Avocado Dressing

Alright, when I say that this is the BEST dressing ever, I really mean it.  It's so so so delicious and when my dinner guests leave I eat it with a spoon.  Wait, what?  Yeah, guilty.

Ingredients: 
2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1 medium/large shallot
4-5 large tablespoons peach jam (to taste)
1 avocado
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
It's super tricky - just blend together in a food processor until its thick and creamy.

I was afraid that without some lemon juice that it would turn ugly brown but the acidity in the vinegar did the trick and it stays green and beautiful!  Although you can put this on anything, I love it on a bbq chicken Cobb salad.  Its perfect with mixed greens, bbq chicken, a little blue cheese, and some bacon.  I'm also a huge fan of it on spinach with some thick slices of fresh Parmesan.  But I won't lie, you could give this to me on a stick and I'd still love it. 

Enjoy!

-Dana

Cooking Light's Thai Coconut Curry Soup

This is fabulous.  Super healthy. Very filling.  Completely delicious.  Make it today!

Coconut Curry Thai Chicken Soup

4 c water

3 c fresh spinach leaves

½ lb snow peas, trimmed and cut in half crosswise

1 (5 ¾ oz) pkg pad thai noodles

1 Tbsp canola oil

¼ c thinly sliced shallots

2 tsp red curry paste

1 ½ tsp curry powder

½ tsp tumeric

½ tsp ground coriander

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 c chicken broth

1 (13.5 oz) can light coconut milk

2 ½ c shredded cooked chicken breast

½ c chopped green onions

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp fish sauce

½ c chopped fresh cilantro

4 small hot red chiles, seeded and chopped, or ¼ tsp crushed red pepper

7 lime wedges

Bring 4 c water to a boil in a large sauce pan.  Add spinach and peas to pan; cook for 30 seconds.  Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl.  Add noodles to pan; cook 3 minutes.  Drain; add noodles to spinach mixture in bowl.  Head canola oil in pan over medium heat.  Add shallots and the next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add chicken broth to pan and boring to a boil.  Add coconut milk; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.  Add chicken, onions, sugar, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes.  Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in bowl.  Stir in cilantro and chiles.  Serve with lime wedges.