Summer Salad with Chicken, Corn, Tomato, Avocado, & Feta

It's been another stressful week with my schoolwork not going at all how I want it to, and with the summer rapidly flying by, my boyfriend and I decided we needed to take a little road trip this week to get away and clear our minds (and enjoy the summer!).  So we took a short overnight trip across the border to Michigan, where we did some shopping and exploring and later went out for dinner and a few drinks.  We both love Michigan craft beer so it was nice to be able to enjoy some of it on tap for a change!

Of course, after overindulging in beer and some not-so-healthy food, we both wanted something light and nutritious for dinner the day we returned.  And because all I could think about was stuffing my face with a bowl full of vegetables, it didn't take long for me to run over to the market and grab everything I needed for a big fresh summer salad.  It hit the spot perfectly!

This salad celebrates fresh summer produce and includes pretty much all of my favourite things to eat.  I started with a bed of romaine and spinach as the base, which I topped with sliced chicken breast, a mix of local cherry and grape tomatoes, fresh corn, crisp cucumber, creamy cubes of ripe avocado, and a bunch of crumbled feta.  And because I wanted to keep things as simple as possible, I tossed it all in a storebought light balsamic vinaigrette.

I feel a little silly posting this salad because it really doesn't require a recipe - I didn't measure any of the ingredients and just threw everything in the bowl in what looked like good proportions to me.  But we both loved the combination of ingredients in this salad so much that I had to share it with you guys!

I wrote out a rough guide to what I did anyway, but really you can just use any amounts you like - and the more the better!

I also feel a little silly because last summer I shared this summertime chickpea chopped salad (which I also loved) and it's super similar to this one, but I can't help it, I love summer salads!  And fresh veggies like tomatoes and corn won't taste this good for much longer, so it's best to eat as much of them as you can while they're around - enjoy!

Summer Salad with Chicken, Corn, Feta, Tomato, Cucumber & Avocado

Serves 2-3 as a main course

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and sliced or shredded

2 ears of fresh corn

Desired amount of greens – I used about 6 large romaine leaves plus 4 big handfuls of baby spinach

1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced

Half to one English cucumber, peeled if desired, and chopped

Desired amount of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved – I used about half a pint

Crumbled feta cheese – adjust amount to your own liking – I like lots!

Salad dressing – I used a storebought light balsamic vinaigrette, but any vinaigrette or light Italian, ranch, or yogurt dressing would work

Directions:

Cook corn however you like to eat it – i.e. roasted, grilled, or boiled.  I cooked mine in a large pot of boiling water for 6 minutes.  Once cooled slightly, use a large knife to slice off the corn kernels (a bundt pan works well for this).  I cooked my chicken breasts on the stovetop at the same time as the corn.  Meanwhile, prepare all other salad ingredients.  Toss everything together in a large bowl to combine and adjust any ingredient amounts according to your own liking.  Toss with just enough dressing to coat (I added my dressing to individual servings).  Enjoy!

Lemony Lentil Salad with Dill & Feta

As I mentioned in my recap of things I made and did in July, I was recently reminded of how much I love lentil salads when I tried a recipe from My New Roots.  Not only are they easy to make and highly adaptable to different flavours and ingredients, but they usually make a lot of leftovers that are great for packing filling lunches, plus they’re super healthy – lentils are low in fat and really high in protein and fiber.

So as soon as I finished all the leftovers from the last lentil salad I tried (and there were a lot of leftovers!) I immediately made a new one, and I’m going to try to keep this up as much as possible, considering I now have three giant bags of lentils in my cupboard to use up!  

While the last lentil salad I tried was heavily spiced, this time I wanted something more bright and summery.  I knew I wanted to use lemon and dill, so when I came across a recipe for a lemony lentil salad with dill and feta from Eating Well I knew I was on the right track.  Of course, I can never seem to leave a recipe alone, so I made a few changes, starting with using dry lentils instead of canned lentils (canned are still fine, but if you’re concerned about sodium then it’s best to use dry - I use them because they're cheaper and easy to cook).  I also used shallot instead of red onion, added a clove of garlic, used more cucumber and replaced the red pepper with cherry tomatoes, and for the dressing I added a bit of honey for sweetness, reduced the lemon juice (it’s still very lemony!) and reduced the olive oil from 1/3 cup down to 2 tablespoons, which was plenty of oil for me.

I loved the balance of the lemony dressing with the salty feta, along with the bright flavour of dill and the crunch of summer veggies.  I threw a handful of fresh arugula into each serving to make it more salad-like and also cut the strong lemon flavour down to just the right amount (so I recommend this step!)

I hope you guys love lentils as much as I do, and if you think you don’t, perhaps it’s time to give them another try!

Lemony Lentil Salad with Dill & Feta

Adapted from Eating Well

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups dry brown or green lentils

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)

1/3 cup chopped fresh dill

2 tablespoons minced shallot

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon honey or agave

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1-1/2 cups chopped cucumber

1 cup chopped grape or cherry tomatoes

3/4 to 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Arugula for serving

Directions:

Combine lentils with about 3.5 cups of water (enough to cover them by a couple of inches) in a medium or large saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender (but not mushy!).  Remove from heat, drain, and rinse with cold water to cool.

While lentils are cooking, prepare dressing by whisking together the lemon juice, dill, shallot, garlic, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Slowly add the olive oil until combined. 

Toss cooled lentils with the dressing.  Mix in the cucumber, tomatoes, and desired amount of feta and toss to combine.  Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.  Serve in bowls with a big handful of arugula added to each, if desired.

