25 Side Dishes

Hey hey! We've got a holiday weekend coming up y'all!

The Memorial Day Holiday weekend is upon us. I don't know about you, but ever since we moved to Kentucky, Memorial Day has been spent with the hubby's family. The hubby's cousin and his wife drive in from out of town, and we all gather together for a family barbecue. This time, the hubby's cousin and his wife are bringing their new baby girl for everyone to meet! We are excited. The weekend is promising to be very sunny, right now they are forecasting a high of 90º. Whew! Good thing the hubby's-cousin's-wife's-mother (whose house we party at) has a pool. The pool is the best part of the get-together, at least as far as all the nieces and nephews are concerned :-)

Grown-Up Tuna Salad

Admittedly, it's November. That time of year when the weather is turning chilly, and everyone is craving food that's warm and comforting. Lasagna. Chili. Chowders. Meats slow roasted in the crock pot. Beef stews with potatoes and carrots. You get the idea. This salad is none of those things. But, if you are going to have all that comfort food for dinner, what are you going to have for lunch??

A Week of Salads: Take Two!

Here's the deal peeps.

It's getting too darn close to bikini season and according to my skinny jeans, I am up a couple of l-b-s's. Argh. Instead of consoling myself in a chocolate wonder-fall, I've got a plan to hit it hard this week!

I've got serious cardio planned for the week, ab exercises, squats, planks, and strength training as well. I also informed the hubby we were doing another week of salads.

He was actually ok with this.

The salad up to bat Night 1 was Tuna and Broccoli Pasta Salad.

It was actually supposed to be an orzo salad, but I scoured my pantry for a good 5 minutes in a fruitless attempt to find the orzo. I thought I had a couple of boxes, it turns out I don't have any. I decided to throw in gemelli pasta instead (one of my faves!).

The salad is fairly economical to make since I used a bag of frozen broccoli and a can of oil-packed tuna. I had feta leftover and used kalamata olives, which I always keep on hand. Yum! It was an excellent start to A Week of Salads!

Ingredients:
8 oz pasta of your choice
1 5-oz can oil-packed tuna, chilled
3 cups frozen broccoli, defrosted
1/2 cup kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup parsley, minced
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
lemon zest (garnish)

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Run under cold water until pasta is cold. Add to a large mixing bowl.
2. Add tuna through parsley to mixing bowl.
3. In a separate small bowl, vigorously whisk lemon juice and olive oil together. Drizzle dressing over salad. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss to mix well.
4. Zest lemon over salad and serve.

Summer Pasta

I love pasta salad in the summer. Pasta pairs perfectly with all the fresh summer produce that is in season. Here are 2 of my favorite summertime pasta salads that make for healthy, delicious, and light summer dinners.

Orecchiete with Roasted Peppers, Spinach, and Tomatoes

Link to recipe:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/orecchiette-with-roasted-peppers-arugula-tomatoes-10000001988548/

This recipe is pretty good as is. The only changes I make are to broil the peppers for 10 minutes instead of 15. I find that the peppers just get too mushy if you broil them that long. It is also difficult to find Herbes de Provence here in Kentucky so I usually just throw some fresh basil in. I also subbed spinach for the arugula (just a preference).

Pasta Salad with Tuna, Olives, and Parsley

Link to recipe:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pasta-salad-with-tuna-olives-parsley-50400000114265/

This recipe is also good as is. I did throw in a yellow bell pepper because I had it and I subbed green olives for the black olives. I also omitted the red onion as the hubby will not eat raw onions. Delish!