Sandwich Cake

 

 Ingredients:

·         1 cobb loaf or round sourdough

·         Cream cheese

·         Avocado

·         Prawns

·         Cucumber

·         Dill

·         Smoked Salmon

·         Or any other filling you’d like.

Instructions:

1. Shave around the cobb to form a perfect circle
2. Cut in three sections horizontally
3. Spread base (there should be three discs) liberally with cream cheese, avocado and cucumber
4. Place disc two on top and ice with cream cheese and smoked salmon
5. Place top on and press down
6. Get more cream cheese and proceed to ice like a cake
7. Place prawns and cucumber on top
8. Sprinkle sides with herbs
9. Refrigerate and serve

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Guacamole

INGREDIENTS

• 3 ripe avocados, seeded, peeled
• juice of half a lime
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ½ cup diced tomatoes
• ½ cup diced onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• optional (for spicy version): 1 jalapeño, minced

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large bowl, mash together avocados, lime juice, salt and pepper. Add remaining ingredients; stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.
2. Serve right away or store covered refrigerated until ready to serve.

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Chicken and Avocado Salad

INGREDIENTS

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked
• 1 avocado
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• ½ small onion, chopped
• 8 grape tomatoes, sliced in half

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut cooked and cooled chicken breasts into ½ inch cubes.
2. Mash avocado until almost smooth. Add lime juice and stir until well blended. Add avocado mixture, chopped onion,and tomato slices to chicken. Toss lightly until well coated.
3. Salt to taste and serve.

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Chicken and Spring Green Mix Salad with Green Dressing

Ingredients

• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and chopped into cubes
• 3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 5 ounces spring green mix
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• 1 avocado, peeled and diced
• 2 ounces feta cheese (or your favourite cheese)
•  Green dressing

Instructions

1. Prepare the Green Dressing dressing and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Cook the chicken using your preferred method. To do so quickly, bring a few cups of water to a boil. Add the chicken and cook for 8 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from water and place on a cutting board. Chop or shred the chicken and add salt, pepper, and any other desired seasonings.
3. Place all ingredients for the salad (including the chicken) in a large serving bowl and toss in desired amount of green goddess dressing.
4. Serve as an entree.

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Black Bean and Veggie Pizza

INGREDIENTS

Mexican pizza

• 8 large (7-inch) corn tortillas
• 2 14.5-ounce cans organic refried black beans
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 14.5-ounce can whole black olives, sliced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• ½ bunch green onions, sliced
• ¾ cup shredded light monterey jack cheese
• Avocado cream, to taste (recipe below)
• Optional: salsa for serving.

Avocado cream

• 1 ripe avocado
• ½ cup greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 large clove garlic
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste.

INSTRUCTIONS

Mexican pizza

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F with a pizza stone (or a large baking sheet) inside.
2. Working in batches, lay as many tortillas out as possible on the pizza stone without overlapping and bake for 10 minutes, or until just crispy. Repeat until all tortillas are crispy.
3. Meanwhile, heat the black beans, paprika, cumin, and cayenne over medium heat until smooth and pliable (it doesn't need to be heated all the way through, just enough to make it easy to spread).
4. Divide the black beans among the crispy tortillas (about ⅓ cup per tortilla), and use a rubber spatula to spread the beans out evenly to the edges.
5. Evenly the olives, red onion, tomatoes, and bell pepper among the tortillas.
6. Sprinkle 1.5 tablespoons of shredded cheese over the top of each pizza.
7. Bake the pizzas for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the toppings are cooked through. My pizza stone holds only 4 pizzas at a time, so work in batches if needed.
8. Before serving, dollop or swirl avocado cream over the pizzas, to taste, and sprinkle sliced green onions on top. (To swirl it, I put the cream in a Ziploc bag and cut off the tip!).
9. Optional: serve with a side of salsa.

Avocado cream

 1.Toss all the ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth. You'll likely have leftover cream that you can dip chips in too!

