Goat Cheese, Fig and Prosciutto Flatbread Salad

My favorite food items I eat daily are goat cheese, prosciutto, gluten free tortillas, red bell peppers, almond butter, red wine and dark chocolate. That is all that EVER sounds good. Weird huh? I mean it not a terrible thing right? Wine and chocolate? Goat cheese and prosciutto?

My favorite brand!

Adds great flavor to everything. That is why I eat it with almost everything. haha

I had a few Facebook recommendations on what I should make this weekend. Appetizers or bacon jam were my choices. Bacon jam is dangerous. Appetizers not so much. I decided to take my favorite food items (well certain ones) and make a delicious flatbread pizza topped with salad. It is delicious and also great with wine ;)

Goat Cheese, Fig and Prosciutto Flatbread Salad
By Fallon

Ingredients
1 brown rice tortilla (these crisp up perfectly!)
2 tablespoon goat cheese, softened
1 tablespoon fig butter or preserves
1/4 cup red bell peppers, diced
1 tablespoon shallot, sliced
Handful baby spinach, chopped
1-2 slices prosciutto
1/2 tablespoon sliced blanched almonds
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Find a small baking sheet that is big enough to fit a large sized brown rice tortilla. Flip it around and use the bottom of the pan. This will create an even layer for a crispy flatbread.

While the oven is preheating, cut the bell peppers and shallots. Chop the baby spinach and set aside. Place the plain tortilla in the oven to warm up for about 5 minutes. Flip around half way through, it should start to bubble/crisp up. Take out and spread goat cheese and fig butter. Top with bell peppers and shallots. Place back into the oven for another 5 minutes or until you can smell the peppers and shallots. Take out and top with spinach, sliced bell peppers, almonds, prosciutto and a drizzle of oil.

My favorite extra virgin olive oil!

Season with salt and pepper. I cut it into 6 pieces. Now if I didn’t have to go into work I would of had a nice glass of red wine to go with it. ;)

       

The plus of this flatbread is that it is gluten free! The crunch from the almonds is a nice surprise and goes well with the prosciutto and fig butter. I love fancy finger foods like this and was so simple to throw together. The only downside is, that it can get messy with the spinach and stuff falling off if you are trying to serve this at a cocktail party!

Fallon

Green Peanut Butter Smoothie with Chunky Monkey Granola

This is currently one of my favorite ways to make a smoothie. It comes out thick and creamy, perfect for a granola topper. My chunky monkey granola works great on top of this smoothie. This is the perfect smoothie to have after a sweaty workout! It is packed with nutrients (spinach, banana) and protein. I recently picked up xanthan gum when I was in Las Vegas. I started adding 1/2 teaspoon to my smoothies and it really helps binding everything together so it stays super creamy. I’d highly recommend the purchase, it will last you a while!

Green Peanut Butter Smoothie                                                               Serves 1 hungry person

Ingredients

4 ounces almond milk

4 ounces water, chilled

1/2 banana, sliced and frozen

1 heaping tablespoon peanut flour (Trader Joe’s or PB2)

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

Dash sea salt and cinnamon  

Handful baby spinach

4-5 ice cubes

1-2 tablespoons chunky monkey granola

Directions

Put ingredients in order and blend away. Depending on consistency you can add more liquid or ice. I tend to add more ice, for a thicker smoothie. Pour in a huge glass and top with chunky monkey granola. Eat with spoon and enjoy!

           I do the straw/spoon combo!

Fallon

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Don’t forget to leave me a comment to be submitted into my giveaway! Friday is the last day. Extended till Saturday, March 19th till Midnight!

My father use to work in an Italian restaurant that was 5 stars in Las Vegas. When I was younger he invited my best friend and I for dinner. I think we were 16 or 17 at the time. We got really dressed up for the occasion and couldn’t wait to have a really delicious dinner. My dad had it all planned out with what we would be getting at the table. We had 6-7 dishes served to us, including a palate cleanser. Everything was delicious but the spinach salad always comes back to memory for me. The salad was made at our table with crispy bacon and a warm Dijon bacon dressing that wilted the spinach perfectly. This was the best spinach salad I’ve ever had and usually no other restaurant can compare.

