When I menu plan for the week ahead, I always try to incorporate a fair amount of variety into dinner each night. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge proponent of leftovers and they appear on our table at least once or twice a week. However, on the nights I’m cooking, I try to mix up the cuisine / genre, protein source, and even the texture or temperature of a dish (unless it’s January and then I’m okay eating soup every night for a week!).

Usually at least once a week I plan for a lighter entrée, typically in the form of a giant salad. We have a few of our favorites that we return to again and again (like this grilled vegetable salad, this sweet potato, kale, apple salad, and this shredded vegetable detox salad), but I’m always on the lookout for new ones to add to the list. This kale waldorf salad, from Whole Foods, is unique in that it relies on pureed walnuts and apple in the dressing instead of oil. I was skeptical, but didn’t miss the oil one bit, especially since you’re still getting healthy fats from the nuts. I did add a bit of water to thin the dressing to my liking, but I liked how the dressing clung to the kale leaves, softening the salad and helping to bulk up your usual kale salad. Because kale is so hardy, this is a great make-ahead salad…the leftovers I took for my lunch the next day weren’t soggy or unappetizing in the slightest! Next time you’re looking for a salad to round out your meal plan (just add some crusty bread to finish it off), give this one a try.

One Year Ago: Grilled Salmon with Avocado Tomato Salsa
Two Years Ago: Mixed Berries with Mascarpone Limoncello Cream and Kale Salad with Garlic Vinaigrette
Three Years Ago: Cake Batter Rice Krispy Treats and Sweet Potato Chorizo Empanadas with Avocado Cream
Four Years Ago: Chocolate Fudge Drops and Creamy Vegetable and Edamame Risotto
Five Years Ago: German Chocolate Cookies

With a freezer full of main dishes, thanks to the marathon freezer cooking day I had with friends, I’m taking the time to get a little creative with our side dishes rather than just roasting some vegetables or steaming some broccoli. To be fair, Ryan made this bell pepper salad one evening to eat alongside some shredded Italian beef we pulled from the freezer. We returned home from work one evening to a happy baby who suddenly transformed into a lethargic, feverish baby with temperatures reaching 103F.

We’d witnessed a few minor fevers with Brecken before, but nothing that high and I was too busy cuddling her and trying to keep her comfortable to even think about this salad I’d planned to make. Thankfully super dad/husband stepped in and started throwing this together. For as pretty as it looks arranged on the plate, you’d never guess how simple it is. Slice some peppers, chop some herbs, toss in the dressing, and after a little rest it’s ready for the table. Leftovers kept well, so I’d guess you could make this up to a day ahead of time to make getting dinner ready even easier!

I’m sure many of you, like me, have a handful of grocery staples. You buy whatever you need for your meal plan or maybe grab a few impulse purchases each week, but more often than not you have your basics that are always in your cart. For us this includes Greek yogurt, kale, bananas, and zucchini. Okay, and chocolate chips.

I like always having zucchini on hand because it’s easy to slice and eat with hummus, we absolutely love zucchini bread (with chocolate chips of course), and it’s a versatile vegetable that can be added to just about any meal. Take this pasta, for instance. Pasta often gets a bad reputation, especially in today’s age of “fear the carb” and “avoid gluten like the plague”, but this dish is fairly healthy and not oozing with cream or cheese. It only takes a few basic ingredients that you likely have on hand (especially if zucchini is one of your staples!) and you aren’t going to have to slave away in the kitchen for hours to get dinner on the table!

Two Years Ago: Maple Whiskey Ice Cream with Candied Bacon 
Three Years Ago: Blueberry Flan and Individual Peach Cobblers
Four Years Ago: Caprese Tart with Basil-Garlic Crust and Lemon Tart
Five Years Ago: Blue Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers and Chocolate Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake

It's inevitable. Every time I make enchiladas, I end up with a few spare tortillas, taking up space in my cheese drawer. Sometimes I get my act together and turn them into cinnamon sugar chips to eat with fruit salsa, but more often than not they sit untouched and forgotten, until I make enchiladas, buying another pack of tortillas, and guiltily tossing the old ones. Forgotten tortillas, no more! Instead turn that handful of spares into breakfast quesadillas. We eat them for brunch or dinner, with whatever other spare ingredients we can scrounge up. The premise is simple: make a batch of scrambled eggs, with as many or as little mix-ins as you'd like, then sandwich the eggs between two tortillas with a hefty sprinkle of cheese and you have yourself breakfast quesadillas!
 