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Chicken Soup with Tortilla and Avocado

6 servings

Ingredients

For Soup

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped (about 2-1/2 cups)
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced into quarters
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
• 6 small corn tortillas, cut into small pieces
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 quarts (8 cups) low sodium chicken
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Suggestions for Garnish

• Crushed tortilla chips
• Handful chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cooked skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces 
• 1-2 avocados, chopped

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil and butter in large pot over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and green pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and just starting to brown, about 15 minutes. (Turn heat to medium-low if mixture is browning too quickly.)
2. Add cut corn tortillas, chili powder and cumin; continue to cook, stirring occasionally, a few minutes more. Add chicken stock, salt and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer with lid slightly ajar for about 20 minutes. Off heat, use hand-held blender to puree until completely smooth (you can also do this in a blender in batches; just be careful to open the steam hole and cover with kitchen towel to avoid splatters). Stir in chicken if using, then ladle soup into bowls and garnish as you like.
3. Note: I usually use leftover or rotisserie chicken, but if you want to cook the chicken from scratch, buy two bone-in chicken breasts. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place chicken breasts on foil-lined baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, then cook 35-40 minutes or until done. Let cool, then pull meat off the bone and cut into bite-sized pieces.

* The leftover soup will thicken in the refrigerator; add a bit of water to thin it out if necessary.

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Chicken and Black Beans Salad with Avocado Cilantro Dressing

4 servings
Ingredients:

2 (16 oz total) skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon reduced sodium taco seasoning
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
1 cup chunks salsa

For the avocado ciliantro buttermilk dressing:

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 small jalapeno, seeds removed, leave them in if you want it spicy
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro
1 medium haas avocado
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp chopped scallion
juice of 1 lime
1/8 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt


For the Salad:

6 cups chopped romaine or red leaf
1/4 cup reduced Mexican cheese blend
1/2 cup avocado cilantro buttermilk dressing

Instructions:

Dressing: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. For a thinner dressing add more buttermilk, for a thicker dip use less.

Makes 1-1/3 cups.

Place the chicken in the slow cooker and season with taco seasoning and cumin. Pour the beans over the chicken and top with salsa.

Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours, or until the chicken is tender and easily shreds with 2 forks. Shred the chicken and combine with the beans and sauce, keep warm until ready to eat. Makes 3 1/2 cups.

To make the salad, place 1 1/2 cups lettuce on each plate, top with 3/4 cup chicken and bean mixture, 1 tbsp cheese and 2 tablespoons zesty avocado buttermilk dressing.

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Avocado Bacon Egg Rolls

Ingredients

·         Oil

·         2 large avocados; perfectly ripe, peeled, pitted, and sliced

·         ½ lime

·         Salt

·         6-7 slices pepperjack cheese

·         12-14 bacon slices, cooked

·         12-14 egg roll wrappers

·         1 tablespoon flour

·         Water

Instructions

1.    Heat about 2" of oil to 350 degrees F in a large frying pan.

2.    Place avocado slices on a place or large bowl. Drizzle with lime and then sprinkle with salt as desired. Place flour in a small bowl and add water to make into a watery/thin paste.

3.    Place one egg roll wrapper on your work surface, with one corner pointing towards you, forming a diamond on your surface. Lay ½ of a slice of cheese in the middle. Lay 1 slice of avocado on top of cheese, and then one slice of bacon, broken in half. Finish with another slice of avocado.

4.    Fold the part of the wrapper pointing towards you over the stack of avocado, etc. Fold the left and right points over the middle and roll up egg roll nearly all the way, taking care to fold tightly with no openings for ingredients to fall or leak out. With finger tip, dab a bit of the flour mixture on the remaining corner at the top and then seal this corner onto the egg roll to close it.

5.    Repeat steps with remaining ingredients. Carefully place a few egg rolls into hot oil and cook until golden brown, turning them over once during the frying. Remove from oil and allow to drain and cool on a place lined with paper towels or napkins. Serve whole or cut in half at an angle with dip of your choice (if you wish).

*I don’t recommend making these too far in advance. I generally create them just before the party and then cut them in half right before serving.

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