salads

20 Potluck Side Dishes for the Classic Summer BBQ

This list of my top 20 classic potluck side dishes are he favorites everyone at your summer cookout will love and are easy to make and to take.

It’s summer, when you’re very likely to be invited to a backyard bbq, or hopefully even host one yourself. Summer’s main dish offerings for a crowd can be pretty standard fare with baby back pork ribs, burgers, and hot dogs likely taking center stage. Where things can go wily in summer cooking’s Wild West is in the side dish area of the party game. There’s so many options, how do you choose what to bring to a potluck?

This list of make-ahead, classic potluck side dish recipes is made up of all the old-time favorites I’ve shared here on the blog that still top my list of those I most often crave. While it’s fun to show off your amusingly inventive recipe creations, sometimes it’s best to just go with the classics, the tried-and-true, the favorites you know everyone at the party will love.

I’m sure I’ll be adding more to this list as the summer goes on, but for now, you know I’ll be sharing these sides on my summer picnic table, and hope you will too.continue to the recipe… about 20 Potluck Side Dishes for the Classic Summer BBQ

Sweet Vinegar Coleslaw (No Mayo)

This healthy coleslaw with a sweet vinegar coleslaw dressing is a no-mayo alternative to the classic coleslaw version, covering all the potluck salad bases.

Opposites do attract. It’s why anything that’s both sweet and tangy always taste so good. And when you try this healthy, vinegar coleslaw recipe made with apple cider vinegar and sweetened with just a bit of sugar, you’ll believe it with each and every forked bite.

I’m a fan of any crunchy slaw that comes together fast and balances out a meal, and this recipe is right up there with my best creamy coleslaw recipe. But sometimes I’m more in the mood for a lighter zesty bite than a creamy one.

This coleslaw’s tangy dressing lightens bbq sauced slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches and is the crunchy compliment to classic potluck salads like my mom’s recipe for the best potato salad or the classic macaroni salad.

It’s time to round out the bevy of side dish salads and add this one to your bookmarked recipe list.

continue to the recipe… about Sweet Vinegar Coleslaw (No Mayo)

30 Super Savory Salads to Make In September

This list of savory salads that make a meal will have you eating salads every day of the month, all year long.

Summer may be coming to a close, but don’t give up those greens just yet.

I get it, I get it. It can be so hard to give up those warm summer days spent peacefully relaxing or jam-packed with awesome activities. And now that school’s back in session, and there’s a hint of chill in the morning air, it’s easy to fall into a ho-hum meal rotation, or start snacking on lunch box leftovers.

Stop in the name of love for salad!

This is the most bounty-ous time of year to take advantage of all the seasonal harvest favorites. Take your pick of kale, squash, apples, sweet potatoes, and so much more in this monthly roundup featuring 30 days of sumptuous salads that are a full meal in themselves, or an enticing side to any healthy dinner.continue to the recipe… about 30 Super Savory Salads to Make In September

31 Healthy Lunches to Make in January

Get a healthy start on your week by creating lunches that won’t derail your best eating intentions. These 31 recipes will keep you on track!

Happy New Year, friends!

Now that we’ve eaten too many cookies, drunk too much champagne, and thrown caution to the wind with our diets (because #holidays), 2018 is upon us and The Ghost of Christmas Future has awarded us a fresh slate. But that doesn’t mean we have to trade in our culinary vices for full force diet deprivation ala Sugar-Free-Paleo-Whole30-latest-diet-trend-to-jump-onto. Though if you are, more power to you.

For me, January is never about diet repentance or deprivation, but always about finding balance. It’s about enjoying comfort food like chicken pot pie or lasagna while also embracing more salads that don’t always require “detox” in the name.

Lunch is a good place to start, because it’s all too often the “chopped liver” of our three daily meals, and sometimes we skip it or eat a protein bar and call it good. Breakfast may get credited as the most important meal of the day, but lunch is a close runner-up and is the fuel needed to power through the day so we don’t succumb to the dreaded afternoon slump where we just want to face plant into our desks.

That’s why 2018’s first 31 day what to cook series installment is dedicated to healthy lunches, with an emphasis on meal prep.

