Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad

Since chicken salad makes an appearance at just about every bridal or baby shower, I thought I'd share this recipe with you first!  It is light, sweet and savory and one of my favorite recipes from the day.  

Not only did the basil and strawberries pair perfectly together, but they made for a beautiful presentation (we all know that is just as important as taste!). 

I was never a fan of chicken salad growing up because most versions I tried were so heavy on the mayo.  This is dressed mostly in poppyseed dressing with just a few tablespoons of light mayo.  You could even swap the mayo for plain greek yogurt if you'd like.  

Two of my other favorite chicken salad recipes are this cilantro chicken salad and this cranberry pecan chicken salad.

Smoky "Pimento" Cheese Sandwiches

You know when you make something because you know it will be good, but more because it is easy and you are attempting to prepare 15 other dishes?  When I made these sandwiches, I put them in that category (FYI -- pimento is in quotes because this recipe doesn't actually contain any pimentos!).  However, they turned out to be a hit amongst everyone!

The smoked gouda cheese and sun-dried tomatoes create an unbelievable smoky flavor.  This would also be great served with crackers or pita chips as an appetizer.

Simple Veggie Burgers

This was my first attempt at making homemade veggie burgers.  Which is surprising because I eat a LOT of (pre-packaged) veggie burgers (if you haven't tried the Trader Joe's Veggie Masala Burgers just run over there right this instant and get 'em -- my absolute favorite).

My mom has raved about the knock-off recipe for the Northstar Veggie Burger (I'm pretty sure even meat-lovers love this burger) but I didn't have beets so that wasn't an option.  I went ahead and searched for the knock-off recipe for another veggie burger that I thought was great -- found at The Counter.  It is simple and can be jazzed up with whatever toppings you like!

A few handy tips:

- Prep, prep, prep!  This goes for all recipes but I always like to have my dicing, chopping, stirring, mashing done in advance.  Prevents many recipe mishaps.

- Food Processor.  First, if you don't have one, get one.  It works magic when it comes to grating veggies.  I like to cut my veggies into (approx.) 2-inch pieces, toss them in the processor and pulse, pulse, pulse until I have the perfect "grate".

Pistachio & Almond Crusted Chicken

I knew I had to share this recipe with you after taking my first bite -- that was back in February (**note:  I have made this multiple times in the past few months).  Now that I am finally getting around to sharing the recipe with you, I suggest adding it to your dinner rotation ASAP.

Chicken can get so boring but the flavors in this dish are excellent.  Even better -- the prep time is minimal and the crisp outer coating keeps the chicken nice and juicy!  

Skinny Turkey-Vegetable Soup

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  I was lucky enough to host for the very first time this year.  My family came to Chicago and I took on the task of planning our Thanksgiving meal.  I had so much fun planning and can't wait to host my next holiday!

I was also left with lots of leftovers.  I wanted to make something light on Sunday since our long weekend was filled with plenty of good food and drink.  This soup came together in no time and is a great way to use your leftover turkey.

Greek Turkey Burgers

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend (for those reading from abroad -- I hope you had a great weekend too!).  It is starting to feel like Fall in Chicago and I already have fall-inspired recipes lined up!  However, we still have a few warm weeks ahead (let's hope) and these burgers should definitely make it on your grill before summer comes to a close.

I made these into little sliders because I just purchased the new Arnold MINI sandwich thins and they are just too cute.

Lemon Feta Chicken

Today, I present to you -- my new favorite dinner.  This really is my ideal recipe.  Five ingredients come together to create a delicious meal.  Even better than the short ingredient list, the preparation for this recipe took 2 minutes!  No mixing and no chopping required.

When I find a recipe I really love, my mom gets a phone call.  She can appreciate the excitement in finding a great simple recipe because she had a home-cooked meal on the dinner table every.single.night.  You can bet she got a phone call after I finished making this.

Chili Roasted Salmon with Cilantro Cream

Most nights after work -- my dinner comes together in less than 10 minutes.  This happens for a few reasons.  I'm normally starving when I get home from work so I just don't have the patience to slave away.  AND I think most would agree that cooking with or for someone else is so much more enjoyable!  On occasion, I go all out.. and by all out, I mean I spend 20 minutes on dinner instead of 10.

That's right -- this salmon came together in 20 minutes!  I was all over this recipe when I found it -- it includes most of my favorite flavors and its super healthy.  You may notice that although we love our desserts, when it comes to cooking, we like to keep things relatively healthy.  

A few notes... if I had a grill, I would have used that to cook the salmon.  Its summer, use fresh corn!  If you like spice, add a jalapeno pepper to the corn mixture.  This recipe would be a great base for other proteins -- chicken or shrimp would be great.  Lastly, you could create delicious tacos by simply filling a tortilla with all of this good stuff -- I wish I had thought of that prior to inhaling.

Salsa Chicken: Mexican Done Healthy

I love Mexican food, looove it!  I can't say that I had it too often growing up but freshman year of college, 'Taco Bar Friday's' in the dorms, opened my eyes stomach to how much I actually love Mexican food.  Then to really add to my new-found love, senior year Spring Break happened...think happy hour (more like multiple hours) everyday at Nacho Mama's...$3 margaritas and $1 tacos, enough said.

So now that you now all about my love of Mexican food, feast your eyes on these Salsa Chicken tacos.  In order to enjoy tacos as much as possible, I needed to find a way to make them healthy:

Bake a few chicken breasts smothered in a jar of salsa, shred it after it's cooked, and let the chicken soak in the salsa.  Then grab a couple of whole wheat tortillas, spread with some sour cream plain Greek yogurt, top with the chicken and some sliced avocado.  Mexican deliciousness.  I promise you won't even know you're eating something healthy.  Now if only I could go back to those happy hours at Nacho Mama's...

