We always seem to have leftover chicken because I often make up a big batch at the beginning of the week to toss into salads or whatever. This recipe came together very easily because it’s full of ingredients that were in my fridge and pantry at the time. Talk about a win!
The dressing is a cinch to make. Just whisk together the garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, canola and sesame oils, soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl.
Simply make up a batch of quinoa according to the package directions. In a large bowl, add the quinoa shredded carrots, purple cabbage, edamame, diced red bell pepper and green onion and toss with the dressing until it’s nicely combined.
Either enjoy it right away or let it hang in the fridge for up to five days. It probably won’t last that long though…you will eat it all!!
Enjoy!
- 1 C. uncooked quinoa - cooked according to package instructions
- 1 cooked chicken breast, sliced thin
- 1 medium carrot, grated
- ½ red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- ½ C shelled endamame
- 2 C purple cabbage, sliced into thin strips
- ¼ C green onions, green tops only - chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
- ½ C rice vinegar
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- For the dressing:
- In a small bowl whisk all ingedients together, set aside
- For the Salad:
- Add cooked and cooled quinoa, sliced chicken, grated carrots, red pepper, endamame, cabbage and green onions to a large bowl. Whisk dressing again before pouring over salad, toss to coat. Either serve immediately or chill, can store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Summer Watermelon Salad
One little side note story, I was at the grocery store the other day and I guess it was just bad timing, but I happened to be there at the same time as 5 fireman. I really hate it when that happens….such a buzz kill. I promise this story relates to this watermelon salad and not hot firemen, just stick with me! I was in the produce section and one of the produce employees came out with a watermelon cut in half and gave it to one of the fireman to inspect. Genius! Why do I never do that?? How much does it suck when you buy a watermelon and get home and its all mushy and gross?? Huge pet peeve of mine! So from now on I’m having my watermelon split open before I take it home. The fireman told me that he got in big trouble at the firehouse last time he went back with a mushy watermelon. He now gets his watermelon cut open before he brings it back to the station so he doesn’t get yelled at for buying mushy watermelon.
The point of this story is to get your watermelon cut open before you leave the store and also make this watermelon salad because it’s really damn good.
Stych Photography
- ½ medium seedless watermelon or a whole small seedless watermelon, cut into chunks (approx 4 C)
- ⅓ C red onions, sliced thin
- ¾ C feta cheese, cut into cubes
- ¼ C fresh mint, chopped
- kosher salt to taste
- juice of 2 large limes
- 2 Tbsp honey
- ⅓ C white balsamic vinegar
- ¼ C good quality olive oil
- In a small bowl add all of the ingredients for the vinaigrette except for the olive oil. Slowly drizzle the olive oil while whisking
- In a medium bowl add all salad ingredients, except salt. Drizzle the honey lime vinaigrette over the salad and toss. Sprinkle with kosher salt to taste.
Chicken & Broccoli Soba Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce
So real quickly, I must jump on my soba noodle high horse just so you know why we are fans. Soba is Japanese for buckwheat. These buckwheat noodles are a nutritional powerhouse. They are packed full of protein, fiber, iron and are low in fat. While they are not a carb free noodle, they are lower in carbs than a white flour pasta. Soba noodles have a texture that is very similar to pasta and have nutty flavor.
So to make this dish, you just need to cook the noodles according to the package directions, rinse with cold water and set aside. Cook the chicken in a large skillet over medium and set that aside to cool so you can shred it. Then prepare the peanut sauce by whisking all of the ingredients together. Your last step is to steam the broccoli so it’s not hangin out too long waiting for all the other ingredients. Just give it a quick steam so it’s al dente and not mushy. Mushy broccoli is a major no no.
Once everything is ready to go, toss the ingredients together in a large bowl with the peanut sauce. Top with the green onions and red pepper flakes and you are good to go! Feed the family chicken like this and they literally can’t complain!
