Avocado Potato Salad

Avocado Potato Salad

It's been a week already. And it's only Tuesday!

Well, Wednesday by the time you read this.

The first two weeks of school are always like you've gone lost in time. I don't even remember when the last time was I cooked before tonight. Well, tonight I bought an avocado, and then forgot to use it in my taco. Since my brain is that fried, and I now have an extra avocado, I decided ot dig out this recipe and share it again. 

Since our temps still feel like summer, avocado potato salad still feels appropriate!


Step 1: Boil the potatoes. I used red potatoes and skinned them first. You could leave skins on if you like them that way. I boiled them until they were cooked but still firm. Let them cool.

Step 2: Thinly slice onion. I used a mix of red and vidalia. I cooked it in a fool packet in the oven for a short time, just until they softened. You could do it raw, but I find this brief cooking keeps me from tasting onion for days!

Step 3: Mash an avocado in a bowl.

 

Step 4: Add some vinegar and oil to taste (I used Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar). Mash it in with the avocado.

Step 5: Add to the potatoes and stir.

Step 5: Enjoy!  Or, if you prefer it colder, chill, then enjoy.

Have you ever made alternative types of potato salad?

Summer's Last Salad - Avocado and Salmon

I really thought I had posted this recipe before, but I couldn't find it. Please forgive me if it's a repeat. I've spent the past few weeks in and out of the hospital with my husband, so my brain isn't firing on all cylinders at the moment.

Earlier in the summer, I saw a recipe for a crab salad served in an avocado half. The recipe is on Better Nutrition's website if you're interested.

I didn't have any crab, but that gave me an idea. I had an avocado and I had a salmon fillet.

So simple and really tasty.

First I poached the salmon.

Then I smashed the avocado.

Then I mixed them together.

I placed the mixture on a bed of lettuce and added some orange sections for flavor and garnish!

Eggs and Avocados

Jan here, talking carbs.

Not just carbs, but the overload of carbs.

Don't get me wrong - I love carbs! Especially the healthy kind. Like veggies, and whole grains, and salad, and  - one of my favorites - banana oat smoothies!

Some of my favorite carbs (and a couple of their friends)!

But then there are those other carbs...donuts...cake...ice cream...pizza...

Oh, do I love those carbs, too! But if you've ever done a carb binge (you know - pizza with all the toppings followed by a generous helping of cheesy garlic bread, and then a big bowl of ice cream for dessert), you know how your body hates you the next morning.

At least, mine hates me.

When I was younger, I could bounce back from a carb binge with no problem. But now?

I have to follow up a carb binge with a breakfast made of delicious protein and healthy fats.

Yes, I said fats!

These are the healthy proteins and fats that go into one of my favorite breakfasts. I got the recipe idea from the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook.

Eggs, olive oil, and avocados provide the fat and protein for this dish. It's filling and yummy, and it quiets those sugar cravings that scream at you after a carb binge. :)

Eggs and Avocados

First, cook two eggs the way you like them. Fried, boiled, scrambled, poached - any of those ways work for this recipe. But don't try to cheat yourself out of the healthy fats and powerful nutrients of your eggs by using an egg-whites-only alternative. Use real eggs! Your body will thank you.

While the eggs are cooking, prepare 1/2 avocado by peeling it and cutting it into bite-sized chunks.

What do you do with the other half? If you leave the skin (peel? husk? hull? cover?) on, and the seed in place, it will stay fresh longer. Just put it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator until another meal within the next day or so.

Why only half of an avocado? Avocados are yummy, and loaded with healthy deliciousness, but you don't want to overload with fats. Be reasonable by keeping your serving to one half.

Put the eggs on one side of your plate and the avocado chunks on the other side. Drizzle the whole thing with olive oil (only a teaspoon or so - remember: you don't want to overload the fats!)

Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese, and add some nutritional yeast for some extra healthy deliciousness.

This breakfast is so satisfying and delicious that you won't be hungry for hours. 

And when you follow up with a salad for lunch - one that's loaded with veggies and low-fat protein like chicken or beans - or this Waldorf Cottage Cheese salad - that carb binge will be a distant memory. 

Find this recipe HERE!

You're welcome. :)

Meanwhile, we have a cover reveal!

"An Amish Courtship" is coming from Love Inspired Historical in August 2017! Pre-order here!

Welcome to Happy Healthy 2017

The Healthy Writer here is gleefully welcoming all of you who are ready to start fresh after indulging over the holidays.

A little indulgence now and then is good for our spirits. It's especially good when it inspires us to want to eat healthy in the aftermath.

I saw this Santa and thought he looks like he's had a pretty rough season. I guess he could use some healthy eating too.

Okay, on to healthy food.


I don't know about you, but as I get older, I find I just can't tolerate as much of the sweetness. I used to be a bottomless receptacle for all things holiday - cookies, candy, cake, repeat.

But this year, I only spent one evening baking, I indulged in one Junior's cheesecake given to us by a friend, and I ate a chocolate bar that had been hiding in my freezer since before Thanksgiving.

