Easter Leftovers

April 19, 2017

One of the greatest things about any major holiday (aside from gathering with friends and family) is the food. And one of the greatest things about the food is the leftovers. From Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing sandwiches, to ham and cheesy potatoes after Easter, leftovers always give me something to look forward to after our families have returned home and life goes back to normal post-holiday.

That being said, I’ve done a major overhaul on my diet and lifestyle this year and I know how easy it is to get completely derailed by a holiday. I vowed to not let that happen and I’ve been more successful than ever at bouncing back after work travel, birthday celebrations, etc. However, in the sake of tradition, I didn’t want to completely change our family’s Easter menu and I inevitably ended up with (easily a week’s worth) of leftovers that I knew were going to kill my stomach if I indulged. In an effort to hang on to the holiday for just one more day, I decided to whip up an Easter “bowl” that would allow me the nostalgia while also being a lot better for me than filling up on dairy and sugar.

I wanted to keep that “honey baked” ham flavor, without the prosed cane sugar, so I made a simple dressing with a tiny bit of honey and dijon mustard to pay homage to the classic. What I love about this dish is that it’s full of vitamins from the greens and healthy fat & protein from the egg. While there are a decent amount of carbohydrates in the quinoa (check your labels), it’s a superfood that’s packed with protein and will fill you up without spiking your blood sugar, causing an inevitable crash later. See what I did below:

Easter Bowl

INGREDIENTS

A few pieces of leftover ham (we only glazed half of our ham so I pulled these pieces from the unglazed half)
1/2 cup prepared quinoa
1-2 cups greens (I used spring mix)
1 egg
2-3 tbs dressing (recipe below)
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Prepare quinoa (or reheat 1/2 cup if using leftovers).
When quinoa is within 5 minutes of being finished, fill a sauce pan 2/3 full of water and bring to a boil to poach your egg. I follow these instructions and they’ve never failed me.
After your water is heating, place ham in a small skillet over low heat and prep your dressing (below).
Once all components are complete, assemble your bowl, drizzle with dressing, and finish with freshly cracked pepper & a touch of salt. Enjoy!

Dressing (serves two so serve half and store remaining dressing for up to 1 week in the fridge)

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs. dijon mustard
1 tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. raw honey

DIRECTIONS

Combine all dressing ingredients and whip together with a fork or whisk until well combined and texture is consistent.

What do you think? What’s your favorite way to repurpose holiday leftovers?

Mango & Avocado Quinoa Salad

June 2, 2016

Jake’s sister Michelle is one of the best cooks I know. Having traveled to more countries than I can ever remember, she’s developed a pretty impressive, worldly palate and isn’t afraid to try anything. She always knows exactly what to order at a restaurant and always knows exactly what a dish needs if it’s off. When she gave Jake a grill for his birthday, we invited the family over for our first barbecue in Napa for Mother’s Day. She offered to make a quinoa salad for a side and I LOVE quinoa so of course I was totally stoked! The end result was even better than I could have imagined – so deliciously light and fresh yet filling enough to make it a main course any day of the week. It was perfectly sweet, yet herbaceous and had just the right amount of acidity. I practically begged her for the recipe and to come back over so we could shoot it together and thankfully she said yes 🙂 The best part? Nothing about this dish is unhealthy or processed in any way. It’s also totally vegan so almost anyone can enjoy. It just goes to show that some of the best dishes are the ones created with the simplest ingredients.

Ingredients

1 cup red quinoa
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 fresh mangos, cubed
1 avocado, cubed
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
½ cup mint, chopped
½ cup fresh cilantro
⅓ cup olive oil
2 tbsp lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa with 2 cups salted water. Cover and bring to a boil and the reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally and being careful not to burn. While quinoa is cooking, prep your other ingredients.
When your quinoa has fully absorbed the water and is light and fluffy, spread it on a cookie sheet and cool in the fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, and garlic.
In a large bowl, combine black beans, mangos, avocado, cucumber, mint and cilantro. Once the quinoa has cooled, add it to the large bowl and top with olive oil, lime and garlic dressing. Gently toss to combine.

Suggested wine pairing: Our new Pinot Grigio has flavors of mango and would really bring out the mango in the salad. It’s a light, summery wine that would compliment the quinoa, avocado and cucumbers well.

Recipe adapted from Vegangela.

Salad Wars – Quinoa Salad

October 21, 2014

Happy Tuesday! I meant to post the second salad of Salad Wars last week, but things got crazy at work and there was just no darn time for blogging. You know how that goes!

Now back to salads…

This salad probably takes the cake as one of the best everyday salad I’ve ever had. Jake and I visited some friends last summer when they got engaged and moved into their first place together. Lauren whipped this up for everyone and I was sold. I had to have the recipe! Thankfully she sent it over a few days later and I’ve been making it ever since and it’s such a hit every time. What’s really great is that it’s so simple to make ahead of time too and these days I’m all about easy lunches. Usually on Sunday or Monday night I’ll make a great big batch of quinoa (2 cups of quinoa in 4 cups of chicken stock) and then I have a ton of it for the week to throw into anything that needs a little extra something. Pre-chop the veggies (peppers, onion and cucumber) and you’re good to go. Simple lunches FOR. THE. WIN. Huge thanks to Lauren for changing my salad life and turning me on to quinoa!

Prep: 30 minutes
Serves: 2 people (entree sized portion)

Ingredients

4 cups of fresh spinach
1 cucumber (peeled and chopped)
1 red bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
1 green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
1/4 red onion (chopped)
1 avocado
1/2 cup feta
1 lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic (minced)
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a small pot, combine chicken stock with quinoa, garlic, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

2. While cooking the quinoa, chop all of your veggies.

3. Once quinoa has absorbed all of the chicken stock (about 20 minutes) remove from heat for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.

4. Combine spinach, veggies and feta and pour quinoa over top. Juice lemon and add olive oil and balsamic. Toss and serve.

5. Two great wines to pair… this one and this one 🙂