Spring has Sprung Salads!

It's officially spring - the animals are waking up from their winter naps, the last snow is melting into jumping puddles, and your garden is ready to bloom!

So whether you are getting ready for bikini season or trying to up your intake of greeneries, here are some delicious spring salads to get into your daily mix.

Strawberry and Spinach Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette:
When I think of spring salads, my mom's strawberry salad always comes to mind. It's light and so easy to throw together, while allowing you to start using all those fresh strawberries making their way back in to store this time a year, or that you picked! The honey dressing also sounds delllllightful. Get the recipe here.

Image: Shelby Cady

Roasted Squash Salad with Warm Picked Dressing: 
It's not all about the greens, Katie Websters "no lettuce" salad series from theKitchn.com brings some color into your life in the form of squash, apples, cabbage and walnuts! Get the recipe here. 

Image: Katie Webster

Swiss Chard Salad Rolls: 
If you'd rather ditch the rabbit way and eat with your paws, roll-ups are the way to go! Get the recipe here.

Photo: Joanne Gerrard Young

Cauliflower Thai Rice. Was Oscar Worthy.

On a mission to try more clean eating and healthy recipes while on a 30 test pilot of a new lifestyle shake product. I've never done one before, so why not now while I have the time to really focus, meal prep, get myself into some good healthy life changes!

And while the Oscars could have put a serious dent in my plan, luckily I came across some really great and easy recipes that would delight my gluten and soy free friend and myself during the anticipation of the awards show! 

You can put Cauliflower Thai Rice on a lot and its about a 10-15 minute process! You can also mix in as many other veggies as you want to fill it up with flavor!

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 1 bag of Trader Joes cauliflower rice
• 6 slices of mango
• Dash of Himalayan salt
• 1 cup of Kale
• 2 tsp of Olive Oil
• 2 small garlic cloves
• 1/2 small onion 

To start, put your coconut milk in a sauce pan and start just heading it up on low. If you are using the trader joe cauliflower rice, its already chopped for you. Otherwise, use a food processor to prep that first - so you can go ahead and put it right in the pan with the coconut milk. 

While that is simmering, start processing your other items such as the mango, kale, garlic and onions together. You can also do the mangos first to avoid mixing it with other items and then put them aside to use as a topping rather than in the rice itself. 

Once the rice looks like its absorbed a lot of the coconut milk, put in a small mixing bowl and add in your other ingredients!

You can really use this rice as a side, underneath some chicken or beaf, or how we did it with romaine leaves and mashed sweet potato spread! (its an amazing combination). Enjoy!

Stuff Yourself

For the past month or so that I've been here, I've been experimenting with a few new dishes, that eventually I'll make again for all you fine blog folks when I have my ducks in a row and feel like I can really dig into the SoCal scene! But here's a little taste of the mouthwatering goodness coming your way.

The recipe calls for some different items, but I like to try to make my pasta dishes on the lighter side, so hopefully I stay on the lighter side...

Sausage & Spinach Stuff Shells

 - 1 cup of finely chopped fresh spinach

 - 3 Chicken Sausage links (pre-cooked and chopped)

 - About 20 jumbo stuffed shells

 - A handful of skim mozzarella shredded cheese

 - 1 cup of Light Ricotta Cheese

 - 1/2 Cup of chopped onions (optional)

 - 2 tbsp of Olive Oil

 - A dash of salt

This dish is pretty fast paced, only takes about 20-30 minutes.

First, set your oven to 350 and in a pot, toss in the shells and set the timer for about 10 minutes. Usually I just test pasta when I think it's ready, but you don't want to overcook the shells because they'll break when you got to stuff them. 


Then toss your chopped up spinach and diced onions into a saucepan with the olive oil and a 1/4 cup of water. Let them simmer for a bit till the spinach starts to shrivel. Then take your chopped sausage and add it to the mix so the flavors blend together. In a separate bowl, blend your mozzarella cheese, ricotta and the pinch of salt. 

When you feel the spinach & sausage is all cooked up, pour into the bowl with the cheese mixture and blend together.  

You're pasta should be ready now, so drain it and spray it with cold water so the pasta stops cooking and its easier for you to handle.  Start stuffing the shells with the blended ingredients and place into sprayed glass baking dish. Once the baking dish has reached capacity, put a pinch of the shredded mozzarella on each shell. Toss it in the oven for about 10 minutes, then serve alone or with your favorite pasta sauce!