- 9 oz package soba noodles
- 1 lb chicken tenders
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 C brocolli
- ⅓ C green onions, chopped
- S&P
- ⅔ C creamy natural peanut butter
- ⅓ C red wine vinegar
- Juice from 2 large limes
- ¼ C coconut aminos
- 3 Tbsp sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (+ more to taste)
- ⅓ C warm water
- Cook soba noodles according to oackage directions, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside
- Season chicken with S&P. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook each side approximately 4 minutes until cooked through. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to cool. Once cooled, shred into bite sized pieces.
- While chicken is cooking add all ingredients for peanut sauce and whisk until completely smooth.
- Cut brocolli into small florets. Steam for 3-4 minutes until al dente.
- Add soba noodles to a large bowl. Add shredded chicken, brocolli and sliced green onions. Pour half over peanut sauce over the top and toss to coat. Store in the fridge or serve immediately. Drizzle additional peanut sauce over the top of each serving.
Cucumber & Fennel Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing
There’s only a few cast of characters in the recipe which makes us happy. All you need is an English cucumber (we prefer these guys because they have fewer seeds than the other cucumber guys), a fennel bulb, avocado, celery and the lemon basil dressing. You can make the dressing in advanced so this salad is even more of a cinch to throw together.
Just chop everything up and throw it into a bowl. For the fennel, you want to use the bulb and the leaves. They have so much flavor.
You can make the dressing ahead of time which makes this salad even more of a piece of cake. ha ha You wish this salad was cake! Wow. It must be late. Please don’t judge. Anyway, if you haven’t made the dressing yet, add all of the ingredients to your blender and blend it up. Add the olive oil slowly after the rest of the goods are blended.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss until it’s all nicely combined. Yum!
- 1 english cucumber, seeded and chopped
- ¾ C fresh fennel bulb, sliced thin and roughly chopped
- ½ C celery, chopped
- 1 Tbsp fresh fennel leaves, chopped
- 1 large avocado, cut into cubes
- ½ C lemon basil dressing
- S&P to taste
- *Optional - ½ C crumbled feta cheese
- juice of 1 extra large lemon or 2 medium lemons
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 1 C loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- ¼ C 0% plain greek yogurt
- 1½ Tbsp honey
- ¼ C good quality olive oil
- S & P to taste
- For the lemon basil dressing - Add all ingredients except for olive oil into a blender or use an immersion blender. Blend until basil is thoroughly mixed. Slowly drizzle olive oil in with blender on until combined. Add S & P to taste, set aside.
- In a large bowl add chopped cucumber, fennel, celery and fennel leaves. Add dressing and mix until coated. Season with S&P to taste. Add chopped avocado and feta if using and gently fold into salad.
Tortellini Pesto Salad
Once you have that pesto made up, the world is your oyster! You can now put that stuff on whatever you want! That is exactly what we did with this tortellini dish here. To prepare this recipe, you simply cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Drain it, then transfer to a large bowl. Add the pesto and red wine vinegar and toss.
then add the cherry tomatoes and fresh spinach and stir until combined. Season with salt and freshly cracked pepper and voila! You have the most delicious meal that can be enjoyed hot or cold. You can eat some now and save some for lunch tomorrow. It’s delicious the next day too! This is a very popular dish in our home. We hope you enjoy!
- 1.5 lbs fresh cheese tortellini
- ½ C prepared pesto - see recope below or used storebought - Costco has a great Kirkland brand pesto
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 C cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 C fresh spinach, stemmed and chopped
- kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste
- 2 C packed fresh basil leaves
- ¼ C toasted pine nuts
- 1 cloved garlic, chopped
- ½ C grated parmesan cheese
- ½ C good quality olive oil
- S & P to taste
- Boil fresh tortellini according to package instructions - usually 2-3 mins. Drain and rinse with cold water (can also serve hot, if serving hot do not rinse with cold water).
- Transfer tortellini to a large serving bowl. Add pesto and red wine vinegar and stir to coat. Add tomatoes and spinach and stir until incorporated. Season with S&P to taste. Serve immediately or store covered in the fridge until ready to serve.
