Sesame Ginger Salad (Paleo)

Sesame Ginger Salad 
Makes 4 Servings
Recipe adapted from crossfitcda.com

½ cup red onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pound 80/20 ground beef
4-6 cups romaine lettuce
1 cucumber, deseeded and diced
1 tomato, diced
Dressing
1/2 tbsp garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp ginger, minced
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp tamari
2 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp each: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes

Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Sauté red onion and garlic in olive oil. Stir constantly for 3 minutes. Add beef. Once beef is cooked all the way through, 4-5 minutes, place it in a bowl to cool. While the beef cooks, prepare a salad with romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and avocado. Once beef has cooled, add to salad and add dressing on top.

Nutritional information (per serving): 420 calories, 8 carbs, 34 fat grams and 21 protein grams.

Review: LOVED - I had tried a few recipes like this and wasn't a fan - I felt this needed a bold dressing and i'm not a fan of the ones with fish sauce. This one was perfect, had a lot of flavor and the cucumbers added a nice little crunch. I will say that it was SPICY - so i'd suggest taking the red pepper flakes down a bit - maybe to just a dash or to 1/4 tsp. It's like the dressing activates the spiciness!

Greek Pasta Salad

Greek Pasta Salad
Makes 4 Servings

Dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
¾ tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano, dried
¼ tsp basil, dried
1 tsp minced garlic, jarred
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ packet splenda
1 oz. fat-free feta cheese
1 oz. fresh tomatoes, diced

Other:
1 oz. fat-free feta cheese
8 oz. pasta, small shape
3 oz. fresh tomatoes, diced
2-3 cups spinach

Optional:
1 cucumber, deseeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
30 Hormel Turkey Pepperonis, quartered

Cook pasta per package instructions. Drain and set aside. Combine all ‘dressing’ items in a blender or food processor. Mix pasta with ‘other’ ingredients – feta cheese and tomatoes. Add ‘optional’ ingredients if desired. Toss with now-blended dressing. Serve on a bed of spinach.

Nutritional information (without pepperonis): 293 calories, 46 carbs, 8 fat grams and 11 protein grams.

Nutritional information (with pepperonis): 324 calories, 46 carbs, 10 fat grams and 11 protein grams.

Review: I think this one tasted best right after we made it. When we reheated it, it was a little bit dry. Probably because I didn’t use more oil. I added tomatoes in to the dressing part, and think it will improve the dryness. Or, I would suggest adding a 1/4 cup of nonfat Greek yogurt (like Fage). Regardless, this was a great, flavorful recipe – I love the dressing and it’s a super colorful and tasty dish. I think it’s going to make a great spring and summer staple around our casa. The pepperonis can be a fun add on, but of course no biggie to keep it meatless, which is what we're moving toward doing 1-2 days per week at our place!!

Pasta Salad in Vinaigrette

Pasta Salad in Vinaigrette (on right)

For the Love of Cooking recipe

6 oz. rotini (or pasta of choice), cooked per instructions
Handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 large cucumber, seeded & diced
1/4 sweet yellow onion, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
Feta cheese
Vinaigrette (recipe below)
Fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta per instructions, drain and cool. Once the pasta has cooled, add the cherry tomato halves, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, feta cheese and basil then mix thoroughly. Slowly add the vinaigrette, salt and pepper. Taste and add more dressing as needed.

Vinaigrette:
½ cup canola oil
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp spenda
Salt and pepper

Combine ingredients with a whisk. Let it sit overnight so flavors marinate together.

Greek Salad Bites

Greek Salad Bites

Recipe Girl recipe

1 oz. fat-free feta cheese crumbles
½ cup fat-free sour cream
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp cracked black pepper
¼ cup finely shredded fresh basil
¼ cup chopped Kalamata olives, finely diced
1½ medium English cucumbers

In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. Slice cucumbers on a slight diagonal into ¼-inch slices. Spoon ½ tbsp of the cheese mixture onto each cucumber slice. Arrange on serving platter. Serve immediately.

Yield: 20 to 30 appetizers

Greek Appetizer Skewers

Greek Appetizer Skewers

Recipe Girl recipe

1 block feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch squares
30 pear or small cherry tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, sliced & then slice slices in half (need 30)
1/4 red onion, cut into small strips (about 1 inch x 1/2-inch)
toothpicks

Thread red onion onto toothpick with purple showing on top, then tomato, then cucumber. Use feta cube as a base for the appetizer- skewer the feta on the bottom; place on your platter.

Optional: Just before serving, whisk together about 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, salt & pepper to taste. Drizzle over skewers (try not to get too much dressing on the tops of the toothpicks, where people will pick them up to eat them).

