Joanna’s bruschetta is a favorite at our potlucks. It obviously tastes delicious with bread, but I’ve gotten creative and served it over grilled steak or burgers before when I want to avoid carbs. This is the perfect summer appetizer and tastes amazing with sweeter small tomatoes such as cherry or grape varieties.

Joanna's Bruschetta

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups sweet small tomatoes (like cherry or grape), finely chopped
• Sea salt, to taste
• 3–6 garlic cloves, finely minced (adjust to your taste)
• ½ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped or more to taste. Estimate an even amount of red and green color.
• ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped (or more to taste)
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Chop the tiny tomatoes into small pieces and add them to a bowl, scraping in the juice and seeds.
2. Sprinkle in sea salt a little at a time, tasting as you go.
3. Add the minced garlic, chopped parsley, and chopped basil.
4. Drizzle in the olive oil and mix everything well.
5. Optional: Lightly mash the mixture with a fork if you prefer a more scoopable texture for dipping or topping.
6. Adjust herbs and salt to taste, aiming for a balance of red (tomatoes) and green (herbs) in color.

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This easy cornbread recipe uses a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix, a can of cream of corn, and an egg. That’s it. It’s so easy and you can make it a day or two in advance for a summer barbeque or thanksgiving. During the pandemic, I’ve been using more pantry ingredients and Jiffy corn muffin mix and a can of creamed corn will both last a long time in your pantry.

Surprisingly, cream of corn is dairy free and the main ingredients are chopped corn, cornstarch and sugar. I try to use non-gmo brands, but any brand will work in this recipe. Creamed corn is my secret ingredient, so I don’t recommend substitutions. Especially, since it helps provide a fresh sweet corn flavor and keeps the cornbread moist, while adding some texture with chopped up bits of corn.

While you can put this mix in muffin tins, I like using an 8×8 baking dish, greasing it with vegan butter, and adding parchment paper to make it easier to remove the cornbread from the pan. Then I chop it up in squares and store it in the fridge or serve it.

Easy Cornbread

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 box of jiffy corn muffin mix
• 1 egg
• 1 can of creamed corn
• 1 tbsp earth balance vegan butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut parchment paper to fit bottom and sides of 8x8 baking dish.
3. Then grease baking dish with vegan butter and add parchment paper on top.
4. Mix egg in a stand mixer or handheld mixer.
5. Then mix in the can of creamed corn.
6. Then slowly mix in the jiffy corn muffin mix.
7. Then pour mix into baking dish and cook for 20-25 minutes.
8. Use a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean you are finished baking.
9. Let it completely cool and remove it from pan and cut into squares before serving.

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Avocado deviled eggs make a delicious paleo friendly appetizer for Easter. I used a mix of paprika and cumin to sprinkle over the top and a cilantro leaf in the middle for the garnishes. I didn’t have a piping bag, so I used a small spoon and just scooped it on. I actually think it makes them look more modern, which fits nicely with the avocado themed twist on this classic.

I love deviled eggs, especially for Easter, but I normally make my classic deviled egg recipe. This recipe still uses some of the same flavors like lemon and dijon mustard, but avocado is used instead of mayo. I’d love to hear what your favorite deviled egg recipes are in the comments.

Using the instant pot to hard boil your eggs is a game changer. It makes them so much easier to peel! It’s actually one of the main reasons we bought our instant pot and the recipe for Instant Pot Hard Boil Eggs is an eggcellent way to easily meal plan breakfast.

Avocado Deviled Eggs

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 1 large avocado
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp dijon mustard

Topping

• ¼ tsp ground paprika
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• 16 fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions

1. Hard boil egg in instant pot by adding one cup of water to pot, then add eggs on metal rack.
2. Use high pressure for 6 minutes and quick release. Then add eggs to an ice bath.
3. Peel eggs and slice them in half then add cooked egg yolk to a food processor.
4. Add avocado, lemon juice, sea salt, and dijon mustard to the food processor with the cooked egg yolk and puree together until smooth.
5. Then spoon puree into hard egg whites.
6. Mix paprika and cumin in a small bowl and sprinkle over deviled eggs and garnish them with a fresh cilantro leaf in the middle.