Arugula Pasta Salad with Chickpeas, Veggies, and Goat Cheese

As I mentioned in my last post for this mandarin quinoa salad (which is already my most popular recipe this year – note to self: keep posting quinoa recipes!), I’ve been trying out lots of different exercise classes this term in an effort to stay active.  Last Wednesday I tried my first AquaZumba class, which was the first time I’ve taken a class in the water since my swimming lessons days as a kid.  It was kind of what I expected in that our beautiful instructor looked unfairly cool doing all her dance moves at the side of the pool while I likely looked like a floundering sea monster attempting to keep up in the water, but it was also better than I expected in that I actually had a lot of fun (and loved the fact that I could exercise without sweating)!

The success of AquaZumba has now given me the courage to try out Aqua Fit, which I’m guessing won’t be nearly as much fun.  I’m slightly dreading the idea that it might involve treading water, which I haven’t done since swimming lessons because I hated it so much.  I could never seem to keep my head above water, and the swimming instructor would always tell us our homework while we were treading water at the end of class and I would panic because my ears would be underwater so I couldn’t hear what they were saying.  But now that I'm older (and already have failing joints), I'm hoping my body will be a little more appreciative that I'm letting it work out in the water and won't fail me when it comes to the treading water part!

One of the nice things about water classes is that they make you super tired at the end of the night, giving you a good night’s sleep.  They also make you super hungry, which is where having a big batch of this pasta salad in the fridge comes in handy!

This is just an easy vegetarian dish that’s kind of like a salad, kind of like pasta, kind of like pasta salad, and kind of like pasta with salad.  With whole wheat pasta for fibre, lots of veggies for nutrients, chickpeas for protein, and some goat cheese for richness, it’s a well-balanced dish that makes for great lunches (or post water workout meals) throughout the week! 

Arugula Pasta Salad with Chickpeas, Veggies, Olives, and Goat Cheese

Loosely based on a recipe from Cooking Light

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

375g box of whole wheat penne

8 oz green beans, ends trimmed

1 pound halved cherry tomatoes, divided

4 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Salt & pepper

2 tablespoons minced shallots

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup pitted sliced kalamata olives

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

1 (540mL) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 cups packed arugula

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. 

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, toss green beans and half the cherry tomatoes with 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper.  Spread in an even layer on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

Prepare the dressing by whisking the remaining 3 tablespoons oil with the shallots, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, basil, and honey in a small bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Combine cooked pasta, roasted vegetables, remaining fresh cherry tomatoes, olives, goat cheese, and chickpeas in a large bowl.  Mix in the arugula.  Add dressing and toss to coat.  Serve warm or chill for a cold pasta salad (though I preferred it warm).  Season with additional salt and pepper and top with additional goat cheese if desired.

*Note – the pictures are missing the additional fresh cherry tomatoes; I forgot to add them until after

Polenta Rounds with Fresh Tomato, Corn & Avocado Salsa

My sister found this Tumblr site called I'm Remembering last week and since then we haven't been able to stop looking through it.  It's full of nostalgia from the 80s and 90s (aka my childhood) and every time we come across a toy or game that we'd completely forgotten about, it brings back so many memories!  Remember snap bracelets, Lite Brite (they might still make this one but I remember the original), Soda Licious candy (they tasted just like soda flavours!), the game Girl Talk (how did you play this game?  All I remember is a phone), or view masters (again, I remember the toy but not what you actually looked at on those slides)?   And did anyone else have Alphie? We totally forgot about him but remember loving him so much!  Or the Babysitters Club chain letter book?  Pretty much the best book ever made.

They also have a Facebook page where people can share their own memories, making for hours more fun (and procrastination)!  Remember Scholastic book club newsletters that you ordered books from in elementary school?  I lived for those!  How about clackers?  I also found this gem that is definitely NOT something I remember but I wish I did!

Anyway if you grew up during this time (or have kids who grew up during this time), you have to check it out - just be warned that it's addictive!

One thing I definitely do not remember ever having during my childhood was polenta.  I'm not sure why, it just didn't seem to ever make it into our meals.  I still hadn't tried polenta into my adulthood, but I kept seeing those cute little polenta rounds topped with delicious things and resolved to make a version myself.  I bought a log of pre-cooked polenta from the grocery store at the beginning of this summer, but soon forgot about it in the cupboard.  Last week, I realized that summer was quickly ending and I still hadn't used it, so I threw together a fresh salsa that tasted just like summer (with corn, tomatoes, avocado, herbs, and a bit of jalapeno), baked my polenta rounds (which I thought would be healthier than pan-frying them in oil, though they would probably taste better that way), and devoured them for dinner.

These were super easy to make and would be a great summer appetizer.  I would have enjoyed eating the salsa on its own, but the polenta provided a nice base to support it, and complemented it well tastewise too.  It was a great way to introduce myself to polenta, and next time I think I'll venture further and make my own polenta, like my sister did with these similar (but from-scratch) polenta squares with summer vegetable topping.  I also want to try the softer-style polenta like this corn and basil polenta from Pink Parsley.  What's your favourite way to eat polenta?

Baked Polenta Rounds with Tomato, Corn & Avocado Salsa

Recipe by Once Upon a Cutting Board

Serves about 10 as an appetizer (1 polenta round each)

Ingredients:

1 (500g) log of pre-cooked polenta - plain or flavoured (such as this one)

2 ears of corn

1-1/2 cups chopped cherry tomatoes

1 ripe avocado, diced

1/2 a jalapeno, de-seeded and minced (use a whole jalapeno for more spice or keep the seeds)

3-4 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Slice polenta into ten 1/2-inch thick rounds, and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook corn (I cook mine by boiling the ears in a large pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes) and slice off the kernels into a large bowl.  Add the cherry tomatoes, avocado, jalapeno, and parsley to the corn and stir. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice, salt, and desired amount of pepper, then add to the salsa and mix.  Remove polenta rounds from oven and top with the corn salsa.  Serve on plates with knives and forks (they're too messy to eat by hand).