We love a lettuce-less salad. Beans are a hit at our house and while chickpeas are the expected, these white beans are the unexpected. It was handy to make it quickly or it could be prepped ahead of time too.
We had this with grilled chicken and some orzo. Make it with falafal or it can be a light meal solo!
Greek Bean Salad Ingredients: 1 can white beans 1 cucumber 1 cup grape tomatoes 6-10 mint leaves 2-3 tablespoons pickled onions (or red onions) 1/4 cup feta 1/8 cup Italian dressing
Directions: Drain and rinse the beans.
Chop the cucumber, slice the tomatoes, chiffonade the mint. Stir everything together with the dressing and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or until serving. Enjoy!
This would be a welcome side at a potluck or BBQ. It is a great one to make in advance- though I’d add the mint just before serving so it doesn’t wilt too much.
Does this leave you with leftover feta? Make some tacos and mix up some Street Corn to serve on the side using the feta for a totally different feel.
These sesame noodle bowls get all the toppings to take it from a side of noodles to a balanced and customizable meal. We have peanut sesame noodles with dumplings or edamame but these bowls were a slight variation with a few choices of toppings or on the side.
We regularly have pasta so variety keeps us on own toes. If just one kid is home I try to think of what they’d be more into than the other. The little guy likes long noodles more than little sister.
Directions: Boil salted water for the pasta and cook until al dente. Whisk, or shake together in a jar, the soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, and sriracha. Pan sear the pulled pork until warmed through and crispy. Cook and shell the edamame, and chop the green onions.
When the pasta is cooked, drain and toss it in the sauce to cook for another minute or two. Top with pork, edamame, avocado, and any toppings.
Enjoy!
I like the salty and sesame flavors and all the textures. The edamame pop and the avocado is creamy. I wished for pickled onions- we actually had onion but alas, no red wine vinegar.
If just one kid is home I try to think of what they’d be more into than the other. The little guy likes long noodles more than little sister though he’d rather the pulled pork be in bbq sauce.
April was such a whirlwind. We had the upstairs floors refinished then we got reset and back to normal and the main floor is happening this very minute. It is like moving! School vacation was fun and we are so glad for more outside time. Baseball started back up and Easter was a very nice day.
In the kitchen, I did a month of Chicken, Bacon, Ranch!
It started with a pickle & ranch salad. I had it loaded with pickle flavor inspired by a salad kit, but the kids were happy for salad and ranch, minus pickles.
Dill Pickle Ranch Salad
May will bring a dance recital, reunion weekend at work, and some fun stuff – maybe ask me again when the floor-refinishing is done. I’m envisioning some quick or packable meals for the baseball sidelines.
The big kid: So many birthday parties – almost all at the trampoline place. He loved the school vacation break with some fun days and other days to just be home. Baseball started back up and they’re more coordinated than last year. He’s been less bothered by a meal that isn’t something he’d vote for which has been my goal all along but if it were up to him, it’d be pasta every night. I think he’s just usually hungry at the moment so maybe that makes him more flexible than in the winter.
The little one: She had some fear-of-missing-out when it came time on Sunday mornings to get ready for dance class. We re-strategized and it went much more smoothly. I’m seeing her take on some spice – she knew that one of the cheese-of-the-month was spicy (it was sriracha gouda) and she kept eating it on multiple occasions. She’s too funny. She loved gnocchi and was more into hot-dogs than I remember from last year.
Goals: Year of workwear! I tried some dresses but think they’re both going back. Salads or side-dishes: Pickle salad! prep ahead bfasts or lunches for weekdays: being out of our space and normal routines has meant some regular occurrences and some spontaneity Monthly dates: With all the sleepovers during floor refinishing and us each having a doozy of a cold, we didn’t add it anything else. Declutter/cleaning: As we move all the stuff off the floors, we’ve cleaned, gotten rid of a good amount. Workouts as a routine: Ehh. I did a few quick runs but got derailed with a cold that went through most of us. What I’m reading: I read a lot! I muscled through this memoir – (it might be better as audio) Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope. Then I read The House in the Cerulean Sea, which was from a blind-book-swap with bookclub. I never read fantasy and ended up being really into it. I always love Taylor Jenkins Reid and I breezed through Carrie Soto is Back. Rock, Paper, Scissors was a quick suspense one I liked but absolutely don’t endorse being a movie/mini-series.
Yes. The answer is yes. These are exactly what you need. Chicken, bacon and ranch fries are delectable and so good for a quick lunch, for a crowd, as a meal, or the hefty snack.
These fries have rotisserie chicken, bacon crumbles, white cheddar, white queso and are finished with a drizzle of ranch.
Chicken, Bacon & Ranch Loaded Fries Ingredients: (for 1 as a meal, or 2 as snacks) 2 cups fries 1 teaspoon ranch dressing powder mix 1 cup roasted chicken 2 strips of bacon 2 tablespoons queso blanco 2 tablespoons ranch dressing 1 green onion sprig, chopped up
Directions: Cook the fries until crispy – I airfried mine for ~10 min from frozen.
Shake the hot fries in the ranch powder mix and add half of the fries to a pan and top with half the cheese, half the bacon, half the chicken, and half the queso. Repeat.
Bake for 5-10 minutes until all melted and warmed through. Drizzle with ranch.
Sprinkle with green onions. Enjoy!
They’re kind of a fork (or close-friends) loaded fries as you will be licking your fingers. I think the layers are key – otherwise only a few fries will have anything fun! These are a great way to use a small amount of these ingredients. Try it with waffle fries, or as nachos.
All our loves together on one sandwich – chicken thighs get sprinkled with ranch, grilled, and topped with cheese and bacon, plus more ranch for good measure.
I loved this. We eat grilled chicken often so putting it on a bun didn’t seem like a big variation. One kid said they’d rather it be a burger & the other ate it disassembled. Cool, cool.
Grilled Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Sandwiches Ingredients: (for 4) 3-4 chicken thighs 1 tablespoon ranch mix powder 4 brioche buns 4 slices of cheese (mine was an herb fontina) 2 bacon strips/2 tablespoons bacon crumbles 4 tablespoons ranch dressing
Directions: Sprinkle the chicken with ranch mix and a sprinkle of pepper, on both sides. Grill until cooked through – 170-degrees on the thermometer. Slice cheese, buns, lettuce and get bacon crumbles and ranch dressing ready.
Melt the cheese over the chicken and remove from the grill. Assemble with ranch on each side of the buns, lettuce, the chicken, and bacon.
Yum! I loved this. The littlest kiddo had hers without bacon (what?) and ate the parts separately (but mmmm’ed so that seemed fine) and big brother ate about half then wished it was a burger but finished the bun and most of the chicken.
It’d work well in a wrap too!
We had it with a side of tomato & mozzarella & pesto salad which the kids love.