- In a food processor combine basil, cheese, garlic, pine nuts and ¼ C olive oil. Slowly drizzle in the remaining ¼ C olive oil while the food processor is running. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Roasted Delicata Squash Quinoa Salad
Anyway, it’s a very simple recipe so check it out.
Start by cutting the squash in half, removing the seeds and cutting it into 1/2 inch round half slices. Toss the squash pieces in a bowl with olive oil and maple syrup then spread them out on a parchment lined baking sheet. Season with some kosher salt and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes. You want them be a pretty golden brown color. While the squash is cooking, you can prepare the quinoa according to the package directions, then allow it to cool.
Once the squash is fully cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Make the vinaigrette using a blender or an immersion blender.
Transfer quinoa to a large bowl, add in the delicata squash, the almonds, the orange infused dried cranberries, feta cheese and toss with the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper and voila! You are ready to enjoy. You can also store the leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days. Chances are, you’ll eat it all before then but just so you know your options.
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- 1 C dry quinoa cooked according to package instructions
- 1 medium delicata squash - halved, seeded and sliced into ½ inch half-rounds
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp good quality olive oil
- ¼ C slivered almonds
- ¼ C orange infused dried cranberries - or regualr dried cranberries
- ⅓ C feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp 0% greek yogurt
- ¼ C red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 3 Tbsp good quality olive oil
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 425. Toss sliced delicata squash in a bowl with olive oil and maple syrup. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread squash evenly over baking sheet. Season with kosher salt. Roast for 30 minutes until golden brown, allow to cool.
- For the vinaigrette, add all ingredients to a blender and blend on high until mixed, set aside.
- Allow quinoa to cool and add to a large bowl. Add in roasted delicata squash, almonds, dried cranberries and crumbled feta. Drizzle with vinaigrette dressing and tpss to coat. Season with S&P to taste. Serve immediately or cover and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Quinoa Salad with Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
Before you begin, just whip up a batch of quinoa. If you are anything like us, we pretty much always have a batch of this in our fridge. It’s a staple on weekly prep day because of the versatility. So, prepare the quinoa according to package directions then allow it to cool.
Cut up the red grapes, cucumber and parsley. Then crumble the feta cheese. Toss all of the ingredients into a bowl with the quinoa.
To prepare the dressing, just combine all of the ingredients in a blender or use an immersion blender to mix them up.
Drizzle the poppyseed dressing over the ingredients and toss until it’s all nicely combined. Season with salt and pepper and either serve and eat immediately or cover in the fridge for up to 5 days. This salad makes great leftovers!
- 1 C quinoa cooked according to package instructions
- ¾ C red grapes, halved
- ¼ C pistachio nuts, shelled
- ⅓ C feta cheese, cubed
- ½ english cucumber, seeded and chopped
- ½ C italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
- S&P to taste
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp honey
- ¼ C apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp 0% plain greek yogurt
- 2 tsp poppy seeds
- ¼ C good quality olive oil
- Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Set aside to cool.
- While quinoa is cooking prep salad ingredients and poppy seed dressing. Add all poppy seed dressing ingredients to a blender, or use an immersion blender. Blend all ingredients together until completely incorporated..
- Add quinoa to a low bowl. Add grapes, pistachios, feta, cucumber and parsley. Mix with poppy seed dressing, gently gold ingredients with a spatula. Season with S&P to taste. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Summer Lemon Pasta Salad with Spinach
Check out how easy this recipe is to make…
We just love this multi colored pasta from Trader Joe’s. Look how pretty it is. You can use whatever spiral pasta you prefer but we suggest something with some color as that always just brings it up a notch. We also pretty much add spinach wherever we can because well, it pairs just beautifully with so many ingredients and we’ll take extra vitamins (A, B and C) and fiber and folic acid (to name just a few of the benefits) whenever we can. Gotta love yummy edible vitamins!! Just chop it up and set it aside.
Then, just cook up the pasta according to the package directions and then drain and rinse with cold water. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the lemon basil vinaigrette. You can use a blender or an immersion blender to combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients.
