Caprese salad

My co-worker, Norma, arrived at work this week with a cardboard flat full of fresh tomatoes. 

There's nothing better than a home-grown tomato, so I bolted over to her desk and picked out several succulent, red beauties and stuck them in my lunch bag. 

I knew exactly what I was going to do with them: make a caprese salad. 

JJ's not one for fancy salads and he's picky about the amount of basil that can be used in any dish. But he loves caprese salad - and so do I. 

This quick recipe only took minutes to throw together. Just gently toss the following ingredients: 

3 tomatoes, cut into chunks 

8 oz. fresh mozarella pearls 

2 tbsp. olive oil 

2 tbsp. balsalmic vinegar 

18 basil leaves, chopped 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon pepper 

This recipe made five servings for only 2.5 Weight Watchers points each. 

Thank goodness for Norma's garden!

Quinoa what?

Quinoa is all the rage among the super-duper health-conscious members of my family and friends.

My "normal" family and friends can't even pronounce it. 😄

This past weekend, JJ and I invited these "normal" folks to our house for a cookout. Since summer BBQs almost always feature hamburgers, hot dogs and chips, it seemed necessary to make a salad for a somewhat healthy addition. 

I figured I would be one of the few who would enjoy this quinoa, bean and veggie salad. Boy was I wrong! Nearly everyone had at least one bite - and many had seconds. 

My friend, Sue, asked for the recipe, and told me she whipped up a batch the very next day at her husband's request. 

I will be making this again!

Quinoa and bean salad

Mix these ingredients together in a bowl:

1 can black beans, rinsed

2 cobs grilled corn (slice cooked corn off the cob)

2 grilled peppers, sliced

1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes

1 cup dry quinoa (cook according to directions)

1 avocado, sliced 

In a food processor, mix these ingredients to make the dressing:

1 cup cilantro

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp honey

1 lime, squeezed

Dash of hot sauce

Drizzle each serving with the dressing before serving. I don't recommend tossing the salad and dressing because it makes leftovers soggy. 

This recipe made 10 servings, 5.4 Weight Watchers Points Plus per serving. 

Summer salsa

There's only person in my house who likes peppers.

Since that person is me, I get to claim all six servings of the freshest, yummiest summer salsa - which was just made today. (Yes, we visited the farmer's market).

This stuff is so good that you don't need to eat it with baked tortilla chips. It's awesome as a side dish, a topping for tacos or, if you must, as a chip dip. 

Every ingredient in today's batch was fresh, sans the canned black beans. I think that's what made it extra amazing. However, I've made it before with all store-bought produce and remember it was a crowd-pleaser. 

Seriously, you can't go wrong.

Here are the ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 tomatoes, chopped

3 peppers, diced (I used a red, yellow and orange bell pepper)

1 diced hot pepper (I used a spicy banana)

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

3 ears of corn, cut from the cob after cooked

1 garlic clove

Salt

Pepper

Lime juice, to taste

By my calculations, 1 cup of this should cost you 2 WW points plus. 

Thank you, 0-point peppers!

Avocado and orange salad - oh my!

Even though they're pretty yummy, sometimes I get tired of eating Smart Ones for lunch.

So you can imagine how I excited I was to find a new idea on Pinterest. Salad in a mason jar? What a great concept!

There are all sorts of possibilities to try.

Lettuce, chicken breast, light honey mustard and tomatoes.

Lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, green peppers and light Italian.

Or...my new favorite. Behold the avocado and mandarin orange salad.

Oh my, it's good - and supposedly only two points, if you believe the recipe on Pinterest.

I highly recommend. In fact, I may be obsessed.