Avocado Potato Salad

With the summer season approaching and Memorial Day Weekend bringing back memories of cookouts, potato salad and outdoor grilling, I once again found myself craving several dishes that spark that nostalgia. Even though I'm not a heavy potato person anymore, potato salad was one of the first that came to mind. But, dude, I can't bring myself to buy and eat the huge jar of Miracle Whip anymore! As good as Mom's potato salad sounds, I needed a life hack to get my kicks.

Enter in Greek yogurt. We know the wonders of using it as a creamy replacement so it was just a matter of spicing it up and making it taste reminiscent enough to hit the sweet spot. And it worked for me! Even Alice has been devouring it (and now claims she likes avocado ... But we'll see about that).

While not as healthy as it possible could be, I say it's healthy enough for me to feel okay indulging in this traditional dish! Also note that I love a mustard version so adjust your mustard to your tastes. Enjoy!

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Avocado Potato Salad

5 large russet potatoes - skinned, diced

1/2 red onion - diced

2 celery stalks - diced

1 avocado - chopped

1 lemon - juiced

1/2 cup bread and butter pickles - chopped

6 hard boiled eggs (yolks for dressing)

Dressing:

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt

1/8 c. Milk 

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. yellow mustard

1 tbsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. onion powder

Black pepper

Yolks from eggs

Dash of sea salt

Soak the avocado in lemon juice to help keep from browning (about 45 minutes to an hour) and add juice and avocado to the bowl. Boil potatoes until soft. Boil, peel eggs and chop the whites while adding the yolks to the dressing. Combine all top ingredients in a big bowl.

In a separate bowl, add all dressing ingredients and combine well. Pour over potato bowl mixture and gently combine until everything is coated and lovely.

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You can't screw up potato salad! Just add more or less of the seasonings contingent on taste. Even add a bit of the pickle juice if you need it sweeter. I love the variety from one person to the next when I try new people's versions!

Challenge Friendly: NO. But it sure beats a mayo heavy dish!

Chopped Thai Chicken Salad

HOLY SPICY-NESS BATMAN! I've been dying to make this since I pinned it on Pinterest and finally did. Now, I'm not a super awesome-can-handle-spicy-gal but I like a little hot here and there. Needless to say that my addition of a full serrano pepper was NOT the little spice I wanted ... but I ate it anyway ... as fast as I could ... because that's what you do with spicy food once you start mowing down!

I love love love this recipe from Pinch of Yum but I didn't add everything she did since I didn't have it on hand. My green onions I thought I had DIED. I totally forgot to get fresh cilantro from the store so I used my cilantro paste instead (can be found next the real herbs in the produce section). And I couldn't find a green mango or papaya so no fruit in this bad boy. I do like her suggestions of chopping and adding other crunchy veggies like cucumber or zucchini. I think yellow peppers might even make a good addition.

So here is how I made it today. Honey instead of sugar. No green onions, so I used red onion. Very thinly sliced and diced my cabbage (because who wants to eat a big leaf of raw cabbage? That stuff hard to chew!). The kicker is the dressing. HANDS DOWN. Throw whatever you want into the salad, the dressing is what makes it. Also: thank goodness again for my slap-choppy-thingy because getting my baby carrots, onions, hot pepper, and peanuts diced down was a snap. And life hack today: natural canned chicken in water. You gotta do what you can as you can.

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Chopped Thai Chicken Salad

• 1 Chicken Breast (boiled and chopped/shredded OR 1-20 oz. can natural chicken in water)
• 1/4 head of a big white cabbage - sliced thin or grated
• 1 large carrot or 1 c. baby carrots
• 1 green papaya (if you can find it!)
• 1/2 c. fresh cilantro
• 1/2 c. onions - diced
• 1/2 c. peanuts - chopped

Dressing:

• 2 cloves garlic - minced
• 1 serrano pepper - minced
• 2 tbsp. liquid aminos
• 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (or white)
• 1 tbsp. raw honey
• 1/2 a lime - squeezed
• 1 tbsp. EVOO
• ½ teaspoon fish sauce (found in the Asian section)
• ¼ cup peanut butter
• ¼ cup water

Slice, dice, shred, grate and make a happy salad with the crunchy stuff and chicken.