And so here are 31 virtuous (but still totally yummy) lunch recipes to motivate you through the new-you month of January.

continue to the recipe… about 31 Healthy Lunches to Make in January

Quick Korean Spicy Slaw Recipe

This quick coleslaw version of Korean kimchi has all of the classic Asian flavor but is ready to eat in 30 minutes or less.

Kimchi is having it’s day in the culinary spotlight with a whole new slew of devotees who are loving the vibrant flavors of its age-old traditional Korean fermented flavors.

And then, there are the haters. Okay, that’s a strong word. Let’s instead call them the misinformed, those who sadly share a not always positive perception of kimchi. “Ew, it smells.” “Why would you bury your food in the ground?” “It must be hard to make.”

Hardly so. Especially when you make take all the flavors to make a quick Asian cabbage slaw instead. continue to the recipe… about Quick Korean Spicy Slaw Recipe

30 Days of Healthier Salads That Make a Meal In April

Happy April, friends!

We’re proud to bring you our fourth installment to our 31 Days Series (you can check out the first one here, the second one here, and the third one here). This month is all about big, bountiful salads—you know, the kind that stick to your ribs and are hardy enough to make a meal of.

We’re craving healthy foods, but ones with substance and staying power, because we don’t want to be hungry two hours later and find ourselves tucking into a bowl of cereal at 10 o’clock at night.

We’ve all been there.

These salads are colorful, healthy, filling, and easy to prepare. We can’t guarantee they’ll help you fit into last summer’s shorts by the end of the month, but we promise they’ll definitely help!continue to the recipe… about 30 Days of Healthier Salads That Make a Meal In April

10 Healthy and Hearty Salad Recipes That Make a Meal

Once the new year strikes, the food blogosphere is bombarded by a slew of healthy recipes. We begin seeing words like detox and antioxidants and healthified. In the spirit of a clean slate and the new year ahead, we adamantly resolve to make over our meal plan and shed that holiday fat, dust off the old scale and optimistically vow to stop avoiding the gym (or to join one).

But let’s be honest, shall we? January is rough enough. It can be a struggle to hoist ourselves out of our Christmas comas, resuming daily routines and work, and also re-evaluating our diets. It’s a sudden jolt back into reality once the time comes to trade in the cookies for kale, and the cocktails for lemon water.

We feel the transition should be smoother, which is why we’re after salads, but not salads of the goody-two-shoes variety.

Instead, think warm salads spiked with creamy cheese and roasted veggies. Salads that are hearty and nutritious, without being too upstanding on the health spectrum.

So grab a fork and get ready to get your greens on!

continue to the recipe… about 10 Healthy and Hearty Salad Recipes That Make a Meal

Beet, Avocado and Fried Goat Cheese Salad

Creamy avocado, earthy beets and crispy fried goat cheese make up this delicious, leafless salad that’s drizzled with a shallot and white balsamic dressing and topped with delicate micro greens.

If you’re a parent, you know the feeling when you hear someone else is having a baby.

Smiles. There’s always lots of smiles. And hugs. Hugs all around.

And then there’s that 10 second shock from nerve endings going on high alert with your own memories of nervousness, wonderment and anxiety about whether or not you’re ready—or capable—to bring a little bootied being into the world. If you’re a woman, there’s also the little nick in the back of your brain of whether you’ll be able to weather the delivery room drama.

Just as quickly, anxiety gives way to the feeling of excitement as the memories of the first time you nuzzled your own little munchkin in that spot of his or her neck, right behind the ear, breathing in that special scent that only newborns possess.

Love seeps its way into your bloodstream and, suddenly, whether you wanted it, craved it or were apathetic about it, you’re now a parent.

And this baby is all yours.

Today, this recipe is in celebration of a dear friend who is having her own baby. It’s a virtual baby shower for Erin, of Naturally Ella.

continue to the recipe… about Beet, Avocado and Fried Goat Cheese Salad

20 Detox Salads to Put You Back On Track

These 20 healthy but delicious detox salads are the perfect way to atone for all of your holiday food indiscretions and start the new year (or even just the week) off on the right foot!

If you’re anything like us, you’ve been eating well lately.

You’ve consumed many a cookie and canapé, and chances are you’re struggling to pull yourself out of the crazy indulgent carb overhaul that was the month of December.

Now, our bodies are craving fruits and vegetables. It’s time to assess the damage we’ve done and wipe the slate clean with the proverbial January detox salad.

