Best-Ever Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

Best-Ever Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed DressingIt turns out that California has decided to completely skip out the “winter” part of the year and here on the coast of Santa Barbara, we have had almost nothing but sunshine and 70 degree weather. This translates to me wanting to post aalllll the warmer-weather food (fruit! salad! light & scrumptious combos!), but I’ve held back since I didn’t want to tempt all my readers who are still battling snow and cold with ginormous produce-filled photos like THIS.

Best-Ever Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

*proceeds to swoon*

I know I’ve been a bit bad about posting this last week, but I promise I have good reason. I’m just ending the last of my finals (just have my genetics one at 8 am on tomorrow morning!) and then I’m FREEE! My lecture schedule for next quarter is insane in the best possible way, and I only have class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Someone please pinch me 😯 . I have big plans on amping up my blogging, photography, and overall quality of recipes and posts on the blog during that time, so please bear with me as I give everything I have to this last final.

So on to the food! The credit for this recipe goes to my close friend and housemate, Darinne, who has adapted this dish from the one here mama gave to her when she left for college. Her mom used to make this salad for her when she was growing up and it was the ONLY salad she would eat. Darinne is a bit of a picky eater (we call her an alien because she doesn’t like chocolate 😯 ), so her mom wanted to make sure she had an emergency recipe to help her get her greens in. And let me tell ya, this is the perfect healthy and nutrient-packed recipe!

Just think: vibrant and fresh spinach that just screams goodness, plumb and ripe strawberries, toasted almonds for that perfect crunch, and an amazing poppyseed dressing that is full of flavor. My mouth and heart are happy.

Strawberries

 

Healthy Weeknight Spaghetti Bolognese

Healthy Weeknight Spaghetti Bolognese- this is done in just 30 minutes and is low-calorie comfort food!

Nothing screams comfort to me more than an enormous, steamy-hot bowl of pasta. There’s something about pasta noodles that make it the perfect flavor vessel and man, is it carrying the most perfect cargo in this recipe! I’m talkin’ a super rich (but actually lightened up!) tomato sauce that’s chock full of lean ground beef, onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms and all tied together with that perfect savory touch of garlic salt and a gorgeous sprinkling of parmesan.

Let’s have some #realtalk here: it would be blasphemy to leave out all that beautiful parm <3.

Healthy Weeknight Spaghetti Bolognese- this is done in just 30 minutes and is low-calorie comfort food!

This is one of those meals that Kyle and I on a regular basis. We’re both pretty busy (he’s an engineering major), but his schedule is more intense this term than mine, so I do most of the cooking. It’s kinda funny, but when I’m not working on recipes for the blog, I tend to gravitate to time-tested and super easy meals that I can whip up quickly. This definitely fits that bill! I made this on Wednesday night and paired it with steamed veggies and some whole wheat baguette bread.

It was the definition of healthy comfort food and I only decided to photograph it at the last minute since I figured it would be a pretty good representation of the type of meals I eat. I like a balance of indulgent, yet healthy recipes that make me feel happy and content and have ingredients that do good things for my body. Huzzah!

Healthy Weeknight Spaghetti Bolognese- this is done in just 30 minutes and is low-calorie comfort food!

So this. Done in 30 minutes and, if you’re like Kyle and I, it will serve you up at least 4-5 hefty portions. Kyle eats a lot and we still have a serving in the fridge! If you’re a lighter eater or serve this with veggies/a side, it will easily last you 6 meals and you are set for a few days. Perfect for people who don’t want to slave away in the kitchen all day and are big fans of yummy pasta-tomato-y-goodness.

*raises hand*

Happy eating!