I put all the ingredients for the dressing in the processor and blended them until combined. You can use a blender for that too.

Pour over the salad and mix everything together.

Made 4 portions.

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I was prepping this at lightning speed trying to get it done so Dave could take some with him but that didn't happen. It still took me about 10-15 to throw together so prep is minimal.

I seriously would cut back on the hot pepper if you can't handle spice. If you don't have a hot pepper sitting around, you could use pepper flakes instead.

Also the honey: it offsets the vinegar and makes it more palatable so for as small of an amount as it is, I'm calling it ok for this dish!

I would love to have it with the papaya so if anyone sees a small green papaya around, tell me!

Challenge-Friendly: YES. I'm on Day #5 of my cleanse and this was awesome!

Lime Turkey Burgers and Bruschetta

I had a entire bag full of yellow and red tomatoes my mom gave me from her garden and the yellows were on the VERGE. So what did I do? I made bruschetta ... without bread. I mean, the best part of a bruschetta is the balsamic flavoring anyways, so why waste that goodness on a starchy, bread carb? Ok, I like it on bread, but seeing as this was Day #2 of the cleanse, bread wasn't an option! BUT OMG THIS HIT THE SPOT. I did grill the turkey patties and I now wish I would have pan cooked them because they dried out really easy.

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Bruschetta Mix

5 mid-sized Red Tomatoes
5 mid-sized Yellow Tomatoes
1 mid-sized Green Tomato
1/2 Red Onion

1/4 c. Baslamic Vinegar
1/8 c. EVOO
2-3 cloves Garlic - minced
2 tbsp. Basil or fresh leaves

Slice, dice and throw everything together. Shake up and let set so the flavors combine.

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Lime Turkey Burgers

1 lb. lean ground turkey
1 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Corriander
1 tbsp. Basil
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tbsp. minced garlic
Black Pepper
1/2 Lime - squeeze the juice

Combine all the ingredients until you reach patty-making consistency. Pat out 4-5 patties (I got 5 out of mine). They will be moist but they should retain shape if you worked the meat well.

Grill until done or pan cook until juices run clear.

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Whole Grain Rice 

1 c. whole grain rice (feeds more than 2 people in my house)
2 c. water
1-2 cloves of Garlic
Basil
1 tbsp. chicken stock starter (healthy food store - no msg)
1/2 Lime - squeeze the juice in

Combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. The rice I use cooks at a simmer for 15-20 minutes (quick rice is faster!). Let set for 5 minutes and serve.

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I was surprised the Turkey Patties stayed together because they were pretty wet, but they did! The grill just leached all the moisture out of them unfortunately. The bruschetta was kickass and pretty easy considering you just had to cut the stuff up, combine and let set (I like my "salads" to marinate). The leftover patties went into our lunches. I had no lettuce left so we had just bruschetta, turkey and avocado leftovers for lunch today. Hey: I was perfectly fine with that!

Challenge Friendly: YES! And filling!

Greek Style Salad and Dressing

This is a repost from my Challenge blog. I used this dressing for Meal #2 from that chicken I made to last for 4 meals.

So I took the salad greens I had and made the base. Added cucumber, chopped tomatoes, red onion slices and extra kalamata olives all cut up (add peppers for extra flavor). Chicken on top. And this dressing was pretty darn good. (Not Challenge friendly option: top with a sprinkle of feta cheese!)

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Greek Dressing

4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp pepper
Squeeze of Lemon juice

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Challenge Friendly: YES

Garlic Basil Dressing

Something simple to whip up! We were having a veggie salad with avocado as our "meat" and I wanted some flavor to shake it up. The salad is simple: my normal organic spring/spinach mix from the store, tri-peppers, red onion, cucumber and avocado. Add the dressing and Viola! Success!