These salads are just ticket to redeem all your gluttonous follies and get you back on track. Not only do they look insanely delicious, we can’t resist their mesmerizing colors-of-the-rainbow appeal.

Let’s grab the new year by the horns, and dig in!

continue to the recipe… about 20 Detox Salads to Put You Back On Track

Burrata and Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

My mantra? The simpler the recipe, the more imperative the need for extraordinary ingredients. Case in point: my Burrata and Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad.

Okay, Okay. I’m pretty sure I know what you’re thinking.

Yes, I have gone a bit bonkers on the tomato recipes of late. And yes, this basic summer salad barely constitutes an entire blog post. But I realized something when I was looking over my recipes that include the summertime C word, like my Avocado Caprese Wrap, Grilled Caprese Skewers, Quinoa and Burrata Caprese Salad and my Caprese Sandwich with Arugula and Olive Spread.

I realized that the actual basic caprese salad was the missing link in my recipe repertoire.

Plus, once we pulled this dish together I knew those heirloom tomatoes were too darn pretty not to share.

Let’s call this recipe an impulse post. Sadly I have no new impulse-purchased shoes to go with it.continue to the recipe… about Burrata and Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

Summer Berry Spinach Salad

Lunchtime is when I pull away from the computer, and blast some music while I fix a simple—and most days healthy—bite like this Summer Berry Spinach Salad before solving the world’s problems.

Like this problem that’s been bugging me for the past month.

What happened to this year’s song of summer, it’s anthem, the essential addition to the road trip music playlist? Where is 2013’s Carly Rae Jepson and it’s 20 million parodies on YouTube?

Back in the day we had no YouTube, no Pandora, no immediate downloads. We had the radio and it played incessantly, creating an essential mix tape of summer memories that immediately flood the brain once you hear the opening tracks no matter what time of year or where you are in time or location.

There was always a standout song that heralded my days of lifeguarding at the country club—skimming the pool at sunset to REM’s Document—or driving down PCH searching for the stars homes along the shores of Malibu while singing along to Coldplay’s Viva la Vida and looking for any of the cast members of Friends to emerge from Courtney Cox’s house. And who DOESN’T think of Summer Lovin’ Oh now this is fortuitous and takes me back to summers of the late 90’s.

continue to the recipe… about Summer Berry Spinach Salad

Whole Wheat Greek Pasta Salad

If you’re like me, you love the traditional flavors of Whole Wheat Greek Pasta Salad, but when you give it a try with whole wheat noodles, you’ve just upped your healthy foodie factor in a big way.

There I was, sitting in front of my computer staring at the deliciousness that resonated from the final edit on the summer issue of FoodieCrush magazine when the sudden craving for a salty burst of balsamic/basil/tomato flavors hit me smack in the flavor senses.

Before I get too far into the thick of the tomato, I must say a big thank you and send virtual fist pumps, high fives and air kisses to everyone who has checked out, commented, tweeted and Facebooked about the new issue and the bloggers, recipes and interviews that are featured in it’s flippable online pages.

If you haven’t taken a look yet, please do, and definitely click over to the linked food blogger’s sites to see more of their delicious tastes.

Now, back to our pasta at hand.

continue to the recipe… about Whole Wheat Greek Pasta Salad

Pickled Strawberry with Roasted Beet Salad and a Recipe Contest

I mean seriously. This salad is sweet. Seriously sweet.

But, really, how sweet is this girl?

How much can we possibly love our little babes, especially in those unscripted moments of pure, sweet bliss, savoring the moment and creating our earliest memories of where food comes from.continue to the recipe… about Pickled Strawberry with Roasted Beet Salad and a Recipe Contest

Greek Lemon Pasta Salad Plus 5 Great Sides

Ah, Friday. Thank you for finally showing up on my doorstep.

It’s been a week of surprises and quick moves that have called for backbone, agility and patience. Some of the news has been trying for my family and some has given me drive and inspiration. For myself, things are a-changing and I’m totally ready for it. My dance card is filling up. But more on that soon enough.

Lately I’ve had a hankering for pasta. What’s my deal with carbo loading? I’ve been dreaming of salty plus crunchy the little pasta bowl in my head. Feta = salt. Kalamata olives = salt. I think I have it covered.continue to the recipe… about Greek Lemon Pasta Salad Plus 5 Great Sides