Avocado Caprese Pesto Salad

So far I've been lucky and I still have power during Hurricane Sandy.  It is definitely rainy and windy outside.  Also my office is closed today and tomorrow, so I haven't been to work since last Thursday!  Woohoo for a 5 day weekend!  I'm crossing my fingers so that my power stays on.  If you don't have power, maybe you can try this no cook avocado caprese salad recipe.  This avocado caprese pesto salad is fresh and flavorful.  It is a combination of some of my favorites - pesto sauce, caprese salad, and avocados.   I love how quick and easy this salad comes together too.  Feel free to make your own pesto sauce, I just made it more easy for me since my favorite store-bought pesto sauce is from Costco.   In case you didn't know, you can freeze pesto sauce.  I always portion out the large container of the pesto sauce to freeze in individual freezer bags.  Overall, this is a really healthy salad, you can even substitute the fresh mozzarella for low-fat or skim mozzarella. 

Avocado Caprese Pesto Salad

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 tablespoon pesto sauce (I used Kirkland’s brand from Costco.)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

spring salad mix (enough to serve 2)

1 tomato, sliced into wedges

1 avocado, diced

½ cup fresh mozzarella, diced (I used 2 or 3 slices.)

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together pesto with extra virgin olive oil to make a pesto dressing.

In a large bowl, combine salad mix, tomato, avocado and mozzarella. 

Drizzle in pesto dressing.

Mix together salad and pesto dressing.

Serves 2.

Gazpacho

Gazpacho is a cold, tomato-based, vegetable soup originally from Spain.  It is a refreshing and great summertime dish.  I had bought the onion, cucumber, and tomato from the Crystal City Farmers Market.  I love being able to get so many fresh vegetables every week at this farmers market.  You can make this ahead of time since it tastes even better after its been chilled.  Serve this gazpacho with some crusty bread and you have a simple, delicious meal.  

Gazpacho

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups tomato juice

1 large tomato, diced

1 red onion, diced

1 cucumber, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)

Directions

In a food processer, add in garlic, diced onion, cucumber and tomato.  Pulse a few times, do not over process. 

Next, add in tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and hot sauce.  Pulse.

Chill for a few hours at least before serving.  Serve cold.

Beef and Bean Burritos

I made a batch of Beef and Bean Burritos to freeze for my friend who is expecting a baby at the end of the month.  I have made her a few freezer friendly meals so she doesn't have to spend time cooking when taking care of a newborn baby.   What is so great about making your own burritos is that you know exactly what is going in it.  You can put in your favorite ingredients, so far I have made Breakfast Burritos and Santa Fe Chicken Burritos.  When you freeze these burritos, they will last for a couple months too.  Its great having a quick and easy meal (or snack) on hand.  What I have learned about freezing burritos is to allow the filling to cool to room temperature.  If you freeze a hot burrito, it will not freeze evenly and can alter the texture and taste.  Be sure to wrap each burrito (after cooled) with foil, plastic wrap, or wax paper before putting into a freezer bag.  Definitely use a freezer bag since those are more heavy duty and will protect your food from freezer burn.  Enjoy!

Beef and Bean Burritos

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

8 to 10 large flour tortillas (burrito size)

2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar.)

3 cups rice plus water

½ onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon minced garlic)

10 ounce can Rotel diced tomato with lime juice and cilantro

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

15.5 ounce can black beans

16 ounce can refried beans (I used fat-free)

½ pound ground beef

¼ cup enchilada sauce (I used Trader Joe’s or feel free to use salsa instead)

Directions

Cook rice in a rice cooker - add rice, water, Rotel diced tomato, onion, and garlic.  Allow to cool.

In a non-stick pan over medium-high heat, add ground beef.  Add in cumin and chili powder.   Stir in enchilada sauce.  Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes until meat is cooked through.  Allow to cool.

Warm tortillas according to package directions. (I microwave for 45 seconds covered with a moist paper towel.)

Spoon about 1 tablespoon refried beans down center of tortilla.

Spoon about 2 tablespoons rice down center of tortillas. 

Spoon about 1 tablespoon meat over rice.

Top meat and rice with about 1 tablespoon black beans.

Sprinkle cheese on top.  

Fold tortilla into a burrito.

Repeat for all tortillas.

To freeze, allow burritos to cool if using warmed ingredients.  Wrap each burrito tightly with foil (or plastic wrap).  Place burritos in large freezer bags.  (I label the bag beforehand with what type of burrito and date.)  

To reheat from frozen, remove foil and microwave on high for 3 minutes.  You could also place the foiled burrito in the toaster oven at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes.

Spinach and Turkey Pizza

This spinach and turkey pizza was amazing!  I made sure to roll out the pizza dough as thin as possible and it turned out nice and crisp.  You could make your own pizza dough (homemade pizza dough recipe link here)  or use store bought.  It is actually not too hard to make your own pizza dough, and I like to double the recipe so I can always have one batch in the freezer.  If you freeze the dough, just let it defrost in the fridge the night before you need it.  Anyway, this spinach and turkey pizza was great because of the fresh spinach.  If you want to make it vegetarian, just omit the ground turkey.  What is so great about making pizza is you can use whatever toppings you have at home, that's exactly how I came up with this recipe.  Enjoy!

Spinach and Turkey Pizza

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 batch of pizza dough (recipe here)

10 ounces fresh spinach

4 ounces ground turkey

½ onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 ounces cream cheese

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ cup parmesan cheese

1 roma tomato, sliced

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

non-stick cooking spray

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Drizzle a little olive oil onto a baking sheet.

For the spinach

In a large pan, over medium-low heat, add about a tablespoon of olive oil and garlic.  Saute garlic for about a minute.  Stir in spinach.

Cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until spinach is wilted.  Stir in cream cheese, salt, and pepper.  Cook for another minute and let spinach mixture cool.

For the turkey

In a skillet, over medium heat, spray with non-stick cooking spray, and add onion and ground turkey.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until turkey is cooked through and no longer pink.

For the pizza

Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface with a rolling pin.  Place rolled out dough onto a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Drizzle a little olive oil onto the pizza dough.

Spread the spinach mixture over the dough. 

 

Top with turkey mixture.

 

Top with shredded mozzarella cheese. 

 

Top with tomato slices. 

 

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

 

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is crisp and lightly browned.

Tomato Pie

I have never made a tomato pie before but I have had one once and it was delicious.  I came across Paula Deen's tomato pie recipe from her food network show, Paula's Home Cooking.  I altered her recipe using what I had at home.  I would probably use shredded mozzarella cheese next time instead of the fresh bocconcini mozzarella, because it made the pie more watery.  You should make sure you drain the tomatoes really well too.  Paula's recipe also said to remove the skin from the tomatoes, but I just left them on since I don't mind it.  You could also caramelize the onions if you have time to do that.  I love the combination flavors of tomatoes and basil and each bite of pie was cheesy.  At first I was skeptical, but then I ate a second piece of pie!   Yup, it was that good.  Enjoy!

Tomato Pie

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 (9-inch) prebaked pie shell (I used a frozen pie shell.)

4 tomatoes, sliced

½ onion, diced

¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped  (8 to 10 leaves)

1 cup shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend)

½ pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced (I used 2 bocconcini mozzarella balls.)

¾ cup mayonnaise (I used Hellman’s Light Mayonnaise.)

salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  I prebaked a frozen pie shell for 9 minutes.  (Follow directions on the package.)

Place tomato slices in a colander in the sink and sprinkle with some salt.  Allow liquids to drain for about 10 minutes.

 

In a small bowl, combine the shredded cheese and mayonnaise together.

 

Layer the tomatoes slices, onion, and basil in the prebaked pie shell.  Layer the mozzarella slices between the tomato layers.

Spread mayonnaise mixture on top of the tomatoes.  Sprinkle with some black pepper and salt if desired.

Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

 

Best serve warm and cut into slices.  

 The pie got more watery due to the fresh mozzarella cheese ... oops, but it still tasted good!

 My second slice of pie ... as you can see, I used the same plate from my first slice :)