eat your greens challenge (a.k.a. the smoothie salad)

For breakfast I ate a deconstructed smoothie.

Let me explain.

At the same time I wrote an awesome post about green smoothies, ma amie naturelle wrote to challenge me to eat my greens instead of drinking them like a wimp, disguising their raw-green-plant-ness with frozen bananas and soy milk.

The purpose of her challenge is to bring people together to change the world! OK, well… you can read about it here.

Personally, to prove I’m not a wimp and that I do enjoy greens enough to eat them un-blended, I accepted the challenge (after much back-talk). So, I made a salad. (Yes, for breakfast.)

But I was inspired to make it even more challenging! My twist?

Everything in the salad is something I’ve actually put into a smoothie.

I’ve drank some weird stuff, guys.

leafy greens: chopped romaine + baby spinach
fruit: a handle of quartered strawberries, 1/4 cubed avocado, chopped carrot matchsticks
toppings: sprinkle of sesame seeds, a handful of crushed walnuts, 2 tsp. ground flaxseed
dressing—

Ginger Tahini Lime Dressing

1/2-1 Tbsp. tahini (depending on how strong you want it)
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp. plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. water
1 tsp. raw honey
2 tsp. hemp protein powder (more green goodness)
ginger, to taste
sprinkle of cinnamon (for smoothie reminiscence)
sprinkle of turmeric (for fun)

Whisk everything together in a small bowl. (I have this awesome mini-whisk… OK, I’m a sucker for kitchen tools.)

served with milk – you can pretend that its one of the good smoothie liquids

Trust me. It’s actually a pretty good salad. I decided a couple days ago that I don’t like baby spinach salads, but I was just using up the rest of the bag here.

Maybe I should’ve thrown some ice on there…

This got my creative juices flowing!

Other ideas

• leafy greens: anything goes… kale, chard…

• fruit: cubed baked sweet potato, chopped apple, a handful of blueberries, fried or baked plantain slices (bananas are an all-important part of smoothies!), mandarin orange slices, dried fruit (cranberries, figs, raisins)…
• nuts and seeds: almond slices, pepitas, sunflower seeds, pistachios, poppy seeds, hazelnuts, cashews, pecans, etc.

• dressings: berry vinaigrette

You could even theme your salads! Any ideas? What do you put in smoothies? Would you put those same ingredients in a salad? Would you eat that salad for breakfast?

PS – There was a glitch for entering the Manna giveaway at first, but I fixed it! Don’t forget to enter!

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The way food should be.

Erin’s Restaurant review

Because I celebrated my birthday at Erin’s Restaurant with my parents, this is really part of the “Best Birthday” series (see some of my previous posts about my birthday: March 20, “waking up” and a track meet – how did I manage to drag it out so much?)

Erin’s Restaurant is a unique dining experience located in Rock Hill, South Carolina. They are committed to fresh, local, and organic ingredients, thus, the menu changes each week, depending on season and availability.

The building is a bagel and coffee shop by day, but they convert it, bringing out three long tables, fully set with eclectic china and three forks! I love the china mix-and-match.

We arrived at 6:00 on the dot, and they brought out the first course soon after.
This was the menu for March 19, 20, and 21— (click on pictures for larger size)

Pear Salad                          //                      Mozzarella Salad

My favorite: Thai cucumber salad. I hope more Thai food is in my future!

The salads were delicious; the cucumber salad really stood out. Next up:

Roasted carrots and roasted sweet potatoes with peanuts

I ate way more sweet potatoes than that little slice! The tops were caramelized and the peanuts were the perfect pairing. I love roasted veggies!

Ziti with marinara

Marinara is a favorite of mine—this was delicious!

At this point they served some type of fish and some meat (which my parents loved), along with some gravy and…

Mashed goat cheese + potatoes (with skin!)

I don’t love mashed potatoes, but these were good. I love skin and big chunks of potato. The chèvre (goat cheese) is from Bosky Acres in Waxhaw.

Time for dessert!

 Baked apples and pineapple upside-down cake

I loved the cake – you can’t beat homemade, complete with fresh pineapple!
The apples (which were served with a cream sauce) were very much too sweet for me, but my parents liked them.

Tea (and coffee) time!

Overall Experience

My parents and I really enjoyed this restaurant. Typically, I never eat out because of the lack of quality or real food. I think many Americans don’t even know what real food is. However, Erin’s provides gourmet meals made fresh in the kitchen, based on the creativity of the owner and her sous chefs.

My one complaint is the speed. They serve dinner at 6 and 8 pm, so in order to get everything cleared and re-set for the 8 o’clock group, I felt like they made our meal too hasty. The atmosphere and style of dining imply leisurely eating, but this food was almost thrust upon us before we were ready.

However, this restaurant has earned my applause—for their food, and what their food represents: local farmers and growers, food and cooking traditions, and basically, real food. Thanks, Erin!

This content was originally published on the blog Unusual Passions by Alisha Newton.

Lentil Salad

Yesterday I went on a short, fast run, powered by a lunch including LENTILS (lentil salad, and that banana with Nutella)!

Lentils, a staple in India, are a great replacement for meat because they contain many of the same nutrients—and they are healthier! One cup of cooked lentils has 18 grams of protein, 16 g fiber (63% RDA), 6.6 g iron (36.6%), and is also very high in phosphorus, folate, molybdenum, thiamine, copper, and manganese. Iron and protein and B vitamins are all nutrients that people think vegetarians don’t consume enough, but don’t worry—lentils are here!

I was introduced to lentils in the form of Health Valley Lentil Soup, a no-salt-added canned soup, which means I always throw in 1/2 tsp. of Creole seasoning!

When I bought dry garbanzo beans (chickpeas) to make cheaper hummus with, I also bought some brown lentils, determined to make my own lentil soup.

However, when I looked for a lentil soup recipe using hearty brown lentils, the only recipes I could find called for red lentils! So, I made this “Warm Lentil Salad” from Alton Brown instead.

Lentil Salad

adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients:
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves (I used dried)
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves (I had to omit)
1 recipe basic cooked lentils, see recipe below

Directions:
Whisk the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, salt, pepper, parsley and thyme together in mixing bowl. Add the warm lentils and stir to combine. Serve over greens, at any temperature you like – I prefer them cold!

Cooked Lentils

Ingredients:
1 pound brown or green lentils, about 2 1/2 cups
1 small onion, halved (I had to use dried onion flakes – not very appetizing, but has the onion flavor)
1 large clove garlic, halved
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Pick over the lentils, rinse and drain. Place the lentils along with the onion, garlic, bay leaf, and salt into a large saucepan and cover with water by 1 to 2  inches. Place over high heat and bring just to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Drain any remaining liquid (or save it—the water contains nutrients!) and discard the onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Stir in black pepper and taste for salt.

lentil salad over chopped romaine and tomato

It made a lot, so I will be bringing this to school for days to come. The finished lentils are very versatile – think: over rice or quinoa or couscous, in a wrap, in a salad like the meal above… mmm!

Ingredients: