Chopped BLT Salad

Knowing that you should avoid certain food is different from not wanting a certain food.
For instance, I don’t want escargots because I don’t really like escargots.
But I avoid eating at fast food restaurants, not because I don’t want to, but because I want to be healthy.
Makes sense?

Easy Baked Parmesan Zucchini

My mobile phone fell in the toilet Friday morning.
To be precise, I accidentally dropped my phone down the toilet.
It was 7am, I was ridiculously grumpy, and I was checking my emails. There were so many annoying ones I got upset and I accidentally dropped the phone (read this as throw it..ugh!)
I immediately retrieved it, wiped it off, and powered it down.
I ran to the get the hair-dryer and I blow-dried it for a couple minutes (I didn't realize that the heat is more damaging than helpful — so if it ever happens to you, don't do it!)
Nothing happened.
I was so shocked, I wasn't sure which emotion I was feeling. I wanted to be angry, but I couldn’t. It was so surreal, I was laughing hysterically.
You hear about people dropping their phones in the toilet, sink, pool, sea, lake, cup of coffee, bowl of soup, but you never think you’re going to be one of them.

Watermelon-Lime Agua Fresca

Every time I buy watermelon I face the same dilemma: spending less money to buy too much watermelon (a huge seeded one), or spending more money to buy less watermelon (a small seedless one, or cut up in chunks).
But I always end up buying too much watermelon - I could never say to  good bargain.
Since I never want it to go to waste, I make lots of Watermelon-Lime Agua fresca.

12 Avocado Recipes

If you know anything about me, then you are aware of my love affair with avocado.
I eat that stuff with a spoon, plain, or coated in coconut and baked into fries, or stuffed into meatballs, or scrambled with eggs.
And why not a smoothie, ice-cream or a pudding? It adds a filling, creamy texture that just cannot be beat. Plus, it ups the good fats as well as adding a small protein boost.
Not to mention brownies. Avocado boosts the fudgy factor, the healthiest, fattiest kind.
I also make extra-creamy, extra-rich, extra-awesome pesto with it.
The possibilities are endless with this magic fruit.
So without further ado, here are 12 of my fave recipes with avocado!

Easy Chili Lime Chicken

Would you believe me if I tell you that I have found a recipe for ice cubes?
Probably not.
Which — among other things — shows how little faith you have in me.
Well, I have found it.
In an awesome recipe posted to Food.com a frustrated cook offers a recipe for ice cubes, explaining that “I'm publishing this recipe because I'm sure that there are other families who have members, who don't know how or have forgotten how to make ice when the ice tray is empty.”
The rundown proceeds as expected — water, ice cubes freezer — and it’s hysterical on his own.

Blueberry Avocado and Spinach Power Smoothie

Hi, my name is Mike and I’m an addict.
No, this post is not about chocolate or cauliflower as you might assume, it’s about avocado.
What is it about this green fruit that makes me go crazy?
From salads, to hummus, pesto, brownies, mayo, scrambled eggs, ice-cream, pudding, fries, even cream sauce. I put avocado in and on everything.
Actually, I love avocado so much I might write a song about it (if I only knew how to write music). It’s a love affair that runs deep.

15-Minute Chinese Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce

I was in line at a major retail the other day and there was this woman in a courtesy scooter with a basket full of groceries.
The clerk picked up the groceries and started scanning them, entering the code for the veggies that had no barcode to scan.
When he reached the eggplant, he put it on the scale and entered the code.
The eggplant was big, at $3.49 per pound it cost almost $6.
As the clerk put in the bag, the woman became livid.
She started arguing (more like screaming really) that eggplants are not sold by the pound, but by the piece. She threatened to take her complaints to the store manager.
The poor clerk - a young college kid - didn’t know what to say and was clearly shaken.
I tried to calm her down explaining that he had no control over pricing and that he just rang up the items.
But she was so mad, she left swearing she would never come back and shop only where the price was “fair” (her words).

Easy Paleo Strawberry Crisp

Ever seen those runners during a race who so effortlessly can drink water out of those tiny paper cups without spilling a drop?
I'm not one of them.
I can’t even count how many races I’ve completed in my life: Ironman, Triathlons, marathons, half-marathons, 10Ks, 5Ks, etc.
Not a single time I managed to drink from those paper cups.

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Chocolate Ganache

Sometimes a guy just needs a cupcake.
I don’t care if cupcakes are considered the height of femininity. If they are manly as a bag full of rainbows. With all their beautiful decorations, dainty, sparkly, tiny, fierce, and fabulous — hours spent to get each exactly right even knowing that they will be eaten in a couple of bites. I don’t care if cupcakes are “ars gratia artis” [see David? I know my latin!] which can be translated — in the syntax MGM employed — as “art for the sake of art”.
Sometimes a guy needs a cupcake, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Tuna Quinoa Salad

“How much canned tuna can I safely consume a week?”
I get asked this question a lot — particularly at this time of year.
When it’s hot outside and we don’t feel like cooking, nothing is easier than opening a tuna can and chopping some veggies to make a great salad.
Not to mention that tuna is pretty cheap and a good source of protein and omega-3s too.

