Avocado Mango Black Bean Salad

Above is a picture of a salad that Esther and I enjoyed for lunch a few weeks ago.

It had never crossed my mind to put mango in a salad, but we went over to a friends house a few weeks ago, and they had put mango in a salad with avocado as well.

We both loved it, and decided we needed to make that salad again at home with those two ingredients!

To add some protein, I added black beans, and for extra flavor, I topped it off with a Cumin/Lemon Olive Oil dressing. Yum!

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Here is a salad were the base is not lettuce! It was a nice change of pace at lunch for Hannah and I last week. We both love tahini so that's why we dolloped a little on top, if you prefer to leave it out I would recommend a good olive oil and garlic dressing for a little more moisture! It was a really quick lunch to put together once the quinoa was cooked, we left it warm but you could make it ahead of time and use it cold. Also one last side note, the tomatoes and kale were freshly picked from our garden!!!!Our Mom has a amazing green thumb:-) It's such a blessing to have fresh produce right in our back yard.

^{Genesis 1:11-12}

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Serves:1

1/4c. dry quinoa, cooked

3 leaves of fresh kale, de-ribbed chopped and steamed till al dente

1/4 c. cooked garbanzo beans

4 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

5 kalamata olives, sliced in half

1 1/2 tsp. tahini paste ( Made from Sesame seeds)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Place cooked quinoa in a pile on plate, top with kale and garbanzo beans. Scatter tomatoes nicely over the top. Drop tahini in a nice looking 'drop' on top!

Italian "Pasta" Lunch

Quick and easy Italian "pasta" salad

1/2 zucchini peeled with a veggie peeler ( makeing what lookes like pasta strips)
5 chopped olives
1/2 tomato
1T. balsamic dressing

Top zucchini pasta with remaining ingredients, and eat!

Serves 1

A nice quick lunch for a spring cleaning day!

After posting so many not so healthy recipes in a row we have decided to give you all a break and post some good healthful ones:) We had this for lunch and thought it was worthy of a blog post. If you don't like raw fish in your sushi give this combo a try, I really liked the radishes Hannah shredded and put in it as well as the idea of putting the red pepper dip on the kelp noodles! Hannah and I like to make hand held sushi because its way easier then the real stuff and quick to make when you don't have much time, like we had today:) We have been are on spring cleaning frenzy, I think it's all the warm weather we are having. In the next couple days we will try to post some more recipes, and this time they will be healthier then the last couple we've done:)

Hand Held Sushi

Serves:2

2 sheets of nori, soy or seaweed

1/2 cup shredded radishes

1/2 cup shredded carrots

2 small green onions,sliced

1-2 lettuce leaves, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons tahini (ground up sesame seeds)

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Kelp noodle salad

Serves:2

1 cup raw kelp noodles

2-4 Tablespoons of raw red pepper dip

tahini

raw seasame seeds

In a small bowl mix radishes,carrots,green onions,tahini and soy sauce. Mix till blended. Drop onto nori and sprinkle lettuce on top. Wrap up. For the Kelp noodle salad put noodles on plate and top with red pepper dip, tahini and seasame seeds. Serve the sushi and salad together. You might also want a little soy sauce for the salad as well as the sushi!

Cilantro Cumin Dip

Well ya'll, we are updating! We had a couple of things get canceled this week so we had a bit of free time today, enjoy the post!
Cilantro Cumin Dip


1/2c. seeds I used sesame
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
1T. apple cider vinegar
1T. cumin
1/8c. chopped onion
sea salt
1/2c. water

Blend all the above ingredients in you blender till smooth..........enjoy with veggies, chips, or add a little more water or olive oil and use as a salad dressing!

Sweet Potato Cherve Wanut Salad with Creamy Balsalmic Dressing

Yummy! This Salad was so scrumptious! On Tuesday of last week we had sweet potatoes for lunch, so on Wednesday we decided to use up the leftover baked sweet potatoes on a salad. Esther and I thought of some changes that we would make if we were to have more time to prepare it; Grill the baked Sweet Potatoe slices, ( they would need to be a little al dente to do this so they wouldn't fall apart) Toast the Walnuts, and use cranberry Cherve cheese, and maybe sprinkle with a few dries cranberries.

What do you normally do with sweet potatoes?


Here is the recipe: serves 1-2 depending on how hungry you are!

