Chickpea and Tomato Salad with Fresh Basil

Colorful and wonderful!

Last Friday, my best friend, Nick, and I cooked a delicious and fresh summer dinner for my parents. My dad just had surgery and my mom has been extremely busy, so we thought we would try out some recipes and help them out all in one.

Our menu consisted of marinated grilled chicken (using Newman's Lite Caesar Dressing for marinade), oven-roasted asparagus (olive oil, salt, pepper), and warm, buttery rolls, but the star of the show was this Chickpea and Tomato Salad with Fresh Basil.

The recipe for the salad attracted my eye on Pinterest (thanks for pinning it, Alexandra!). I'm seriously obsessed with the site and feel so accomplished when I create something off of it...my life is very sad. That being said, it tasted every bit as good as the picture online looked.

All four of us diners couldn't help but dive in for seconds and much to my pleasure (and slight dismay), there were no leftovers! This side dish is super simple, extremely health, and so fresh. It is absolutely the perfect, light summer side dish.

Chickpea and Tomato Salad with Fresh Basil
Recipe from Green Lite Bites

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 25 large basil leaves, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp. honey
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Toss all ingredients together in a medium serving bowl.
2. Chill for at least 20 minutes, allowing all the flavors to merge.
3. Eat and Enjoy!

The complete meal.

Thanks for manning the grill, Nick!

Roasted to perfection.

Summer Fruit Pizza

One of my favorite holidays, Fourth of July, just passed. I love the Fourth of July. I love it because it is smack dab in the middle of my favorite season (summer, duh) and it celebrates my favorite place ever, the U S of A. I love the sunshine, pool time, and fireworks. You can't beat it, folks.

Obviously, I also love the food served on the Fourth of July: cheeseburgers, baked beans, corn on the cob, watermelon...I am hungry just thinking about all of it. But you can't have a proper Fourth of July celebration, or any summer cookout for that matter, without a delicious dessert. You just can't. Of course you can have apple pie (yum) but at my house, we are all about the fruit pizza.

This fruit pizza is to die for. A light and flaky homemade pie crust topped with a fluffy cream cheese layer and sprinkled with all the fresh and delicious fruit summer has to offer (my mom and I tried to decorate our fruit in a fireworks display - can't quite say we succeeded...)

I love that this dessert is a different take on the traditional pie or tart and is always well-received by friends and family, who always ask for seconds. This is a definite summer must!

Summer Fruit Pizza

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup butter or margarine, cut into pieces
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3-4 cups assorted fresh fruit (of your choice)
• 1/4 cup apple jelly, melted

Directions

1. Combine flour and powdered sugar; cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Pat mixture on lightly greased 12-inch pizza pan; bake at 350 degrees F until browned, 8-10 minutes. Cool.
2. Beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla until fluffy; spread over crust.
3. Arrange fruit on cream cheese; brush with jelly to preserve fruit. Enjoy!

"Use What You Have" Mini Quiches

WHOA. Sorry about that major hiatus from the blogging world. I was merely soaking up the sun in beautiful Southern California with my family. It was a wonderful time and I was currently not ready to head home and get back to reality. I am terrible at saying goodbye and it never gets any easier!

Before we left for our vacation, my mom and I whipped together some of her favorite mini quiches. These are so easy to make, freeze, and heat for breakfast/lunch/dinner - you name it! The best part is, this recipe gives you the freedom to take what veggies or meats that you have around and throw them in to be baked. Eggs are versatile and I appreciate that.

In this last batch of quiches, we used a whole bag of Trader Joe's of organic frozen, chopped spinach; half of a chopped red bell pepper; half of a chopped orange bell pepper; one small, diced yellow squash; one medium, diced zucchini; a quarter of a minced onion; one carton of egg beaters; and some grated swiss cheese. After combining all the veggies, you just heat them in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Using the egg beaters makes these super healthy and light and a perfect poppable meal. We throw them in a freezer bag and heat them in the microwave on HIGH for about 1 minute and 45 seconds and they are absolutely fabulous! Couldn't be easier to whip together!

"Use What You Have" Mini Quiches**
Recipe from My Mama!

• 1 bag frozen, chopped spinach
• 1/2 chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 chopped orange bell pepper
• 1 small, diced yellow squash
• 1 medium, diced zucchini
• 1/4 minced onion
• 1 carton egg beaters
• Grated swiss cheese (about 6 oz.)

**Like I said, use what you have! We have added mushrooms to these, feta cheese, ham, turkey bacon, whatever you please!***

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Grease 12-18 muffin tins by spraying with Pam.
3. If using spinach, cook it on high in the microwave for 4 minutes. Remove from microwave and press out all liquid using paper towels.
4. Combine your eggs, veggies, meats, and cheeses into a large bowl.
5. Pour egg mixture into muffin tins (12-18 depending on how big you'd like them).
6. Bake quiches for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and bubbly on edges.
7. Serve hot or freeze them and microwave when hungry!