Roasted Balsamic Strawberries and a Crostini

Seriously, strawberries are everywhere I look right now. I see them at the farmer's market, the grocery store, and there is even a guy at the corner of our street selling the heck out of some strawberries. They are in full season here in the Bay, and I am loving every. single. minute. of this season. How can I resist these beautiful things. Plus, at $6 for 3 pints, there is no way you can keep me from them. I am always adding one to my cart, going back to the farmer's market one last time before it closes, and pulling over to the side of the road on my way home from work. I just give in every single time I see them. 

It kinda sounds like I am addicted or something. Like strawberries are my crack. Whoa.

Hello, my name is Erica...

No, but really, all last week I made my Strawberry Kale Salad for my lunches. This week, I went a little over board and decided to go wild and roast them. Crazy, right?!

The roasting pushed the flavor over the edge! It's so juicy, savory, with the natural sweetness is still fully intact. I want to put these suckers on EVERYTHING!

So grab 2 pints, and let's do this!

Wash them all clean and towel dry them off.

Cut off the stems and quarter them up.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, maple syrup, balsamic, and salt. Love my reflection in the oil too.

Add the cut up strawberries to the balsamic mixture and toss to combine. Then spread them all out pretty on a baking sheet.

Then we roast!

AH-mazing.

Eat by the spoonful or grab a crusty vessel. 

Roasted Balsamic Strawberries
Makes about 1 cup // Adapted from Super Natural Everyday by Heidi Swanson
2 pints of strawberries, rinsed, stemmed, and quartered
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, olive oil, vinegar, and sea salt. Add the prepared strawberries to the vinegar mixture and toss to coat. Transfer the strawberries to the prepare baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Check at 35 minutes and keep cooking until everything is bubbly and caramelized, but not burnt.



What else should you do with these beauties...

Roasted Strawberry and Goat Cheese Crostini
1 loaf of crusty bread, cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 tsp olive oil
1-2 ounces of soft style goat cheese
roasted strawberries

Slather olive oil of the bread pieces and bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for about 5 minutes or until toasted. Watch carefully as it can burn easily. Spread desired amount of goat cheese on the toast and top with roasted strawberries.

I also topped my Sunday morning pancakes with them. I plan to add them to my greek yogurt in Monday. Maybe ice cream Tuesday?

The possibilities seem endless. 

Cheers,

Erica

Strawberry Avocado Kale Salad

Did I tell you my high school reunion is in June? It's been 10 years already. And what a 10 years it has been! Lots of life has happened between then and now. College, jobs, marriages, some people have had babies - multiple babies!

Honestly, at first, I really didn't want to go to this thing. Then somehow, that turned into me being on the planning committee. What?! I know! Seriously though, if I am going to this thing, I am at least going to have a say in how its done.

To tell you the truth, I don't think people really care about reunions any more. I mean, with Facebook and all people feel like they already know what's going on in each other's lives, that's the vibe I am getting at least. I kinda feel the same way. But as it gets closer, I have to admit, I am getting pretty excited. There are some people I haven't seen in so long and Facebook just doesn't compare to hugs and laughs and reminiscing in person. Plus, this reunion makes a really good excuse to book a plane ticket to Florida and drink catch up with everyone. I'll get to go to the (warm) beach (ek, that means a bathing suit) and go to Publix for a Pub Sub! I really can't wait for that...oh, and sweet tea!

So right now, I am preparing. Like I said, I haven't seen some people in years, so I gotta look my best. I'm a girl - we think about these things. I am doing my best to not let my exercising slack. And I'm eating salads. Lots of salads. I mean, I gotta look good for this shin dig. Plus, I haven't posted shared a salad recipe in a while. Or talked about kale in at least 6 weeks. It's overdue.

This salad is perfect for this time of year. Fresh kale and juicy strawberries. And avocado. Of course, avocado. The dressing is so simple you should everything you need right in your kitchen.

Strawberry Avocado Kale Salad
Serves 1
1 healthy handful of dino kale
1/4 cup of fresh chopped strawberries
2 teaspoons of crumbled goat cheese
2 tablespoons of chickpeas
1 tablespoon toasted/roasted sunflower seeds*
1/4 of an avocado to top

For the dressing:
The juice from 1 lemon
drizzle of honey (about 1/2 teaspoon - adjust to your taste)
1 teaspoon olive oil

Wash and de-stem your kale and tear into bit size pieces. Place kale in a bowl and squeeze lemon juice on top, drizzle honey, and pour the olive oil over it all. Massage the kale with your hands so it is evenly coated. Add the strawberries, chickpeas, and sunflower seeds and mix it all together. Top with the goat cheese and avocado. Season with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper and enjoy!

*If you only have raw sunflower seeds, you can easily roast them in a shallow pan on the stove top. Simple add you desired amount and cook over medium heat for about 5-8 minutes. Watch carefully and stir often. They can burn fast.

Ugh, I can't believe I am going to have to get into a bathing suit in 5 weeks. I may have nightmares about this...

Cheers,

Erica

April Adventures

Started April out right. Banana Flax Whole Wheat Waffles. With a hunk of butter.

