Halloumi Summer Lunch

May 3, 2019 Amanda Plott

It’s been a strange week, to be sure. Within my family we have seen a birth, a death, and now this weekend a wedding! Needless to say, the emotions have been all over the place - along with my sanity. So, I’ve been keeping things as simple as could be lately. Even in the sense of food!

This Halloumi Summer Lunch is as simple and easy as they can come. Only one thing is cooked, and that’s the halloumi. Don’t know what halloumi is? Well, it’s time to find out! Halloumi is a Greek staple cheese that is generally made with goat’s milk. But, I’ve seen it made with other milks too. Halloumi is a fun cheese. It’s firm, salty, and doesn’t really ever melt…

Instant Pot Chickpea Curry

April 17, 2019 Amanda Plott

Meatless Monday is continuing to grow in popularity. To be very honest, there’s more than one meatless night in my house every week. As I’ve sad before, it would be really really easy for me to turn into a vegetarian. This Instant Pot Chickpea Curry really takes the cake though. Not only is it vegetarian, it’s vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and only takes about 10 minutes to make. And that includes prep AND cook time. Don’t worry, you can thank me later.

This curry is started off with yellow onion and then loaded up spices. The trick to any good curry, is to let the curry powder and seasonings cook for a couple of minutes BEFORE adding in the other components. Warming the spices here gives you more depth of flavor and really wakes the seasoning up!…

Spring Vegetable Crudités Plate

April 10, 2019 Amanda Plott

To go along with my Skinny Whipped Feta Dip from yesterday, I decided to make a beautiful plate of Spring veggies! The plate is half Spring inspired and half Mediterranean inspired to go along with the feta dip. Along with the other disable bits, there’s some olives and capers on the plate too.

The plate of Crudités starts off with the Skinny Whipped Feta Dip. Then there’s plenty of slices zucchini, salami, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, berries, and of course… olives and capers! I’ve made my fair share of plates, trays, and other sorts of sharable appetizers before. But, I have to say that this Spring Vegetable Crudités Plate is well balanced and one of my new faves!…

Old-Fashioned Southern Lunch Box

April 2, 2019 Amanda Plott

I’ve still been giving a lot of thought to lunches lately. Mostly because it’s a meal that’s pretty easy for me to skip out on. Which is never a good thing. Plus, my mom has needed some fun lunch ideas, so it just seemed to work out perfectly. Originally, I had thoughts of doing an ‘all American’ style lunch box but pimento cheese was being craved so… here we are.

I’m calling this an old-fashioned southern lunch box because when I was little, I remember my grandmother making me pimento cheese sandwiches on wonder bread. Served with a pickle and maybe some plain-jane potato chips. So this is a nod to that!…

Italian Lunch Box

March 21, 2019 Amanda Plott

I was sort of slightly tasked with coming up with some fun and easy lunch(able) ideas recently. It seems like breakfast is pretty easy, dinner is almost always planned, it’s lunch that most people seem to have the greatest trouble with. I know that if I make up a few little lunch boxes ahead of time, that I’m a lot more likely to eat those, rather than going without or eating something I really shouldn’t.

For me, I like light lunches. Snackable lunches. Something finger-friendly that I can nom on while working at my desk. Right? Well, this Italian Lunch Box is just that! I made four of these boxes up in the matter for just a few minutes and they’re full of fun little bits that are as versatile as they are delicious!…

Italian Couscous Salad

February 21, 2019 Amanda Plott

This Italian Couscous Salad is as quick and easy as a ‘pasta’ salad can come. With a few chops here, some dices there, a good hefty few stirs and a little while in the fridge, this salad is ready to go and full of flavor! It’s pretty loaded with fun bits too such as salami, fresh mozzarella, basil, olives, and plenty of Italian veggies.

I’d like to think that it’s sort of a fun twist on Antipasto. It’s light, it’s pasta based, and it’s served cold. While usually it’s as a side, I’ve enjoyed eating this for lunch with a hard-boiled egg on the side. But it would also be great served as a side at dinner. Say… paired with a pesto marinated grilled chicken breast…