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Sweet corn guacamole is a delicious way to use some of your canned or frozen corn. For a more paleo friendly option, use chopped pineapple or mango instead. This was my first time using sweet corn and I have to say my husband and I were fans. We both loved the subtle hint of sweetness with the spicy guacamole and it went great with my taco shrimp and quinoa.

I didn’t have any jalapenos, so I used some leftover guacamole salsa from Hernez but a salsa verde would work in a pinch as well. An easy guacamole hack is to mix avocados with salsa if you don’t have the time or ingredients to make it from scratch. We usually use pico de gallo but feel free to get creative.

Sweet Corn Guacamole

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

1 min

Total time

6 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 3

Ingredients

• 2 diced avocados
• ½ cup of chopped cilantro
• 1 can of sweet corn
• 2 tbsp guacamole salsa (or salsa verde)
• 2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• ½ tsp sea salt or to taste

Instructions

1. Drain and rinse canned sweet corn then chop cilantro.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and serve

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If you love salmon like I do, then you will love these salmon dill cucumber bites. I added lemon, dill, and dijon mustard to enhance the flavor of the fish. I used canned salmon since I’m buying and experimenting with pantry staples during this epidemic, but when all this craziness dies down I would love to use fresh salmon instead.

I use canned tuna all the time for my tuna salad recipe, but this was my first time working with canned salmon. Even though it said it was boneless,  I did see some bones, that I did my best to pick out. I really love lemon and dill with fish so I might see how with tastes with tuna next time.

Salmon Dill Cucumber Bites

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

2 mins

Total time

12 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cans of salmon
• 2 tbsp of chopped fresh dill
• ⅓ cup of diced red onion
• ⅓ cup of avocado oil mayo
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
• ½ tsp of fresh lemon zest
• 1 cucumber sliced

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the salmon, dill, red onion, mayo, dijon mustard, lemon juice and lemon zest and mix.
2. Slice cucumber and spoon salmon dill salad over each cucumber slice.

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This easy baba ganoush recipe roasts baby eggplants in the oven and then combines everything in a food processor. Feel free to play with the recipe and make it your own. I found that it tastes much better after it sits overnight in the fridge, which I love, because make-ahead recipes are great for entertaining and so are dips. I also added a lot of raw garlic, because I love garlic, but if that’s not to your taste, use less, or roast the garlic cloves to make it milder.

I also added some fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, because I already had it in my fridge and since it has a nice mild flavor that goes well with lemon and eggplant. I’m not going to claim that this recipe is authentic, but I thought it tasted good and I would definitely make it again for friends and family to snack on.

Easy Oven Roasted Baba Ganoush

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 4 baby eggplants
• 2-3 medium cloves of garlic, pressed
• juice from half a lemon
• ½ cup of fresh flat leaf Italian parsley
• 2 tbsp of tahini
• ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt to taste
• (optional) garnish with fresh parsley, olive oil, and smoked paprika

Instructions

1. Cut baby eggplants in half, then brush the cut side with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
2. Put eggplant cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for an hour at 375 degrees.
3. Take them out and let them cool. Then scoop out the insides of the eggplant and remove skin.
4. Place eggplant insides into a food processor with tahini, remainder of olive oil, and 2 or 3 pressed garlic cloves, juice of half a lemon, and parsley and blend until desired consistency.
5. Add sea salt to taste.
6. Refrigerate overnight.
7. (optional) When ready to serve, make a swirl with a spoon and drizzle in olive oil and sprinkle smoked paprika and fresh parsley.

Notes

Feel free to sub sweet paprika for smoked paprika.
Use more or less garlic and sea salt, to suit your tastes.

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