Strawberry Salad with Halloumi and Cucumber

My New. Favorite. Salad.

I bought halloumi a couple weeks ago, and it's been sitting in my fridge waiting to be included in a recipe worthy of halloumi.  

'What the heck is halloumi?' you might be thinking...

Halloumi is a Greek semi-soft cheese made from goat's, sheep's, and sometimes cows milk.  It taste kind of like mozzarella but is saltier.  It also has a high melting point- which allows you to fry or GRILL IT!  Who doesn't want warm, gooey cheese straight off the grill?!? 

Well I had finally had enough waiting, and I saw Jamie Oliver paired halloumi and strawberries in a salad.  Conveniently, I had strawberries so I decided to give it a go.   

 I wasn't sure what to expect, I had never had halloumi.  But the mixture of salty halloumi, sweet strawberries, crisp cucumber, and sharp onion....  all I can say is WOW. 

This is amazing.  It's elegant, easy, impressive, and delicious.

Turkey Piccata with Charred Aglio e Olio Penne

I bought all these healthy things at the supermarket with no big plans on what to do with them.  One of them I wasn't very excited about was turkey breast cutlets.  They look just like boneless chicken breasts.

But it's hot, and who wants to eat turkey?!?

I figured I'd make some simple plain dish that wasn't very exciting just so I can fell healthier and good about myself for eating a healthier meat. 

But guess what......?!

I made this turkey piccata that is TO DIE FOR!  I mean, it's good.  It's healthy.  

And the Boyfriend put it in the Top 5 Meals I Ever Made.

Just ever-so-lightly breaded, in a savory lemony caper sauce.

So easy and fast to make.  And you couldn't even tell it was turkey!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies

Experiment: Protein Cookies.

The boyfriend is on a real big  'get strong' kick.  

He's already big and strong, but he wants to be even bigger. And stronger.

He says to me, 'I want to make protein cookies. Here's a recipe I found.'

I say, 'Cool, we'll make protein cookies.  We'll make several, experiment a little.'

And so I was in the kitchen cooking and experimenting.  He was napping.  

LOL, okay, okay... he did help.  He's a great dishwasher and a great taste tester too!

These are the first cookies we made.

Since I was pretty timid and unsure about what was going to happen when baking with protein powder, I followed this recipe EXACTLY.  These cookies have ground flaxseed meal, oats, and chocolate protein powder, among other things.

They taste like stale bread with a faint hint of chocolate.  Hmph. 

Moving on, I loosely followed a recipe using pureed chickpeas as a base for the cookie.  

You won't find a pic, they went in the trash immediately.

And then..........

Drumroll pleeeeaseee....

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies! 

They are pretty much your standard peanut butter cookie, but with the added health benefits of added protein powder, quinoa flour, and less sugar! And they're delish! 

They seem to taste less peanut-buttery than a regular PB cookie, and just a bit denser due to the oats and protein powder, but they're so good!

The best part?  While I can normally eat about 10 cookies in one sitting, these are so filling that I can only eat 2 or 3, and they satisfy my cookie craving/ sweet tooth with so much less sugar. 

The boyfriend did a loose nutritional analysis of this recipe.  I was so stinkin' excited when he was adding up numbers, just knowing there wouldn't be much sugar and there would be TONS of protein.  

Turns out there's not really 'TONS' of protein.  The recipe is good and healthier, but I'll be modifying it to cut down the fat and add MORE PROTEIN, such as substituting the butter with 1/4 cup oil to cut down on fat, skipping the mini chocolate chips, and adding more protein powder. 

1 cookie:  115 calories, 7.25 grams of fat, 7 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein