Roasted Vegetable Salad
The hubby had this crazy idea to eat a raw diet for one week. No bacon. No meat of any kind. Shit, nothing COOKED. I thought he was insane. I mean, really. This is the man who physically CANNOT go without protein for breakfast on the weekends. And now he wants to eat raw fruits and vegetables for a WEEK? And this is the girl who loves to cook heart warming, gloriously comforting food. With butter, and cream and all things delicious. But, alas! We are on day three and doing great.
Roasted Artichoke and Asparagus Pasta Salad
Recently, Mixologist Molly had her bridal shower. It was such a perfect day! The breeze was floating through, the sun was hot and the vodka lemonade punch was delish. As was the champagne. I promised to bring my pasta salad and crack cookies. But I felt my pasta salad needed a change. A face lift. Some botox if you will. It needed to be younger, fresher and lighter. Wait. I forget. Am I talking about myself or food?
Sigh….
I was craving asparagus and mushrooms and with that, a new recipe was born. This pasta salad kicks my old pasta salad’s ass.
Spinach Salad with Balsamic Onion Dressing
Salads are a pretty standard fallback meal in our house. They are healthy, delicious and easy to make. Most evenings we don’t sit down to eat our dinner until after Buggies and Pixie are fast asleep. And some days don’t go as smoothly as others. Which brings me to make an easy salad for dinner. Spinach is such a wonderful source of vitamins and is one of the healthiest leaves you can put in your body. Granted topping it off with bacon may not be the best thing for your body but my motto is, “everything in moderation.” In this picture you can see croutons which I don’t normally use. But they were calling my name in Trader Joe’s…
Hubby’s note: And my motto is, “WHERE’S THE BACON”?! Bacon + Avocado = Happy Hubby. Wait, did you say this was healthy?
Fire Roasted Artichokes
Here in Los Angeles, we have this restaurant called Houston’s. Or Hillstone. It depends on the time of day and what the current California law is regarding calories being listed on menus. Anyways, Ry and I fell in love with this place so many years ago I feel like it really wasn’t THAT long ago. I mean really, why do I still feel 24 but get carded at the grocery store with TWO kids and feel like a champion when they ask for my ID? Probably because my 32nd birthday is coming on strong on August 24th. Sigh….
Ryan and I have loved artichokes forever and I have spent a lot of time trying to master the Houston artichoke. It’s sweet, but savory and smoky and fire roasted and perfect. And! Alas! I duplicated that tricky little sucker. Ready?