Recipe: Kale and Apple Salad

My boyfriend has started his annual garden. Filled with herbs and growing vegetables. This year we are trying tuscan kale. Right now, we had enough to harvest to make this amazing salad. Is it weird that fresh vegetables from the garden taste so much better?!

This recipe is so simple, yet so flavorful!

Direction/Ingredients

1 medium granny smith apple, stripped with a mandolin or julienne peeler
10-15 kale leaves, sliced long (medium sized)
1 handful of roughly diced walnuts or pecans

Dressing

2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 small lemon, juiced

Add the kale and apple in a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt and mix. Add all the dressing ingredients in a bowl, mix with a whisk, and add to the salad. Toss and then add some freshly cracked pepper! Top with pecans and/or walnuts. I love the extra crunch it gives!

Recipe: Chicken Pozole

My boyfriend love "Diners, Dives, and Drives". We basically spend most of our weekend nights watching it in bed trying to find recipe ideas or vacation food spots.

Today they aired an episode where pozole was featured in cooked. We didn't have hominy, so we basically made our own variation

Chicken Pozole Recipe

Ingredients

1 tbs mexican oregano
1tbs cumin
1 tbs dried hatch chili (optional)
4 chicken breasts
4 32oz of chicken broth
1 large onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, diced
1 tbs of canola oil
2 cans of corn
3 small russet potatoes, diced (optional - but so good)

Sauce

1 lb of tomatillos,
1 dried chipotle pepper, rehydrated (basically means bringing it back to life in boiling water)
2 poblano peppers, grilled
3 jalapenos, grilled (optional, can add less or more)
2 small onions, grilled
1 handful of cilantro sprigs
2 romaine lettuce leaves

Get a stockpot hot, add canola oil and wait till it becomes hot. Once sizzling, add your onions and garlic with all the dried seasonings until translucent. Add the broth and uncooked chicken breasts. Let the chicken breasts boil (probably 20 minutes, but this depends on your stove, so keep checking until they are boiled completely) Once, the chicken is cooked, remove them from the soup, shred, and toss back in.

Meanwhile, blend the sauce ingredients until it has a salsa consistency. Put the sauce aside, and get two cans of corn, drained to be put in the soup.

This is optional, but we also diced 3 small russet potatoes (peeled). It adds a great consistency to the soup and makes it heartier (since there aren't any beans in it)

Add the corn and potatoes with 2 tbs of the sauce. Let cook for 10-15 minutes and then add the remainder of the sauce. We added 3 jalapenos because we like our food spicy, but it's really all about preference. Add a dash of salt and pepper and let the soup summer for another 10-15 minutes.

Garnish

1 radish, thinly sliced
1 handful of cilantro
1 avocado, diced
1 slice of lime

Once the soup is done, pour into a soup bowl and add the garnishments. Serve immediately.

Recipe: Avocado Chicken Salad in Romaine Cups

I'm not the healthiest eater, but when I go to the gym, I need to eat something healthy to feel that my workout made a difference. I wasn't sure what I wanted to make today, but saw my rotisserie chicken in the fridge and decided on avocado chicken salad.

A lot of people ask me if it's as creamy as mayo and/or yogurt. If you get a well ripened avocado, you should have no problem reaching that consistency.

Avocado Chicken Salad

Ingredients - makes about 8 romaine cups

1/2 avocado
1 1/2 cup of chopped rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 handful of cilantro
1/2 lime
1/2 jalapeno, deseeded and diced
1/2 tsp of red onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced small
Dash of salt and pepper to taste
8 romaine lettuce leaves

Directions

Add all of these ingredients (sans romaine) in a bowl and mix well! I tend to use my hands to get all the avocado mixed in well with the chicken. Lay out each romaine lettuce leaf and add a spoonful of chicken salad. I rolled my lettuce to eat like a wrap. Way less messy!

Quick Kale Salad Recipe

I love an easy weeknight salad! I had some kale at home and decided to make a quick salad for dinner. It's healthy and low-carb!

Recipe

1 bunch of kale thinly sliced
1 granny smith chopped lengthwise
1/2 cup of walnuts, pistachios or pine nuts

Dressing

2 tbs olive oil
3 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs lemon zest
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp pepper

If you don't have time to make a dressing, the Dean and Deluca Pear Vinaigrette is an amazing alternative! I use that if I have a long night at work. However, I do advocate making your own since it eliminates preservatives.

Mix all ingredients together, serve immediately.

*** You can add some fresh grated parmesan cheese or pecorino romano to the salad. I'm just not a huge pungent cheese fan since it diminishes some of the healthiness of the salad but it's all preference.