Avacados are yummmm

Note: I will post details later but if I don't go to sleep now, I feel like my my body will kill me. It's just one of those weeks...

http://www.wholeliving.com/recipe/quinoa-and-corn-salad-with-pumpkin-seeds?backto=true

Recipe

Ingredients

 Serves 4

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, thoroughly rinsed and drained (about 4 Cups cooked)
• 2 ears corn, kernels cut from cob
• 1 medium red pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and diced
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Sea salt
• 1 medium head red-leaf lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried, small inner leaves reserved for future use
• 2 ripe medium tomatoes, cored and cut in thin wedges
• 1 ripe avocado, pitted and thinly sliced
• 1 lime, cut in wedges
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

Directions

1. Bring 2 3/4 cups water to boil in a small saucepan and stir in the quinoa and some salt. Return to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat, place corn kernels on top of quinoa, cover pan, and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir corn into quinoa, remove from pan, and spread out on baking sheet to cool for about 20 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, cumin, chili powder, garlic, oil, and salt to taste; set aside.
3. Place cooled quinoa and corn, red pepper, cucumber, scallions, jalapeno, and cilantro in large bowl. Add 1/2 cup dressing (or more to taste) and salt to taste; mix until combined.
4. Place large lettuce leaves side by side in a circle around a large serving platter so the curly tops extend just beyond the platter rim. Mound quinoa salad in center.
5. Arrange tomato, avocado, and lime around quinoa on top of leaves. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds over salad. Serve immediately or hold briefly at room temperature. Per serving: 643 calories; 17 g protein; 34 g fat; 76 g carb; 13 g fiber.

Read more at Wholeliving.com: Quinoa and Corn Salad with Pumpkin Seeds

West coast best coast, east coast beast coast

It is currently 19 degrees, feels like 10 degrees in New York City. At my home in LA it is 57 degrees, feels like 57 degrees. It is moments like this when I wonder what in the world I was thinking moving so far east to the frigid temperatures, snow storms and, yes, wintry mix.

Today, I was in the mood from some good old fashioned California food. And, as always, Martha had just the thing - West Coast Grilled Vegetable Pizza. Nothing like an avocado to bring me back to the warmth and comfort of home.

The result was delicious and satisfying, as well as simple to make. I stuck some pizza crust into the oven and baked it for a bit and then took it out and added sliced goat cheese (so fantastic!), plum tomatoes, and scallions. I burnt the bottom of the pizza, again... I really need to figure out how to prevent this from happening!

Once the pizza cooked a bit, I then chopped up some avocado and mixed it with spinach and vinegar (I used balsamic, although Martha recommended red wine). The avocados here on in NY are not nearly as good as the fantastic, right-off-the-branch avocados in California. This, compounded by the fact that my avocado wasn't completely ripe, was slightly disappointing.

Despite all these factors, and the fact that I didn't actually grill the pizza, it was still amazing and something I'll definitely make again!