A very fun weekend is coming to an end! The only thing that put a damper on my weekend was the NY Giants just losing to the Eagles, especially because my hubby is a gloating Philadelphia fan! I guess I can’t blame him though, I would certainly do the same if the Giants had pulled out a win. š
This afternoon we had a few special guests over for lunch – my girlfriend Angi, her hubby John, and their adorable 3-month old baby girl Zoie. I’ve talked about Angi on my blog before. She was one of the first women I met when I moved out to San Diego. I thought she was an awesome person within a few minutes of meeting her, and she’s been my close friend ever since. Last year her Marine hubby got stationed in Arizona, so now she doesn’t live quite as close. I haven’t seen her in awhile and miss hanging out with her, so it was nice to catch up a bit today and meet little Zoie!
Angi and me at her baby shower last April
A foodie like me loves having company over so I can entertain with new recipes. I had a bit of fun whipping up some lunch for us to enjoy:
The pretty fruit skewers were something I spotted on Pinterest recently. I cut strawberries, banana, and a peach into slices, and also added grapes and raspberries to the mix. I paired the fruit skewers with an easy, creamy yogurt fruit dip.
For the chips & salsa combo, I followed a spicy tomato salsa recipe I found from Giada De Laurentiis on Food Network.
Lastly, inspired by my recent Greek pizza, I came up with a recipe for Greek pasta salad that turned out pretty damn good.
The recipes for everything are below!
Yogurt & Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
Ingredients
- 6 oz of light cream cheese
- 6 oz of vanilla yogurt
- 1 1/2 TSP vanilla extract
- 2 TBSP packed brown sugar
Instructions
- With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese in a small bowl until smooth.
- Add the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla extract, and beat until combined.
- Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving with your choice of fruit.
Nutrition
Spicy Tomato Salsa
Ingredients
- 4 medium tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 3 TBSP olive oil
- 2 TBSP orange juice
- 1/2 TSP red pepper flakes
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, olive oil, OJ, and pepper flakes in a food processor. Pulse for just a couple of seconds, until ingredients are combined by mixture is chunky.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer to a bowl and serve with chips.
Nutrition
- 8 oz rotini, or other short shaped pasta
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 Persian cucumber, peeled & diced
- 3 oz crumbled feta cheese (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 3 TBSP olive oil
- 1 TBSP lime juice
- 2 TSP dried oregano
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Cook pasta according to directions.
- Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, garlic, and onion in a medium bowl.
- Add oregano, olive oil, and lime juice to the veggies.
- Once pasta is done cooking, drain it, then rinse under cold water to cool.
- Put pasta back into pot, then pour the veggie mixture on top.
- Add the feta cheese, season with salt & pepper, and toss well.
[…] I brought us some good eats, including Greek pasta salad, fruit, veggies with dip, wine, pretzels and Clif […]