Spinach Strawberry Salad

This is as close as Andrew’s Aunt Linda and I can get to Cafe Patachou’s (a Carmel, IN French bistro) salad by the same name. Aunt Linda even begged the chef personally for the vinaigrette recipe, and was rewarded with at least the ingredients, if not in exact measurements. We make it constantly in the summer.

For 4-5 servings:

1 package baby spinach leaves

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered

1/2 (or less) red onion, sliced

1/2 C candied walnuts or pecans

1/4 C gorgonzola or feta cheese crumbles

1/2 C croutons

Vinaigrette:

1/3 C olive oil

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp honey

salt and pepper

Notes:

-Slice onions to your preference: thin for less strong, thick for a stronger onion taste

-You can use feta, goat, gorgonzola or blue cheese here based on your affinity for blue cheese

-Definitely use (or make your own) candied nuts–it’s crucial!

-The dressing makes about a half-cup, which is more than you’ll need for this salad. Refrigerate the rest and use again on your next salad!

i had an idea…

…and it was a yummy one!

A couple days ago, as I was packing Andrew’s lunch (yes, just one of the gazillion things I said I’d never do) all I had left in the bottom of the Julio’s chips bag was a bunch of crumbs.

And immediately, I thought of a mexican breakfast/egg dish kind of thing. Why? No idea.

I held onto the bag of crumbs and finally made my concoction this morning, sauteeing onion and red bell pepper with the eggs, and added leftover chorizo (score!), some salsa, avocado, green onion and monterey jack cheese. All this atop Julio’s seasoned chips. Just delightful.

I kept it light be serving just these on the side:

Strawberries and half an orange. Just delightful 🙂

Happy Wednesday afternoon! I’m making some King Arthur Flour’s Banana Chocolate Chip Squares (another blogger was nice enough to type up the recipe) to bring to the co-op‘s first annual meeting (!!!!) tomorrow night, and will be continuing The Hunger Games.

Oh, and do any of you like radishes? I admit I’m not a huge fan, but after writing my latest ‘Eat This’ column for the co-op’s blog, I think I might give them another try.

Does life get better than an afternoon of baking and reading, all after having had a great workout and painting my toes?

impulse shopping

This is what happens when Holly goes to Wegmans for ‘a few things:’

Hey, at least it’s all healthy, right? Just LOOK at all those colors!

HAD to get:

-bananas and spinach (only one left in the house–yikes!)

-cottage cheese (I have a cut-up pineapple in the fridge just begging to be paired with it)

-avocado (remember all those Julio’s chips Andrew shipped home??)

-strawberries (because I’ve waited all winter long for them)

-red pepper and sugar snap peas (homemade hummus is in the fridge as we speak–or type, rather)

-wheat germ (for a bread recipe)

-frozen blueberries and a lemon (for a muffin recipe and because berries are expensive enough)

-deli ham and light swiss (Andrew’s gotta have lunch tomorrow…)

OK, I’ll admit, I totally got sucked into the Nature’s Market section (like I ever DON’T?) and some SALES caught my eye…

…like this one for Health Valley Organic cereal bars and ‘pop tarts.’ It was $1 off each, and the blueberry was just calling to me. (Blueberry totally has been these days! I already made a plan to make Ellie Krieger’s blueberry muffins this weekend…) I figured Andrew would like the strawberry bars and I could mix some warmed ‘toaster tarts’ into our morning breakfast routine.

And then there was the sale on granola:

It was $1 off, too! In my defense, we’ve been out of granola for awhile now and I said to myself (out loud, of course) that I should get some more soon. I initially saw the ‘vanilla blueberry with flax seeds’ (there is that blueberry again) variety and grabbed it, only to then see the ‘maple walnut with chia and quinoa’ and ‘oat and honey WITH COCONUT’ flavors… There was just no deciding between them. At least they’ll last awhile…

Side note: Some of you are probably wondering why I would BUY this stuff when I can make it all myself, which I actually enjoy doing. A couple reasons:

1. I’m EXHAUSTED, and surprisingly busy. I’ve been catching up on random stuff since finishing up with school, as well as tackling a bunch of things that popped up, like arranging summer travel plans and working out a new gym routine.

2. I don’t really enjoy cooking in this kitchen. It sounds bad, but it’s true. Until I have ‘my’ kitchen, it just isn’t the same.

3. I’m starting The Hunger Games soon (maybe this weekend!), which will consume me for however long it takes to read them all. Andrew, I apologize in advance–I’ll make sure we’re stocked up on the unhealthy food you insist on eating when I don’t cook. Or maybe not.

4. The bright colors and yellow SALE tags caught my eye. (Hey, I’m just being honest.)

5. And lastly, I am (unfortunately) about to become just as busy as before. My summer online class starts in a little more than a week and I already took a look at the online info… It looks INTENSE, to say the least. Fantastic.

So yeah, despite ending school, I won’t be found in the kitchen too much just yet…

OK, back to groceries….

The Justin’s was on sale ($6.99 instead of $8.99… still pricey, but oh, so good!) and I’ve been eyeing this Cinnamon Raisin Swirl variety EVERY TIME I GO TO WEGMANS. EVERY TIME. I pulled the trigger today–why not? Kath eats almond butter on her carrots sometimes, and ever since I saw one of those photos I’ve been intrigued to try it. I thought the Justin’s would be the perfect accompaniment for some carrot sticks. (Oh, have I told you all I’m eating raw carrots now? I went my whole life HATING them, and then all of a sudden, they’re fine. What’s with that?)

And this guy was hiding behind all the store-bought goodness the whole time…

Beautiful, wonderful-smelling homemade bread. What better with which to pair the new cinnamon raisin peanut butter??