Clean & Delicious with Dani Spies

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Corn

Colorful Black Bean + Corn Salad

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Black Bean + Corn Salad

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Corn and tomatoes are big summer crops here in New Jersey, so I love finding different ways of working them into my recipes, so I can take advantage of their insane, seasonal, deliciousness!

I love that this salad is so colorful and fun, it really captures the energy of the warm, action packed, summer days!

Fresh corn is ideal in this recipe, but if you absolutely had to, you could sub in some frozen corn.  But only if you’re in a pinch, deal?!

Along with my Creamy Cucumber + Dill Salad and Green Lentil Salad with Grapes + Spinach, this salad is featured in my ‘Simple Summer Salads’ video.  If you want to jump right to this Colorful Black Bean + Corn Salad in the video, it starts at 3:00.

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Summer Corn and Avocado Salad

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Summer Corn Avocado Salad
Summer Corn Avocado Salad

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With weather that is 90 degrees (and rising) here in New Jersey, I am entering my ‘assembly-only’meal mode.

This is pretty easy to do as long as you shop for foods that are fresh and seasonal in your area.  When you buy food that is in season  you can pretty much bet that it will taste great with any other food that grows in the same season (mother nature is rather clever like that!).

In the case of this salad, fresh Jersey corn and tomatoes paired up with some creamy avocado come together to make this quick, simple, delicious, salad that requires no cooking whatsoever.

The corn is 100% raw.  I just cut it right off the cob and enjoy.  It’s sweet and crunchy which makes it a great base for the salad.

Try serving this salad with some grilled chicken, steak or fish.  Or simply enjoy it on it’s own for a light seasonal meal.

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Summer Harvest Soup With Corn, Zucchini, & Tomatoes

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Summer Harvest Soup - Clean & Delicious

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I love local, seasonal food.

Sure it’s higher in nutrients, better for our planet and will usually save me some money but those are not reason enough for my selfish self.

For me, the number one driver is FLAVOR.

(I mean don’t get me wrong, the prior reasons are important to me but let’s be honest – if my food met all of that criteria, and then tasted like poop, I wouldn’t be so on board).

There is just nothing like a fresh, local, seasonal ingredient at it’s peak (and if you find yourself having a hard time enjoying fruits and veggies, I challenge you to stop buying your apples from Chili and your zucchini from Mexico and see if that helps).

This soup captures the bounty of summer here in New Jersey.

Corn, tomatoes, zucchini and basil are all at their peak right now which is exactly what makes this soup so easy to pull together.  You see, when you buy these types of high quality ingredients, there’s not much work for you to do.  They come complete with all the flavors and textures in tact, so a simple preparation like this soup is merely providing a place for them all to land.

It’s fresh, clean, delicious and my kids gobbled it up as well.  Definitely a recipe to make before the summer bounty passes by.

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Persian Cucumber Salad With Corn And Feta

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Persian Cucumber Salad - Clean & Delicious®

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It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s been exactly one year since we moved from California to New Jersey (where I  grew up).

It has been an action packed year and I’ve had all types of mixed emotions (re: swearing we made a mistake during the midst of winter!) but when all is said and done coming back to ‘The Jerz’ was the right choice.

It’s so awesome to be back with friends and family, enjoying the seasons, and sharing all of my favorite childhood memories with my kids.

But in the name of our 1-year moving anniversary, I just had to make a dish that reminded me of our 12 years in LA.

This simple, crunchy, fresh cucumber salad was something my hubby and I used to order from one of our favorite restaurants in California.  They would have this on the menu every summer and I just couldn’t get enough of it so I had to go home and try to recreate it myself.

This is the kind of salad you will want to bring to every bbq, picnic, and cookout you go to this summer.  Think about it, ‘cucumber  + corn + feta + avocado + kalamata olives + fresh lime juice’ I mean really, need I say more?

The real secret weapon are the persian style cucumbers because they are so, so, so crunchy and refreshing (they are the little guys with no seeds inside – they always have them at Trader Joe’s).  So it’s definitely worth the effort to seek them out.

And if you like a little heat to your salad, a bit of diced jalapeño would be great here too (but I’m keeping it PG so my kids can’t use ‘the spicy excuse’ as a reason not to try it).

So give it a try and let me know what you think!  And if you want the step by step, check out the video below.

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Butter Lettuce Salad w/ Basil Green Goddess Dressing (Video)

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Summer time is an easy time to enjoy Salads.

It just a part of the seasonal flow chart.

Hot weather calls for cool, refreshing food – and the less cooking required the better!

This salad is simple and full of flavor (I kind of like to think I’m the same – although at times I can extremely complicated and terribly flat – but I suppose that’s a story for a different day;).