Mayo-less Tuna Salad

I have been loving Gina's Skinny Recipes lately.  In case you've never visited her website, it is filled with TONS of healthy recipes.  I love how she keeps things simple and puts a healthy spin on classic dishes.

This salad is so simple and requires minimal time and ingredients.  I love the taste of the "peppery"arugula but you could mix in whatever greens you prefer.

Classic Stuffed Peppers

This was my first time making stuffed peppers and I was very happy with how they turned out!  I made a few changes to the original recipe to lighten up this dish -- substituted ground turkey for the ground beef, used quinoa instead of rice, added a chopped pepper to the filling and decreased the cheese.  However, I am sharing the original recipe with you and I've noted where I made changes.

Light Pasta with Asparagus

Marathon training is in full force.  Somehow we are already 6 weeks into training -- I'm not sure where the past 5 weeks have gone -- but that means the Chicago marathon is a mere 13 weeks away.  As the mileage increases, fueling becomes a top priority.  

This pasta was just what I needed to fuel up for my long run last week.  Simple, light and fresh.  

Brioche Burger Buns

I know, it may seem crazy to make your own burger buns but trust me, after you make this recipe you will no longer believe that.  These buns are light and sturdy all at the same time; they have great texture and the flavor is awesome, I mean, who doesn't love brioche?!

These buns freeze great, which works out well since most people like to relax and grill out when they eat burgers and not knead dough in the kitchen.  So make these ahead of time, relax and grill out, and your burger bun experience will be fantastic!  You won't ever want to go back to store-bought.

Greek Portabella Burgers

I love love love portabella mushrooms.  Portabella burgers are such a great healthy alternative to your standard beef burger and they are nice and light for hot summer days.  If I had a grill (or a deck for that matter), I would have made these on the grill.  Instead, I had to settle for my oven.  

If you read yesterday's post, I expressed my love for Greek food.  I was trying to think of a way to use the portabella mushrooms sitting in the fridge, I had some feta on hand... and the idea for my Greek Portabella Burger was born.  This is such a great meal for summer, packed with fresh ingredients.  The homemade tzatziki was definitely a great addition.

Creamy Garlic Shrimp and Pasta: Light Version

I got the Cooking Light - Fresh Food Fast cookbook for Easter and I am loving it!  I am going to try and work my way through the entire cookbook because every recipe looks amazing, really, every single one.

This pasta seems like an impressive dinner but it takes no time at all to put together...and it tastes delicious!  The creamy sauce gives you tons of flavor without the guilt.  And there's nothing like fresh shrimp in South Carolina!

Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers

I have always loved chicken fingers but I very rarely eat them these days.  I have seen this baked variety popping up all over the place and decided to give them a shot.  These are a healthy alternative to everyone's childhood favorite.  They turned out crispy and delicious -- just as I had hoped.  They would be great served with Sweet Potato Rounds.

Grape, Blue Cheese, and Walnut Pizza

I'm baack!!  Sorry I have been MIA for a while; I was busy traveling then busy wrapping up my Master's program with a lot of projects.  But that's all done now so I'm back to blogging!

My mom got me this cookbook, Cooking Light: fresh food fast, for Easter and it is by far the best cookbook I have ever read.  Every single recipe looks delicious, they are all fast and have minimal ingredient lists; perfect!  Whenever I get a cookbook I look through everything and tab all of the recipes that I want to make...well I got a quarter of the way through this book and realized I had tabbed every single recipe!

I was visiting my mom this weekend and we decided to make this amazing pizza for dinner.  The combination of ingredients works perfectly together.  The grapes have a totally different flavor after they're cooked that I can't quite pinpoint, all I know was that is was delicious!  I highly recommend this light, fun pizza with a glass of wine for the summer!

**keep in mind that this recipe yields one mini pizza

Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil

As I have mentioned before, I love cooking in my parents' kitchen whenever I go home.  There are many reasons for this -- there is always a stocked pantry, plenty of counter-space, a double oven, every utensil imaginable and the list goes on... BUT the number one reason I like to cook at home is because cooking with someone by your side is so much more enjoyable!

Since we couldn't eat meat on Friday, my parents and I made this pasta while I was home.  It was AMAZING.  My mom has made this many times.  She has used fresh shrimp (in South Carolina), frozen shrimp with tails and frozen shrimp without tails.  She said she definitely recommends the frozen with tails (or the fresh, if you are lucky enough to live in a Coastal town).

Sweet Potato and Turkey Chili

Sunday was the perfect day for chili -- freezing temps in Chicago and lots of football.  I came across this recipe last month in Real Simple and instantly saved it for one reason -- the addition of sweet potatoes.  I have never even thought to add sweet potatoes to chili but now they will never be left out.  The original recipe was vegetarian but I added ground turkey to make it a little heartier (still healthy!).

This chili also has a sweetness to it.  Every person that tasted it commented on the cinnamon -- as you will see below, there is only 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon in the entire batch!  If you prefer a little heat, you could definitely add jalapeno peppers.  Regardless, I promise you will enjoy!

The original recipe was prepared in a slow-cooker -- head on over to Real Simple to see those instructions.  I don't own a slow-cooker so went the old-fashioned route and cooked my chili on the stove.

Broiled Tilapia with Mustard-Chive Sauce

Here is another quick and easy meal for you to make asap because this mustard-chive sauce is awesome!  It would pair great with just about any seafood.  I have had plenty of tilapia in my lifetime but this sauce took it to a whole new level.

The base of the sauce is Greek yogurt (one of my favorite things); just be sure to use the full fat Greek yogurt otherwise it will be too liquidy.  Or if you want to use nonfat yogurt just use less lemon juice.