Couscous Salad with Mushrooms, Corn, Black Beans, Scallions and Avocado

I usually don't like avocados in my salad and sandwiches, although I love guacamole.  I think it's because the flavor is so strong and the texture is so unique so that's all I end up tasting and I feel like it overwhelms whatever I'm eating.  But this recipe seemed so intriguing I had to give it a shot.  Plus I'm a big fan of Israeli couscous ever since I had my first taste at my eldest sister's wedding over a decade ago. I'd never cut and peeled my own avocado and man those suckers are super easy to peel!

The couscous salad goes so well with the avocados - a perfect marriage of flavors and textures!  This is a great dish to eat warm or cold for the summer months when avocados are plentiful!

Servings: 2-4 (this is two dinners for me)

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups of Israeli/pearl couscous (Trader Joe's has a great box of these)
2 tablespoons (approximately) of extra virgin olive oil, divided (or cooking spray)
10 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups chopped scallions
1 1/4 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2-3 limes, juiced
1 avocado, pitted and sliced or chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 sliced jalapeno (optional)
Hot sauce (optional)

Instructions:

• Cook 1 1/3 cup of couscous according to instructions and set aside.
• While couscous is cooking, heat a large pan over medium-high heat.  Add a couple teaspoons of oil or coat with a cooking spray and then cook 10 oz of sliced mushrooms, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until golden grown.  Season mushrooms lightly with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan or another coating of cooking spray and cook 1 1/4 cup of corn and 1 1/2 cup chopped scallions, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until scallions are soft and the corn is browned.  If you want, you can divide the scallions into white parts and green parts and cook the white parts now and set aside the green parts to add in later, but I'm lazy so I just throw them all in the pan.
• Remove pan from heat and add to the pan the cooked mushrooms, 1 can of black beans, and the juice from 2-3 limes.  If you separated the scallion greens earlier, add them back in now.
• Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
• Top each dish with the chopped avocado and cilantro.  Avocado slices look all pretty and fancy but practically it's easier to eat if you just chop up the avocado in small pieces.  
• Optional:  Add a sliced jalapeno or a couple splashes of your favorite hot sauce for some heat!

Sunny looks all tired as though she was the one doing all the cooking!

Yum!

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Summer White Bean Salad with Vegetables, Basil, and Parmesan

I love reading food blogs that draw their inspiration from the local and fresh ingredients of the day at the farmer's market or gardens.  Unfortunately I don't have the time the time to shop often at farmer's markets and I am terrible with plants.  I tried growing herbs recently on my tiny less than 6-inch balcony/sill and quickly killed them off.  I'm quite lethal with plants.  So my shopping experiences are pretty much limited to random grocery stores and Trader Joe's.  So when I saw the fresh yellow and green zucchini at my last Trader Joe's trip, I thought it would be nice to do a veggie heavy summer salad.  It's too hot to turn on the stove or oven!  This was a perfect refreshing salad and it's a nice vegetarian option to include in my rotation this summer.

So let's just pretend like I got my inspiration while digging up some fresh zucchini from my lovely garden or while slowly strolling down the neighborhood farmer's market in a cute summer dress, and not while rummaging through the Trader Joe's vegetable shelves in my pug fur-covered sweatshorts (yeah that's right, I said sweatshorts).

Servings: 4, but if you're going back for seconds and this is your main dish then more like 2.

Ingredients:
2 15-ounce cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 small zucchinis, halved lengthwise and then sliced into half moons
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup green beans (or haricot verts), trimmed and thinly sliced
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn or chopped
1/2-2/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese (depends on how cheesy you want it)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 lemons, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• In a large bowl mix together 2 cans of cannelini beans, 2 chopped zucchinis, 2 cups grape tomatoes, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1 cup chopped green beans, 1 cup chopped basil, 1/2-2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon zest, and the juice from 2 lemons.  
• If you want to cut back on the bite of raw onions, try soaking the cut onion pieces in cold water for at least 10 minutes.
• Small zucchini are sweeter than large ones as the seeds from large ones greater than 10-12 inches take on a bitter flavor.
• Season with coarse salt and cracked pepper to taste.

I added a teeny bit of leftover chopped red bell pepper here too but you can't even see it.  Next time I might try adding more to add some more.

Sunny and Rosy are getting pretty good at sitting in the right spot for my photos!  They know they get treats if they pose well!