I love adding shredded chicken to this salad to bulk up the protein and make it a little more filling, but it’s also delicious just  the way it is.

What’s your favorite Summer salad?  I’d love to hear about it down below!

Print Recipe

Butter Lettuce Salad w/ Basil Green Goddess Dressing

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Salad

  • 1 head Butter Lettuce
  • 1-cup pint cherry tomatoes
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 1 cup corn kernels (about one cobb)

Dressing

  • 1 cup scallions, roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 1-cup fresh basil
  • 1 cup Nonfat Greek Yogurt (you can use 2% or full fat if you prefer)
  • 2 tbsp real mayo
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • ½ tsp kosher salt and some fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Combine scallions, garlic, and basil in a food processor.  Pulse a few times to break everything down.  Add yogurt, mayo, lemon juice, and salt and pepper and blend until you have a nice thick, creamy dressing.  Adjust seasonings and set aside.

Tear up butter leaves and place in a large shallow, bowl and top with tomatoes and avocado.  Divide amongst 4 plates and top each salad with 2 tablespoons of dressing.

1/4th of salad w/ 2tbsp dressing--> Calories: 132; Total Fat: 9.3g; Saturated Fat: 1.3g; Cholesterol: 1mg; Carbohydrate: 10.1g; Dietary Fiber: 4.3g; Sugars: 3.6g; Protein: 4.8g

Raw Corn and Avocado Salad

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Raw Corn Salad
Raw Corn And Avocado Salad – Clean & Delicious

Did you know that you can eat raw corn?

It’s true, raw corn is sweet and crisp and makes for a fresh and delish Summer salad.  The key to raw corn is that you have to make sure that’s it’s fresh and in season! Fresh, seasonal corn will ensure a sweet and tender salad (yum!).

And who doesn’t love Summer corn and tomatoes together?  These are some of Jersey’s finest Summer produce, so to all my East coast peeps out there, be sure to give this salad try!

As for me, I absolutely love the crisp corn paired with the creamy avocado.  The avocado adds so much depth and richness that there’s no need to add any extra oil, a fat squish of lime and it’s good to go!

If you’re not a fan of cilantro, feel free to swap in some parsley or basil, both would make a tasty substitution.

I love serving this salad with Grilled Flank Steak or some Honey Lime Chicken.  Yet another Clean and Delicious salad perfect for some Summer entertaining!

Print Recipe

Raw Corn And Avocado Salad

Yield: 5 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups of corn, cut off the cobb (about 3 cups)
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • ½ red onion, diced
  • 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 large or two small avocados, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
  • The juice of one lime (2 if their not super juicy)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine everything in a large bowl and mix until everything is well combined.  Adjust your seasonings and enjoy!

Makes 5 -1 cup servings.

Calories: 137g; Total Fat: 6.1g; Saturated Fat: g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 17mg; Carbohydrate: 21.8g; Dietary Fiber: 5.7g; Sugars: 4.3g; Protein: 3.3g

Pan Seared Tilapia Over Indian Corn With Tomatoes (Video)

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There is a restaurant a few blocks away from where I live that Beng and I used to go to all the time before the little one came along (now when we want wine with dinner, the date is on the balcony!) and they served a side dish that I fell in love with.

It was corn with cilantro, jalapeno and white beans (and I’m sure LOTS of butter) and they called it Indian Corn – it is SO GOOD!

So that is where the original inspiration comes from.  But the Jersey girl in me can’t help but think corn and tomatoes when it comes to fresh summer produce so I really wanted to bring them together in this dish!

As for the fish… a quick pan seared tilapia, one of my favorite ways to eat fish on a action packed weeknight.

I hope you guys like this video, we shot it the same day we shot the Roasted Apricots w/ Vanilla Yogurt Cream.”

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Pan Seared Tilapia Over Indian Corn With Tomatoes

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped up
  • 1/2 jalapeno, minced
  • 4 ears of corn, (about 3 cups) kernels cut off the cobb
  • 1 tbsp. cumin
  • 15 oz. can of white beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup of grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1 lb. of tilapia
  • 2 tsp. smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp. butter
  • Big handful of cilantro, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat and add about 1 tsp of olive oil. Add in the onions, garlic, and jalapeno and cook for about five minutes or until the onions are translucent.

Stir in corn, cumin, and about a half a cup of water. Season with salt and pepper and pop a lid on. Cook for about three minutes.

Remove the lid and stir in the beans and tomatoes. Cook just until the beans and tomatoes are heated through.

Shut off the heat and stir in the butter and cilantro. Adjust seasonings.

In the meantime, season each side of the tilapia with salt, pepper, and paprika. Use your fingertips to rub in the spices.