21/2c. of baby spinach
1 sweet potato cooked then cut into 1/4in. slices
1/4c. crumbled cherve cheese
2T. walnuts

Top spinach with remaining ingredients, and drizzle with dressing.

The dressing
2T. balsamic vinegar
2t. sour cream
2t. olive oil
pepper

Mix and store in refridgerator

Fig and Apple Salad

The combinations in this salad are so satisfying! You also might like to try this with some toasted pecans or walnuts, and exchange the cheese for smoked Gruyère or Gorgonzola crumbles.

For a different dressing I would like a Honeyed Balsamic, or Vinegar and Oil, with a bit of pepper and salt to taste........

Hannah

Fig and Apple Salad

Lettuce

Apples

Figs

Goat Cheese

Dressing: We used a Raspberry Wasabi Mustard Dressing

Minty Fruit Salad

8c. Chopped Fruit of your choice; I used strawberries, peaches, apples, grapes, and oranges.

1t. vanilla

1 1/2T. Agave

2T. chopped fresh mint leaves

2t. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Mix together all ingredients and serve!

Cool Tuna Avocado Salad

Tuna Burgers

2 can of tuna

1T. green onions chopped

1/2t. salt

1/2t. pepper

1-2t. soy sauce

1/4c. oats

1 egg

Mix together all the ingredients then shape into 6 patties. Cook in a oiled skillet and fry until browned and crisped.

Creamy Avocado Dressing

1/2-1 avocado

1t. salt

1t. lime juice

1/4c. olive oil

2T. onion

Put in blender and blend till smooth.

Toppings for salad: Shredded carrots; about 1 large. 2 green onions chopped.

Top lettuce with the tuna patties, shredded carrots, chopped green onions and dressing.

Serves 4

Refreshing Summer Salad

This salad is great for summer when all fruit is in season!

We just chopped some romaine lettuce and topped it with:

Coarselychopped Cashews
Coarsely chopped Macadamia nuts
Diced Oranges
Diced Apples
and Poppy Seed dressing( we made up the recipe but don't know the measurements)

The dressing contained, yogurt,honey, poppy seeds, sour cream, and a little milk I believe?:) That's what happens when you don't write things down..........

You could change this salad around by adding what ever fresh fruit you have on hand, or any other nuts you might like better. Enjoy!

Taco Salad

Here is one of our favorite summer meals! Taco Salad! To create this salad, we top lettuce with guacamole, cheddar cheese, sour cream, salsa, and or pica di gio, ground venison/beef/turkey ( your preference!) and serve it with chips or cornbread!

Garlic dressing

2 clove minced garlic
1/4c. Parmesan cheese
1/2c. Olive oil
1/4t. salt
1/4t. pepper
1/2t. oregano dried
1/4t. thyme dried
1-2T. mayo (opt. we didn't use it)
1T. lemon juice

Blend all the ingredients, and serve over lettuce. Store in refrigerator

Sunflower Seed Salad

Ingredients for 4 serving

-3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
-1 spring onion
-2 tbsp fresh dill or 1-2t. dried
-1 tbsp fresh parsley or 1t. dried
-1 cucumber

dressing
-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
-1 lemon
-1tlb mustard (prepared)
-1 crushed garlic clove
-pinch of salt
-1/2tsp onion powder [optional]

First you have to soak the sunflower seeds for about 2 hours. Then put them in the food processor and grind them up for a few seconds [ don't powder them!] Mix it with the rest of the ingredients[dill, parsley, ] that you chopped up in small pieces and now add the cucumber and pulse till chopped, and combined. Make the dressing combining the dressing ingredients in your blender until its smooth. Add the dressing to your sunflower mixture and toss. Top the sunflower mixture onto the chilled cucumber mixture. Enjoy!

Creamy Mushroom Potato Salad with a Kick!

Typically Esther and I don't care for the traditional potato salad, I do like potatoes though, and spicy things....................so I decided to create my own version of potato salad. Everyone raved on Memorial day about this! Please try it...................................
Chef Hannah




2lb. of cooked scrubbed potatoes cut into slices while still hot!
2 1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2c. chopped fresh parsley
1t. pepper
1t. salt
1/2c. sliced green onions
2c. sauteed mushrooms ( in pepper and garlic salt)
4 jalapeno peppers diced


Mix all the ingredients together and serve warm...............................Serves 8 with a little leftover:)