Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas, & Crumbled Feta

Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas & Feta | Kneading Home

I'm been a little MIA the last week, feeling both swamped and thankful for the opportunity to teach what felt like was a million classes and privates. For a long time I thought making a living as a yoga teacher wasn't physically possible unless you were one of the lucky few, so for it to become a reality for me over the past couple months I find I almost have to pinch myself. I am so so lucky. 

On top of that I've been applying to grad schools like a mad woman. I think to admit you really want something is the most vulnerable thing in the world. I've been playing around with practicing the art of surrender. It's not going well. 

Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas & Feta | Kneading Home
Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas & Feta | Kneading Home
Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas & Feta | Kneading Home

And it's January! We've been celebrating by purging the apartment of crap. The first weekend of January we cleaned out and organized our bookshelves, kitchen, and side tables, then yesterday we tackled the worst of it - the closet, under the bed, the dresser, and desk. We've filled trash bag after trash bag of donations. I swear we own less today than we did a year or even two years ago. To get rid feels so good. So freeing. Frankly nothing excites me like organization. And don't even get me started on kitchen organization. Having a well organized kitchen makes me more efficient, creative, and I'm not going to lie, really happy. One of my new year's resolutions is to utilize my cookbooks more. I have so many and just don't read them enough. So in attempt to let them take center stage, we're building a giant wooden bookshelf above the kitchen table. My husband is a rockstar and we're hoping to have it up by tomorrow. 

Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas & Feta | Kneading Home
Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas & Feta | Kneading Home

With it being January, I'm sure a lot of you are aiming to eat a little lighter. And if you're like me and have eaten way to much homemade nutella and sugar in the last couple of weeks, today's post is for you. I came home exhausted from a full day of teaching last week, starving for something hearty, healthy, fresh, and FAST. The last thing I wanted was to sit over the stove for an hour. I swear I even thought "too bad you can't pop a frozen salad in the microwave". So I took to my Pinterest board and made a quick and easy "Green Goddess" dressing. I already had all the ingredients in the fridge, it came together in minutes, and craved something light and zesty to go along with it - so I tossed in a bag of romaine, toasted some pepitas and topped it off with crumbled feta. I made a huge batch for both Nate and I, and then ate the entire bowl by myself. Oops. Not only that, I ended up eating this salad for the next four days straight with the extra dressing. If that's not proof it's good I don't know what is. 

Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas & Feta | Kneading Home
Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas & Feta | Kneading Home

I jazzed up the dressing a little by adding avocado, and it's just divine. So creamy, zesty, and fresh. Oh and it's totally healthy with protein and tang from greek yogurt and creaminess from perfectly ripe avocado. Above all else it comes together in about 10 minutes and you probably already have all of the ingredients in your fridge. Enjoy! 

Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas & Feta | Kneading Home

Simple Romaine Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing, Toasted Pepitas, & Crumbled Feta
Adapted from A Couple Cooks  
Serves 2-4 

For the dressing (makes 1 pint): 
2 green onions, diced
1/2 Jalapeño, seeded & diced 
1 medium ripe avocado
1/2 cup greek yogurt (I used 2% Fage) 
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro 
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon honey
3-4 tablespoons lime juice (I used 4)

For the salad: 
9 oz chopped romaine
1/2 cup toasted pepitas*
2.5 oz (scant 1/2 cup) crumbled feta 

Add green onions, and jalapeño to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse until finely minced. Add in avocado, greek yogurt, cilantro, olive oil, salt, honey, and lime and blend until completely smooth. Adjust to taste, adding more lime, honey, and salt if needed. 

Combine romaine, pepitas, and feta in a large bowl. Top with dressing (note: you will have a lot left over), and toss well. 

Notes: 
Even if you buy pre-toasted pepitas, I like to pop them in the toaster for about 3 minutes until warm and fragrant before adding them to the salad.