This salad, oh em geeee, this salad.  Not only does it go perfectly with my Christmas-themed tablescape (weirdo-alert), but it is packed full of everything you need, as well as some of my favorite ingredients.  We’ve got a superfood, healthy carbs, fresh veggies, calcium, protein and flavor for days.  This would be a great lunch, light dinner OR you could pair it with a small skirt steak (like we did tonight) for an extra punch of protein.

You could probably do this with regular mozzarella, but then you’ll miss the creamy goodness that burrata provides.  If you’ve never had burrata before – it’s a fresh mozzerella with a mix of cream and mozzerella in the middle.  It’s like what Maya says, “When you know better, you do better.”  So now that you know better… try some burrata.

Happy Sunday!  How’s everyone’s weekend going? I finally had some time to catch-up on my life, cleaning every inch of our house in preparation for the arrival of… both sets of parents!  Adam’s parents and mine are coming all the way out to San Diego to hang with us, soak up the sunshine and meet each other.  Do you ever notice that you think you’re keeping your house clean with the cursory cleaning throughout the week, but it’s not until the threat of a mother (OR TWO) coming to town that you realize you were, in fact, living in filth. Well, this weekend, I realized we’re disgusting.  However, after a little elbow grease, 2,000 paper towels and four hours of Sheryl Crow Pandora, I’m ready for House Beautiful to come in and take some photos.

The recipe I wanted to share today is nothing mind-blowing, BUT it’s fantastic, super easy and really fills you up if you’re trying to figure out a good paleo lunch time option.  I have the most trouble with lunch for some reason. I think it’s because I work from home, so I just don’t think about it when I shop, then I get into 7 hours of conference calls and the next thing you know, I’m eating a bowl of pasta with lemon and brummel & brown.  I’m convinced my problem areas are a direct result of my lunchtime breakdowns.  So… I was on a mission to figure out something I could throw together in ten minutes, or even make at the beginning of the week and dole it out throughout (if you’re not ten yards from your kitchen come lunch time).

I’m calling this “Perfect Paleo Lunch” – and don’t skip the avocado.  It adds a creamy texture that will make you forget cheese ever existed (well, you won’t need it for this. but we all know, no one that can be trusted, would ever be able to forget about the goodness of cheese).

It’s funny how your life and priorities change as you get older.  How you become what your high school self would consider the LAMEST person EVER. And how you just love every minute of it.  When I was in high school, the moment any friend’s parents were going to be out of the house for longer than 4 hours we were concocting a plan to have a party and have every person we’ve ever know be there to enjoy some Beast Ice and Boone’s Farm (if you know, you know) in a basement or garage.  Now, I won’t even answer the door if you come over unannounced.  I mean I will, but I won’t like it.

Now, my “social hour” is during boot camp (I do have friends… right guys?? Are you out there?? But during the week, it’s me being lamer than your Grandma.) As much as I love creating and finding fun recipes, sometimes there’e something to be said for letting your food have a little “alone time” of its own and just letting the main ingredients sing.  The summer provides so many naturally flavorful fruits and veggies – I try to take advantage of that as much as possible.  Tonight, I let my dinner components stay home from the ingredient party and kept it really simple.  This is the kind of clean eating that gives you no excuses – it’s simple, low carb and will make your body feel great.

Tonight we dug into Grilled Lemon Pepper Salmon on a bed of sauteed garlic spinach with heirloom tomatoes on the side.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound of wild caught salmon (cut in half)
• 1 large bunch of spinach, washed and chopped
• 2 small cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced
• 1 lemon
• Lemon Pepper Seasoning
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Preheat grill.  Season salmon with lemon pepper and salt (optional). Grill for 7-10 minutes, skin side down until fish flakes easily with fork.

During the last 4 minutes of cooking, saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat, about 30 seconds.  Add spinach and a pinch of salt and stir while it wilts.

Plate sliced tomatoes, spinach and salmon on top.  Sprinkle with lemon and serve immediately.