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Cold Soba Salad with Chicken, Basil, and Bell Peppers

One of my favorite summer dishes that my mom used to cook when I was younger was simple soba that she'd serve cold in lil bundles that we'd dip in cold tsuyu seasoned with wasabi and with lots of handfuls of chopped green onions and nori seaweed.  That started my love affair with soba.  I continued this love affair in my adulthood, even though I never cooked it myself, by frequenting one of my favorite midtown New York lunch spots, Soba Nippon, where I'd eat soba warm in a delicious broth during the winter and then cold as part of a huge chicken salad during the warmer months.  I haven't come across a soba preparation that I didn't like!

I was recently craving soba again but it's been way too hot and humid to even think of eating it warm in a broth (Chicken Soba Soup with Poached Egg) and I didn't have any tsuyu handy (well I did find a bottle in the very back of my pantry but I won't even tell you how old the expiration date was!) so I decided a cold soba salad would be a perfect healthy and delicious dish!  The fresh basil and vinegar/lime juice sauce really make this meal for me.  And topping it with some coarse salt, black pepper, toasted sesame seeds, and spicy red pepper boost the flavors of the dish.  This soba salad is pretty easy to make and can be really quick to put together if you do all the chopping in advance.

Servings: 4 (but if you go back for seconds then this would serve 2)

Ingredients:
8-9 ounces soba
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 limes, squeezed
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 bell peppers, thinly sliced,
1-2 cups fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
2-3 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Red pepper (gochugaru) (optional)

Instructions:

• Cook 8-9 oz of soba according to packet instructions al dente.  Rinse cooked soba in cold water, drain, and set aside.
• In a large bowl whisk together 2 tbsps toasted sesame oil, juice from 2 limes, and 2 tbsps rice vinegar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Toast 1 tbsp sesame seeds until lightly browned.  Watch this carefully as sesame seeds can go from beautifully toasted to terribly burnt real quickly.  
• Add to the large bowl with the sauce 2 sliced bell peppers, 1-2 cups thinly sliced basil, 2-3 cups shredded chicken, and the cold soba.  Toss until well mixed and sauce evenly covers all the ingredients.
• Top each bowl with toasted sesame seeds and additional salt and pepper to taste.  
• Optional: Add some red pepper for a spicy kick.  I like to add gochugaru, which is a Korean red pepper powder which I mooch from my mom.

Sorry girls, this is spicy and not for you!  I did set aside tiny bites of chicken before adding it to the noodles and gave the girls a lil taste as a reward for posing nicely for these photos.

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Cold Farro Salad with Vegetables and Chicken in a Mint Yogurt Sauce

Ugh, we are not happy with this heat wave going on here.  While I enjoy spring, I have a love/hate relationship with summer.  I grew up in a desert climate so I'm fine with high heat but add in a ton of humidity and having to commute in hot metro stations with no moving air, and I become a grumpy, sweaty mess.  The girls also don't love it as they start panting and snorting quickly on our walks and the humidity does a number on Sunny's deep-set wrinkle.  Anyways, this was my long intro to say that when the temperatures and humidity go up, my desire for cold yet satisfying meals goes up as well.  I found this cold farro salad on one of my favorite food blogs theKitchn but it only had leeks and peas and I wanted to add some more veggies, color, and meat so I kinda just winged it.  Below is the recipe I used for the dish in these photos but I'm sure you can swap, add, subtract a number of ingredients depending on your preferences.  I wasn't expecting to like this dish as much as I did.  I made this week a farro week for my meals to simplify things and I ended up liking this dish more than Warm Farro Salad with Roasted Vegetables, Fontina, and Cheese!  And since this is best served cold, I foresee myself making this often during the summer!

Servings: Original recipe said serves 4-6 but this is a 2 mealer for me!

Ingredients:
1 - 1 1/2 cups farro (original recipe calls for 1 cup but Trader Joe's has 1 1/2 cup 10 minute bags)
2 leeks, halved and then chopped into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (I use Trader Joe's nonfat version)
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup shredded chicken
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
5 oz baby bella mushrooms, cut into small chunks
1 zucchini, chopped (mine is in large chunks but that's because I was too lazy to cut it smaller)
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Cook 1 - 1 1/2 cups farro according to instructions.  Rinse with cold water, drain, and set aside.
• Heat a pan over medium heat and coat with cooking spray or olive oil.  Cook 2 chopped leeks, 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper, 5 ounces chopped mushrooms, and 1 chopped zucchini for a few minutes.  You want the leeks to soften but you don't want the other vegetables to get too soggy.  If you want crisper zucchini then I'd recommend adding them for the last minute or two then.