The combination I've made most recently, and what you'll find here today, has a bit of a Mexican flair, with bell peppers and spinach, spiced with cumin and chile powder. We prefer them with sour cream and an avocado tomato salsa, but you're free to make these your own. We've thrown in black beans, bacon, even leftover brats! The key is to add cheese on both sides of the quesadilla (under and on top of the egg mixture) to give it some sticking power when you cut into triangles! We might call them breakfast quesadillas, but they're a favorite for lunch or dinner in our house too. Don't ever let those spare tortillas get lost in the fridge again.

 In other news, I have to give a shout-out to my mom today on her 50^th birthday! The first time I made these was actually with her, so it’s appropriate that they’re posted on her birthday, especially since cooking together is one of my favorite ways to spend time with her! Love you mom!

One Year Ago: Jalapeño Lime Slaw

Two Years Ago: Roast Beef, Red Pepper, Arugula, and Feta Sandwiches with Tahini Dressing

Three Years Ago: Nutella Ice Cream and Mexican Brownie Bottom Cheesecake

Four Years Ago: Chilled Mango & Cucumber Soup

Five Years Ago: Greek Salad

One of the best things about the four unique seasons is that every couple of months a new bunch of foods are suddenly in season and you get to change up your cooking. I don’t know about you, but I’m always more than ready to kiss heavy soups and stews goodbye after a long winter! When it comes to summer foods, however, I’m never quite as eager to send them on their way.

Although it’s almost time to start welcoming apples and pumpkins, cinnamon and sage into our kitchens, I’m still holding on to my summer favorites for a little while longer. This corn and zucchini salad is going to grace our table a few more times in the next few weeks. Even if you can no longer get fresh corn at its peak, pick up a bag of frozen corn and give this a try! The mix of flavors and textures makes for a unique contrast, but collectively it screams summer. Let’s hold onto those seasonal favorites just a little bit longer! 

My current kitchen is bigger than the kitchen in our duplex, where we lived when we were first married. That duplex kitchen was bigger than the kitchen in my college house, where I first started cooking (very, very minimally!). Although I’ve managed to increase kitchen size over the years, it’s definitely not enough close to big enough. The drawers and cabinets are jam packed and you’d probably laugh at the size of my pantry. I’m not complaining—kitchen woes aside, I love our house and don’t have any desire to move anytime soon. Rather than lust after larger kitchens, I try to be intentional about wisely using the space I do have.

Of course, this means I don’t have room for unnecessary kitchen gadgets. That being said, after making this salad, I think I can justify the purchase of a cherry pitter! Removing each pit with a knife is a painstaking process, though I’ll admit it was worth it for the final product. I’ve used just about every kind of fruit in salad (mango, strawberries, blueberries, nectarines, pears, apples, oranges, peaches, grapes, pomegranate, etc.!) , but never cherries. It was my first, but definitely not my last…especially once I get my hands on that cherry pitter! We enjoyed this as a lighter dinner, the chickpeas adding a little protein and heft (grilled chicken would also serve the same purpose). In my opinion, the best salads are ones with something different in every bite, and you definitely get that here with pistachios, goat cheese, chickpeas, green onions, and cherries! Even if you don’t have a cherry pitter (or room for one!), take the extra fifteen minutes to pit some cherries and make this…I suspect you’ll find the labor of love worth it!

One Year Ago: Pepper Jack Cheeseburgers with Jalapeño-Cumin Relish and Rice & Beans with Chile Ginger Salsa

Two Years Ago: Rosemary Garlic Biscuits and Grilled Pizza with Cheesy Corn, Fresh Tomatoes, and Basil

Three Years Ago: Meaty Bolognese Sauce and Greek Cheesecake (Savory)

Four Years Ago: Scrambled Egg Cups and Goat Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers with Roasted Red Pepper Relish

This isn’t an earth shattering recipe. It can hardly be called a recipe. However, after seeing the Chicken and Vegetable Pressed Sandwiches with Goat Cheese get pinned over and over (and over) again on Pinterest, it seems people are a fan of easy (make-ahead) sandwiches. These caprese sandwiches fit the bill on both accounts, and actually taste better if they’re given a chance to sit in the fridge awhile.

Rather than use a plain, basic pesto, I added a dash of balsamic to jazz up the flavor a bit and I suggest you do the same! Shredded mozzarella would work here, but slicing the fresh stuff is really the way to go. Wrap your sandwiches tightly in plastic wrap, store for a few hours (or overnight) in the fridge, and you have yourself a café-worthy sandwich to eat in the office for lunch, over a casual dinner, or, like we did, at a picnic in the park (hence the pictures among the grass)!

One Year Ago: Seattle Eats

Two Years Ago: Tomato Pie

Three Years Ago: Grilled Spiced Chicken with Caribbean Citrus-Mango Sauce and Peanut Butter Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Pops

Four Years Ago: Guinness and Bailey's Irish Cream Cupcakes and Grilled Pizza