Did you even know it was National Hummus Day?! This is turning into quite the celebratory day in our house, especially since starting to work with Sabra over the past few years. They keep our bellies full of their delicious hummus and dips, and I’m so excited to be sharing a new recipe with you guys today!
Instead of just taking my favorite lemon hummus and dipping chips and celery and broccoli in it like usual, I decided we needed to try something new on the grill. Especially since our hands are full with this new little baby boy!! Anything we can throw on the grill for dinner is proving to be the easiest meal option, and I’m so excited with how these turned out.
We took some big, bone-in pork chops and marinated them in a mix of my favorite Lemon Twist Hummus, olive oil, a little vinegar, salt, and pepper. You don’t need much else when your marinade base starts with great hummus!
I love making quick marinades for grilling this time of year, and this was one of the easiest I’ve ever pulled together.
You could start with any flavor of hummus for the base and go from there. The roasted garlic would be fantastic on some chicken with a little balsamic vinegar, and I can’t wait to try some of the roasted red pepper on some pork or chicken, too.
Think you've exhausted your grilling marinade ideas? Think again! Whisk your favorite hummus up with a little extra olive oil, favorite vinegar, and some seasonings, and you've got a ton of new flavor profiles to try!
Ingredients:
4 bone-in pork chops, about 1-inch thick
heaping 1/3 cup Sabra Lemon Twist Hummus
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Directions:
Place the pork chops in a large bowl or ziploc bag.
In a medium bowl, mix the hummus with the oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Pour the marinade over the pork and toss them until each one is coated. Let the meat marinate at least 30 minutes or longer.
Heat your grill to medium, then cook the pork until no longer pink, about 7-10 minutes on each side, depending on thickness.
Holy moly, how is it already halfway through the month of May?
I feel like I blinked and missed half a month.
And….I kind of did. Our little baby boy was born on Monday, May 4, so things have been a bit of a blur since then! He’s doing great – sleeping fairly well during the night – and is super cuddly, which we love.
So now, even more than ever, simple meals are taking over! But not just simple. Healthy.
I’ve got to keep up my energy for when he’s awake and I’m awake and eat more whole foods, whole grains, and high fiber items that keep me going! Lots of oatmeal, lots of pasta with veggies, lots of salads. It’s a good combo so far, and this pasta salad might be one of my favorite new dishes that we’ve had lately.
I love a good pasta salad, but I tend to make the same ones over and over. This one, however, is definitely different than my normal mix. It’s full of great spring and summer veggies, but with a little twist in flavor.
This time of year, asparagus is super sweet, so I balanced that out with some peppery radishes and a chili-lime seasoning to brighten everything up and add a little kick. If you want even more kick, feel free to add a few dashes of hot sauce.
Nick and I have tried a lot of pastas over the years, and I think we’ve pretty much settled on Dreamfields as our favorite. It cooks up perfectly tender each time, plus it’s higher in fiber and protein than your typical pasta, meaning it’s even more filling and it makes it easy to eat a little bit better without making major changes. You can make all your favorite pasta dishes using Dreamfields, they’ll be delicious – as always – and you’ll end up with a little boost in your dish. Easy!
Now….what pasta dish should we make next? Easy is best! I’ll take all the suggestions I can get!
This isn't your typical pasta salad. There is no bottled dressing or veggie spirals or sliced olives. This pasta salad is exactly what you need this spring, to celebrate the return of asparagus! The sweetness of the asparagus and corn is balanced out with some lime zest, lime juice, and a little chili powder for some kick. Feel free to toss in any other veggies you have on hand, too! Any kind of bean would be great, or you could add meat to the pasta salad to make it a one-bowl meal.
Cook the pasta according to the directions; drain, place in a large bowl, and set aside.
Meanwhile, place asparagus and corn on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tsp of the olive oil, lime zest, lime juice, ancho chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Roast the vegetables 12-15 minutes or until tender.
Toss the pasta with the remaining olive oil. Gently toss pasta with the tomatoes, green onions, and radishes. Stir in the corn and asparagus.
Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled.
Nutrition information (1/4 of recipe): 290 calories; 10 g protein; 54 g carbohydrates; 6 g total fat; 1 g saturated fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 190 mg sodium; 8 g total dietary fiber.
I’m part of the Dreamfields DreamTeam and was compensated for this post. All recipes and opinions are my own, as always. Thank you for supporting brands that support us!
– We had to pay in taxes this year (boo). That was unexpected and not fun.
– Little mini muffin baby is due in just a few days!
– I got an awesome surprise card and gift from some incredible blogger friends last week that completely made my day.
– I submitted the draft for my cookbook in mid-April, and am SO excited to start seeing everything come together.
Plus, I can’t wait to share all these recipes with you!
There’s a good mix of sweet and savory recipes, all using coffee as an ingredient – in every. single. recipe. So, get ready to be caffeinated this fall! I’ll keep you guys updated as I get news along the way.
Life has been good lately! Busy, but good.
This little mini muffin baby will be here THIS WEEK, which just sounds crazy to me. I don’t feel like it’s already time – everything has flown by! Everyone told me that the last month or so would seem like it was going by really slowly, but I haven’t felt that way at all. This entire time, everything has seemed to moved at warp speed. I’ve been trying my best to really enjoy every minute of it and soak it in – not letting myself get stressed out or too worried about anything.
I think having the cookbook deadline just a few weeks before this baby is coming was a good thing for me because it kept me busy and kept me from getting too worked up about all things baby.
So now, we’re just waiting! My feet had turned into Shrek feet (seriously), thanks to some super fun swelling, so I’m officially done at my full time job as of this past week until near the end of summer.
I’ve got some great recipes coming up soon, and can’t wait to update you guys on things as everything changes for us in the next week or so!
It’s time for round 2 of Cooking 101! First, we covered pizza – a life necessity, I think.
For round 2, I couldn’t think of anything better than homemade biscuits!
I want these Cooking 101 posts to be helpful (for you and for me!). When I first stepped into the kitchen, there was SO much I didn’t know. And I am still a complete novice some days, but I’ve definitely learned some things over the years.
But I don’t want to just be giving out tips and tricks – I want you to share yours, too! Maybe your approach for a certain dish or food is the complete opposite of how I work. Tell me about it! Anything that helps in the kitchen is always good to know, especially if it saves time and the amount of dirty dishes.
So, let’s talk biscuits.
Biscuits are a way of life in this family. I’m not joking.
Once I felt comfortable in the kitchen, I started getting up early any time we were at Nick’s parents so I could be in the kitchen when my father in law, Bob, was making breakfast. Most of the time, it rotates between biscuits (with jam or gravy), pancakes, dutch baby pancakes, or omelets. And Bob doesn’t measure anything – for any of these breakfast foods. I still can’t do that with pancakes, but I’m finally to the point where I can make biscuits by feel and each batch gets better and better!
The most important things when making biscuits:
Don’t overwork the dough. Mix everything just enough that it all comes together, pat or roll it out, and cut. No kneading, no crushing the dough together – this will make them tough and heavy. We want light and fluffy!
When cutting out your biscuits, if you’re using a biscuit/cookie cutter, do NOT twist it in the dough. Just drop it straight down and bring it straight back up. You want your biscuits to bake up tall, and twisting the cutter can sometimes seal the edges, meaning they won’t rise as much.
Cold butter, if using butter. Cold buttermilk or cream, depending on what you’re using. Cold eggs, if using eggs. Always, always, always cold.
The hardest thing for me to get used to is how sticky and un-ready biscuit dough looks before patting it out to cut. It really does seem like you need to add more flour or knead it quite a bit, but the less you mess with the dough, the better they’ll be.
This is how dough should look when you’re ready to pat/roll it out and cut into biscuits. I always use a pastry cloth, but you can do this on any floured surface (counter, cutting board, etc).
If you make your own homemade biscuits, what’s your favorite recipe? If you haven’t tried making biscuits from scratch yet….what are you waiting for?!