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Garlic Basil Vinaigrette

1/4 cup EVOO
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1-2 garlic cloves pressed or minced
2 tbsp. Sweet basil (use fresh if you have it!)
Black Pepper

(Optional and not Challenge friendly: 1/8 cup feta cheese)

Mix or process well and pour. More than enough for 2+ salads.

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I love garlic. I love basil. I love feta. I love flavor!

Note: I like to adapt dressing to go with dinner sometimes. When I do that, I always either: A. don't use vinegar at all or B. just cut the vinegar measurement in half.

Super Simple Tuna Salad

It's amazing how after you have retrained your palate, some foods just don't taste right anymore. Take Miracle Whip, for example. I grew up with that awesomeness on my bologna sandwiches, in my egg salad, tuna salad, potato salad ... and now I try to use it and it's waaaaaay to sweet and creamy! *sadness* BUT I have found ways around it by using Greek yogurt to add the creaminess to my dishes so I'm totally comfortable with the substitution. The only thing with yogurt is that you have to flavor it up a touch.

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Super Simple Tuna Salad

1 small can albacore tuna
1 tbsp. Greek yogurt
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. dill (I <3 dill!!)
1 tsp. Dijon mustard (or just a squirt)
1 tbsp. sweet relish

Mix together. Place in tomato for lunch or throw into a wrap.

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I'm a pickle whore. I lovvvve pickle or relish in my cold salad mix and it not only adds flavor, but those 4 grams of sugar are enough to satiate my sweet tooth now.

You may catch a glimpse of cheese at the bottom of my wrap. It's not necessary! But I wanted it today (some habits die hard even if I'm not using Miracle Whip!). And there is a smear of hummus on the very bottom for some extra flavor.

No matter what: don't forget your veggies! It may be tempting to leave them off ... But your body needs them :)

Talapia and Mango Salad

I have a special love for raw, cold salads that include fruit and citrus based dressings. There's something about it that make me feel like I might be able sit outside and survive the dry summer if I shovel it into my mouth. But then again, probably not! I'll sit inside and enjoy it in the comfort of my AC, please.

This is a great combo that not only fills you up but helps you feel like you ate light and cool after a hot day in the sun.

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Simple Fish Marinade

2 full Talapia filets
1/4 cup EVOO
1 lime (cut and squeeze juice)
1-2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp. coriander
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. basil
1 tbsp. rosemary
1 tbsp. agave (optional)

Combine everything in a baggie or pan and let marinade for 1-24+ hours.

Warm frying pan on medium/high heat with a touch of EVOO and place filets in pan to cook. About 5-6 minutes each side. You want the filets to flake when they are done.

Cold Mango Salad

1 cucumber (skin on or off is your choice)
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 orange pepper
1/2 green pepper
1 mango or 1 cup mango (frozen)
1/2 cup red onion
1 cup red cabbage (thinly sliced and diced - OPTIONAL)

1 lime (cut and squeeze juice)
1/8 cup EVOO
1/8 cup white vinegar
1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tbsp. dill
1 tbsp. rosemary
1 tbsp. basil

Dice all the veggies and mango up and place in a sealable bowl with the marinade mixture above. Toss with lid on and let set in the fridge for at least 4 hours to let the juice and vinegar do its work flavoring the salad. Serve cold with fish.

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Some things to remember: when I cook I use approximate measurements. I'm really bad about pulling out my cups an spoons and generally eyeball based on how I know what I'm adding is going flavor a dish. So feel free to add or subtract to your taste. Generally, I'm actually not using as much EVOO as I think which is a good thing!

The red cabbage in the salad is a great way to bulk it up and keep it light with some crunch. I LOVE red cabbage after it's been soaking in a vinegar mix mmmmmmmm