Then transfer the pasta and chopped spinach to a mixing bowl and drizzle with the lemon basil vinaigrette. Toss to throughly combine and season with salt and pepper. Serve as is or add your favorite protein such as grilled chicken. This salad is very versatile so you can also add your favorite veggies too.
We hope you love this recipe as much as we do!
- 1 - 16oz package spiral shaped pasta
- 2 C fresh spinach, stemmed and finely chopped
- kosher salt & cracked pepper to taste
- juice of 1 extra large lemon or 2 medium lemons
- ¼ C red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 1 C loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- ¼ C 0% plain greek yogurt
- 1½ Tbsp honey
- ¼ C good quality olive oil
- S & P to taste
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- While pasta is boiling assemble the lemon basil vinaigrette. Add all ingredients except for olive oil into a blender or use an immersion blender. Blend until basil is thoroughly mixed. Slowly drizzle olive oil in with blender on until combined. Add S & P to taste.
- Add pasta to a large bowl. Add chopped spinach and gently fold in. Add desired amount of lemon basil vinaigrette.
- Season with S&P to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with Creamy Red Wine Vinaigrette
The remaining ingredients are easy peasy. I’m on this massive yellow bell pepper kick lately. I made 3 other recipes this week that have them in it. I can think of worse things to be on a kick with right?? So, just simply chop up the bell peppers, cucumber (I prefer an English cucumber and also leave the skin on), cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and kalamata olives. My daughter always requests extra olives. I don’t blame her for I too love me some olives. I also added in some fresh chopped flat leaf parsley. You don’t need a ton but adding a little will just brighten up the flavor.
The creamy red wine vinaigrette that you will drizzle over this salad is so darn good!! I know I say this a lot but it’s so good I could drink it. I don’t because that’s weird but that’s how delicious it is. I make my dressing in the blender simply because it’s easy to throw everything in at once and turn it on. You can also use an immersion blender. So all you need is red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, plain greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, honey, good quality olive oil and some salt and pepper! Get that all blended up and pour it over your salad, toss away until it’s nicely covered. You don’t have to use all of the dressing, just add it to your liking. You can reserve any leftover dressing in a covered container for a week in the fridge. This salad is also fantastic the next day too. I like to have it on hand for lunch (both for the kids and myself)…if that’s the case, it will go fast! Hope you enjoy!
- 1 Cup raw quinoa - cooked to package instructions
- ½ Cup kalamata olives - sliced
- ½ Cup cucumber - chopped
- ½ Cup cherry tomates - sliced
- ½ Cup yellow bell pepper - chopped
- ½ Cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley - minced
- fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp 0% greek yogurt
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 3 Tbsp good quality olive oil
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- pinch of salt and pepper
- In a saucepan over medium heat, prepare quinoa according to package directions and set aside to cool
- Transfer quinoa to a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients
- Combine all ingredients in a blender or use an immersion blender to combine. Drizzle salad with vinaigrette dressing and toss until well combined
Mango Quinoa Salad
Stephanie Heymann Photography
A great place to break in your quinoa taste buds is with this Mango Quinoa Salad. It’s a cold salad filled with quinoa of course, sweet mangos, endamame, golden raisins, and toasted almonds tossed with honey lime vinaigrette. Bring this salad to your next backyard BBQ or dinner party and it will be a huge hit. Extra bonus, you will sound really cool since you now know how to pronounce it!
Stephanie Heymann Photography
- 4 C cooked red quinoa (can use any color - cook according to package instructions and cool)
- 2 mangos, chopped into ½ inch cubes
- ⅓ C golden raisins
- ½ C cooked shelled endamame
- ¼ C slivered toasted almonds
- 2 green onions, chopped
- S&P to taste
- juice of 2 large limes
- 2 Tbsp honey
- ⅓ C white balsamic vinegar
- ¼ C good quality olive
- In a small bowl add all of the ingredients for the vinagrette except for the olive oil. Slowly drizzle the olive oil while whisking. Set aside
- In a large bowl add all quinoa salad ingredients except S&P. Add vinaigrette and stir to coat, season with S&P to taste. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.