A New Beast
Hey everyone! How’s your Sunday going? Mine has been pretty glorious. I can enjoy the sun a little bit more when I don’t have to run in it 😉
The pilot and I slept in, and when we woke up, I was hankering for some oat bran.
I made a hefty bowl with 1/3 C oat bran, 1 smashed banana, palmful of goji berries, 1/2 scoop Sun Warrior, 1/2 T maca, almond milk and a beautiful blob of almond butter:
It was incredible, and SO filling.
The pilot had to go into work for a little while, so I took the puppies on a nice long walk to enjoy the weather.
Since it’s been so cold lately, I’ve been slacking on my dog-walking duties, so when we got back, they were tuckered out.
I planned our meals for the week, then went to Wizzle and Publizzle to get the goods. While I was shopping, I munched an organic apple, and then broke into these bad johnnies upon walking in the door:
Olives, jalapenos, marinated cauliflower and carrot, and peppers. Everything I could ever wish for 🙂
After putting the groceries away, it was lunch time.
I’ve kind of been in a salad rut lately. I love my usual salad beasts so much, but haven’t been eating them since I’ve been salad-ed out. After stepping out of the box with last week’s Thai salad, it was time to do some salad experimentation again 😀
I roasted a beet with 1/2 sweet onion, olive oil, sea salt and pepper for 10 minutes at 450*. The beets were a little crunchy, so for softer ones I’d do 350* for 30-45 min… but I was on a time crunch and like a little bite to the beets anyway.
Then I topped some arugula with Organicville balsamic, the beet mixture and one serving of goat cheese.
I can’t even described the foodgasms that occurred 😉
Expect to see this beast again in the near future.
The pilot and I are meeting some friends for dinner at Longhorn then going to see Valentine’s Day.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and I’ll see ya in the morning with the last Winter Shape Up workout and other shenanigans 😉
xoxo,
Gina
Something to talk about: What’s your favorite salad combo?? I’d love new ideas to shake up the salad beast department 🙂 My favorite is pear, greens, green apple, goat cheese and balsamic, with candied raw nuts (which I usually make for dinner parties), but the one I had at Oregano’s in Tucson was the best restaurant salad I’ve had.
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I’m a huge huge HUGE fan of a spinach salad topped with either bleu or goat cheese, dried cranberries, sauteed red onions and bacon. DROOL!
My fav combo is Greek style. No cheese, but loads of greens, red onions, amazing olives (gotta have the olives!) and I usually add kidney beans for protein. Delish!
I’ve been really overindulging on sweets lately, so even though it’s a little late, I’ve decided to give them up…until Passover, which starts March 30th. I’m no religion, but my roommate is Jewish so I want to try it out with her. Until those eating restrictions start, no sweets for me. Thank goodness I have you to look forward to for inspiration!
However, yesterday I did make some no-bake peanut butter balls…with maca! They were goooood.
omgosh i love salad. my husband in the car yesterday said i would have no trouble surviving armageddon(lol or something like it) because i would just eat whatever vegetation is around….and i would
I really love romaine, organic cherry tomatoes, spiralized carrot and a little caramelized goat cheese, topped with a dressing made out of red wine vinegar, truffle oil, chopped parsley, black pepper and chopped scallions. SO delicious.
that sounds GLORIOUS!
It so is… you should try it! I almost died when I tasted it the first time!!! It’s funny what throwing random things into a salad bowl can accomplish!!
That salad looks delish- we’re bbqing tonight so I might just bbq some beets as well- I love them with goat cheese- or anything with the goat!
My fave salad is a spinach and lettuce combo with mint, strawberries, goat cheese, avocado, candied pecans dressed in reduced balsamic, lemon juice, flax oil, with salt and pepper.. so freaking good!
im in a bbq chicken salad mode. i usually have one for lunch everyday: tomato, black beans, corn, red onion, cucumber with bbq sauce drizzled on top and a nice blob of tj’s tomato and basil hummus- soooo good and filling!!!
Oh man any salad with beets is right up my alley! I love salads with different colored beets, blue cheese, hazelnuts and greens. Yum!
Lately I’ve been all about the humnut sauce on my salads- equal parts nutritional yeast, hummus and water. Delish! I’ve also been on a raw tempeh kick. Quick and easy, but less processed and more flavorful than tofu! Enjoy your dinner and movie!
My Publix just started stocking that greek mixture thing and it’s my FAVE! I’d much rather grab that for a snack versus some chips or cookies. My favorite salad lately has been a greek/Mediterranean one, basically some spring mix/baby romaine then pepperoncinis, tomatoes, red onion (marinated to take some of the bite off), marinated baby bellas, kalamata olives and I’ll add some roasted tempeh that I marinated in greek seasoning, and you of course could add some goat cheese. Now that it’s getting warmer, I’ll probably start adding some fruit to my salad…mandarins or strawberries are always a good choice. I think you need St. Tropez back in your life 🙂
i totally agree 🙂
I love hummus on top of salad. I love how creamy it makes everything and you don’t even really need dressing. I also love big salads in the summertime with goat cheese, walnuts and cranberries.
I absolutely love salad with chicken strips in it. Especially the fried ones because it gives crispness to the salad! Speaking of the sun, we got that warm weather you talked about earlier and it definitely hindered my running too 🙁
My favorite salad is from Cosi (chain sandwich shop), but I make my own at home sometimes. It has mixed greens, chopped pear, pistachios, grape halves, craisins, roquefort cheese crumbles and a shallot sherry vinaigrette. The sweet/salty combo is unbelievable. At home I sub a raspberry or sweet balsamic vinagirette and it works very well. Also LOVE greek salads.
Any salad topped with goat cheese is a winner in my book! I’ve been on a roasted beet kick, too! Love them with balsamic dressing and goat cheese. YUM. 😉
I also love the roasted vegetable salad from California Pizza Kichen!
Ugh, salad ruts are the worst! It’s like I know I should be eating them but I’m tired of my regular combinations. I like the one you described (with pear) a lot, actually. Another thing I like to do is a big base of spinach/mixed greens topped with a heap of lightly sauteed veggies (peppers, broc, mushrooms, etc.) and then throw on a wee bit of dried fruit.
I love to top my salads with different types of vinegar: white balsamic, rice, and apple cider are all delicious! Thinning out spicy brown mustard with a bit of water makes for an excellent dressing as well!
I’ve never had oat bran before, but you make it sound delicious! LOL Bella looks SOO pooped. I love when my pup gets so worn out from walks. Unfortunately it’s 30’s and snowy here, so our walk was a short one today 🙁
I love spinach as a base and then roasted or sauteed veggies on top and some goat cheese. Goat cheese and spinach is the bestest combo ever. My mom makes a good salad topped with oranges and pomegranate, I never make it myself though… I should start!
Love your puppies! I’m relatively simple when it comes to salads, I like cucumbers, peppers, corn, cheese. I like mexican themed salads alot too.
My favorite salad (which I made today) is mixed greens, white beans, fat-free feta (or goat cheese), shredded carrots, diced cucumber, and cherry tomatoes. So good that you dont even need dressing. It may sound gross, but I love it the next day a little soggy!
This week, I’m going to make a maple dressing and a raw vegan ceasar dressing.. That is how I keep my salads interesting and appealing. I ALWAYS have some kind of fabulous dressing made 😉
that’s an excellent idea– i need to work on making dressing more often
Cute pups and enjoy the show!
One of my favs is radicchio, gorganzola, dried cranberries or cherries with candied pecans w/ balsamic dressing. yummmmm
i love love love california pizza kitchen’s salad which has cranberries, squash,avocado, almonds, dates, carrots, etc, and it is amazing! =)
Curious minds want to know – What’s on the menu for this week for you and the pilot?? 🙂
sweet potato and black bean chili with green chili corn bread, shrimp salad and lettuce wraps! mmmm 🙂
I’ll eat ANY combination with candied pecans and blue cheese 🙂
Two faves:
1. romaine+salsa+chicken+nut.yeast=healthy taco salad!
2. romaine+hummus+red pepper+pepperoncini+chicken+diced tomatoes+basil+oregano+garlic=it’s a pizza salad!
Also, I weirdly like certain curry sauces over spinach or baby greens.
have a good one!
I LOVE making salad beasts. You HAVE to try this one…it’s the greatest:
-baby spinach/arugula blend
-cherry tomatoes
-red bell pepper
-purple onion
-celery
-baby carrots
-3 tbsp. hummus (Sabra, obvi!)
-4 tbsp. avocado
-1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
-cumin
-black pepper
It is the BEAST of salad beasts Gina! [:
my fave salad is:
baby spinach
red quinoa
blueberries
fat free feta cheese
steamed broccoli
adding the broccoli when its warm makes the feta cheese and blueberries a little melty and makes a “self dressing.” And because all the ingredients are so flavorful, i think its delicious!
i LOVE greek salads (so salty!) or salads that have fruit in the during the summers…’specially strawberries! sooooo good and soooo refreshing!
Salad looks great. When you eat raw-ish beets, do you get a sore throat? It was happening to me this past summer, and when I read in to it, raw beets affect some people, giving them a temporary (mine were 3-4 hrs) sore throat! Crazy!
Oh Publix! I miss it so much 🙁 That greek garden medley looks delish!
Gorgeous weather everywhere today apparently!!!! Spring needs to hurry… hehe 😀 I love oat bran!! So good. So creamy and comforting.
The best salad I ever had was cranberry and wheatberry from Joe’s Crab Shack. I never found the recipe online 🙁
The salad I toyed with today with this: http://www.onemessykitchen.com/baby-bok-choy-chicken-salad.
It would be great with soy sauce, but I’m cleansing a bit so I didn’t want soy or added sugar.
Hi there! I have a quick question for you? Does your weight ever go up and down? your diet always seems so perfect and I was just wondering if you ever over do it on anything and how you deal w/ it? I’m just curious bc I would like to maintain my weight, but I ate my fair share of cookie dough today lets just say.
hey kayla,
my diet definitely isn’t perfect 🙂 i don’t blog everything i eat, but try to blog whole, balanced and healthy meals
after i lost the weight, it fluctuated for quite a while. now i’m going on 3 years of being the exact same way.. i think it’s just where my body wants to be!
you’ll get there and find a happy weight for you
Your pear, greens, green apple salad sounds really good too!!
-emily http://www.emilyeatsclean.wordpress.com
The warm weekend ia just in time for me here in Alabama — I live here right now b/c I don’t like the cold.
How do you deal w/working out & muscle soreness from day to day? Yesterday was a busy day so I did a short cardio on my Gazelle (yes i have a Tony Little Gazelle. This afternoon / tonight I wanted to do a more intense work out (or just a work out) but did not do anything b/c I have an intense Zumba class tomorrow night. I didn’t want to be too sore @ Zumba or struggle to finish the class. Any suggestions?
you could either take another day off and do some yoga/stretching instead, or just take it easy in zumba.
Mmmm I’m always looking to do something a little more outside the box. One of my winter staples for salad is spinach as the base, with fennel, hearts of palm (because they have a taste almost like cheese, but WITHOUT the cheese part!), and blood oranges because they are in season! I top that with a spoonful of pesto sauce, usually basil or cilantro, for a little bit more healthy fat when there is no other protein or fat in the salad. DELICIOUS!
Last night I had my favorite! Gala apples on spinach(or spring mix), gorgonzola, candied pecans and balsamic. Yum!
The NY Times ran a great article with 101 salad ideas this past spring, it really helped me get out of a rut and expand my definition of salad:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html
Also, I got a very good salad ‘cookbok’ at my favorite clothing store – Anthropologie – of all places! It is “Simple but Perfect Salads” (Paragon books, 2007).
awesome, thank you!
Hey there, not sure where to ask this question, but I’m curious; I’ve been looking into trying maca powder, and I notice you use it in many recipes. What are its health benefits, and how would you recommend I try it? Seems like you like it! 🙂
hey shannon,
here’s a post i did on all of my favorite pantry items, including maca:
http://fitnessista.com/?p=5091
it tastes great with anything chocolate and has a malty, earthy taste
Spinach with orange segments, goat cheese, pepitas, thinly sliced red onion (raw) and a mustard-maple vinaigrette
spinach with dried cranberries, toasted pecans and goat cheese
Romaine with tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado and Kristen Suzanne’s Cayenne Tahini Dressing (or Dreena Burton’s cinnamon-cumin vinaigrette!)
Those are my three ultimate favs!
Ooooh – and I forgot! Dreena Burton’s recipe for Raw Vegan Caesar is PHENOMENAL! I <3 it so much.
I actually made taco salads as well – with black beans and used Kristen Suzanne's "Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce" and it was so creamy and fabu!
Ok, I make that salad (minus the onions-why did I never think of that) all the time and its probably my favorite ever. The beets and the goat cheese couldn’t be more perfect together!
love mexi themed salads too! black beans or garbonzos, avacados, tomatoes and onions, garlic, salsa!! for dressing… and any veg you have on hand!
I love going all out on my salads. Spinach, goat cheese, cranberries, sunflower seeds, avocados, sprouts, chick peas, tomatoes, cukes. We had the first nice day of the year here in Louisville today.
Question- Since you did a very intense run yesterday, what is your running schedule looking like for the next few days?
i took sunday totally off, am crossing training today and wed, then doing 4 miles on tues and thurs
My fave “beast” of the moment is this:
Cabbage, arugula, green onions, shredded carrot, black beans or edamame, peanuts & faux chicken breast sliced up with a dressing made of almond butter & rice vinegar…yummies!!
That salad just looks delish! Glad you’re getting good weather where you are.
Gosh I love so many salads but I think my favorite combo would have to be greens, pear, walnuts or hazelnuts, red onion and poppyseed dressing. I made a raw poppyseed dressing yesterday that was to die for!
that salad looks awesome!!!