When it comes to summertime, there are always a few things that you can find in abundance that are so much better than they are the rest of the year. Tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers are some of those things. Cucumber salad is a perfect side dish to have during these summer months.

Thai Cucumber Salad is light and refreshing. It’s so easy to prepare but it’s a delightful salad that’s a perfect complement to your favorite Asian meal. It’s simple and easy with just a few ingredients. But the flavors, oh the flavors, they’re vibrant and amazing.

It doesn’t matter what the weather is like, when I’m craving some rich and creamy comfort food, nothing else will do. It’s been in the 90s this week, here in Orange Country, CA, but this creamy and comforting Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole is the only thing that I’ve wanted to make.

Not even the heat wave can keep me from my comfort food.

And this week, my craving has been for a rich, decadent, and filling casserole. One that has it all – meat, veggies and carbs all rolled into one dish.

It’s nearing the end of June, and I don’t know about you, but with these hot and busy summer days, I don’t feel like cooking much. I’ve been making Weight Watcher recipes that are fast, easy, and delicious but don’t require me to put forth a lot of effort in the kitchen.

Trust me when I tell you that this Balsamic Roasted Chicken and Vegetables recipe is the perfect dish for this kind of situation. It’s super-fast and easy, tastes amazing and my whole family loves it!! It’s a win-win.

There is absolutely nothing like these Moroccan Beef and Lamb meatballs. Seriously, they take amazing to a whole new level. They are tender, succulent, full of spices, and a complete game changer when it comes to meatballs.

This recipe is an absolute favorite in our house. And I’m not exaggerating. Every time I make a batch, I triple the recipe and freeze some. They’re perfect to whip out for a quick meal and they’re so tasty that it’s perfect having some to reheat quickly.

It’s almost time for summer break and we’re anxiously counting down the last few days until summer! And the best part of summer is lazy days by the pool and very little effort put forth in the kitchen. That means I want recipes that are simple, easy, light and healthy and, of course, amazingly delicious.

A summer green bean salad is perfect. It’s light and healthy, but simple and easy and oh-so-delicious. Bright and fresh green beans with juicy tomatoes, crisp onions and a tangy lemon garlic dressing that is incredibly tasty.

I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. If you’ve never had Balela Salad – you need to try it. But if you’ve never had it, or heard of it, let me let you in on what it is. Balela is a Middle-Eastern garbanzo bean and black bean salad that is dressed with a tangy, herbed vinaigrette.

Balela is something that I typically make any time I need to cook for vegans or vegetarians. It’s perfect since it’s filled the beans and fresh produce. The dressing is simple but incredibly delicious – just a tangy vinaigrette that’s seasoned with parsley and mint.

This Memorial Day Weekend and you’re probably on the lookout for some great potluck recipes. You don’t have to look any further than this amazing Watermelon Blueberry Mint Salad with Feta.

Don’t be tempted to use the traditional fruit tray, this is a much better option for this Memorial Day or any other summer day. This salad is wonderfully refreshing. It’s both sweet and savory. It’s incredibly easy to prepare, coming together in about 15 minutes.

The fruit is what really gives this salad an amazing base. Watermelon is a sweet and simple treat that is juicy and delicious. It hits the sweet spot of satisfying your sweet tooth without adding lots of added and unhealthy sugars to your day. It’s low in points and perfect for the base of this salad.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not usually one to think about vegetables when I’m ordering Chinese takeout. Chinese takeout is something that I like to indulge in and how can I do that and think about being healthy at the same time?

There is one exception to that – Chinese-style Garlic Green Beans. Wow, they are good. The flavor is amazing. Who knew that green beans could taste so incredibly good?!

Don’t get me wrong – takeout is a fabulous thing. There are those nights when you are just not feeling like cooking, it’s hot, you’re tired and busy and it just isn’t happening. We all have our favorite takeout spots.

But there’s also been more than a few nights when I’ve decided to whip up my simple and easy Mongolian Beef instead of ordering it from my local Chinese restaurant. It only requires a handful of ingredients that I usually have on hand, it’s simple, healthy, and DELICIOUS!

I don’t know about you, but I’m running out of steam. It’s the last few weeks of the school year, and I’m done (so are the kids and the teachers!).

What that really means is that I need fast and easy weeknight dinners that are tasty, everyone likes, healthy and Weight Watchers friendly. No biggie.

And what’s even better than all the above requirements? Something that doesn’t make a lot of dishes! This One Pan Crispy Parmesan Chicken is absolutely delightful. You can have a home cooked meal without a lot of effort.

Brussel sprouts. It seems that most people either love them or hate them. I fall into the “love them” category and, thankfully, my kids do too! There are many ways to prepare them, but my absolute favorite way to have them is roasting.

Roasting Brussels sprouts is the perfect way to bring out the most delicious flavor. It’s particularly good if you haven’t tried them before or you have and didn’t like them but are willing to give them one more shot. I just love roasted brussels sprouts and can’t get enough of them!

In Morocco, beets are regularly used in salads because they are available year-round there. A good friend of mine, who I consider to be an amazing cook, and who is also of Moroccan heritage, once served this beet salad at a dinner she had invited us to.

It was so divine, I simply had to find out the recipe and then how to make it diet friendly.

