Italian Zoodle Salad

Zoodles are my thing!  Now that we are slowly (super duper slowly) creeping toward warmer weather, zucchini plants will start producing this awesome veggie and I will be in zoodle heaven!  

 My desire for fresh cool salads increases in hot weather and I created this Italian Zoodle Salad recipe so that I could enjoy a fresh, delicious, nutrient dense salad.  

First, I spiralize a couple of small zucchini and place the zoodles in a bowl or in this case, because we were going camping, a plastic container.
*Tip: Costco now carries frozen spiralized zucchini noodles :)

Then, open a can of black olives, slice each olive in half and add to the zoodles.  

Thinly slice a red onion and throw that in with the zoodles.

And then add shredded carrots.

Tip:  I use organic pre-shredded carrots to make my life simple.  Fred Meyer and Walmart both carry shredded carrots that are organic. 

I make my own Italian dressing in a jar and shake it up really good after adding all the ingredients. 

Lastly, add the Italian Dressing and stir. Let marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours to get the full flavor absorbed into the veggies.  Stir occasionally to keep coating all the veggies.  Enjoy!

Italian Zoodle Recipe

2 small zucchini, spiralized

1 6 oz can of large pitted black olives

1 medium red onion

1 cup of shredded carrots

Dressing

1/2 cup of avocado or olive oil

1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon of honey

1 teaspoon of salt

Place all veggies in a bowl and mix.  Set aside.

For the dressing, add all ingredients to a mason jar.  

Shake until well blended.  

Pour the Italian Dressing over the mixed veggies. 

Stir very well coating all of the veggies with the dressing.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Spaghetti Salad With Garden Fresh Produce

This morning was such a beautiful September morning.  Since I know the cold weather is not too far away I stayed outside enjoying the sun to the fullest.  I took a short bike ride first.  Then, of course, this time of year there is always a good amount of work to do in the gardens and the flowerbeds so I got busy pulling weeds.  My rewards for the effort I put into the garden this morning were tomatoes, cucumbers, and a sweet red pepper. 

I decided to use my freshly picked produce and last nights left over spaghetti noodles to make a cold spaghetti salad.  I Googled some recipes on line and got a few ideas.  The recipes I found all called for bottled Italian dressing and I never have that on hand since I make most things from scratch.  I prefer to make things homemade because then I can choose which oils and other ingredients go into the recipe.  Healing with nutrition is important to me, so cooking the food myself is always the best plan.

I used olive oil for its amazing health benefits along with red wine vinegar for the dressing.  The fresh veggies are just picked and full of vitamins and flavor.  The garlic and paprika are known for calming inflammation in the body. So this salad is a winner for staying healthy.   What I came up with is absolutely delicious and I hope you give it a try. 

Cold Spaghetti Salad

12 oz cooked whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 heaping teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 large tomatoes
1 large cucumber
1 sweet bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange)

To make the dressing, mix the oil, vinegar, paprika, garlic, salt, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and nectar.  Whisk the together well.  Pour the dressing over the cooked spaghetti noodles. 

Cut up the tomatoes, cucumber, and pepper into small pieces.  Add them, along with the Parmesan into the spaghetti and mix well.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally. 

The first day of summer 2012

I love summer and today is the official first day of the season that brings....
sunshine
     warmth
          flowers
               vegetable garden
                    strawberry patch
                        time at the lake
                              barbecues in the backyard with family and friends. 


It is just a low key and relaxing season.  Everything about summer says "slow down and relax."  Today is our first sunny day in a couple of weeks and we have been enjoying every second of it out in our yard working on our landscaping project, which I might add is very relaxing for both of us.  Today, several truck loads of soil gave us our workout.  Well mostly my husband got the workout :)  But, now comes the really fun part...planting flowers and shrubs.  

After the work was completed we enjoyed lunch out on the patio while admiring our project.  Truthfully, I think I spend more time admiring projects than actually working on them.  Lunch was a big salad made with fresh lettuce from our garden and an ice cold glass of sun tea. The salad has kalamata olives, avocado, and olive oil that are all rich in healthy fat which helps calm inflammation in the body and tastes amazing as well.  

Fresh Summer Salad

3 cups of torn lettuce (your favorite kind)
12 kalamata olives, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
3 hard boiled eggs, diced (I only use the cooked egg white)
3 ounces of shredded cheese (I used pepper jack for a little extra zip)
Balsamic Vinaigrette (1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and olive oil whisked together)

Split all ingredients evenly between 2 plates.  Place lettuce on plate. Sprinkle the olives, avocado and egg whites over the lettuce.  Then sprinkle the cheese over the top.  Finish with Balsamic Vinaigrette. Enjoy!

Honey Lime Dressing and Shrimp Kabobs for May Day

Yesterday was a perfect sunny May day with a temperature of 82 degrees. My husband and I went and bought veggie plants for the raised beds and flowers for the pots in front of the house.  We stayed outside in the yard all day planting and soaking up the sunshine. I always enjoy planting day!

Since it was such a gorgeous evening we decided to make shrimp kabobs with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and of course shrimp rubbed with BBQ Rub.  We grilled the kabobs, put them over lettuce and then drizzled Lime Honey Dressing over the top.  Yummy....delicious.  Perfect ending to a great summer day. 

*Now that BBQ weather is here I made a big batch of my BBQ Rub and stored it in a container to use as a rub for chicken, pork, and steak. It's made with spices that are very anti-inflammatory and tastes amazing. 

Honey Lime Dressing

1/2 cup Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
Combine all ingredients until smooth

A scrumptious day the anti-inflammatory way!

