Spiralized Greek Cucumber Salad with Lemon and Feta

This light cucumber Greek salad is the perfect meatless summer dish. Trust me, you're going to want to make this all summer long! Fresh cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, olives, red onion, oregano, lemon juice, olive oil, and fresh feta – it's filling, high in fiber and protein, perfect for lunch or dinner!

I had some fresh Feta leftover from my Lemon Feta Drumsticks, and I've been craving a good Greek Salad, but I wanted to make it without the lettuce and make cucumber the star of the show. This turned out better than I could have imagined! I used my favorite cooking gadget – my the Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer with the chipper blade to quickly whip this up into beautiful spirals and the results were a salad that's crunchy and bright, and not weighed down by a heavy dressing. This took me less than 10 minutes start to finish – win!

If you don't own a spiralizer you can just dice the cucumbers with knife and make it a chopped Greek salad instead. I highly recommend using a decent Feta cheese, not a fat free Feta.

A great Meatless Monday meal. If you are making this ahead for lunch for work, you can leave the lemon juice and olive oil out, and pack it on the side, then just add it when you're ready to eat. Enjoy!

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Grilled Cumin Spiced Pork Tenderloin

Summer parties and dining al fresco doesn't get more convenient than this – lean pork tenderloin seasoned with a quick, flavorful rub then grilled to perfection served with the easiest salad ever!!

I love having my friends over in the summer for BBQs, but I don't love spending hours in the kitchen. Instead I prefer to keep things simple so I can actually enjoy my company, which is why I love these new DeLallo SaladSavors.

If you're not familiar with DeLallo; I first discovered them last year. They are the only brand of whole wheat pasta my family will actually eat, but they sell tons of other quality ingredients like olive oils, vinegars, olives, roasted peppers, marinated artichokes and more. So it only makes sense that they took those ingredients and conveniently packaged them to create quick and easy salads – all you do is add the lettuce!

Whatever you throw on the grill; whether it's pork tenderloin, shrimp kabobs, pesto chicken kabobs, harissa lamb chops or even just burgers – making a salad with one of these salad toppings takes minutes to put together – EASY!

These are brand spanking new so at the moment they're only available in select supermarkets, but I'm sure you'll be seeing them everywhere soon! And here's the BEST news – I've partnered with DeLallo Foods and a few of my food blogging friends: Sommer from A Spicy Perspective, Lindsay from Love and Olive Oil, Ali from Gimme Some Oven, Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod and myself to host the Ultimate Al Fresco Dining Giveaway!

You could win A YEAR of SaladSavors (10 SaladSavors® sent monthly), plus tons of stuff from Crate & Barrel and West Elm: a beautiful patio set, a salad bowl, platter, serving tub, flatware serving set and more!! If you love entertaining outdoors in the summer as much as I do, click here for a chance to win this giveaway.

And back to the pork tenderloin – it's super lean, a serving is under 175 calories (4 points plus) and is gluten-free, clean, paleo-friendly, & takes 25 minutes to make. You can easily double the recipe to serve more. Enjoy!

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Spiralized Raw Zucchini Salad with Avocado and Edamame

Fresh, quick and delicious – this salad takes less than 5 minutes to make, start to finish and there's no cooking involved, so it's perfect for the summer because you won't heat up your kitchen!

This salad was inspired by an amazing vegan appetizer I had in Seaside Florida prepared for me by the staff at Raw and Juicy. It was so fresh and simple, I knew I was going to recreate it at home. Rather than dicing the zucchini into perfect little squares, I used my Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer  (my all time FAVORITE cooking gadget) and spiralized it instead plus I added some cooked shelled edamame sold in the salad section of my supermarket for protein. The results were fresh and fantastic – a MUST try!

And speaking of summer, as shorter hemlines and bathing suit weather approaches, I want to introduce you to my friend Erin Stutland – a life and fitness coach and the creator of Shrink Session: Tone Your Body, Expand Your Mind. She has been featured in Glamour Magazine, Shape, Daily Candy and more and people all over the world are currently experiencing her work.

Erin and I got together last week in her little NYC kitchen to shoot a quick, fun cooking video to demonstrate just how easy this recipe is. Can you believe this is my FIRST cooking video on Skinnytaste? It's not perfect, but I don't think it's terrible for my first time. I plan on doing some more in the future to get more practice, you check it out here...



