Sweet Peaches Summer Salad

Summer has finally hit me! I just finished my dietetic internship and now I have (what feels) like all the time in the world to create yummy recipes and finally get back on my recipe redux posts! For this month's Recipe Redux, I was ready to take on some of my favorite ingredients. The theme being "Peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots: we love them all! And they are at their peak season now in summer. So show us your favorite healthy recipe celebrating stone fruits", I knew a delicious and colorful sweet and savory summer salad would hit the spot!

This recipe is simple and only needs 5 awesome ingredients

Sweet and Savory Summer Salad

Ingredients:

• 4 peaches, pitted and diced
• 10 heirloom tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 small seedless watermelon, scooped into pieces or chopped
• 1/2 cup mozzarella pearls (about 10-12)
• balsamic glaze (homemade or store bought)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mix well. Pour on a large serving platter. Top with balsamic glaze and serve chilled.

For homemade glaze:

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons honey or brown sugar

Directions:

1. Add balsamic vinegar and honey (or sugar) in a small saucepan set over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to medium-low heat once the mixture begins to bubble. Simmer until reduced by half, for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool before serving.

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus Veggie Balls

I could eat hummus everyday. When I saw this month's Recipe Redux sponsored by Sabra Hummus, I had to join in on the recipe fun. I was excited to come up with a delicious plant-based entree. One of my favorite flavor combos is sun dried tomato with pesto. So one of the new Sabra hummus flavored definitely was calling my name. Introducing "no-meat" balls made with sun dried tomato hummus and veggies on a nice bed of angel hair pasta and pesto sauce. This is a simple recipe that can also be used to make leftovers-- freezer friendly! 

“I received free samples of Sabra mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Sabra and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus Veggie Balls

Makes 10-12 veggie balls

Ingredients:

For veggie balls:

• 1 cup Sabra Sun Dried Tomato Hummus
• 1 egg
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs, divided
• ¼ cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese, divided in ½ and ¼ cups
• ¼ cup prepared tomato pesto
• ¼ cup fresh basil leaves

For pasta:

• 2 cups cooked angel hair pasta
• 4 tablespoons pesto sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place Sabra Sun Dried Tomato hummus in a bowl, set aside. In a blender or food processor, combine egg, onion, bread crumbs, oats, cheese, pesto and basil leaves, blend until you have a cookie dough like consistency. Scrape into bowl with hummus and mix well. Form mixture into 2 inch balls.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together ½ cup panko bread crumbs and ¼ cup shredded cheese. Roll each veggie ball in the crumbs, set aside.
4. Heat oil in a large frying pan and brown each ball on all sides.
5. Place veggie balls on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Serve with pesto or marina sauce and pasta of your choice. Enjoy!

Breakfast Tacos

On the weekends, I like to change it up from my routine oatmeal for breakfast during the week and actually take the time to whip up something more fancy. Since I found out you can hard boil eggs in the oven (mind-blown--thanks to Erin Palinski-Wade!), I have been using that technique every time I want some hard-boiled eggs for my busy week. As a full time Masters student and dietetic intern, I have been finding it almost impossible to eat healthy during the week because of the limited time I have to cook heart healthy and filling nutritious meals. So I am so happy to have found a way to hard boil eggs without having to monitor the boiling water constantly... this method allows me to have more time to do homework or to prep for more meals in the 1 hour I try to set aside 1x week.

Well, I had quite a few hard boiled eggs left from my meal prep week that I decided to make some breakfast tacos. All you need are 5 simple ingredients! And they may already be in your kitchen-- no extra shopping required. 

Breakfast Tacos

Ingredients:

Makes 4 filling tacos

• 4 hard boiled eggs, one egg per taco (check out Erin Palinski-Wade's HOW TO HARD BOIL EGGS IN THE OVEN post)
• 4 corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 1/2 cup salsa (your favorite kind)
• Cilantro leaves or chopped cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

1. Peel and slice the hard boiled eggs. On a pan on medium heat, place tortillas and top them with cheese. Remove tortillas once cheese is melted, about 1-2 minutes.
2. Place tortillas on a plate, place slices of egg on cheese, scoop some salsa and garnish with cilantro leaves. Enjoy!