Berry Avocado Quinoa & Spinach Salad with Honey-Lime Poppy Seed Dressing

 

We had dinner at our friends Tony & Katie’s house the other night and I brought a salad.  This is now one of my favorite recipes – it’s really healthy and the homemade dressing was sweet & tangy.  It only took a minute to toss together. 

The next day I had leftover and added grilled salmon - it could easily serve as a meal instead of just a side! 

Berry Avocado Quinoa & Spinach Salad with Honey-Lime Poppy Seed Dressing

 (adapted from Cooking Classy)

Dressing:

·        ½ cup olive oil

·        Zest of 1 lime

·        Juice of 1 lime

·        2 T honey

·        1 T Dijon mustard

·        ¼ t salt

·        2 t poppy seeds

Salad:

·        2 cups cooked quinoa (about 2/3 cup dry)

·        1 cup sliced almonds, toasted

·        9 oz. baby spinach

·        1 ½ cups fresh blueberries

·        1 ½ cups fresh raspberries

·        2 medium avocados, peeled, cored, and diced

·        5 oz feta cheese, crumbled

 

Directions:

1.  Toast the almonds & cook the quinoa.  Mix all the dressing ingredients minus the poppy seeds in a bottle or jar until well combined.  Stir in the poppy seeds.  

 

2. Toss all the salad ingredients together.  Enjoy! 

Chili Lime Shrimp & Twice Baked Broccoli Potatoes

 

Here are the recipes from last night’s dinner.  The shrimp seasoning was great, but would have been even better if we had let it marinate all day or overnight.  I especially loved this potato recipe, but they do take some time, so plan ahead. 

Chili Lime Shrimp Skewers (adapted from Budget Bytes)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and thawed if frozen
• 1 t chili powder
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 t honey
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Juice of 1 lime
• Wooden skewers

 

Directions:

1.  Marinate your shrimp in the seasonings (we did it directly in the original bag…then realized that we forgot to peel them, so we made a mess peeling them afterwards...) 

 

2. Add 10 – 12 shrimp to each skewer.

 

3. Place on grill for about 2-3 minutes per side (if you’re using a real grill instead of a little George Foreman like ours, you will need to decrease the time). 

 

 

Twice Baked Broccoli Potatoes (adapted from Skinny Taste)

Ingredients:

• 4 medium russet potatoes
• 1-12 oz. bag frozen broccoli (missing from the photo below)
• ½ white onion, chopped
• ½ cup low fat buttermilk (we didn’t have buttermilk, so we substituted with ½ cup milk plus ½ T lemon juice)
• 1 T chopped green onions
• 1 T fresh thyme
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 T olive oil
• Sea salt & pepper

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Pierce potatoes several times with a fork, rub with oil and sea salt.  Bake for 1 hour. 

2. Meanwhile, prepare frozen broccoli as outlined on the package and set aside. 

3. When the potatoes are ready, reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees.  Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh out into a large bowl. 

 

4. Mash with a potato masher (I have one now thanks to Grandma Anne!)  Add the buttermilk, onions, green onions, thyme, half the broccoli, and half the cheese.

 

5. Spoon mixture back into the shells and bake for 5 minutes.  Top with remaining cheese and broccoli, and then finish with 5 more minutes in the oven to melt the cheese. 

 

 

 

Xtreme Juice – Tampa, FL

This morning we were out of milk and low on breakfast foods in general (funny enough, we had a Breakfast for Dinner potluck tonight so now we have more breakfast than we know what to do with…) Since Sunday is BOGO day at Xtreme Juice, I picked us up some smoothies. 

Xtreme Juice has been around since 1997, and growing up in Tampa I’ve been there plenty of times.  It is right next to an Einstein Brothers bagel shop and recently Trader Joe's opened across the street.  

They have a huge selection of smoothie varieties, along with wheat grass and smoothie popsicles.  Sundays are usually packed, but today was actually pretty quiet. 

I got the Summertime Lime and Lance got the Peanut Butter Whirl.  We probably picked two of the least healthy ones on the menu – mine was a mix of lime sherbet and pineapple, and Lance’s was milk, peanut butter, banana, honey, and yogurt. 

The Peanut Butter Whirl tastes more like a milkshake.  And the Summertime Lime was tart and refreshing.  Nice for a hot day like today.  

Xtreme Juice is located at 619 S Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33609 and is open 6:45am – 9pm Monday through Thursday, 6:45 – 8pm Friday, 8am – 8pm Saturday, and 8am – 7pm on Sundays.