Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad with Apples and Thyme

I am in love with salads. Of all kinds. Not just your veggie salads, but pasta salad and egg salad and oh yes, chicken salad. I am NOT in love with mayonnaise. I can do the olive oil mayonnaise, and don't mind that in small amounts, but give me tangy Greek yogurt over mayonnaise any day! I am as in love with Greek yogurt as I am with the multitude of salads I just described. I converted to Greek yogurt about three years ago. While it is amazing on its own, I love to use it in recipes as a substitute for mayo, sour cream, butter, etc. It really is so versatile.

It is a lot more expensive than other yogurt. But the stuff in Yoplait and Dannon and your local grocery store chain brand is usually packed with High Fructose Corn Syrup and is basically junk food in a package designed to make you think you are eating healthy. The high protein level and thick consistency of Greek yogurt really allow it to be eaten in a variety of ways. Give it a shot in a smoothie, or with fresh fruit and a drizzle of Agave nectar. Substitute it for one of those high-fat and calorie laden ingredients in a salad. You might be surprised how much you like it. Greek yogurt is bomb. 'Nuff said.

I was craving this chicken salad I made last summer all last week, and didn't get to make it. I went for it today, and paired it with these super yummy Quinoa Stuffed Italian Zucchini Boats. Fabulous. Next time you need a quick, uber-healthy meal, make these two recipes. Even my super-picky, mayonnaise, sour cream, cream cheese and yogurt-hating husband liked this! So if I can win him over, you won't have any issues!

Baked Apple Cinnamon Quinoa

I have an obsession with quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH). I learned about it from a friend with some special dietary needs about four years ago, and have been hooked ever since. If you don't eat/use quinoa, I really recommend trying it. Quinoa is a super grain. It cooks quickly, similar to rice, and is gluten-free and PACKED with protein, rich in amino acid, and has great flavor and texture-check out the page at WHFoods for more information. I love to use quinoa in place of rice and pasta, and as a nutritious add-in for a variety of recipes. One of the advantages to using quinoa in your cooking, in addition to the obvious health and nutritive benefits, is that quinoa will take on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. Because of this, quinoa makes a great substitute for oatmeal and is an amazing breakfast food.

I can't sing the praises of quinoa highly enough. It is an amazing food-I call it the super grain. I really encourage you to try it and to make it a staple in your diet. I do have a few pieces of advice for using quinoa.

Slow-Roasted Apple and Onion Pork Chops

This has been a weird week for me. I am all caught up in myself and dealing with it by self-medicating with Netflix and cooking and snuggling with my sweet dog. These sort of gray-ish days have only two cures-long walks with the husband and dog in the evenings, and some healthy comfort food.

As expected, last night was not a spring food night for me. I woke up craving these succulent apple and onion slow-roasted pork chops I made a few weeks ago, and decided to revert back to fall cooking for a night. I am so grateful that I did. To liven these up a little, we ate them with some fresh, crisp green beans and a delicious side of experimental Apple Cinnamon Baked Quinoa (recipe will be posted separately tomorrow). All around, this was a great dinner with minimal prep time and skill involved. A note on the pork chop recipe-this is something I have borrowed from Mel over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe ( a great go-to recipe blog that never fails me!). I have made this several times now, and I just can't get enough of it. So get yourself some beautiful pork chops and make some already!

These chops are soft as butter. You don't even need a knife to cut them. Just let your fork gently break them apart as you struggle not to inhale the whole thing. They taste like apple and brown sugar and sweet onion. I haven never had pork as tender as this. I've had and made many a tough pork chop in my life. This recipe will leave you wanting seconds and thirds. This recipe is no-fail, and incredibly delicious, and made from whole, natural foods.