I don’t know about you, but I have jumped on the cauliflower rice trend. It is wonderful! I’m amazed at how many times I can switch out a high calorie, flour-based carb, for a much lighter, healthier vegetable instead. The best part is that I don’t sacrifice the flavor at all!

Every time I cook salmon, I ask myself why I don’t make it more often. It’s an easy fish to work with, it’s loaded with nutrients and heart healthy fats, and everyone in my family will eat it.

One of my favorite ways to prepare salmon when I’m in the mood for something simple and delicious is this fabulous Lemon Butter Seared Salmon. It’s classic – with just a few simple ingredients, but it’s a wonderful and healthy meal that can be ready to eat in just a few minutes.

In fact, it’s so fast that from start to finish it’s usually ready in just 15 minutes!

I’ve really been trying hard to minimize grains from my diet. It’s not for any health reasons, but it’s something that I try to do because I’ve found that I feel a lot better when I do. I don’t have as many cravings, which makes sticking to my points and making healthy choices MUCH easier. I also just feel better.

And, that’s not even to mention the fact that when I minimize the grains, I’m left with meats and veggies – which means I get to eat more for the same amount of points!! It’s a win-win!

Recently, I have been trying to find very simple meals and meals that I can easily make in the crockpot. I came across a roasted red pepper chicken that is originally a skillet meal, but I thought that I could make it in the crockpot just as easily. It turns out that I was right. This is one of those delicious meals that are just so simple.

I love the flavor of red peppers to begin with, especially when they are roasted. I like to keep a couple of jars on hand to add to my tomato soup, so it was easy to just grab a jar out of the pantry for this recipe too. I always choose red peppers that are canned in water, so I don’t get all the extra oil.

It seems like my kids are like most other kids that I know. They love pasta. It’s one of their favorite meals. And so, like a lot of moms, I find myself making it a lot. The problem is that even though I love pasta as much as they do, the carb laden meals always end up high in points.

Because of this, I’m always looking for a great way to still enjoy my favorite pasta dishes, but without the actual pasta. Of course, one of my favorite substitutes is the fabulous “zoodles”. I love to spiral slice my zucchini and steam them up. It’s a great way to enjoy my favorite pasta sauce with a very “pasta-y” feeling.

It’s been going around the internet for the last few years that the secret ingredient in Chick-fil-A’s delicious chicken is pickle juice. There is something about the chicken that is just amazing. It’s tender and juicy, just the way chicken should be. Of course, it’s not very healthy, and definitely uses up a lot of points for one meal.

Because it’s not very healthy, I made a copycat version of their chicken sandwich earlier. I like it even better than the restaurant’s sandwich. Mainly because while it has all the same flavors, it’s lighter and healthier – and cheaper – than going out to eat all the time.

I don’t know about you, but I love pasta recipes. My kids love pasta and it’s an easy and quick meal to do. Anything that’s easy and everybody likes is one that gets made frequently in our house. Unfortunately, pasta is full of carbs and very high in Points.

However, recently, I bought a ton of zucchini, so I’ve been experimenting with Zoodles. And let me tell you, this is another amazing zoodles recipe. I just can’t contain my excitement as I share these delicious recipes with you.

You guys, I cannot get enough of Zoodles lately! If you haven’t heard of “zoodles”, they are simply spiralized zucchini. And let me tell you, it’s a great substitute for regular, high calorie pasta or rice noodles. They’re mild and take on the flavor of the dish that you’re cooking them with, so they’re the perfect complement to just about everything.

One of my favorite pastimes recently has been turning fussy, traditional dishes into simple casseroles. As a working mom, I don’t have hours to spend working on dinner. I know, my job is creating, cooking and photographing recipes, but let’s be realistic here, no one has time to spend 3 hours making dinner.

Since we’re all big stuffed pepper fans, I thought I’d try to turn our favorite stuffed pepper recipe into a casserole. It would keep all the same delicious flavors and textures that everyone loves, but it would be much easier and faster to put together. And let me tell you, it turned out to be a fantastic idea!

Now that the temperatures are starting to heat up here in California (sorry, East Coast), I’ve been craving meals that are fresh and light, as opposed to rich and comforting.

The most recent one that I’ve tried – and fallen completely in love with – is this delicious Italian Chicken Bruschetta. Let me tell you, it’s seriously delicious. There’s nothing too complex about it – just fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic. It’s incredibly easy to make.

There are always those days when you really feel like you need something a little…classy. The stand by hamburger helper or spaghetti just won’t cut it. Whenever I feel like I need a little bit of a fancy dinner, I whip up this Italian Herbed Chicken in a Creamy Mushroom Wine Sauce. Let me tell you, it’s just the ticket.

I had something similar once at an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, and I was blown away by how rich and flavorful this dish was. It was so good that it immediately went on my list to make a healthy, but equally delicious, knockoff recipe.

I used to cook a lot of recipes with coconut milk, but I have been reluctant to do so ever since the new Weight Watchers Points plan came into effect. Coconut milk is high in saturated fat, so I was concerned that it would raise the Points value of my recipe too much.

However, I was pleasantly surprised when this Salmon Curry recipe turns out to be fewer Points than I anticipated! Sometimes, you just gotta eat the good stuff and spend that extra point of two.