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10 Ways To Make Your Salad Even Better






If you have followed me for a while you know that I am a huge fan of a great salad. It's actually an obsession. I find myself creating all kinds of recipes to make sure me and the family don't get bored with our greens. So I thought I would share some tips that I try to stick to when we start to get bored. Here they are, 10 ways to make your salad even better.

  1. Add berries or fruit! They are in season and taste the best, you can also add dried or freeze dried fruit/berries in the winter months!

  2. Homemade dressing, as easy as an vinaigrette (1/4 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup agave, 1/2 cup oil of your choice) but I will be sharing other favorites.

  3. Seeds! Talk about extra nutrients, crunch and yummy taste. Currently loving raw sunflower seeds!

  4. Nuts, another way to add crunch nutrients and keep you feeling fuller

  5. Don't stick to just one green, try mixing up a few (arugula, baby lettuce and romaine is my favorite mix!)

  6. Don't skip massaging your kale! Adding some oil and massaging it for 2-4 minutes absolutely changes the texture and makes it so yummy!!

  7. Homemade croutons, using any leftover bread (chop up bagels, baguette, sliced breads, add oil, season and bake to make delish croutons) easy, delicious and you don't waste food!

  8. Nutrient dense toppings, like ground flax seed, hemp hearts, even chia seeds (add to thicken your dressing!) seed crackers, not only add crunch but also nutritious.

  9. Beans! Don't overlook these little guys, filling, protein filled, yummy and so easy if you keep canned ones in your pantry (like I always do!). I make a batch of lentils almost every week to add to my salads or eat alone with hot sauce...

  10. Pasta, I love adding a scoop of pasta (currently loving lentil pasta) when I need my salad to be more filling!

*Bonus tip, serve in a large bowl with a lid so you can mix it up perfectly, I call it my Kardashian salad toss... You know like they violently toss their salads in the show? lol. It makes a huge difference to shake the salad with a lid, mainly because I don't find I need as much dressing this way!



Buen provecho, my darlings.

xoxoxo

Natalie


Summer Salad Round Up







Oh hey there Summer!


I love cold weather food, yummy soups and stews and warm foods butttttt summer, summer is my jamn! I was pinning dishes to create a loose summer menu (I find meal planning every week easier when I have a nice big list to go from!).


So I am sharing my favorite 20 Summer Salads, which can easily be put together for the whole family. The best part of a summer if you can easily serve in a tortillas, in a bun or on the side of any grilled protein. I find them to be versatile, easy and best of all can be made ahead of time.



This Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad, is similar to the Trader Joes or Whole Foods bagged salad and I LOVE it. (*tip dress the salad and let sit int he fridge for a while, it makes is less tough).


Serve this Avocado Corn Salad over a huge bed of arugula, the peppery green is my FAVORITE.


Pesto Pasta Salad - I love making something like this with a homemade pesto! Swap out the pasta for a chickpea version for extra protein!


Roasted Sweet Potato Salad, a perfect sub to my usual sheet tray meal that I make all fall. I would roast a couple sliced red onions and sausages to add to this!



Shaved Zucchini Salad, looks beautiful and ohhhhh yummy! Would be great with some grilled fish or chicken!


Shaved Asparagus with eggs, I may need to make this for lunch!


Corn & Grilled Asparagus Salad, as a side, or I'd sprinkle some seeds and hemp hearts for protein!


BLT Salad! Our fav all summer, I love adding grilled chicken to this or a pasta or homemade bread on the side for the girls :)


Spicy White Bean Salad with Tahini - I love a bean salad, this one would be great with lentils too. I always make a big batch to toss in my salads for extra protein.


Spiralized Zucchini Salad love this! I would add a noodle to the dish for the girls and hubby to enjoy.


Vegan Potato Salad, I would love this with either grilled or air fryer potatoes!


Broccoli Salad, the girls favorite salad! In the winter I like to roast them quickly but in the summer we all love a crunchy salad!


Tomato & Couscous Salad, fun and easy to add things too (I'dd add bacon or sausage for the girls and lots of arugula & spinach for me!)


Vietnamese Chicken Salad, oh this looks like the perfect summer meal!


Garbanzo Summer Salad, fresh, crunchy and summery ingredients will be light but filling.


Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad! Another family favorite, and so easy to sub out ingredients, I especially love serving it on a board, this way everyone picks what goes in their salad!


I hope that this is as helpful for you as it is for me! I am going to try and share my favorite homemade dressings that I rotate and make my daily salads so much more fun.


xoxo

Natalie

Air Fryer Yuca Fries Topped With Goat Cheese






Happy Monday my loves! I hope you are all having a great morning and that you at least enjoyed a few hot sips of your morning beverage.


I have been wanting to share more recipes with foods I grew up eating. I love introducing them to the girls and learning how to make them my own!


Most of you know I am 100% Dominican, a first generation American so there are so many foods I cannot wait to share. Step in yuca, the french fry of the Dominican Republic! Well maybe not hahaha, but its what we ate a lot of it growing up. In every form, boiled with pickled onions and salchichon (sausage) and fried eggs, mmmm, was my favorite. But the french fry version has become a recent favorite. (I also made bolitas de yuca here ages ago and it was delicious, note to self make again soon!)


And although its tricky to peel, its really easy to prepare. Especially as fries in the air fryer! You can also bake these and they come out just as incredible. Or fry them in a high temp cooking oil like coconut or avocado, what ever your feeling up to. And I promise to start styling my dishes in a better way when I launch the website and bulk make my dishes once a month, but for now I am proud that I finally got it up!


I am always looking for yummy, filling, easy recipes that I know I could serve to guests but also that the girls will love too. And this my friends is one of those recipes, it can easily be paired with burgers for a weeknight meal, as an app for a dinner party or as is as a meal like I did last night.


Here is the easiest recipe EVER.


Ingredients

2 large pieces of Yuca, when picking it out make sure there isn't a soft part on it.

1/2 red onion

2 tbsp avocado oil

Any mix of herbs and seasoning you like, I use a healthy mix of garlic salt, black pepper, parsley, paprika, sage and thyme

2 tsp of agave (you can skip but this balances the paprika for little taste buds)

Goat Cheese to top


1. Peel

2. Cut the yuca into french fry-sized sticks, discarding the fibrous core.

3. Chop the onion finely.

4. Mix the seasonings, agave, onion, and oil in a bowl really well so it will evenly coats the yuca.

5. Heat your air fryer to 400 degrees

6. This part is up to you, you can either air fry them in small batches or fry them for a longer period of time and toss every 10-15 minutes. I like to do them all at once, for 20-25 minutes tossing them in between, until they are golden brown.

7. Sprinkle the goat cheese on top right before serving (I have served with shaved Manchego too! or none at all if you don't care for dairy).


I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.


xoxo

Natalie



Here are a few other posts you may enjoy for meals this week!







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