Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

May 4, 2023 Amanda Plott

So… just hear me out. Pickle flavored stuff has kind of become the trendy thing these days and let me just say, I don’t mind it at all. I love me a good pickle. Dill pickle that is. None of that sweet bread and butter nonsense. This Dill Pickle Pasta Salad is pretty amazing. It’s light, tangy, and super easy to make too.

I know it might sound a little weird at first, but I promise it’s one of the best pasta salads I’ve ever had. And I’m southern so I’ve had a lot of different kinds of pasta salad. I lightened this pasta salad up and made it a bit better-for-you but first subbing in a whole wheat pasta. I also kicked the sour cream out and used a plain fat-free greek yogurt instead. And obviously a light mayonnaise was the way to go…

Vegetarian Cheeseburger Crunch Wraps

April 11, 2023 Amanda Plott

Who doesn’t love a good crunch wrap? While they’re tasty from the taco franchise that we all love to hate and hate to love, you can absolutely make them at home quickly, easily, and in a way that is sooo much better for you. Today I doubled down and flipped the script making a crunch wrap that not only had a cheeseburger twist, but is also meatless!

These Vegetarian Cheeseburger Crunch Wraps are layered very similar to a standard taco crunch wrap except I’ve used cheeseburger toppings and condiments in lieu of taco ones. We’re talking pickle, ketchup, mustard, burger ‘meat’, cheese, and even lettuce and tomato too…

Japanese Egg Salad

March 21, 2023 Amanda Plott

It doesn’t get any more simple than this right here. This Japanese Egg Salad is made with just 4-5 ingredients and takes hardly any time at all to make and the end result is creamy, light, and delicious! So what makes this egg salad Japanese? The secret is in the mayonnaise! This egg salad uses kewpie, which is the Japanese version of mayonnaise. But, don’t worry! You can find it at most grocery stores.

American mayonnaise is made with whole eggs and white vinegar. Kewpie is made with egg yolks and rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Kewpie eggs up being sweeter and has less tang. It’s also a lot richer and creamer too!…

Marinated Chickpea Pita

March 14, 2023 Amanda Plott

It’s Spring break week here and we’re sticking pretty close to home which I’m totally fine with. Spring time is one my more favorite times of year. I don’t care for the allergies that come along with it, but I do enjoy the brighter lighting of the sun, the blooming trees and flowers, and also the berries that start to pop up. With Spring rolling in, I always like to lighten and brighten things up myself, and that’s where this Marinated Chickpea Pita comes in.

This Marinated Chickpea Pita is light, and bright, and full of flavor. Being as this is made with mostly whole ingredients and seasonings, there isn’t much to do here to make it much better-for-you. Though I did go with a wheat pita in place of a regular one…

Air Fryer Toasted Ravioli

February 11, 2023 Amanda Plott

These Air Fryer Toasted Ravioli are not only easy to make, but they’re pretty damn good too! I took some refrigerated raviolis that happened to be on theme this month, and I decided to see if air frying them would get the same effect as frying or toasting would. And it absolutely does! The ravioli turn out crisp on the outside and melty cheesy on the inside. Perfect for dipping and dunking into your favorite pasta sauce.

They can be served as a pain part of dinner or as a side, snack, or hot appetizer. I lightened them up by using a whole wheat bread crumb and of course by using the air fryer rather than deep frying. I found too, by seasoning the egg mixture rather than the crumb mixture you get a lot more even seasoning and the seasoning is locked in with the breadcrumbs!…

Apricot Chickpea Salad

February 8, 2023 Amanda Plott

So, I’ll be honest here in saying that I never really buy or use apricots a whole lot, and I’m not entirely sure why either. They taste good, fresh or dried so it’s not that I don’t like them. I just never really think to use them. But, this salad dressing just sounded really good to me for son reason or another. It’s sweet, but tangy, and yet has just a little bit of a kick from the ginger in there. It’s really one of my new favorite things on the planet.

This salad is a really good mix of textures and tastes. You really won’t miss meat here. And you won’t miss the dairy either. Somehow everything else going on really keeps you from focusing on what’s not there so that you instead focus on what is there. And that’s a lot of goodness!…