Heat a separate sauté pan over a medium high heat and add the rest of the olive oil. Once the oil is hot add the tilapia to the pan. Cook for about two minutes on each side or until the fish is opaque and is just cooked through.

Serve your tilapia over a bed of the corn and bean mixture and enjoy!

Serves 4.

Calories: 314; Total Fat: 2.5g; Saturated Fat: 2.5g; Cholesterol: 58mg; Sodium: 116mg; Carbohydrate: 31.5g; Dietary Fiber: 6.4g; Sugars: 3.4g; Protein: 27.7g

Black Bean And KaleTopped Sweet Potatoes

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Kale & Black Bean Sweet Potato
Kale & Black Bean Sweet Potatoes – Clean & Delicious®

Slight change of plans from the weekly menu plan!  Originally these were going to be Black Bean Tacos but I couldn’t resist the big fat pre-cooked sweet potatoes sitting in my fridge!  So I took the same idea, but swapped sweet potatoes for the taco shells and let me tell you, these were fan-freakin’-tastic!

Super-hearty, super-satisying, and super-nutritious.  This, my friends, is comfort food at it’s best.  And since the sweet potatoes were pre-cooked and the kale was already washed and chopped this meal took me all of fifteen minutes to get on the table (gotta love the pre-preppin’!).  Not to mention, I HATE trying to photograph tacos… they always come out looking less than delicious, so sweet potatoes were a welcome change of pace.

Interestingly enough, my husband did not love this meal and he is usually not a picky eater.  Now don’t get me wrong, he ate the whole thing, but when I asked him what he thought about dinner, he said, “It was missing something,”  which I thought was really funny because I thought they were really delicious!  Go figure…  ya know what I always say, “different strokes for different folks” (well…that and, “Whatever!”).

I’m really enjoying these plan-ahead-meals… they definitely come with a huge feeling of satisfaction.  It’s like anything in life… anything worth having is going to take a bit of effort.  Feeding myself and my family delicious, nutritious foods is really important to me… I just feel like it is a major brick in the foundation of feeling good; and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about!  Right?

The great thing about this meal is that you can literally take the idea and run.  I mean you can top your potato with just about anything you have on hand, so don’t feel like you have to run to the store to pick up any specific ingredient.  Not to sound like a broken record… but try and have some fun with it!

The bean and kale toping made about three servings, so I am going to plop some on top of a big salad at lunch today (yes, I AM ALWAYS thinking about my next meal, and anyone who knows me well will confirm this for me).

I’ve been trying to go to bed at night when Katie goes to bed (which is around 8 or 9pm) so I can get some rest before her first night time feeding.  It’s been going pretty well, although I am still having a really hard time with the breast feeding (who would have ever thought this could be SO challenging).  I’m not quite there yet, but I am really looking forward to working out again… I miss it!

Right now I am sitting outside of a coffee shop blogging while Katie is taking a nap (I could really get use to this part of motherhood;)).

On the menu tonite: Leftover Salmon and Grilled Veggie Penne

Print Recipe

Black Bean And KaleTopped Sweet Potatoes

Yield: Serves 2

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 sweet potato
  • 1 tsp of olive oil
  • 1-15oz can of black beans
  • 1 cup of frozen or canned corn
  • 2 cloves of chopped garlic
  • ½ onion, chopped
  • 2 heaping handfuls of kale
  • Juice of half a lime
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • ¼ cup lite shredded Mexican cheese blend

Avocado Mash

  • ½ avocado
  • 1 tbsp limejuice
  • 1 clove garlic
  • Pinch of salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 425.

Poke a bunch of holes is your sweet potatoand pop into the oven for about one hour or until fork tender.

Heat one olive oil in a small saucepan and add in onions and garlic.  Sauté for about five minutes or until your onions are translucent.

Add black beans (along with the liquid) and cumin and cook until the beans are heated through.  Stir in the kale, corn and limejuice and cook for about five more minutes or until the kale has wilted down.

While your beans are cooking, combine half an avocado with one clove of crushed garlic, a squish of limejuice and a pinch of salt.  Mash up with the back of a fork and then set aside.

Split your sweet potato in half and top each with two tablespoons of cheese.  Then pile one cup of the black bean and kale mixture over the top and  finish each potato with half of the avocado mash.  Enjoy!

Serves 2.  (You will have one extra serving of beans and kale).

Nutrients per serving: Calories: 375; Total Fat: 10.4g; Saturated Fat: 2.5g; Cholesterol: 10mg; Sodium: 557mg; Carbohydrate: 58.5g; Dietary Fiber: 13.6g; Sugars: 10.9g; Protein: 15.4g