The Recipe Redux: Summer Currant salad with Honey Balsamic Vinagrette

This month's Recipe Redux theme was "Beat the Summer Heat with No Cook Meals."  This is right up my alley because lately I just haven't wanted to use my oven.  In fact, I re-named our toaster oven the "roaster oven" because I've been using it to roast vegetables instead of using the big oven.
Using the big oven turns our apartment into more of a furnace than it already it. It's a pretty good compromise because it uses less energy to heat it up, and it doesn't affect the temperature in the kitchen as much as the oven does.

This recipe challenge takes it one step further, and doesn't require any cooking at all!  Just a few chops here, a few grates there, and a whisking at the end to make the dressing.  Simple as that!


Salad Ingredients:
Baby Spinach
Walnut nuggets
Red Currants
Cucumber
Carrots
Purple Bell Pepper

Dressing:
Olive Oil
Honey Dijon Mustard
Balsamic Vinegar

Directions:

Wash all veggies and spinach

Chop up the veggies into desired sizes
(I use a cheese grater for the carrot slices)
Remove red currants from stems and sprinkle over the salad

To make the dressing:
Combine 2 tbsp Honey Dijon with 2 tbsp Olive oil, and 2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
Whisk together

Pour dressing over salad and enjoy!

This was a fun salad to make (and eat) because it's so colorful.  I love the purple bell peppers I got from my CSA, and the red currants are a flavorful addition to the salad.

Red Sox Game & Exciting News!

Yesterday I was having a little bit of a rough morning.  You know...just one of those days, and just when I thought things couldn't get worse, everything got better!  I had two awesome things happen to me in a span of 5 minutes.

1.  My friend Katie texted me that she had Red Sox tickets for the game that night and invited me to go!

--------and then---------

2.  I checked my email and found out I was a finalist in the Wild Harvest Breakfast recipe contest! My recipe was selected to be a top 5 finalist.

I was so happy!  It just reminded me that good things do happen, and to never let anything get you down too much, because you never know what awesome opportunity is waiting just around the corner!  :)  Your luck can turn around in an instant!  (p.s.  positive thoughts rock, and I know that was corny)

I quickly showered and went back into the city to meet my friend.  For me, Red Sox games mean Fenway franks and soft serve in a mini helmet.  No trip to Fenway is complete without them!  Although this is my favorite food option at the game, they recently added some healthier choices, which I think is awesome!  You can read about them here: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/blog/dailydose/2011/04/healthier_eats.html

Since I'm just not a sports person, I rarely watch what's going on in the game and just go for the atmosphere and the food.  I still love going to games, and always have a good time, especially with friends!

Katie, Me, Melissa

This game happened to be really boring, and I'm not just saying that because I don't like watching sports! Only one run was scored.  I think we lost, but I can't be sure because I left halfway through the 9th inning to try and beat the rush to the t.

Such a fun night!  I love doing things on week nights just to make the week go by faster


Now on to the #2 exciting thing.  I can't believe my messy falling-apart omelette was selected!
Ahhhh!  I'm actually kinda embarrased that this picture is up on the website for everyone to see:

Can you even call that an omlette??  Oh well, I guess it's the taste that counts!
I've never come this close to winning a contest in my life, so this is a really big deal to me, especially since the prize is so sweet:

"The winning breakfast will be announced on August 18th, and served at HLS. The recipe creator will receive a $500 gift card to use at any SUPERVALU store, including Albertsons, JEWEL-OSCO, Shaw’s, ACME, Farm Fresh, Cub Foods, SHOPPERS, Shop ‘n Save and Hornbacher’s."

The other finalists are:

Black Bean Quiche with Mango Peach Salsa by Kristin of FoodFash

Cherry Vanilla Granola Muffins by Alicia of The Wannabe Foodie

Greek inspired Egg Scramble by Kelly of Cupcake Kelly

Trail Mix Pancakes with Peanut Butter Maple Sauce by Heather of Then Heather Said

I wanna say "Good Luck" to all the finalists!!!  I can't wait to see who wins!



P.S.  Don't forgot to enter my giveaway for the Maggiano's Gift Certificate, I'll pick a winner on Monday. :)