Erin is a seasoned pro at making videos, and she has also created a workout that is unlike ANYTHING I have ever experienced before. I say that, because frankly, it doesn’t feel like a workout at all. What makes Shrink Session so DIFFERENT from your average workout is that it will definitely tone your bod, amp up your metabolism and burn fat. But it also helps you step into a more a confident, powerful, rock star part of yourself that you may not be in touch with on a daily basis.

Erin is running a FREE 5 day Say it, Sweat it, Get it Challenge that starts June 2nd. You can sign up HERE. Don't miss it. I have no doubt that you are going to fall in love with the workouts and your body!

Hope you enjoy the recipe – it's vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, clean, and delicious!


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Naked Turkey Bruschetta Burger

Lean, delicious, juicy turkey burgers made with zucchini and topped with a summer garden tomato bruschetta topping over a bed of baby arugula – no bun required!

I thought I would share this fabulous turkey burger recipe from the archives for those of you who may not have tried this.

This dish was inspired by a meal my girlfriend ordered during a girl's night out. I always get inspired when I go out to eat, and created this lighter version which turned out delicious. For the turkey burger, I went with my skinny turkey burger recipe I posted a few years back, it's made with shredded zucchini which gives it lots of moisture and great flavor. They are delicate, so I prefer to make them on a skillet instead of the grill.

This is the perfect summer meal for under 300 calories, especially if you have lots of tomatoes in your garden. You can easily make these vegetarian by using a boca burger or veggie burger of your choice. By the way the lovely fork is by For Such A Time Designs. Hope you enjoy!

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Grilled Shrimp and Watermelon Chopped Salad

Chopped romaine tossed with sweet, juicy watermelon, grilled shrimp and goat cheese and a golden balsamic vinaigrette – I'll be making this salad all summer!!

I'm so excited to share this recipe with you, it's so good I plan on making it again for dinner tonight so my husband gets to try it. I put this together in about 20 minutes, so it's perfect for busy weeknights. The dressing is DEE-LICIOUS, I used DeLallo's golden balsamic vinegar, which is made from white grapes rather than red and has a sweetly rich taste – it's fabulous! They sell it at my local supermarket, or you can buy it online, but if you want to use regular balsamic, that would work fine too.

I love watermelon in my salad, mostly because I'm not much of a tomato lover. A few weeks ago while in the airport headed to Seaside Fl, I stopped to grab a bite at Marcus Samuelsson's new restaurant Uptown Brasserie located at the new JFK Delta terminal 4, and ordered a salad just like this. Eating healthier while traveling is getting so much easier these days, a good thing although they also have a Shake Shack which after seeing the calories on the menu, I opted not to try.

Hope you enjoy this salad, I'll be making this one all summer!

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Skillet Harissa Turkey Meatloaf

Making meatloaf in the skillet is perfect for busy weeknights – it's ready in less than 30 minutes!

I took my basic turkey meatloaf recipe, swapped the ketchup for jarred Mina Harrisa (or you can use homemade), added shredded zucchini and made them in the skillet. The results were juicy, quick, delicious round meatloaves with a little kick! I served it with a simple chopped cucumber and tomato salad which I tossed with a little olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.

You can purchase Mina Harissa on Amazon and I think Whole Foods carries it, it's a bright red Moroccan condiment that can be used with couscous, vegetables, meats or whatever you want. You can also make it from scratch which I often do, but for this recipe, Mina was perfect.

If you prefer to make this in the oven as a large loaf, you can! Bake it at 350°F for 1 hour.

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Picadillo Quesadillas

One word... YUM!

I make Crock Pot Picadillo all the time in my house (Madison's number one request), and because it makes so much I like to get creative with my leftovers. I came up with this for lunch one day and my husband said I should put it on the blog, so I thought with Cinco De Mayo coming, it would be fun to do some Cuban-Mexi fusion.

I made a really quick & easy Pico de Gallo to add along with the cheddar jack cheese, the results – delicious!

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Quinoa Chickpea and Avocado Salad

Garbanzos, avocado, quinoa, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, lime juice and cilantro – this flavorful vegetarian salad is loaded with protein, fiber and healthy fats. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are my new favorite legume. I only recently started liking them in my salads, but now I can't get enough. Using dried garbanzos taste better than canned, but for speed and convenience, canned is perfectly fine here. This is also vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free and under 250 calories.

I don't know about you, but I'm counting the days until summer (54 days to go!!) Living near the ocean, nothing makes me happier than having my feet in the sand with a good book or magazine. But that also means bathing suit shopping (ugh!) and exposing a lot more skin than I did all winter. My solution – eat more salads (and of course exercise)!

