Haricot Verts & Edamame with Shallot-Soy Vinaigrette

This tasty little side dish really could not be any easier. A while back I blogged about some of our favorite homemade dressings. One of our favorites of the favorites was this Shallot-Soy Vinaigrette. For this dish we just took some frozen hericot verts (or green beans) and some frozen edamame, tossed them with the dressing and tah-dah!

The vinaigrette is delicious as a sauce over chicken or fish also. It's thick and creamy and coats very well. You could add a protein of your choice (like chicken or tofu) to this meal and call it lunch or dinner also. Give it a shot and let us know how it turned out!

Kale Chickpea Pesto on Soba with Asparagus and Peas

We've been trying to incorporate a lot more vegetarian dishes into our diet and this one caught my eye while perusing the TasteSpotting website. At first I was like, "eww, kale..." Then as I looked at the recipe I realized the kale is in a pesto. So then I was all like, "Hmmm, maybe.."

Soba noodles are a staple in our house now. They are buckwheat noodles which means they are also Gluten-Free! Without even trying we scarfed down a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free dinner!

 
And you know what?

It was awesome!! The textures and flavor were so awesome! We bulked up the veg a little and used a little of the pasta water to get the right consistency in the pesto.

The pesto is so creamy you might think there is cheese in it, but nope, it's the chickpeas and oil! We cut the recipe in half and still had leftover pesto. We're planning to use it in a sandwich for a picnic but it could be used in a variety of ways.

If you're looking for a superfood recipe that tastes amazing, this is it!

Tortellini Skewers with Pesto Dipping Sauce

Here is a really delicious and fast appetizer that you can make way before your guests arrive! I found this idea online and put my own spin on it but you can throw whatever you have on hand on these skewers.

If you're using them for an appetizer before a main course I would stick to 2 skewers per person. You can also use these on a buffet table, in which case I would allow more than 2 per person. These would be great for a kid's birthday, holiday party, or pot luck.

The skewers were so good and the combination of the tortellini, tomato, and pesto made it like a fun pasta salad on a stick. The only thing I would add is a spoon to the dip. That way people can spoon the pesto over the skewers instead of double dipping.

Creamy Garlic Dressing

This dressing is so delicious! If you're a garlic fan, I highly recommend it. I'll also be posting a pasta dish in a couple of days that this dressing was just made for. Whether you use it on a green salad, in pasta as a sauce, or over veggies it fits beautifully.

This dressing is pretty thick right out of the fridge. It could also be easily used as a mayo-substitute. If you don't like how thick it is you can add a little more vinegar to loosen it up a bit but be careful not to break it.

I used a blender for maximum emulsifying action and I drizzled the oil very slowly. We almost always have all of these ingredient on hand so it's a quick go-to dressing or sauce. It takes less than 10 minutes to make from start to finish. The recipe below makes about 1 & 1/2 cups but can be easily halved.

Homemade Dressings - Part 1

Recently we've really been getting into making our own homemade dressings. The store bought stuff is just loaded with so much crap and homemade dressings are super easy to make. Plus they are a fraction of the price of store-bought dressings.
We normally will make 1 or 2 dressing on a Sunday afternoon and keep them in the fridge to use on salads, pastas, fish, anything really, throughout the week.

This is part 1 because as we add more dressings to our recipe binder, we'll update here with our favorite ones! Today we have three dressings: 5-Herb Vinaigrette, Shallot-Soy Vinaigrette, and Greek Dressing. What's your favorite go-to dressing?