I did a little organizing with washi tape! I love buying from the bulk bins.

I'm getting good at Sunday Food Prep and menu planning.

Went to a running vigil for Boston.

Lunch break shadows in a bamboo forest at work.

We took a trip down to San Leando to Drake's. Love that place.

I had a training in Oakland last week and stop by Farley's for a latte. Such a great way to start a Wednesday.

Signed up for Birch Box. Gonna get my beauty on. That nail polish is supposed to change colors in the sun! The things they can do these days, I tell ya.

My green thumb turned black. Fail on the lettuce.

I'm a little obsessed with breakfast. This one in particular.

The husband and I making our Triple Berry Sorbet! Its gone now...but it will be made again. Soon. And please excuse the laundry on the ground in the back.

My old girl watching over everything.

Now for some link love from this month...

Dr. Richard Kimble: This chicken killed my wife! - this chicken is crazy.

13 life changing Bay Area Bloggers. I just added a bunch to my feeder!

New spin on a birthday cake. Mine's in November if any one is interested....

Phone tips for long distance friendships.

I am buying flowers weekly as a treat to myself. Found this for some new tips on arrangements.

New ways to eat your pizza.

Thug Kitchen. Ah-mazing haha. Warning - graphic language, like sailor language.

Drinking around Berkeley. Can't wait to get to some of these.

Nipple balm for your lips. Hmm...

And this last thing...laughed out loud to this video.

Off to May we go!!

Erica

Triple Berry Sorbet

I've been a little MIA from the blog lately. Boston happened, which left me in shape to be talking great food. I was enmeshed in reading Dances with Dragons, which is 1040 pages! (just finished by the way - oh my god, I can't wait until the next book comes out!) On top of that, my allergies have been debilitating these past two weeks. I mean, seriously, enough is enough. Shouldn't I be used to all these Californian pollens or whatever by now? Ugh. It feels like I have a cold without the body aches. Which isn't that bad I guess. Who am I kidding, having a cold or flu is way worse than allergies, but this is straight up annoying. I've been on four or five different pills to try and suppress the congestion, watering eyes and itchy ears. Some make me feel like I'm on crack, at least what I think it might feel like to be on crack. Some make me feel drunk and loopy. It's not pretty people.

And I feel like every time I get a stuffy nose I can't taste anything. But the one good thing about my allergies is that I didn't loose my taste buds at all! So even though I feel like sh*t, I am grateful I can still enjoy food.

Since I have all the buds intact, we made sorbet!

Thoughts for Boston

Abbie and I started this blog to share our adventures. To both of us, running plays a big part in our lives.  Abbie taught me how to run back in college when I could barely run for a minute straight. I ran her first marathon with her back in October. She taught me what the Boston Marathon was all about and since then it's been on my "to do" list. 

I've had this post pending for the past couple of days. I continue to be unable to accurately write all the things I've been feeling.  This is all so unbelievable to me right now.

Every day I talk to the patients and families I work with who are experiencing trauma or are terminally ill. We talk a lot about the roller coaster of emotions that we go through during life's changing events and this week I've experienced that roller coaster first hand. Boston is such an iconic and important race in the running community: It is a goal every runner has on their race bucket list. And even though I wasn't in Boston this week running that marathon, this has hit my heart so hard. 

I am a runner, a spectator, a supporter, a marathoner. I have friends and family members who are all of those as well.  There is no other feeling in the world like seeing your husband, family, friends, and complete strangers along the course calling out your name, bib number, shirt color, or saying "hey girl in the skirt, you're almost there", giving you exactly what you need in that moment to get to the next mile. And there is nothing in the world like the feeling of passing the finish line after running 26.2 miles. 

Running and its community means to much to me and has been such a big part of my life, even more so since I moved to California. As runners, we meet new people in new cities. We make life long friends talking about the most random things. We cheer on our friends, we cheer on strangers, we train long and hard in all sorts of weather. We are called crazy. We are called inspiring. We are called strong.

Sometimes we run for solace, sometimes we run to be together. It is a safe place for us to go when we need it most.

This event has affected me so much more than I anticipated. It has rocked my tiny little safe world and hit closer to home than I had expected. Monday, I was in shock. Tuesday I was angry and confused. Now, I'm just asking why. Why would someone do this?

Despite all of the emotion, the thought of not running another race is unthinkable. As soon as I got home on Monday, I put on my running shoes. Tuesday I wore my blue and gold to work and went for a run that evening. I've looked back at the photos of my old races and the amazing memories they each hold. Tomorrow will come and I will run again. I will train harder. I will put even more passion into this sport. I will go to my next race and it will be very different, but that finish line will mean so much more. I won't stop.

Throughout the past few days, I've read a lot of great stories and blogs posts about the running community, the selfless acts people did to help one another, and all the support going out to the spectators, runners, and city of Boston. I'm amazed and so proud to be a small part of this very large group. 

If you want to help but don't know where to start, please check out Laura's post from yesterday. She has a list of different ways you can contribute and donate.

Now, like I asked on Monday, any one have good race suggestion for me? I've been itching to train for another marathon...

Erica