This salad is perfect for lunch, you can make it ahead, leaving the cucumbers and avocado out, and add the just before your ready to serve.

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Greek Nachos

A lighter, healthier Greek twist on traditional nachos – made with whole wheat pita chips, hummus, cucumbers, tomatoes and feta.

I was asked to do a book review for the paperback book Snack Girl To The Rescue: Easy, Delicious Food for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. This book is a weight loss book as well as a cookbook, and although there are no photos, Lisa gives practical advice on getting healthy along with a bit of humor. The book has 100 recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but I thought I would try one of her snacks, because after all, she's Snack Girl, right?

This was super easy to make would even work as a light vegetarian lunch. Next time I make this, I might even add some Kalamata olives and bell peppers. Enjoy!

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Asparagus Egg and Bacon Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

I love the combination of this simple salad of asparagus, hard boiled egg and bacon tossed with a Dijon vinaigrette – it has Spring written all over it!

I've been dying for this salad all week. Asparagus and eggs are a match made in heaven, but not just for breakfast, it's great for lunch too! I always keep hard boiled eggs on hand in my fridge to use throughout the week, therefore this salad came together in less than 10 minutes. It's perfect to pack for lunch, and you can easily double or multiply the recipe to feed more. It's also very inexpensive to make, low-carb, high in protein and fiber and perfect for gluten-free and Paleo diets.

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Zucchini Noodles (Zoodles) with Lemon-Garlic Spicy Shrimp

Spicy shrimp with garlic, zucchini noodles, tomatoes and a squeeze of lemon juice – I just inhaled this EASY low-carb, gluten-free, paleo-friendly dish for lunch which took less than 20 minutes to make, start to finish and it was DELICIOUS!

Today it's finally starting to feel like Spring! Before you know it, summer will be here and you know what that means.... bathing suit season! I've been diligent about working out a few times a week, but you know what they say – great abs start in the kitchen and this so true so now that winter is over, I've been cutting back on my carbs (not eliminating, don't worry!) and really making my calories count.

In this dish, rather than using pasta, I swapped it for zucchini noodles. My Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer is my all time FAVORITE cooking gadget. It's the easiest way to make zucchini noodles, sweet potato spirals, carrot ribbons and more! Prior to owning one, I used my mandolin but it's so much quicker and easier (and safer) with this fun gadget – you NEED one!!

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Orange Chicken Makeover

Sweet, spicy and flavorful – a lighter alternative to the popular Chinese fast food take-out dish and it's quick and easy to make!

I had a request a few weeks ago to make over this popular American-Chinese fast food dish which is usually battered and deep fried. To be honest, this is not a dish I would order because I'm not a fan of battered sweet Chinese dishes, but I was happy to tackle a lighter version. My solution was skip all that frying, and make a flavorful orange sauce. The outcome was great, and my husband even gave it two thumbs up!

I served this over cauliflower "fried rice" which I will post tomorrow but you could even saute some bell peppers, snow peas, broccoli or asparagus and add them at the end. Enjoy!

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Flounder Milanese with Arugula and Tomatoes

Breaded flounder lightly pan sauteed and topped with an arugula, lemon and tomato salad – a simple yet delicious way to prepare fish. Perfect for Lent, or any night you're in the mood for fish.

I was on a cruise a few weeks ago aboard the Norwegian and one of the meals I ordered more than once was the Flounder Milanese. I was able to recreate a lighter version of that meal; rather than deep frying it, I generously sprayed the fish with olive oil and pan sauteed it until golden. I love everything about this dish, it's light, quick and satisfying all for under 225 calories. You can use any white fish fillet you wish, and if you rather make this in the oven, I would broil it instead. Hope you enjoy!

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Bell Pepper and Potato Frittata

Egg frittatas are my answer to an easy, inexpensive meal solution whether I'm having it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. For breakfast, I'll serve this with a side of berries or fruit. For dinner, I make a salad on the side and call it a meal!

You can literally throw anything into a frittata and call it a meal, but I thought it would be fun to make this one a St Patricks Day theme which of coarse MUST have yukon gold potatoes, and to create a shamrock design, I sliced my bell peppers into flower shapes – completely optional! This one's vegetarian, perfect if you need a meatless Monday dish idea, and it's naturally gluten-free.

