Spinach Salad Wrap with Green Apple, Dried Cranberries and Dijon Dressing

It's been difficult to get into the spring mindset due to Boston's dreary weather the past few weeks. Throwing on my clunky rainboats and heavy rain jacket on the way to the grocery store doesn't really get me in the mood for summer salads and barbeques. However, the good news is... the Copley Square Farmers Market opens tomorrow! Even though the forecast is more rain all week, the farmer's market will be my little ray of sunshine. I'm taking the day off work tomorrow to go to a networking breakfast at Fenway Park, then spending all afternoon wandering the local vendors down at Copley. Hopefully the rain will deter fairweather fans and I'll get the good stuff!

My roommates and I are hosting a going away dinner in our apartment on Thursday for my friend Jess, who just graduated and is moving to Texas to do Teach for America. Thursday night dinners became a sort of ritual this year with my girlfriends as a way to stay in touch despite our crazy schedules. (Look back here at my post about our first Thursday night dinner.) I always offer to cook on these nights, and this Thursday we're leaning toward Mexican so I'm hoping to find some nice produce for a few impromptu salsas at the farmers market. Whatever we stuff our faces with, the night is bound to be filled with lots of laughs and tears. It's my first college friend to graduate and move away, so this Thursday dinner will be bittersweet no doubt.

Anyway, enough blubbering. Here's a salad wrap I threw together yesterday for lunch. I'm trying to fill my diet with loads of fruits and veggies to counteract all the baking that's been going on in my apartment. I don't usually love veggie wraps, but this one was so hardy I had to bring the rest into work for lunch today. The Dijon dressing is perfect with the green apple and dried cranberries. I made a bunch of it to use in salads later this week. My trick - when your Dijon mustard is mostly gone, use the remains to make this dressing! Pour your olive oil and seasoning right into the mustard jar, shake it up, and store what you don't use.

Oh, did I mention my birthday is on Wednesday? Maybe I'll find a nice treat for myself at the farmers market for an early celebration. :)

Spinach Salad Wrap with Green Apple, Dried Cranberries and Dijon Dressing
Makes: 1 wrap  Total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
1 whole wheat tortilla wrap
1 egg
1/2 cup spinach
1/2 green apple
1/8 cup cherry tomatoes
2 tbs Gorgonzola cheese
1/8 cup dried cranberries
2 tbs Dijon dressing*

Directions
Start by bringing a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add one egg and boil for ten minutes. Remove from heat, dump out the water from the pot and run cold water over the egg until covered. Let cool.
Lay out whole wheat tortilla on a flat surface and spread a bed of spinach across the middle, leaving room on either side to roll up the wrap at the end. Next, chop the green apple in half and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Half the cherry tomatoes and place apple and tomatoes on top of the spinach.
Crack the hard boiled egg and slice it into small pieces over the wrap. (Optional: For a healthier wrap, remove the egg yolk and add only egg whites.) Sprinkle Gorgonzola and dried cranberries, and add Dijon dressing. Finally, roll up the wrap, pulling the short sides up to close the ends and pull one long side on top of the salad, tucking it in tight before closing the wrap.

*Dijon dressing: Combine 1 part Dijon mustard, 1 part olive oil, sea salt, coarse ground pepper and lemon juice in a small jar. Shake well before serving.

Whole Grain Shrimp Pizza with Spinach, Tomato and Broccoli

I have a confession to make: I'm a planner. I like to plan my day in advance. What I'm going to wear to work the next day, what I'm going to cook for dinner, when I'm going to go to the gym... These are common thoughts prior to 9 in the morning. Despite my best efforts, occasionally I'll hit the grocery store with absolutely no clue what I'm looking for and stumble across one ingredient (usually a special) that jumps out at me. From there, my mind races with possibilities and somehow an entire meal falls into place. I came across some beautiful, pinked-up cooked shrimp at Whole Foods and decided to make seafood pizza for a dinner in with Dylan on Saturday.

I love making homemade pizza just the way my mom does, on a rectangular baking sheet with a thick, soft crust and loads of veggies. I stole a few tricks from my Aunt Deb for this pizza as well (or, as my Uncle Tim refers to it, "-za"). She bakes the pizza dough with olive oil and garlic for 10 minutes on its own to get it slightly crispy on the ends. Then, instead of using pizza sauce, she lays down paper-thin slices of tomato under the cheese and toppings. I've made plenty of homemade pizzas for Dylan before, and damn good ones too, but he raved that this was the best. Cooking the broccoli and shrimp in a lemon-lime creamy dressing before topping the pizza gave it an extra punch, and a mahi mahi dip with water crackers accompanied it perfectly. This was one of those meals that you throw together at the last minute and unexpectedly surprises you. I guess a little spontaneity can go a long way.

Whole Grain Shrimp Pizza with Spinach, Tomato and Broccoli
Serves: 4  Prep: 30 minutes  Total: 1 hour

Ingredients
1 whole grain pizza dough
1 tbs olive oil
1 garlic clove
1/2 large tomato, thinly sliced
1/2 cup shredded 3-cheese blend (asiago, fontina, and parmesan)
3/4 cup spinach
1/4 pound cooked shrimp
1/3 cup broccoli
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tbs lime juice
1/2 tbs mayonnaise
1 tsp coarse ground pepper
1 tsp chili powder
Additional cheese if desired

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. On a greased baking sheet, stretch and lay out your whole grain pizza dough. Drizzle olive oil and minced garlic in the middle of the pizza where the toppings would go and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Place dough in the oven for ten minutes until the crust browns slightly.
In the meantime, chop broccoli into small pieces and cook in a lightly oiled pan. Peel the cooked shrimp and cut each shrimp in half. In a small bowl, combine lemon and lime juice, mayo, pepper and chili powder and mix well. Once the broccoli is almost cooked through, add the shrimp and this dressing and heat for several minutes until the shrimp and broccoli have absorbed most of the dressing. Remove from heat.
Remove the dough from the oven. Slice tomato from the horizontal center into paper-thin slices and lay on your dough. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the tomato, and pile spinach on top. Carefully pour the shrimp mixture on top of the bed of spinach, drizzling any extra dressing on top of the pizza. Add a handful of additional cheese if desired and cook for 30 minutes. Let cool, cut into four large pieces and serve.