Tips: Don’t attach feta until the end as it may break. And don’t use colored toothpicks – it dyes the cheese!

Yield: 20 to 30 appetizers.

Pasta Salad in Vinaigrette - Side Dish

Pasta Salad in Vinaigrette

Makes 5 Servings

Recipe by For the Love of Cooking

6 oz. cooked rotini
Cherry tomatoes
Small cucumber, seeded & diced
¼ cup Yellow Onion
¼ cup Orange Bell Pepper
1 oz. Fat-free Feta Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Vinaigrette: ¼ cup canola oil, 1.5 tbsp rice vinegar, ½ tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 cloves minced garlic, ½ packet of splenda and salt/pepper

Mix together all ingredients and mix together vinaigrette. One hour before serving add vinaigrette. Put in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve alongside chicken, shrimp or both (like me!).

Nutritional Information: 245 calories, 30 carbs, 12 fat grams and 6 protein grams.

Review: I love this dish of Pam's! I've served it at two parties and it's always gone over well! I have a larger dish of it on the blog as well that I make when I have more people (and it's not as calorie calculated!).

Mediterranean Wrap

Mediterranean Wrap
Recipe adapted from eatingwell.com
Makes 4 Servings

½ cup water
1/3 cup couscous
1 cup parsley
½ cup mint
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
¼ tsp salt, divided
¼ tsp pepper
1 pound chicken
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 cup chopped cucumber
4 10-inch spinach or sun-dried tomato tortillas

Bring water to boil. Stir in couscous and remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork. Meanwhile, combine parsley, mint, lemon juice, oil, garlic, 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper in a small bowl. Toss chicken tenders in a medium bowl with 1 tbsp of parsley mixture and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Place tenders in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Remove from heat and cut into bite-sized pieces. Stir remaining parsley mixture into couscous, along with tomato and cucumber. Assemble wraps with a quarter of the couscous mixture and a quarter of the chicken. Roll like a burrito and cut in half.

Nutritional Information: 468 calories, 50 carbs, 13 fat grams and 35 protein grams.

Review: SUPER filling - I felt downright stuffed after eating which is great! I liked the addition of couscous and had truly forgotten how easy that is to cook! I like the fresh herbs and the addition of mint was really nice too. I think it will be even better after the flavors mingle overnight. (I put mine straight into the wrap last night - the rest are in tubs as I didn't want to wrap them up until ready to eat to avoid sogginess). Edited to add: SO much better the next day - less bitter, more 'mingled' and had a better flavor! This is a new favorite wrap! (just give the flavors time to mingle or it's a bit bitter if that makes sense!)

Crabcakes with Tzaziki sauce

Recipe adapted from For the Love of Cooking
Crabcakes with Tzaziki sauce
Makes 2 Servings

1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp mayonnaise
½ tbsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp dried mustard
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tspBay seasoning
Juice of 1/4 a lemon
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
10 oz crab meat
½ cup plain panko crumbs
1 tbsp olive oil
Tzaziki sauce (her recipe below for 1 cup!)

Combine all ingredients except crab and panko crumbs. Carefully add crab to mixture then gently fold in panko crumbs. Form into desired size crab cake by hand (we made 4!). Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the crab cakes in skillet and cook on each side until golden brown. Serve with tzaziki sauce on the side.

Tzatziki Sauce: 1/3 cucumber (peeled, seeded and diced), ½ tsp salt, 3 oz. non-fat fage Greek yogurt, ¼ lemon (juice and est), ½ garlic clove. Peel cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and, using a spoon, remove all seeds from both halves. Dice into small pieces and place in strainer, Sprinkle salt over cucumber and let it sit in strainer for 30 minutes. Pat cucumber dry with a papertowel. Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until blended. Refrigerate overnight.

Nutritional Information: 301 calories, 24 carbs, 12 fat grams and 23 protein grams.

Review: I ate 2 crab cakes and about 2 tbsp of the sauce – she was right, the crab is so good the sauce is not really needed! Ours got a little burnt (but still tasted AMAZING!), so I recommend cooking for 1 to 2 minutes on each side and flipping often to avoid them getting too brown.

Chicken and Pasta Salad

Chicken and Pasta Salad

Makes 2 Servings

½ cup chopped, peeled cucumber
¼ cup plain fat-free yogurt
2 tbsp chopped onion
2 tbsp light mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard
1/8 tsp celery seeds
1/16 tsp salt
1/16 tsp pepper
8 oz. chicken (chopped and cooked)
4 oz. farfalle.

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the cooked chicken and the cooked pasta, and toss well. Cover salad and chill for 1 hour.

Nutritional Information: 358 calories, 3 fat grams, 47 carbohydrates and 35 protein grams.

Review: We really liked it – great for lunches since it’s a cold salad!