Super Simple Smoked Paprika Chicken

Yoga is a very humbling activity. At least to me it is.
After 5 years of practice, it still feels like learning a foreign language as an adult: suddenly I’m unable to communicate in even the most basic terms.
And you know what? It sucks. It royally sucks.
I've always excelled in sports. I was convinced that somehow I was naturally born that way — but yoga has taught me a different lesson.
Suddenly I’m the slow kid in the class, and that’s a first for me.

3-Ingredient Strawberry "Ice-Cream"

In grade school, my teacher taught me to use quotation marks to mark a dialogue.
A quotation is something somebody once said somewhere.
But with the introduction of sarcasm in our lives, quotation marks have found a whole new purpose. They’ve become the body language and facial expressions of the written word and they can make any word sarcastic or ironic.

Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

I know this recipe seems a little out of place in May.
The weather is getting warmer, the summer is getting closer, we put away the boots, and got the flip flops out.
Yet, here I am, presenting you with a classic winter comfort food when I should be making ice-cream, granita, or sorbet instead.
But you see, sometimes after a long run (a very, very long run) a guy needs carbs, good carbs.
And sweet potatoes are among my fave carb.
They fill me up without giving me the food hangover feeling, all the while being so freaking healthy, it's almost silly.

(Paleo) Almond-Chocolate Skillet Brownie

What do you hate with a burning passion?
I know hate is a strong word, but what infuriates you the most?
I have a couple of favorites.
For instance, lately I’ve been having huge problems with my phone’s autocorrect. It’s been acting up on me and I have the distinct feeling that it’s trying to sabotage me.
The other day I tried to type “welcome back” to my friend and it corrected to “suicide neck” (what is a suicide neck btw?)
Also it changes “well” to “we’ll” and “their” to “they’re” all the time. So small but so infuriating.
I know the savvy thing to do would be to turn the autocorrect off.
But I have this love-hate relationship with it. Half the time it works, half the time it butchers everything. That good half is the only thing that keeps me from turning it off.

Chopped Nicoise Salad

You can never go wrong with a classic.
We all have a favorite classic movie, song, and book. They may depend on the generation we’re from, but we can all agree on some. Like Someone Like It Hot, Born To Run, and On The Road.
They are classics with good reason. They have endured the test of time, proving their greatness over and over again. They bridge age and generational gaps and they’re awesome, just like that.

Pineapple Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Skillet

When did you realize you were becoming old and uncool?
All it took me was spending an afternoon with 12-year-old niece.
Until yesterday, I was the young/hip uncle, and all of a sudden I’m an old fart.
When and how did that happen?
I know it’s silly to say but it bothers me. It really bothers me.
I loved my status of “cool uncle” as opposed to the “uncool parents”.
I was not ready to let it go. But times have changed and apparently there’s nothing I can do about it.

Zoodles alla Norma (with Tomato Sauce and Eggplant)

I made Pasta alla Norma.
Let me rephrase that.
I made Zoodles alla Norma.
One word: epic.
Another word: simple.
Another word: healthy.
Three words I like to use, especially when it comes to cooking. And I know you do too. Right?

Roasted Sweet Potato, Sesame and Arugula Salad with Honey-Balsamic Dressing

Everyone has a different idea of what constitutes eating “healthy”.
Some people abstain from meat, for others it’s just red meat, some give up cheese or gluten (ehm...me?) or fat — I mean, you name it, there’s a eating plan out there that promises that you can live forever just by giving up ice-cream. You know, just to throw a totally random example.

12 Grilled Chicken Recipes

Barbecue season is finally upon us, or is it?
To be honest, the weather is still a touch chilly, but I think it’s time to get ready to fire up those grills.
In my case it means I should clean the barbecue.
Because last autumn I didn’t clean it before putting it away. So I’ll need to remove the dust, cobwebs, not to mention the remnants of the last barbecue...
I know what you’re thinking, what kind of person does not clean the grill before putting it away?
Honestly I don’t know what to say. That's just the type of backwards, ignorant life I've led up until now, and no amount of common sense will persuade me otherwise.
Anyways, personally I think nothing says BBQ season like some delicious, grilled-to-perfection chicken.
Definitely a party favorite. At least, my party favorite.
So without further ado here are 12 clean and flavor-packed ways to make grilled chicken that would implant smiles on everyone faces.

Coconut Crusted Baked Avocado Fries with Sriracha Mayo

You should have seen my sister’s face when I told her that I would have brought avocado fries for lunch at her place.
Let’s say that her initial reaction was she wasn't really excited about it, at all.
Actually she frowned and said “Really? Avocado fries? What a way to waste some delicious avocado. Why don’t you make some yummy guacamole instead?”
I replied “Trust me, avocado fries are awesome. Plus I coat mine with shredded coconut and I bake them in the oven instead of frying them. They’re light, gluten-free, and delish. You’ll see!”
She wasn’t convinced, but my mind was set. I was going to make avocado fries. I would coerce her into tasting them, and she would love them.
That was my plan, and I knew it was going to be successful. It had to be successful.