Eating an anti-inflammatory diet is a fun challenge for me in the kitchen.  I enjoy changing recipes and experimenting with spices and ingredients that take a dish to the anti-inflammatory side.  Sometimes its a win and sometimes....well not so much.

Here is a day full of "wins."

For breakfast I started out with Natures Path Organic Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola cereal with a heaping tablespoon of vanilla yogurt.  This is a bowl full of inflammation fighting goodness.

For lunch I whipped up the Inflammation Fighting Tuna Salad.  Delicious! 

Dinner actually made me giddy.  I haven't been this excited about a meal in a while.  This is Moroccan Inspired Chicken Thighs.  It is absolutely amazing over basmati rice.  The cinnamon, ginger, and cumin are all super inflammation fighters and the flavors complimented this dish perfectly.



Eating an anti-inflammatory diet is obviously filled with delicious meals throughout each and every day.  No need to be sad about eating this way when you can enjoy scrumptious days like this one!





Mediterranean Quinoa Salad: Anniversary getaway in Leavenworth, WA

My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this past weekend.  A favorite destination point of ours is Leavenworth, WA.  It is a Bavarian town tucked away in the mountains.  It is beautiful and the German food is delicious.  So we packed up our pop up trailer and our Schnoodle Sparky,

and headed to Leavenworth.  We had a beautiful camping spot right on the Icicle River. 

Look at our view from the trailer window.  The river at night was so gorgeous that I couldn't sleep.  I just kept looking at it in awe.  

We hiked and golfed and ate, ate, and oh ya....we ate some more.  I knew ahead of time that I would not be eating very anti-inflammatory and would probably suffer just a little bit.  Once a year, for great German schnitzel and spaetzle with mushroom gravy, it's worth it!.  Since I eat pretty good most of the time I don't have a lot of pain when I stray from my anti-inflammatory diet, but I did have some by the time we returned home.   So, naturally I hopped right back into eating great.  I started with some amazing cherries that we purchased on our way home at a fruit stand.  They are so very anti-inflammatory and do a great job at calming down inflammation.


Then I whipped up some salmon croquettes and quinoa salad.

 

The salmon, of course, is full of omega 3's which calm inflammation, plus I add flax seed.  The quinoa salad has a lemon vinaigrette made with olive oil and kalamata olives.  Both of those are very anti-inflammatory.  I was asked about the inflammation factor of quinoa and I honestly do not know.  Quinoa is packed with iron and protein and is so good for you that I have included it in my diet.  The olive oil, olives and salmon definitely add so much anti-inflammatory action in this meal that you do not need to worry about Quinoa.  Just enjoy the meal and the benefits. 

Here is the recipe for my Mediterranean Quinoa Salad:

1 cup Quinoa

2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup basic vinaigrette

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup kalamata olive, pitted and sliced

Add the Quinoa and salt to the water.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and turn down to a simmer and let cook for 15 minutes.  Take off of the the heat and let set for 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix.  Refrigerate. 

This is actually good hot or cold .  I like it better cold and it keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator.

Inflammation fighting tuna salad

I hired a personal trainer last week to finally kick start my motivation.  So far it is working very well.  I love having my own personal "Jillian" to keep me on track!  One of the things that personal trainers do is assess your diet and also your caloric intake.  I eat high calorie Omega 3 foods to keep my body free from excess inflammation and I cannot waiver on that.  Having said that, I will admit that I eat alot of food and should back off some on my portion sizes.  I decided to give up some carbs today at lunch time and have a tuna salad instead of a tuna sandwich.  It was delicious and filling and I honestly didn't even miss the bread.  The olives, tuna, avocado and olive oil are all fantastic inflammation fighters. So enjoy this meal knowing that you are doing your body a world of good!

Omega 3 Salad

4 Kalamata olives

4 large green olives

1/2 of a small avocado cut into bite sized pieces

1 1/2 cups of organic spring lettuce mix

1/2 can of Tuna or Salmon

1 baby dill pickle, diced

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Place the lettuce on a plate
Mix the Tuna or Salmon with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and the diced baby dill then place on top of the lettuce in a mound
Add the olives and avocado around the sides of the lettuce
Drizzle the Balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the top to season as desired.
Enjoy!

Mango Chicken Salad for Spring fever

My husband and I went over to the Seattle area this past weekend.  When we left home on Saturday morning it was snowing at our house... AGAIN!   When we arrived in Kirkland later that afternoon we noticed the green grass, blue sky, and beautiful pink Cherry Blossom trees in bloom.  It was so nice out that we took our little Schnoodle, Sparky, for a walk around Lake Washington. Spring is in full bloom on the West side of the state.   I have to admit it was a bit tough to come back home to the snow on Sunday night leaving behind the first taste of spring.  However, instead of sulking about the weather, we spent some quality time together in the kitchen and we made a Mango Chicken Salad that kept us feeling springy. 

Mango Chicken Salad

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 limes
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
2 mangoes, seeded, peeled, and chopped
Lettuce leaves, optional

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut chicken into bite-size chunks.  Squeeze juice from 1 lime (2 tablespoons); cut remaining lime into wedges.
2.  In a large saucepan combine the coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper.  Add chicken and bring to a boil; reduce heat and cook, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally.
3.  Meanwhile, spread coconut in a shallow pan.  Bake, uncovered, for 4 to 5 minutes or until golden, stirring once. 
4.  Remove chicken and cooking liquid to a bowl.  Add mangoes; toss to coat.  Sprinkle with toasted coconut.  Spoon onto lettuce leaves to serve.  Pass lime wedges. 

*Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens magazine.