Spiral Cucumber Greek Salad

More Spiralized Vegetables! This time it's spiralized cucumbers mixed with tomatoes, chicken, and feta for a delicious greek salad. You don't have to spiralize the cucumbers in this recipe, you could just chop them up into cubes, but I think it makes this recipe a little more fun. This recipe is super easy, no baking or sautéing, just chopping and mixing!  

This goes great with some Homemade Hummus on top! 

Here's what you'll need:

• 3 Cucumbers $3.00
• ~12 Cherry Tomatoes $2.99
• 12 Tbsp Reduced Fat Feta $5.12
• 1 Rotisserie Chicken $7.99
• 1 Lemon $0.79
• 6 Teaspoons Olive Oil $0.36

Serving Size: 1/6 Total Recipe

Total Servings: 6

Price Per Serving: 3.37

Nutrition (per serving):

      Calories: 223

      Carbs:  9g

      Fat:  12g

      Protein:  23g

Start off by getting your chicken ready. You could just bake some chicken breasts if you want to, but I think this is easier and just as delicious. Remove all the skin from the outside of the chicken and either throw away or save for a future recipe. Then remove all the meat from the chicken and chop into bite sized pieces. 

Spiralize your cucumbers by chopping of the ends and then using your spiralizer. If you don't have a spiralizer, just cube the cucumbers. You can also peel them if you want to.

Place the cucumbers in a bowl and add the juice of one lemon and the olive oil. Toss to combine.

Next chop up your tomatoes. I just cut them in half.

Add the cucumbers to a bowl and add the tomatoes, feta, and chicken on top. Top with a little bit of black pepper and you're done! 

Happy Cooking! 

Baked Curly Fries

So I got a vegetable spiralizer for christmas, and I have not been able to stop using it. There are just so many things you can make with it! I'll have a couple more spiral vegetable recipes coming up soon, but for now I thought I'd start off with an easy baked curly fry recipe. These fries are delicious and go great with a veggie wrap! 

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 Medium Yukon Gold Potato $1.00
• 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil $0.06
• 1 Tablespoon Rosemary $0.18

Serving Size: 1/2 potato

Total Servings: 2

Price Per Serving:  $0.62

Nutrition (per serving):

      Calories: 60

      Carbs:  9g

      Fat:  3g

      Protein: 1g

This recipe can be made with pretty much any potato you want. I made them with Yukon Gold potatoes, but you could also do sweet potatoes or just regular russet potatoes.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

My spiralizer is the Paderno 3-Blade Spiralizer. They're usually between 30 and 40 dollars and I think its totally worth it, but there are some other cheaper options. The Veggetti is about 15 dollars and I've heard great things about them also.

No need to peel the potato, just stick it on and go! I used the chipper blade (the larger triangles) to get a good size fry.

Place the spiralized potatoes in a bowl and add the olive oil on top. Toss to combine and sprinkle with a little bit of salt. Then spread them out on a baking sheet and place them in the oven for 15 minutes.

While the potatoes are baking, chop your rosemary into small pieces.

Take out the potatoes and flip them over, they should just be starting to brown. Then sprinkle the rosemary over the top and place back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and they're ready to serve! To make them extra special, sprinkle a little parmesan cheese over the top.

Happy Cooking!

Hummus

Hummus is one of my favorite things to use for spreading on chicken wraps, dipping carrots, or even topping a salad. Hummus can get pretty expensive, but its really easy to make at home! This is a base recipe, so you can add whatever you want to it! Before you add the water, blend in roasted red peppers, roasted garlic, basil, olives, sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, there are tons of possibilities!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 30oz can Garbanzo Beans (chick peas) $2.39
• 2 cloves Garlic $0.08
• 2 Tbsp Tahini Paste $0.40
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil $0.15
• 1 Lemon $0.79
• Water $ basically free! 

Serving Size: 1/2 cup 

Total Servings: 5

Price Per Serving: $0.76

Nutrition (per serving):

      Calories: 185

      Carbs:  29g

      Fat:  7g

      Protein:  9g

For comparison, the same amount of Sabra classic hummus has 280 calories, 16 g carbs, 20 g fat, and 8 g protein.

In a blender or food processor combine the garlic, tahini, and olive oil. pulse a few times to chop up the garlic and combine the other ingredients. 

Drain the can of garbanzo beans and rinse with cold water to get all the bean liquid off of the outside. 

Add the beans and lemon juice to the blender and begin to blend. This will be pretty think so you may need to stop and mix it a couple times. Just make sure your blender is off before you stick anything in there! Then begin adding water. Start off with about 1/4 cup and then keep adding water until it gets to the consistency that you want. I added about 3/4 cup of water total. 

Once its the consistency you want, you're all done! Easy hummus thats better for you than store bought and much cheaper. Try experimenting with different flavors and find something that you love! I like roasting the garlic and adding in red peppers.

Happy Cooking!