cilantro spinach chickpea salad {by laurie}

hi everyone!  i'm laurie, one of jenn's friends from way back in the day.  (believe it or not, jenn and i have known each other since fifth grade!)  for as long as i can remember, jenn and i have loved to eat . . . really, who doesn't?  so, i was so excited when she told me she was starting a collaborative food blog.  i am trilled to join the team and to be able to share some recipes here!

i absolutely love cooking and baking.  for as long as i can remember back, i have been helping my mom in the kitchen.  my mom is absolutely amazing when it comes to food, and i definitely get my love of being in the kitchen from her.  now that i'm married, i love being able to cook and bake with my husband too.  we have so much fun creating recipes together for our family and friends.

i share tons of recipes as well as snapshots of my daily life over on my blog love, laurie so be sure to stop by and say hi sometime.

so . . . let's get down to business.  the real reason that i'm here is to tell you about this salad.  since it has been so hot the past few days, i haven't been in the mood for heavy meals.  so the other day for dinner i made this chickpea salad with cilantro and spinach.  it was so light and refreshing (and healthy too)!  ryan has already requested that i make it again soon.  i have a feeling that this salad is going to be a staple in our house over the summer!

cilantro spinach chickpea salad
prep time: 10 minutes
yields: 4 servings

ingredients:
2 15-ounce cans of chickpeas
4 cups of fresh spinach
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
dash of salt
dash of pepper

directions:
drain and rinse the chickpeas.  place the chickpeas in a bowl and set aside.  in a food processor, add the spinach and pulse until finely chopped.  add the chopped spinach to the bowl with the chickpeas.
in the food processor, add the cilantro, onion, lime juice, sugar, olive oil, garlic powder, and onion powder.  pulse until smooth.  pour the cilantro dressing over the spinach and chickpeas.  stir well.  season with salt and pepper to taste.

*you can see my original post of this recipe here on my blog.

enjoy!

love, laurie

Zucchini Bread Pancakes

Ingredients1. c all purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (we didn't have so I used a sprinkle of ginger)
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 c. zucchini, shredded
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp butter, melted

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, zucchini, vanilla, and melted butter. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until well-combined.
2. Coat a griddle with butter or spray with cooking spray and set to medium-high heat. Drop 1/4 c. of batter onto the griddle; cook 1-2 minutes on each side, until brown and cooked through.

Pesto Sauce

Shayna was able to get me a whole ton of fresh basil for pesto this week. Here is my recipe:

Basil Leaves (2 or 3 cups packed)

Extra Virgin Olive oil

1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

3 large cloves of garlic

kosher salt to taste

Rinse the basil leaves and remove any stems/buds. Put in blender or food processor. Next add olive oil, I usually start with 1/3 cup and then add more (if needed) so that it starts to process/blend. Add in cheese, nuts, garlic, and salt and process until smooth. That's it!

Now, what to do with the pesto sauce?

- toss with pasta: add in some more Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese

- make a sandwich: roasted red pepper, spinach, a slice of fresh mozzarella

- drizzle on eggs (for real, it's good)

- make a cream sauce: add pesto to some butter/heavy cream

- make a red sauce: add pesto to red sauce (maybe use to make lasagna)

- baked pasta and vegis: in a casserole dish toss cooked pasta, pesto, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced summer squash, spinach, (any other vegis you have?) and sprinkle mozz. cheese on top, bake till vegis are tender

- add pesto into homemade meatballs

- use as a topping for burgers

- pesto pizza? yes please!

- pesto combined with butter (maybe a topping for corn on the cob)

- pesto in your tuna melt? why not?

- pesto and clam sauce on linguine

- a spoonful of pesto stirred into homemade (ore store bought) hummus, dip fresh vegis in :)

- pesto cornbread: add three tablespoons into the batter and bake as normal

- pesto as a topping for a baked potato

- rub into chicken before baking

ALSO, pesto freezes great! At the end of last summer I made a whole ton and froze it in an ice cube tray. Once frozen I popped out the little cubes of pesto and stored in a freezer zip lock bag. We had fresh pesto all winter (actually, I think it only lasted till February, this summer I'll freeze more!)

Maple Carrots

Not too sweet and very delicious!

8-9 Carrots (washed, peeled, and cut into 1/4 inch circles)
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer covered for 8-9 minutes and then uncovered for another 4-5 minutes or until juices reduce to a glaze. Enjoy!

Honey Corn Muffins

I woke up wanting corn muffins last Saturday and upon initial inspection, I had everything I needed for the recipe I found online here. I started mixing everything up and got down the milk when I realized that we didn't actually have any. Since I'd already started and was committed to my muffins, I made a quick Turkey Hill run, and we were good to go- so good, in fact, that after these scrumptious muffins were devoured (by the end of the day Sunday), I decided to make another batch! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
*The 2nd time I made them, I added about a teaspoon of cinnamon into the mix. Yum!

Equipment:
Muffin tin, paper muffin cups, mixer (or a spatula/whisk), mixing bowl (I used my Tupperware Mix N' Stor Pitcher, which is quickly turning into my very favorite TW tool).

Here's What You Do:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Into a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, butter, and honey. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. (Add cinnamon here if you'd like)

Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Evenly divide the cornbread mixture into the papers. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

If eating at a later time, warm up in the microwave (or even better, the toaster), top with butter or jelly, and indulge. Happy Summer!

Fruit Kabobs

We made these a few weeks ago when we had friends over and I've been hoarding the pics without sharing their delicious sweetness (sorry for the delay). I was between making cookies and brownies and ran to the store for a few things when I spontaneously nixed both ideas and decided on fruit. Fruit and dip. I didn't want to buy dip though, so I pulled out my trusty (well, most of the time, anyway) iPhone and looked up dip recipes. I decided on one that had:

an 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
a 7 oz. jar of marshmallow fluff

Not the healthiest dip, but keep in mind that we only used a tiny bit per bite of fruit, maybe, and that I still have more sitting in my fridge (although I think it's about ready to go by now)

Anyway, you just blend them up, it gets fluffy and sweet (but not too sweet) and according to Kyle, you can't even taste the cream cheese (which is good, bc he doesn't like it).

It was a hit, and the last-minute bamboo sticks that I grabbed at Giant (i think they were only $.99 and will last us awhile) were fun to load up with all kinds of fruit. We put out apples, strawberries, grapes and mango, all amazingly sweet and fresh :)

Just a nice Summery idea, and there are tons of dip recipes online (including one for a pumpkin spice dip which I think I'll pull up again in the fall...mmm)

Saladstravaganza!

Most of the time, when I go to the usual meat-based mealtime restaurants and ask for something vegetarian, I'm pointed to the one item on the menu without meat - the iceberg lettuce salad. I've spent most of my life hating salad and excluding meat from my diet hasn't done much to change this. However, this year I'm challenging myself to really jump on the salad bandwagon. They're such a versatile way to incorporate a large helping of fruit and vegetables into any diet. The hard part is getting creative.

In an effort to motivate myself, I've been growing "salad bowls" on my back stoop complete with a red leaf lettuce, mescalin, and baby spinach mix. Tonight, I harvested and washed a bowl of greens and made the following Mediterranean-inspired salad:

Ingredients
3-4 cups loose greens
1/3 cup red seedless grapes
3 tbsp halved sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
3 marinated artichoke hearts
a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar
a sprinkle of olive oil

Toss and chow down.

Due to the ease of assembly and the delicious results, I see many more salad-laden nights to come! I totally intend to dig in to these recipes next. What are your favorite salad creations?