• If you are using fresh peas or forgot to thaw them (like I did), then blanch them by adding them to a pot of boiling water for about a minute until they're bright green and then move the peas to an ice bath to cool.
• In a large bowl whisk together 2 tbsps olive oil, 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, juice from a lemon, and 1 tsp of lemon zest.
• Add to the bowl the cooled farro, peas, sauted vegetables, and 1tbsp chopped mint.  Toss until everything is coated.
• Add salt and cracked black pepper to taste.
• You can serve this warm but I prefer it cold and it keeps well in the fridge.

Rosy's face in the photo below just kills me!

Spot the pug?

And don't forget to give your pugs a teeny lick of yogurt!

The pictures above show the farro salad just after I made it but as I mentioned before, I like it best cold.  Below is when I had it for dinner the next two days.

"What's in that bowl?!  Something delicious for us?!"  (Sorry Rosy, not for you!) 

Persistent lil pugs!

Adapted from theKitchn.

Warm Farro Salad with Roasted Vegetables, Fontina, and Chicken

I like mixing my grains up for some variety and decided to try a farro dish.  I had farro for the first time a couple years ago and loved its chewiness and nutiness!  It makes the dish feel heartier with farro than a smaller or less substantial grain.  I came across this warm farro salad recipe with roasted vegetables and fontina and knew I had to try it!  I made a few tweaks based on what ingredients I was able to find easily and personal preferences.  I also added chicken because while I like vegetarian dishes occasionally, I've had a lot recently and wanted some meat this time around.  But definitely feel free to change this recipe based on your personal tastes and keep it vegetarian if that's what you'd prefer.

Servings: 2 (maybe 3, but this was a 2 for me).

Ingredients:
2 medium zucchini, cut into small chunks
1 cup grape tomatoes
5 oz baby bella mushrooms, cut into small chunks
1 red onion, chopped
2-3 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-1 1/2 cups farro (Trader Joe's has 10 minute farro bags which are each 1 1/2 cups)
2-3 ounces fontina cheese, cut into small cubes
1-2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup shredded chicken (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Combine 2 chopped zucchini, 1 cup grape tomatoes, 4 oz chopped mushrooms, 1 chopped red onion, and 2-3 tsps garlic in a large bowl.  
• Either: (1) add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper, toss until all vegetables are coated, and spread on a lined baking sheet; or (2) spread out the vegetables on a lined baking sheet and then spray with an olive oil spray and then season with salt and pepper (I like this option because I think it means I use less oil, but who knows if that's really true).

• Bake vegetables for about 25 minutes, stirring a couple times.

• While vegetables are roasting, cook 1 to 1 1/2 cups of farro according to instructions and then drain.
• Combine the farro with the vegetables.  
• Stir in 2-3 oz cubed fontina and 2-3 tbsps chopped parsley
• Whisk together 2 tbsps olive oil and 1 tbsps balsamic vinegar.  
• Drizzle oil and vinegar mixture over farro mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Enjoy!

Hey!  Psst!  Come here girls, I want to take a photo.

 Not that close Rosy!

Adapted from theKitchn.

Chickpea Salad with Herbs and Vegetables

I knew this week was going to warm up and the last thing I want to do when it gets hot is cook over a hot stove and eat something heavy.  I ate a lot of salads last summer but I hated the prep work that went with that (I'm anal about cleaning romaine leaves since I'm always worried I'll accidentally eat a bug), and bag lettuce goes bad so quickly.  This chickpea salad involves a little less prep work and chopping since the bulk of this salad are the chickpeas and not lettuce.  It's also a lot quicker to throw together on a weeknight after work if you do the chopping in advance, which is what I did.  And this is a super flavorful dish that you can eat during the hot months without feeling gross afterwards.  This can be eaten as a meal or portion it out smaller as sides to your entree.  A great thing about this salad is that you can use whatever vegetables you want so throw in your favorites for this satisfying vegetarian dish!

