How to Make the Best Creamy Artichoke Pasta Salad

Ibotta had Reese artichoke hearts on sale in the app. I wasn't sure if I even really liked them, but I decided to buy a can and experiment.

I created a pasta salad and was pleasantly surprised with how delicious it turned out!

Lemon-Cilantro Kale Salad

This might be the most amazing kale salad ever, and it's just something I threw together before work one day. It totally made me late, but it was so worth it come lunchtime. In fact, I had it for lunch a few days in a row, and I looked forward to it each day!

The key to a great kale salad is to massage it a bit with oil, or dressing, before adding all the other ingredients. It really tenderizes the kale while simultaneously changing the flavor from bitter to sweet and nutty.

It might seem a little weird at first to really get in there with your bare hands, but seriously, it will change the way you feel about kale!

Serves 4.

Black Bean, Corn, Zucchini Salad with Cilantro Dressing

I have been in LOVE with cilantro lately. It's a little unfortunate because my husband is one of those people who HATE cilantro.

Or maybe not unfortunate, because it just means MORE for me. 😋

A couple weeks ago, my phone died on me. It's all good a replacement was sent out free of charge. While I was without a phone, I had to old-school it a bit by digging out an actual cookbook. It was difficult to try to follow a recipe from Pinterest when my computer was in a different room.

It was fun to thumb through my few cookbooks to find some new recipes, though. I really should do it more often.

I adapted the following recipe from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson. The original didn't include zucchini, but I love raw zucchini and since I had some in the fridge that needed to be used, I chopped it up and added it in.

It's served cold, so if you're headed to a Memorial Day picnic today, this would be a perfect addition to the usual picnic fare. Plus, it's super quick and easy to throw together.

Serves 6.

Once upon a time I tried a Green Tea Latte from Starbucks. I wasn't a huge fan.
It tasted too earthy. Too green.

One of the primary ingredients was matcha powder.

So, when I received a big package of matcha in my goodie bag from the #TIUVegas meetup a couple weeks ago, I wasn't sure I'd like/use it.

I took a shot and experimented with it in a smoothie.

It was heaven!

The other secret ingredients that made this smoothie super delicious were the cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla protein powder. Oh, and the apple juice. These ingredients really helped make the smoothie delectable.

Vanilla Cinnamon Kale Smoothie

Takes 10 min, serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, stems removed
• 2 cups almond milk, original unsweetened
• 1 cube Pop&Cook crushed ginger
• 125 g zucchini
• 358 g strawberries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp matcha powder
• 8 oz apple juice
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Instructions

1. Blend kale and almond milk together.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
3. Divide equally into mason jars. Drink one immediately and freeze or refrigerate the other 3 to enjoy throughout the week.

What's your favorite smoothie ingredient?
Tweet

I'm linking up today with Deborah and Sarah for Meatless Mondays.