Taco Salad with Avocado Dressing

My friend Lauren came over for dinner after she got back from a short vacation.  She said she was needing to detox from all the fun and suggested we make a taco salad.  

My grandma and my mom make this super yummy taco salad that has a homemade avocado dressing  mixed in the salad.  I'm sure I loved the salad mostly because it had crushed up Fritos in the salad, but I did remember that the dressing was really yummy.  

I tracked down the recipe from my aunt and was so disappointed to find out that it had sour cream in it. Dairy does NOT do my body good anymore, so I decided to try to find another avocado dressing recipe.  None of the ones I found were even close to my grandma's recipe, so I ended up combing all the best parts of the dozens of recipes I read into my own, allergen-friendly, avocado dressing.  

I made the dressing in a mixing bowl with an immersion blender, but you could definitely make this in a blender, a magic bullet, or even a small food processor.  

Avocado Green Chili Dressing

1 Avocado, skin and pit removed

Juice of 1 Lime

3 tbl water

3 tbl olive oil

1 garlic clove (I used my fermented garlic)

Small handful of Cilantro (leaves...stems too if you're lazy)

1/2 of a 4oz can of diced green chilies

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp chili powder (opt)

Add all ingredients to a blender and process until smooth.  Cover and chill for about 30 minutes while you are preparing your salad.  

When we made our taco salads, we put in everything that we could find that would go in a taco salad.  Lettuce, tomatoes, taco meat, onions, olives, crushed up tortilla chips, roasted corn kernels, salsa, etc.  I also like to add black beans or kidney beans, but didn't have any at the time. Once again, this is one of those super flexible meals that will adapt to whatever you have on hand.  

This post was shared on Whole Food Fridays Week #11 and Creative Thursday Link Party #26

Seared Scallops with Grilled Pineapple Salsa

I love seafood.  Sushi is by far my favorite food ever.  I'm not talking about a deep fried cali roll but actual fresh fish made into an amazing piece of sashimi, nigiri, or an inventive roll.

I also love cooked seafood.  Crab.  Shrimp.  Lobster.  Salmon. Trout.  Anchovies.  I love it all.

Growing up so close to the ocean, and into a family that loves to fish, I have had the privilege of eating such a wide variety of seafood.  I've had fresh abalone hours after it's been pulled from the ocean.  I've eaten fresh lake trout pan fried the same day it was caught.  I eat seafood every chance I get.  I've eaten at fine dining restaurants overlooking the Ocean, and fish tacos in my car from a local fast food place.

When I eat something amazing at a restaurant, I am always determined to recreate it at home.  I can't afford to go out and eat sushi, or salmon, or lobster.  But I can afford to make that stuff at home on a fairly regular basis.

Last week, I made some amazing Grilled Pineapple Salsa.  It was sweet and spicy.  It reminded me of being back in Hawaii.  Hawaii also has such wonderful, fresh seafood. Instantly I knew that this had to be paired up with an amazing seafood dish.

I had a bag of scallops from Costco in the freezer.  These are the big scallops, about 8 count per pound!  I grabbed out 8, placed them in the colander, and ran cold water over them to thaw them quickly.

When they were thawed, I dried them off on a paper towel.  Seasoned them lightly with salt and pepper and quickly cooked them in a hot skillet with a little bit of coconut oil.  You have to be so careful when cooking scallops.  A few seconds too little and they are mushy in the center.  A few seconds to long, and they end up rubbery and taste like a tire.

As soon as they were done, I placed them on top of a bed of lettuce and crisp cucumber slices.  Topped them with the chilled pineapple salsa, and sprinkled a tiny bit of raw goat feta cheese on top.  I wanted to add some avocado slices, but I was all out.

It.was.delectable.  Hubby said it was light and refreshing, yet filling.

This is one of those dishes that makes you genuinely sad when you finish your plate.  I could eat this every day, all summer long.  

Seared Scallops with Grilled Pineapple Salsa Salad

1 lb fresh/thawed large sea scallops

salt and pepper

1-2 tsp coconut oil

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

4-6 cups mixed baby greens

1 cucumber, sliced thinly (peel and seed if desired)

2 ounces raw goat feta cheese, crumbled

Pat scallops dry.  Season with salt and pepper.  Heat a large skillet or grill pain over medium high heat. Add coconut oil.  When oil is hot, add scallops gently to the pan.  Cook 2-3 minutes on each side, until they are golden brown and just barely cooked all the way through.

Divide lettuce among plates or salad bowls. Add several cucumber slices.  Top with hot scallops and pineapple salsa.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Serve immediately!

The beginning of summer

Even though fall and winter are my favorite seasons, I really do love summertime (minus heat and humidity).  I love the long days...summer gardens....BBQ's...roadtrips...star gazing...spending long nights lingering over a chilled bottle of good wine and good conversation with friends. 

The one thing that's been so hard this year is not being able to eat at any of the food when we go to a party. After one day of surviving on carrot sticks and a Lara Bar, I decided that I'm just going to have to bring my own food and not hope that I'll be able to eat wherever we end up.  This past weekend we celebrated my Grandpa's 80th birthday and a cousin's high school graduation.  Both were BBQ's, so I decided to bring along a cold side that I could enjoy and share if anyone was interested.

One of my favorite things to make for BBQ's is an "everything but the kitchen sink" pasta salad.  I boil up all the odds and ends of leftover pasta, chop up all almost empty jars of olives and pickled vegetables, add bits of meats and cheeses from the lunch-meat drawer, finely chop up what's left in the vegetable crisper, and toss with the 17 almost-empty bottles of vinaigrette taking up the entire fridge door. It's always different, yet always delicious.   

Now that I'm on such a restrictive diet, I can't use my go-to "recipe" for the summer BBQ season.  So instead of focusing on what I CAN'T have, I looked at what I CAN have.  I had a box of quinoa in my pantry and decided to make a quinoa "pasta" salad and only use what I had on hand.  It turned out so good.  My hubby said it was "light and refreshing."  You will probably want to double the recipe for your next potluck because it's that good!

Quinoa "Pasta" Salad

1c quinoa, rinsed throughly, prepared according to package directions (can be made ahead of time and chilled)
2 carrots, shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cucumber, seeded, peeled and diced
12 large basil leaves, cut into ribbons
4 c baby spinach, chopped
1 can artichoke heart quarters, drained
1 can black olives, drained

Dressing
1/4 c garlic flavored olive oil
1/4 c raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp herbs de provonce

Mix together cooked quinoa, carrots, green onions, cucumber, basil, spinach, artichoke hearts, and olives. Pour dressing over top and mix toghether.  Cover and chill or serve immediately.