Servings: 2-6 (depends on how you're eating this as an entree or side dish)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup red onion, chopped
2 cups halved grape tomatoes
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups cucumbers, chopped (I like the Trader Joe's persian cucumbers)
1/4 kalamata olives, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

A couple notes:

• I also threw in a couple handfuls of chopped green onions that I had leftover from another dish.  I know this dish already has red onions but I love onions of all kind and can't get enough of them!  Use whatever vegetables you like for additions or substitutions)
• This dish was very flavorful and pungent in a good way but if you want it less strong, decrease the herbs and garlic a bit.  Also if you have fresh herbs and the patience to chop them, then definitely use them instead of the dried ones!  I love fresh herbs, but I got lazy and the dried herbs here were still delicious!

Instructions:

• In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 4 minced garlic cloves and whisk together.
• In a large bowl mix together 2 cans chickpeas, 3/4 chopped red onion, 1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives, 1 tbsp parsley, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp thyme, 1 cup feta cheese, 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes, 2 cups chopped cucumbers, 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper.  
• Drizzle the vinegar dressing over the chickpea salad, toss well, and enjoy!

The entire time I was prepping the salad my pugs were like this:

Or like this:

Sorry girls, you can't have any!  But please come closer and stay still for a second while I taunt you with the food so that I can take some photos. 

Ok last one and then I'll give you a carrot and peanut butter treat!

Adapted from My Recipes.

Mexican Bulgur Salad

One of my favorite dishes I first made on my own was this awesome bulgur salad that my sister made for me when I was in college.  I'd never had bulgur before and the flavor combinations were so fresh and yummy!  Sometimes when I'd dogsit for her she'd make me a bunch of meals beforehand, including the bulgur salad which I would promptly eat all in one sitting.  Ah youthful metabolism!  I soon braved the kitchen myself and that recipe became a regular in my very rare cooking rotation.  So when I stumbled across this Mexican bulgur salad recipe I knew I had to try it!  This has renewed my love for bulgur but this salad is spicier and different from the dish I used to eat which included parsley, lemon juice, kidney beans, and feta.

This dish is really quick and easy to put together so long as you do all the prep in advance.  I did all my chopping on Sunday and then tonight when I came home from work I cooked up the bulgur and then tossed everything together - so easy!  The only pain about this recipe is chopping jalapenos.  I used to chop them willy nilly until one horrible day I rubbed my eye long after having chopped and washed my hands.  Oh the burn!  And then my fingertips wouldn't stop burning too!  I must've had a super spicy batch that time.  But ever since then, I make sure to wear gloves when chopping jalapenos!

If you want your dish spicier feel free to add more peppers.  And season this dish generously as it tastes better with a good helping of salt.  This can be served either warm or cold, so I think I'll be making this a lot during the hot summer months!

Servings: 4 (but this is a 2-3 mealer for me)

Ingredients:
1-1 1/2 cup uncooked bulgur
1 1/2 cups diced zucchini
1 15-ounce can of corn, rinsed and drained (or use fresh corn if you have it)
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped green onions
3/4 cup diced Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers
1 cup chopped or shredded cooked chicken
3 tablespoons cilantro, minced
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
3 tablespoons jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Cook 1-1 1/2 cup bulgur according to directions.  (I put this range because the original recipe calls for 1 cup but Trader Joe's has an awesome little bag of 10 minute bulgur and that's 1 1/2 cups so I figured I'd just use the whole bag).  
• Once bulgur is cooked and drained, add 1 1/2 cups diced zucchini, 1 can of corn, 1 can of black beans, 1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes, 3/4 cup diced Monterey Jack cheese, 3 tbsps minced cilantro, 1/4 cup chopped green onions, and 1 cup chopped chicken.  Stir gently until ingredients are mixed.
• In a separate small bowl mix together 1/4 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup lime juice, 3 tbsps minced jalapeno peppers, 1 tbsp olive oil, and 1/4 tsp cumin.
• Add juice mixture to the bulgur and toss together until all ingredients are well mixed.  
• Salt and pepper generously according to taste (Salt is key!).
• Serve either warm or put it in the fridge and eat it cold later! 

Notice the pugs' strategic sitting in front of the fridge.  Made it very difficult anytime I had to go back in for a forgotten ingredient!

Poor sad, begging lil pugs.

No bulgur salad for the pugs!  Besides, it has jalapenos in it!

Adapted from My Recipes.