Avocado Hummus

I love hummus.  I love avocados.  I love Sriracha.  Why not combine them?

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and followed it up until the end when I added some spice.  When I make this again, I will only use one avocado instead of two.  I liked it with two but it tasted much more like guacamole than hummus.  I also didn't add olive oil because I didn't think it needed any more liquid.  All in all, I really enjoyed this & will definitely make it again.

Ingredients:
2 avocados (this time -- next time, I'll just use 1)
1 can chick peas
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup water
Seasonings (seasoned salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, chili powder, cumin)
Sriracha

Directions:
Drain & rinse chick peas.  Dice up avocado.  Add lemon juice, garlic, water & some seasonings.

Use a food processor to combine.  I only have a tiny one so I had to do this in 6 batches! 

I added little bits of Sriracha & continued to taste it to make sure I didn't get too crazy with the spiciness. 

All in all, very tasty!  I ate it with vegetables, pretzels, on sandwiches, etc. & will absolutely make it again!

Greek Salad (and Pierogies!)

My Grandma Bajerski made my FAVORITE meal in the world: homemade pierogies.  There is nothing like her pierogies.  I've tried to eat the frozen ones but they're simply not good.  I've tried to eat them at restaurants but they're too doughy.  I've tried them at farmer's markets & the fillling isn't how I like it.  My grandma makes the BEST pierogies.  So when I saw her yesterday and she gave them to me, you can imagine my excitement!  She sent the uncooked pierogies home with me so that I could make them for my roommate and my taste-testing boys (I wonder where I get my need to feed the masses... must be genetic!) so I thought I'd have some for dinner. 

I didn't want to eat just pierogies so I made a Greek salad to go with them.  The nice thing is that this salad can be used as a side dish or you could add grilled chicken & make it a main dish.

I used romaine lettuce for it.  I halved it length-wise and then cut very thin strips.  I've always liked my salads finely chopped & evenly mixed...to the point of being obsessive-compulsive about it (imagine that!).

I also played with my new camera a little bit.  I thought it took pretty nice pictures.  I was in a rush to eat so I didn't really mess around too much but I liked what I saw in that little bit of food photography!

I then added artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, chick peas, green peppers, a bit of red pepper, green onions, red onions, cucumbers & parsley.  I finished it off with some goat cheese because I didn't have any feta.

I tossed it all together & evenly distributed my salad dressing in order to make my perfect side salad!

I then paired it with my pierogies & it was HEAVEN.  Ryan's exact response: "they don't taste anything like the frozen ones.  Now I see why you freak out over them.  They were bomb" -- looks like a resounding endorsement to me, though I wasn't worried!

The only thing that could've been better than pierogies & a side salad is pierogies & my grammy's kielbasa.  I'll tell ya what, us Pollocks can make a meal :)

Avocado Chicken Salad

I saw a photo of this on Pinterest and HAD to try it.  I love chicken salad & I figured adding avocado would make it even better!  I wasn't at home when I made it & they didn't have any mayonnaise so I simply substituted the avocado for the mayo.  When I make this again, I'll probably add a tiny bit of mayo because it was a little dry.  Not only is this much healthier than traditional chicken salad but the avocado flavor was a really good addition.

I simply shredded rotisserie chicken, diced up a cucumber, sliced up green onions & smashed up an avocado.

They didn't have many seasonings so I just added some garlic powder & sea salt.  When I make it again, I'll probably add some pepper, cayenne pepper & paprika. I mixed everything together and added some olive oil.

We ate it on wheat ciabatta crostinis with olive oil & sea salt -- LOVE.