vinegar…a very tasty combination!  I am a sucker for fruit in salads.  One of my favorite salads right now is the Cranberry, Walnut, Goat Cheese salad from The Loop.  It is so yum!  Anywho, so the other day I was rummaging in the kitchen wondering what I was going to eat for lunch.  After looking in the fridge I decided on a piece of leftover rotisserie chicken from the night before, strawberries and some salad mix.  The makings of a delicious salad, but one problem…no dressing!

I knew my friend, Google was going to be able to help me out with that though.

I quickly googled for a balsamic recipe and found this one.  Simple and using staples that I had on hand!  I added slightly less olive oil and increased the honey b/c I wanted it more on the sweet side.

photo 3

I was pretty stoked to find pecans in the pantry to add to my salad.  If I would have had feta or goat cheese, that would have been icing on the cake!  It was still DANG tasty even without the cheese though.  I would make it again in a heartbeat.  Actually I would have made it today if I’d remembered I had leftover chicken!

Finished product…

strawberry_salad_foodsweat&inspiration

Here are the measurments I *think* I used.  I knew I should have written it down, but alas, I did not.  Which means I have to rely on my memory.  And I’ll be the first to tell you that my memory isn’t the best.  😮

1 1/2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
2 t honey
1 t dijon mustard

I was trying to cut back the oil, but still wanted enough dressing to cover my salad.  I think it probably has so much EVOO to balance out the flavors.  Oh well, it was delicious the way I made it so no harm done!  Just had to add a little extra honey.  🙂

Avocado Tuna Wrap

I love the internet.  She’s so useful!  Yes, she. The internet is obviously a girl, duh. The other day I was searching the kitchen for something to eat.  I’m trying to eat at home more, but I’m terrible at planning my meals and I haven’t had a big grocery trip lately.  I found a pack of tuna and thought, ok, I can do something with this, but I don’t want to use mayo.  Hmm, I still had 1/2 an avocado from the day before, maybe i can use that?  This is where the Internet was oh so helpful. I figured someone had to have made tuna salad with avocado before, so I did a quick search to find some ideas.

The result of my searching is below and trust me blogland, it was DELICIOUS!
image

1 pack of tuna (2.6 oz)
1/2 avocado
1 tbsp Greek yogurt
Chopped onion
Splash of lemon juice
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mash avocado & mix with Greek yogurt until well mixed. Mix in onions & lemon juice. Once you have it all mixed well, add the tuna.

Thats it!  Now, eat up!  You can eat it by itself, eat it with crackers, eat it on a wrap, eat it on bread…any way you like it!  I ate the whole wrap, but it’s so filling I would have been happy to eat half with a cup of soup or with veggies or fruit. Lettuce & tomato would have completed this sandwich nicely, but alas, my fridge had neither.

Do you go meatless on Monday (or any day)?

In case you’ve been living under a rock, there’s a trend called Meatless Mondays. Basically, you go vegetarian just for the day. Here’s a cool infographic about it…

902503_558868764158061_79144345_o

I want to get back into the habit of Meatless Mondays, but I’m terrible about planning ahead and I want to do something different other than just black beans & avocado.  Which are a staple in this house and completely delicious, but I need to branch out a little.  Here are a couple of recipes I’m thinking about for dinner tonight…

Thai Black Pepper and Garlic Tofu

black-pepper-garlic-tofu(image & recipe source via Fat Free Vegan)

How delicious does that ^^^ look?!

OR

The Best Veggie Burger Ever
(the bold labeling of Best definitely makes me want to try it!)

BurgerComboFW(image & recipe source via V.K.Rees Photography)

and maybe one of these tofu nugget recipes for the kids…

Crispy Coconut Crusted Tofu with Mango Chili Cream(image & recipe via Vegalicious)

113511(image & recipe via Live.Learn.Love.Eat)

Then again, who am I kidding, it’s almost 11am here and I still need to get dressed, wash clothes, workout, eat lunch and go to Target.  Maybe this is on the menu for NEXT Monday.  😉

Go to lunch…Black Bean Salad

I’m all about the quick meals.  For two reasons mainly…I usually don’t start thinking about what to eat until I get hungry and I hate making a big mess that I’m going to have to clean up later.  One of my absolute favorite lunches (or dinners) is a black bean salad.  It’s super simple and tastes great!

(my lovely iPhone shot)

Ingredients:

1/2-3/4 cup of black beans (drained & rinsed)

8-10 grape tomatoes

chopped onion

avocado (optional)

EVOO

Balsamic vinegar

lime juice

salt

Throw the first 4 ingredients together, drizzle a tiny bit of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), a couple splashes of balsamic vinegar and several splashes of lime juice.  Then salt to taste.

It’s seriously, that simple!  I LOVE it!  The tang of the lime juice gets balanced out by the balsamic vinegar, but by adding a splash or two more of lime juice, you get a nice citrus-y taste that isn’t too tangy.