Vegan BBQ Chickpea Salad

Today is Good Friday, the last Friday of Lent – which means it’s time to wrap up this year’s Lenten Friday series. I hope you’ve enjoyed the vegan meal ideas I’ve shared over the last six weeks! I’m closing out this year’s posts with a great recipe for the meal I struggle with most on Lenten Fridays – lunch.

For me, breakfast is always easy. Dinner is always well planned. Lunch, though? Lunch is always just grabbing whatever – and not usually plant based in this house so vegan lunches have been lackluster at best.

Salad with bbq chickpeas, corn, cucumber, pickles, red onion, carrots, and tahini ranch dressing.

This salad, though, was the best lunch I had during Lent this year hands-down. It doesn’t take long to make, but the elements are also perfectly meal-prep friendly if you want to make it ahead. The warm, bbq chickpeas paired with all my favorite barbecue-inspired flavors (including dill pickles!) was such a satisfying mid-day meal.

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Korean BBQ Egg Rolls in the Air Fryer

I received free products in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.

I’m always up for a challenge so I was excited to jump in when JSL Foods asked me to cook up something fun using their egg roll wrappers! We are big fans of traditional egg rolls – and Asian-inspired flavors in general – but I knew I wanted to switch it up and try something a little different with these!

I created these egg rolls with versatility in mind. They’d be a perfect appetizer for the big game or game night at home, but they’d also be a great option for lunch or lighter dinner paired with a salad.

Instead of the traditional chicken and cabbage flavored with soy sauce, these rolls are stuffed with chicken smothered with a Korean-style BBQ sauce, pineapple and red onion – and then cooked in the air fryer to keep them lighter.

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Pizza Pasta Salad

So, let’s talk about school. Are you going back? Distance learning? Homeschooling? Something else? It is, for sure, an emotional minefield for so many people. If you’re still figuring things out, I’m sending you big, virtual hugs.

One thing I’ve been hearing a lot is about lunch – some schools are requiring packed lunches, some are sending the kids home early so there will be no lunch served. Lunch so often feels like an overlooked meal – but I believe it’s one we’re all going to be thinking about this year.

I’m a huge fan of make-ahead lunches. Something I can whip together in a big batch and serve all week – and this pizza-inspired pasta salad is just that.

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Peach Panzanella Salad

We put in a big garden this spring. It’s something we’ve had plans for but with quarantine, we finally made the jump and did it. We knew it would be a learning year – and it is. I’m having more fails than successes.

One huge success? Our tomatoes.

This simple salad is one of my favorite ways to use up our tomatoes. If you’re going to make this, I highly suggest using tomatoes from a farm or your garden – they’re just so good right now!

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Marinated Vegetable Sandwiches

If there’s one thing I could eat all summer, it would be sandwiches loaded with vegetables. All the vegetables. Usually toasted and loaded up with some melty cheese.

These sandwiches are one of my favorite variations – the veggies are marinated in a sweet-but-savory marinade for a few hours before being cooked, which gives them a really nice extra layer of flavor.

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Strawberry Chicken Chopped Salad

Lettuce has been in our CSA share every week. And it’s not a little bit – it’s always a big ‘ole head. We’ve also got some in our own garden. As such, salads are a staple. We have side salads nearly every night with dinner – and big, bountiful salads for lunch.

This salad was one I whipped up for dinner one night. Full of produce from our farm share and topped with a homemade dressing, it’s summer in a bowl.

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Kids in the Kitchen: Unicorn Grilled Cheese

One of the most requested lunches in our house? Grilled cheese. I always try to encourage the kids to help out when I’m making simple meals – but throwing some sliced cheese on bread just wasn’t holding their interest. How do you make grilled cheese more fun? Make it colorful, of course!

This rainbow version – dubbed Unicorn Grilled Cheese in our house, because of course unicorns have rainbow manes – only takes a few extra minutes to make but the extra fun helps keep the kids engaged!

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Buffalo Chicken Salad Jars

How’s the lunch situation these days?

You’d think the fact that we’re all home with no real schedule would make lunch easier, but we’re finding that is so not the case. By the time lunch rolls around, I’m always scrambling and, of course, going out to grab something just isn’t an option right now.

To remedy the chaos, I’m trying to prep my lunches ahead. Salad jars are my favorite lunch prep – and these buffalo chicken ones are my current obsession.

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Ham & Cheese Piroske + A Place At The Table Review

This post is sponsored – I receivedĀ a complimentary copy of A Place At The Table for review. All opinions are mine alone.

How many of you are cooking up a dish tomorrow that’s been passed down? One that celebrates your heritage? It’s no secret that America is a melting pot and one of the places it’s most evident is in our culinary culture – and that’s exactly what’s on display in The Vilcek Foundation‘s new cookbook.

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A Place at the Table is a beautiful celebration of the diversity that makes America such a beautiful place.

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Loaded Hummus Plate {Movie Snack Series}

Next up in the movie snack series: Aladdin, and this loaded hummus plate!

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Aladdin was one of my favorites as a kid, so I was really excited to introduce it to the littles. It was a trickier one to plan a snack for, though, since there isn’t many food references in the movie to work off of!

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