One reason why I love summer cooking so much is the easy clean-up when you grill up your dinner.  Today was suuuuper hot in San Diego and after an extra sweaty session of boot camp, all I could think about was eating a light, fresh dinner.   Adam is back from another out of town trip and the last thing I wanted to do was waste any time cleaning dishes, so this dinner hit the spot and checked all the boxes – Clean Eating, Low Carb, Fresh Ingredients, Easy Clean-up.  CHECK!

This would be a great meal for this weekend as well!  Any fun plans for Labor Day?  Not laboring, I hope. That’s unpatriotic, tell your boss I said so and proceed to your bbq/pool party/etc.. Adam and I are going to Joshua Tree for some hiking, camping and off-the-gridding, I’m really excited to figure out some creative camping food.  This gal doesn’t do hot dogs more than once a year.  And I’ve already been to a baseball game, so…. you do the math.

Chicken Chipotle Skewers with Avocado Creme

Ingredients:

Chicken

• juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/2t  chili powder
• 1/2t paprika
• 1/4t  cumin
• 1/8t cayenne pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2t light brown sugar
• 1 1/2t minced chipotle in adobo
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• minced fresh parsley, to garnish

Avocado Cream Sauce

• 1 avocado
• 1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt
• 1 clove garlic
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions

Whisk together the lime juice, canola oil, salt, chili powder, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic, brown sugar, and chipotle in a pie plate. Add the pieces of chicken and toss to coat. Cover the plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to an hour), stirring and turning the chicken once at the halfway point as it marinates. (OR just toss it all in a gallon ziplock, shake it up and lay flat on in the fridge – turning once)

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. While it’s heating up, thread the chicken onto skewers (throw away any remaining marinade). Transfer the kebabs to the grill, and cook, turning every few minutes so all sides are browned, until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 F. Transfer the kebabs to a plate, tent with foil to keep warm, and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the avocado sauce: Split the avocado in half and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh and add to the bowl of a food processor along with the yogurt, garlic, and lime juice. Process until the sauce is smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the kebabs with the minced parsley to garnish, and serve with the avocado sauce for dipping.

Side: I added a tomato, avocado, cherry tomato and bacon salad.  Just chop everything up; add salt, pepper, a drop of Tabasco and a tiny bit of olive oil and you’ve got a perfect summer side!

So, are you up for a serious challenge?  Here’s how it goes: Grab The Police’s “Roxanne,” turn up your speakers and position yourself in a plank.  Whenever Sting says, “Roxanne,” you do a push-up; whenever he says “Red Light,” you do a plank knee tuck.  Throughout every other part of the song, you’ll be holding your plank.  As you know, verse 2 and 3 are really when you either get incredibly drunk (me 6 years ago) or when you want to vomit  from exhaustion (me 3 days ago). Okay,  go try it now. Ryan and I will wait…

HOLY HELL, eh? But kind of awesome too, huh?  Welcome to your new chapter.

Speaking of The Police, I’d like to arrest this dinner for being so damn good. This meal is so sneaky – it’s low-carb, high protein, gluten-free AND you significant other/roommate/Kramer-like neighbor will never suspect it’s healthy.  What a snnnnnnneeeaakkky mom!  If you’ve got 20 minutes (from start to plate), you’ve got dinner that people will high five you for.

Mexican Zucchini Skillet with Carne Asada

Mexican Zucchini Skillet:

Ingredients: 

• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb zucchini, diced
• 1 large tomato, cored, seeded and diced
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp minced pickled jalapeño
• 1/2 cup crumbled queso blanco (or queso fresco, cotija or feta)
• 1/2 avocado, cubed
• fresh lime juice, to taste
• salt, to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Cook the garlic in oil in a large skillet over medium heat 1 minute, stirring until sizzling. Add zucchini and cook stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the tomato and green onion and cook about 3 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and add cilantro, jalapeño and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and top with queso blanco and avocado.  Serve hot.

When you add the tomatoes, have your dinner partner throw the carne asada onto a high heat grill.  Cook 2 minutes each side and cut into strips, served over the mexican zucchini!