Here’s the truth. I have never been one to eat just breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Eating three times a day just seems like cruel punishment. Instead, I prefer to eat 5 meals per day! Breakfast, “second” breakfast (as the hobbits call it), lunch, afternoon crash meal, pre-dinner crazy meal, and lastly, supper. I do this because a) I think about food 24 hours a day, so stretches of even an hour without eating are torturous and b) because, why not?

Ok, ok… so no, I do not eat five monstrous meals because I tend to be pretty active (thank goodness or I would probably be a giant beached porpoise) and I hate feeling weighed down on a run. In compensation, I eat little meals that satisfy the entire palate and hold me over until the next food celebration! This is an extremely easy recipe I use for “second” breakfast or lunch and just so you know… this pesto? It goes on anything. I think you will find many uses for it.

For the Recipe, click here:

Soft Boiled Egg Salad with Fresh Herb and Tomato Pesto

We just got back from such a refreshing weekend packed with long hikes and some seriously breathtaking moments. I love to be outdoors. I find myself smiling the most when I’m sweaty and suntanned and breathing in fresh air. So the past few days have been a thrill!

Zion National park is a stunning place. Ivan and I tackled Angel’s Landing which helped us triumph over any fear of heights we might have had. There were moments when the trail would shrink to 2 feet and stretching down to either side were sheer drops of 12,000 feet. You can be sure we held pretty tightly to the chains that were nailed into the limestone. Reaching the top was euphoric and offered an insane view!

Keeping in tune with this refreshing weekend, as I was browsing through our pictures, I munched on this brightly seasoned lunch.

For the Recipe, click here:

Summery Squash Salad with Barley and Shrimp

Here’s a sad story… my computer crashed. I will admit that I should have known it was coming considering it was eight years old and seriously slow. I mean, so slow I could click on an icon, walk away, take a shower, make lunch, and go pick up the dry cleaning only to come back to find my ancient dinosaur still deep in the process of thinking. So, I solely take the blame for not backing up some important things such as… ah… wedding pictures. Yea. I don’t really want to talk about that.

What I DO want to talk about is pickled beets. Pickled beets will take your mind off anything! In fact, when they put them on the salad bar at work, my friends and I practically threw a party.

It’s a wonderful thing to stain your salad purple. But homemade pickled beets not only stain your salad, they stain your fingers, your sink, your cutting boards…so I recommend you wear gloves and get moving on this refreshing afternoon delight.

For the Recipe, click here:

Pickled Beet, Orange, and Goat Cheese Salad

Life is so great! I’m loving everything about the sun and days spent entirely outside that it’s been a little difficult to spend much time in the kitchen. From the moment I wake up and brew some coffee, I’m itching for a good book, a summer berry smoothie and my feet kicked up out on our patio. Turning on the oven just seems like a drag!

Today was the first day in about two weeks that I visited an actual supermarket. My pantry was looking a bit sad. Farmer’s markets have made it easy for me to avoid the usual routine. No complaints here.

This stress free salad would be wonderful with some grilled chicken, fish, or just as it is. I confess, I topped it with some leftover BBQ Pulled Pork and was extremely satisfied!

For the Recipe, click here:

Black Bean Spring Salad

I am hooked on barley. It is such a versatile and satisfying, chewy little grain. This fresh salad sparked when I came upon these cute clementines that looked almost too perfect to eat. Clementines remind me of my childhood and the single orange ball I would find at the toe of my Christmas stocking every year. Once we pulled everything out, my brothers and I would sit and eat our clementines while admiring our loot. Something about them just makes me happy.

So for a lunch date with my friend Jamie, I marinated and grilled some beautiful salmon to go with this spring salad. It was a perfect lazy lunch on the porch accompanied by sunshine and Monty contentedly munching on his favorite stuffed beaver.

For the Recipes, click here:

Orange and Maple Glazed Salmon

Clementine, Barley, and Spinach Salad with Cinnamon Citrus Dressing

Whenever I’m at my parent’s house, come dinnertime, my dad will inevitably ask me “How do you want to do the veggies?” Well, 99% of the time I will immediately answer, “Steamed.” Or more like I will sing, “Steeeeeeeeeamed brussel sprouts or steaaaaaaaamed baby bok choy.” Though this has become a joke in our family, I think it drives him mad because I will admit, it’s a tad boring.

But what my dad doesn’t know is, my obsession with steaming is actually an obsession with blanching. You see, I don’t just steam, I blanch and THEN I get busy and add the fun stuff. Because blanching is like coloring. What is prettier than a broccoli head? A bright, bright green, almost technicolor broccoli head and this, you get by blanching!

This salad depends on that crunch that only a 5 minute mini trip to the steam bath could give it. So here’s a bright salad that is anything but just “steeeeeeaaaaamed!”

For the Recipe, click here:

Bright Broccoli, Caramelized Onion, and Goat Cheese Salad

Update! I came in second place for the cupcake competition day! Scott from wardrobe made some lemony, buttercream frosted dreams that were the scene stealer! You just can’t win ‘em all…But now, I am in dire need of something seriously healthy after the sugar rush this week. I am practically buzzing. So, this is my polar opposite to counteract the sugar in my veins.

Quinoa, if you aren’t familiar with it, is a nutty, crunchy “grain” (it’s actually not a grain, but rather a pseudocereal, but who really cares) that is surprisingly filling. I use Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Grain Quinoa which is easy to find in the grocery store. I find that it’s best to season the grain while it’s boiling in order to really get the flavors infused. Don’t skip the dressing. It really makes it. I’m hoping you feel as happy and healthy as I did after a bowl of this. (Makes 3-4 servings.)

Crunchy Quinoa Salad with Greek Love

1 cup uncooked whole grain quinoa

zest of 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cucumber, skin left on, quartered

10 calamata olives, pits removed and diced

1/2 shallot, finely diced

4 oz crumbled feta

8 romaine heart lettuce leaves

Boil 2 cups of water. Add the quinoa, zest, basil, salt, and pepper. Cover, reduce heat to medium and let boil for 12 minutes. Remove cover, turn off heat and fluff with a fork. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool.

Once quinoa has cooled, add the cucumber, tomatoes, olives and shallot. Toss with dressing. Place two romaine leaves on each plate, scoop 1/4 mixture over the lettuce. Crumble 1 oz feta cheese over each plate and serve.

Dilly Yogurt Dressing

3 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup greek yogurt

2 tsp white balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp dill (fresh or dried)

1 tsp honey

1/4 tsp salt

3 cracks pepper

Whisk all ingredients together until oil is fully incorporated.

Bitter Salad with Cranberries and Apples

1 head Raddicchio, diced

4 Belgian endives, chopped

3/4 Romaine heart, diced

2 Granny Smith apples, diced

1/2-3/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

My mother is constantly on me to write down the proportions of my salad dressings, but until now, I have been a pain. Well Mamika, here it is at last.

Basically Balsamic Vinaigrette

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 tsp dijon mustard

2 shakes of garlic powder

2 cracks coarse salt

2 cracks freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice