Summerish

Feeling summerish in Boston (finally)!

So, a few weekends ago, I went to the Taste of Hingham on the South Shore of Boston and had a beet salad that I just had to imitate:

2 cans of beets, walnuts, pea shoots, goat cheese and a splash of pomegranate vinegar

Close up of the pea shoots- a new find at Trader Joe's

Perfect for this salad because they were so delicate and had a nice mild flavor. 

Probably good for you in many ways.

The finished product. 

Not all of my recreations turn out well, but this one did nicely. 

And it was very summerish and healthy.

So did you catch that part about the pomegranate vinegar? I have discovered a love for specialty vinegars (and oils) because they add such a nice touch to anything, and with vinegars, hardly add any fat or calories. I received a nice olive oil, lemon olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar for Christmas, but I just ran out--and I'm hooked on the stuff. So, I took a little trip to O&Co with my friend Justine to taste and buy some new goodies. Justine and I loved sampling all the different flavors (fig, pomegranate, and mint were some of the most interesting), although we did have a bit of sticker shock. 

This is called "the good stuff" in my house, and it just takes a salad up to a whole new level.

I also bought the Honey Ginger vinegar, and it made my asian salad dressing AMAZING (I mixed it with freshly chopped garlic, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and a splash of soy sauce). I'm happy I bought them, but I think I am going to try to make my own in the future by experimenting with mixing different vinegars with juice, because that's basically what the ingredients are.

Okay other good stuff: This is awesome, because I love carrot cake in any/all form(s).

 Carrot cake oatmeal:

1/4 c oats

1/2 banana

handful of shredded carrots

1/4 c frozen pineapple

a little milk if you'd like to thicken it up

Topped with:

1/3 c cottage cheese mixed with 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup

Half of a crumbled Flax Bran Muffins (thanks for the awesome recipe tip, Nat!!)

Puddin' Pops:

Vanilla Instant Puddin

Fresh berries

Patience (about 4 hrs worth)

Simple and good summer treat--and only about 35 calories each. Next time I'm going to add more berries and try to spread the pudding out into 2 trays, because the berries were that good. I might try chocolate pudding with almonds next, yum.