Herbs

Tomato Avocado Orzo Summer Salad

I like walking through the grocery store and seeing a bounty of summer veggies to choose from. The mini tomatoes always seem to catch my husband’s eye and are a fun snack with cheese and crackers. I had some leftover orzo pasta in the pantry that needed to be used up so there’s my boring inspiration for a yummy summer salad. Enjoy!

Ingredients (4 servings)

  • 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
  • 1 pint mixed mini tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 avocado, small cubes
  • 6-10 leaves of fresh basil (depending on size) – chiffonade
  • 1 tsp / 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 c fresh grated parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Heat oil and garlic on low-medium heat until fragrant (2-3 min) and then keep pan warm on simmer setting.
  2. Cook orzo pasta per package directions, drain excess water and transfer pasta to pan with oil/garlic and stir to coat.
  3. Add tomatoes and stir to combine and leave on gentle heat (simmer) for 5-6 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  4. When ready to serve – remove from heat and add avocado, basil and cheese and gently stir to combine.
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Fig and Citrus Salad

There are some things that I look forward to all year – one of those things is fig season. Whether they are the Black Mission, Brown Turkey, or Tiger Stripe variety, I always make it a point to head to Trader Joe’s the last few weeks of August to stock up on the deliciousness. My absolute favorite fig is the Tiger Stripe both in appearance and flavor and so I chose to use them this time but any fresh fig will do. Enjoy!

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Creamy Mushroom and Leek Tagliatelle

My sweet friend, Jen, gave me the gift of a free Hello Fresh week. It’s a service where you get a week’s worth of groceries specifically measured to create specific recipes and reduce food waste. It was fun to try different recipes and this one has become a favorite in our house. It’s creamy like an alfredo but much healthier and the leeks have a nice mild flavor – a perfect cold and rainy day dinner. Enjoy! (more…)

Lemony Butter Bean Salad

One of my favorite places to eat out is the Whole Foods cafe (I maintain that the Whole Foods in Madison, WI on University is the best one I’ve eaten at so far). It’s a fun place to try a variety of healthy grains/tofu/legumes that I otherwise probably wouldn’t venture to cook. Butter beans are one of those things that I had never tried before eating at their salad bar and I really loved the creamy texture and mild flavor. Here how I like to eat my butter beans. Enjoy!

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