Orange and Avocado Chopped Salad with Citrus Basil Dressing

Orange and avocado chopped salad with a citrus basil dressing.

For some reason in that first photo the orange looks almost fluorescent.

For the rest of the shots they looked much more toned down. Either way it tasted the same - delicious!

This salad was quite a surprise. I just threw some stuff together on a whim and it turned out terrific.

I needed to use up the orange and avocado I had hanging around. I poked around the refrigerator and grabbed some greens and some pickled ginger.

I threw together a vinaigrette that tasted good but when it was paired with the salad? Oh, my word!

All the flavors were bright and clean and the sweet spice of the pickled ginger really put it over the top. 

You should make this salad as soon as you can - especially on a hot summer day.

Orange and Avocado Chopped Salad with Citrus Basil Vinaigrette

Serves 2

Ingredients for the salad:

3 cups of butter lettuce, chopped

1 cup of spinach, chopped

1 medium orange, cut into segments

1 avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped

1 Tbsp of sweet pickled ginger, chopped fine

1 Tbsp of dressing (see below)

Ingredients for the citrus basil vinaigrette:

3 Tbsp of orange juice

4 Tbsp of olive oil

2 Tbsp of chopped fresh basil

1/2 Tbsp of rice wine vinegar

1/2 tsp of fresh grated ginger

1/4 tsp of orange zest

1/8 tsp of Mia's kitchen balsamic reduction

1/2 Tbsp of nutritional yeast

black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Combine all of the ingredients for the dressing and set aside.

Assemble the spinach and lettuce in a bowl and toss with the dressing. Add in the chopped orange, avocado and pickled ginger and toss to combine.

Enjoy!

An American classic

A cheeseburger with Gruyere cheese.

I saw this at the store - 

and I knew I was going to make burgers.

First, I assembled the all the accompaniments for the burgers.

From the bottom left: Anchovies, peanut butter, lettuce, tomato and Gruyere cheese.

I know, the anchovies and peanut butter seem strange but stay with me - it'll all make sense in a minute.

I put some grape seed oil in a fry pan and set it on med-high heat. I cooked my hamburger for 3 minutes on one side then flipped the burger. 

When the patty had been cooking for 3 minutes on the second side, I placed the cheese on top. After the cheese had melted I put it on a plate and let the burger rest for a few minutes.

All dressed up with toppings.

This was awesome! 


And about the peanut butter and anchovies - 

Connor's peanut butter filled burger.

Abby's anchovy stuffed burger.

These burgers were big so the dogs won't be getting any kibble tonight but I doubt they will mind :-)

All wrapped up and ready to go

I realized today that most of my black yoga/workout pants have holes in them - Yikes!

It is a good thing I have been wearing over-sized t-shirts to the gym otherwise I would have been flashing everyone my business. Not cool.

I am going to be frugal and fix the smaller holes and be smart and toss the ones with the big holes before I accidentally wear them to the gym again.

For lunch I made some hummus lettuce wraps.

Hummus, cabbage leaf, chopped carrot and cucumber and some lettuce leaves.

A spoonful of hummus with a sprinkle of paprika.

And I broke out my favorite water bottle.

Two olives and a bowl of strawberries to round out lunch.

They should call the 5-day split routines 'The workout plan for the those with short attention spans'.

I am loving it and I find the resistance I feel (a.k.a.  the whiny internal voice that tries to talk me out of going) is minimal if I know I only have 4 or so exercises to do.

Oh, and I am not counting the 30min of cardio I do each time. The cardio, for me, is the enjoyable part so I don't even think about it.

Bye, bye blue cheese

My sister gave me some disturbing news today.

It seems that aged cheeses such as blue cheese (which as you all have seen I have been eating quite a bit of lately) can trigger migraines.

With one tear dramatically spilling down my cheek, I gave away the rest of my Point Reyes blue cheese to my neighbor. 

And then I recovered and went home and made this:

A simple salad with butter lettuce carrot, cucumber and almond slivers.

 
I made a simple dressing with 1 Tbsp. of Udo's oil, 2 Tbsp. of balsamic vinegar, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of dried basil and some cracked black pepper.

I like using this Tupperware container to mix the dressing.

It has a screw top which guarantees I will not fling salad dressing all over my kitchen when I mix it - which has happened before...

And then I realized I should add some protein to my salad - 

Turkey.

For dessert I enjoyed this plump beauty - 

A juicy plum.

Can you tell I have been having way too much fun with Adobe Lightroom?

The program makes it really easy to give photos that extra bit of oomph!

Oh, and I forgot to tell you what the dragon fruit tasted like. It tasted like a cross between jicama and kiwi - but I am not completely sure the fruit was actually ripe - which could account for the lack of taste.

Bibimbap

At a company I used for work years ago, there was a tiny deli across the street that was family run.

They always had Bibimbap on the menu. It became one of my favorite lunches.


What I like most about Bibimbap? Everyone seems to have a slightly different recipe.


Today, I decided to create my version of Bibimbap.

I stopped by the local Japanese grocery store Nijiya and picked up some thinly sliced beef.

I mixed up a marinade of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, green onion, rice wine, sugar and finely chopped ginger.

Marinate the meat for 2 -3 hours.

I put 1/2 cup of brown rice on to simmer with 1 1/4 cups of water and cooked until tender.

Next, I started chopping up the rest of the ingredients.

Red leaf lettuce, zucchini, green cabbage and carrot.

I stir fried the carrot and zucchini in a tiny bit of oil in a hot pan. This only took about 3 minutes as I wanted them as crunchy as possible.

I quickly stir fried the meat in a hot pan. This step is also very quick. Be careful to keep turning the meat and take it off immediately when it finishes cooking.

Then the assembly begins:

A layer of rice -

Then the vegetables are placed around the perimeter. Then pile the meat in the middle.

A generous drizzle of Sriracha sauce on top.

But, of course, I can't leave the dish looking so pretty and pristine.

All mixed up!

I am going to spend the afternoon apartment hunting online - See y'all later!

The exquisite lure of negative space

I am happy to report that the de-cluttering is going well.

But, I am finding as things get more and more austere, I have the urge to go back and fill in the negative spaces.


I think this might be a version of a little kid's urge to knock over the tall stack of blocks.

Lunch was quick and easy:

Butter lettuce, turkey, apple and almonds all tossed with a fat-free raspberry balsamic dressing.

I didn't want to dirty another bowl so I just ate it in the big bowl I use to toss my salads.

For dessert, I couldn't resist these:

Lovely plump globes of sweet goodness.

Back to work for me. I hope everyone is having a great Sunday!