Not trying to be all virtuous here - just getting old, I fear.

On Monday, Jan said:

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's all do a number on our eating habits, and every year at the beginning of January we decide that THIS is the year that we'll like our scale again. THIS is the year we will eat healthy. THIS is the year that we will learn to like healthy eating!

Let me give you an idea to try.

I was craving something colorful and nutritious last week, but I had no clear idea of what it was going to be. Then I remembered the can of black beans I'd been inspired to pick up at Whole Foods. And I had a sweet potato.

From there, I added things as I went.

Let me tell it in pictures.

First there was the sweet potato. I tried something different. I peeled it and then roasted it. So what you see here is about to be chopped up into bite-sized chunks.

I used Eden Organics Black Beans. I like them because they're packed in seaweed and contain no additional salt or preservatives. I added some Cippolini onions and my favorite freeze-dried garlic.

I wanted to add some sort of spices, but I wasn't exactly sure what.  I ended up adding the onion and garlic and then I threw in some cumin. Perfect!

Once everything had simmered a bit, I added in some frozen corn.

Stir and simmer a bit longer.

Drain thoroughly. You don't want soggy taco shells!

I had some delicious avocados, so I scooped them out.

Then it was time to add everything into the heated taco shells.

I broke this one open so you could see all the layered goodness.

A few notes:

I used one sweet potato and one can of beans because I was making it just for my daughter and myself. The rest of the ingredients can be added according to taste. I like a lot of garlic, but I only chopped up one Cippolini onion and it was enough. I didn't measure the cumin, just gave the jar a shake.

When it came time to assemble, I smashed the avocado and lined the shell with it and then alternated the chunks of roasted sweet potato and bean/corn mix.

I loved the taco shell because it added a crunchy texture. I've had similar recipes that used soft tortillas instead. They were delicious too.  If you're wondering about the green stuff, I had a bag of salad greens that were about to expire so I dry roasted them too and tossed them in. You could do that or not, not necessary though.


So, what healthy meals are you inspired to try this year?

Avocado Potato Salad

I know I mentioned this here once before. I did a search, but I don't think I mentioned how I made it or how easy it was to do. I did a search and didn't turn anything up, so I thought I'd share.

My husband decided at the last minute on Monday that he felt like having potato salad with 4th of July dinner. By then, the deli whose potato salad he likes was sold out.

I offered to make this, but he declined (He's not a fan of avocados). So I made it for myself anyway.

Easy peasy, as Ruthy would say.

Step 1: Boil the potatoes. I used red potatoes and skinned them first. You could leave skins on if you like them that way. I boiled them until they were cooked but still firm. Let them cool.

Step 2: Thinly slice onion. I used a mix of red and vidalia. I cooked it in a fool packet in the oven for a short time, just until they softened. You could do it raw, but I find this brief cooking keeps me from tasting onion for days!

Step 3: Mash an avocado in a bowl.

 

Step 4: Add some vinegar and oil to taste (I used Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar). Mash it in with the avocado.

Step 5: Add to the potatoes and stir.

Step 5: Enjoy!  Or, if you prefer it colder, chill, then enjoy.

We're having our first real heat wave of the year so a cool meal is greatly appreciated!

Summer Salads and Stawberry Blueberry Vinaigrette

Yes, you read that right. We skipped right over spring here in the northeast and went from 50s and 60s straight to 90.

Salad weather.

Fortunately I had one I wanted to try.

A few weeks ago, we ordered salads at work and I got one that had blueberry vinaigrette with red onions and feta cheese. It sounds like an odd combination, but it was very tasty. (Although way too many red onions made their way into my serving. It looked like an onion party at the bottom of the bowl when I was done!)


So fast forward to this Sunday. I had some luscious looking strawberries from the farmer's market.
Emphasis on looking. They didn't taste quite as sweet as they looked, but they were good and were the first of the season, so all is forgiven. Plus they made an amazing vinaigrette!

 I had lettuce - romaine and red leaf. To that I added slices of avocado and diced red onion. I sliced some strawberries on top. Because I was making this a meal, I also added in some pieces of my salmon burger.

It sure looked pretty.

But the best part was yet to come.  I finally found a use for those Talenti jars that have been mysteriously accumulating. :)

First I mashed some blueberries and strawberries. I added them to the jar with some red wine vinegar and olive oil to taste. I mashed some more, then put the lid on and shook.

I drizzled it over the salad. (Doesn't that sound like a fancy chef word? I drizzled it. Better than I dumped it on top.)

 The salad was so delicious and so refreshing that I made it again on Monday. This time I added sliced almonds and they gave it a fabulously satisfying crunch.

Oh - the red onion added just the bite the salad needed. I accidentally left them out on the second night and their absence was noted. :(

I've noticed that I tend towards adding fruit to salad. Am I alone in that or is that a habit for anyone else?

Want other strawberry salad ideas? Mary Jane shared one a few weeks ago for strawberries, spinach and goat cheese.