My good blogging friend Shelby from The Life & Loves of Grumpy Honeybunch made a delicious spinach salad with shrimp. I on the other hand made the same salad, minus the shrimp. Remember I don’t like dish or seafood! I added crumbled goat cheese instead. It reminded me of the salad I had at my father’s restaurant flavor wise. I didn’t make enough of the dressing so the salads were slightly dry but they still tasted fabulous. I blame those mushrooms for soaking up all the liquid! I didn’t realize making a spinach salad with bacon dressing could be so easy to make. The version below is for 2 people but I made mine for 3 people.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing                                    Adapted from Cook This! Not That!

Ingredients

3 strips bacon

1/2 red onion, sliced

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 bag (6oz) baby spinach

2 hard boiled eggs

1.5oz crumbled goat cheese

Directions

Heat large skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon until crisp, 5-7 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel on a plate and reserve.

Add the mushrooms and onions to the hot skillet and cook until the onions begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Stir the mustard and vinegar into the pan; season with salt and pepper. If the pan looks dry, add a splash of extra virgin olive oil. To serve, top spinach with mushroom and onion dressing. Sprinkle bacon, goat cheese and chopped egg on top.

 

Buon Appetito!

Fallon

Sauteed Roasted Butternut Squash with Chickpeas and Spinach

Good morning my friends! How has everyone been? I’m doing great on my end. Work is very busy (YAY!) and if I’m not at work, I’m at Krav. It has been over a month I started going to a Krav Maga studio and you can’t believe how much I’ve improved. My teacher is VERY proud of me and I’m proud of myself, I never thought I could coordinate myself enough to hit, kick, knee, elbow, etc. Let’s just say it is a GREAT way to release built up tension. ;)

My main goal while practicing Krav is protein, protein, protein and less sugar. This method is what keeps me stable and full of energy. In the end I’m actually craving less sugar because of the additional protein. Plus I've always been a carb lover and with extra protein, I’m a happy girl!

In this dish today I wanted to have a side dish with some leftover vegetable pizza. I had roasted butternut squash and huge tub of spinach. Something about cooking it on the stove top in garlic would make a good side dish, but it needed one more thing.. Chickpeas! It needed that extra protein. This dish was wonderful, hearty and very tasty. The roasted squash is a must because it has been caramelized in the oven and adds a whole other layer of flavor to this dish. This dish reminds me of the Fall. Enjoy!



Sauteed Roasted Butternut Squash with Chickpeas and Spinach 
Serves 2

Ingredients
3/4 cup of roasted butternut squash, diced
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup baby spinach
2-3 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Heat up a skillet on medium-high. Add your olive oil a few minutes later and add the butternut squash to heat up. Next add in the chickpeas. Add a little salt and pepper. Once the squash and chickpeas start to get color and have warmed through, add in the garlic. Cook for a few seconds and add in half of the spinach. Mix till it starts to wilt. Then add the rest of the spinach, season with salt and pepper and cook until just slightly wilted. Shut the heat off and remain mixing till everything is incorporated and the spinach has been married to the other ingredients.






This dish goes well with grilled chicken or even at your Thanksgiving dinner.

If anything your vegetarian/vegan friends will love you if you make this dish. ;)

Love,
Fallon

Linguine with Spinach Sauce

Holidays are coming and I’m going through all my recipes I’ve printed out and stored in a binder. Time to find those holiday cookies, cakes and candies. Yikes, just thinking about that is making me feel 5 pounds heavier! Luckily in the miss of all the sugar, butter and flour I came across a recipe I’ve never tried! Giada De Laurentiis Penne with Spinach Sauce. Such a simple recipe and I had everything in my fridge. I love when that happens.

The best gourmet pasta ever!

Back in September when I visited my boyfriend in Texas, we went to a wine tasting event and I purchased some homemade pasta by DeCio Pasta. I picked up their top seller, spinach basil garlic linguine. I remember it being delicious and flavorful. You don’t need anything fancy for this pasta. I decided I wanted this pasta instead of penne. After mixing everything up, I realized the contrast in color was very green and not as appealing. For the taste factor though, it was AMAZING! I felt very healthy eating all this green and not guilty at all that it involved pasta. ;)

The beautiful sauce.

Pasta water is your best glue for making a sauce stick like this one. Blended in a food processor, the spinach sauce comes together quickly. This was a perfect meal right before heading into work. I like anything quick, healthy and delicious!

 

 

I followed the recipe exactly, except using different pasta! Click HERE for Penne with Spinach Sauce or in my case linguine. ;)

Buon Appetito,

Fallon