I'm not sure if there's anything quite as beautiful as farm fresh eggs. A friend of mine is raising chickens in her yard and gave me some of her eggs and the colors were so beautiful I almost didn't want to crack them. The yolks are so orange, it's hard to believe I made this frittata with half egg whites.

If you want to see more Skinny St Patrick's Day recipe ideas, Target's blog: A Bullseye View did a roundup of some of their favorite Green Skinnytaste recipe, click here to see more!

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Chicken and Asparagus Lemon Stir Fry

Although the weather outside still feels like winter, I'm excited to see signs of Spring all around. One of those signs is asparagus. Asparagus is one of my favorite Spring vegetables, and this quick stir-fry made with chicken, lemon, garlic and ginger is a great way to make it a weeknight meal.

I used a reduced-sodium Japanese soy sauce called Shoyu which is similar to Chinese soy sauce, but has a more full bodied flavored and a touch of sweetness that I'm really in love with. I like Eden, which is organic and non-GMO. You can use either one, or even Tamari if you're gluten free. We served this over brown rice to complete the meal. 

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Spicy Shrimp with Chilies and Garlic

 

Sauteed shrimp with garlic, dried chilies and lemon juice – it's spicy, garlicky, acidic and sooooo good! You can serve this as an appetizer or have this for dinner over some baby greens with a crusty whole wheat baguette. And the best part about this dish – it's ready in under 15 minutes.

If you don't have dried chilies, you can use a generous amount of crushed red pepper. If you don't like spicy food, you can leave the chilies out completely. You can also make this with lime juice and cilantro for a twist of this dish, see Cilantro Lime Shrimp. This is gluten-free, paleo-friendly and low calorie… but trust me, you would never know it (it's THAT good!).

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Cauliflower Watercress Soup

Cold winter nights call for hot soup. We were hit with a snow storm yesterday, and we're expecting another tonight. After shoveling myself out of my parking spot and coming in from the cold last night, this soup hit the spot. It's healthy and light, with a creamy texture from the cauliflower that's perfect served with a crispy whole grain piece of bread and a drizzle of olive oil on top, yet it's light enough to serve with a sandwich or a first course.

This recipe was inspired from someone who tweeted me the idea to add watercress to my Dad's cauliflower soup. Such a great way to incorporate watercress into soup which is considered a superfood. It's rich in fiber, anti-oxidants, vitamin C, beta-carotene, folate, potassium, calcium, phosphorous and iron and adds a bright green color to this soup.


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PB & J Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

Made with just just 4 ingredients – bananas, oats, peanut butter and jelly, these cookies are meant to eat warm right out of the oven for a fun spin on my 3-ingredient healthy cookie recipe.

I'm so addicted to making these cookies. Whenever my bananas are over-ripe, I whip up a batch which takes only minutes. These are best when the bananas are super ripe as their natural sweetness is what's used to sweeten the cookies. Keep in mind they aren't crisp like a dessert cookie. Instead these are moist and chewy and best eaten warm, right out of the oven. They are great as an afternoon snack or healthy enough to have for breakfast if you wish. You can easily make half the portion with just 1 banana if you want to make less.

I've made them with walnuts which tasted like banana bread, I've tried them with chocolate chips which so yummy! This time I decided to switch things up and see what happens if I add some chunky peanut butter to the batter and top them with reduced sugar jelly – yum!
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Crab and Avocado Phyllo Bites

Quick and easy! These bite sized appetizers are the perfect treat whether you're watching the game or just need some finger foods to munch on.

These were actually a happy accident. I had leftover fresh lump crab meat that I didn't want to waste after making crab cakes so I whipped up this easy appetizer. They turned out really good! For best results, don't fill the phyllo shells until you're ready to bake, and eat right away!

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Skinny Buffalo Chicken Strips

Quick and easy – these buffalo chicken tenderloins are spicy and delicious! I like to serve them with my homemade skinny blue cheese dressing and celery sticks on the side for a hot and spicy appetizer.

But gosh, you can eat this so many ways! Serve it with baked fries, or make it a wrap. I think this would be an amazing side for my Sweet Potato Irish Nachos!

However you decide to eat them, I am leaving it up to you! But this I promise, they are good, and it takes just 10 minutes to make!

And, if you love everything spicy buffalo as much as I do, then you'll also love some of my other skinny dishes! Try: Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites, Buffalo Turkey Burgers, Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins, Crock Pot Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Buffalo Shrimp Dip, Buffalo Chicken Dip, and my favorite, Buffalo Stuffed Chicken Breasts
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