Mango, Avocado & Chicken Cobb Salad

Summer has officially begun. 

I hope you all enjoyed your three day weekend. I'm sure it was full of parties, festivals, grilling out and hopefully some rest somewhere in between.

The husband and I stayed close to home and did none of the above, lol.  We went to the movies and saw The Hangover 2 (hilarious, just as good as the first one so we were pleasantly surprised), ate at Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand (cute concept, very tasty and extremely filling) and then did some home improvement stuff.  Well to be honest, he did the home improvement stuff and I read (finished this and started this).  I'm not really one for manual labor around the house but luckily, he knew that before we got married. Plus he does such a great job on his own (our deck now looks like a mini forest/summer oasis) I don't want to interrupt his flow.  Just like he loves to leave the kitchen to me.  Hey, we know what works for us.

Plus when he gets salads like this for lunch, any inkling of a desire to ask me to pick up a paintbrush diminishes. 

Let me tell you, that salad is just as tasty as it looks.  When I made this for our lunch last week, I asked him if his co-workers get lunch envy.  I know I would.

Since the weather is on full HOT mode and I'm sure you might be on meat and cook-out food overload, I thought this would be a good time to share this salad with you.  It is such a refreshing combination (similar to this) with the addition of diced mango and the creaminess of the avocado that your tastebuds will not get enough of it.  I made this for lunch two days in a row but then I had some leftover toppings so I made it with shrimp and Wow!...this salad is definitely a keeper. 

Mango, Avocado & Chicken Cobb Salad

Printable Recipe

1 head of sliced/chopped romaine lettuce

1 mango, peeled and diced

1 avocado, seeded, peeled and diced

1 granny smith apple, sliced

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, seasoned, oven baked or grilled and diced

dried cranberries

Simply vinaigrette or your favorite salad dressing

Arrange lettuce in a bowl or on a plate.  Arrange the remaining ingredients in sections on top of the salad.  Drizzle with your favorite salad dressing.  Enjoy

adapted from Simply Recipes

I'zzz Married Now!

The wait is finally over. Three weeks ago today, Mr. Foodie made me an honest woman and I can now proudly call myself Mrs. Foodie!!! YAY!!

We tied the knot two weeks ago and it was absolutely the most beautiful wedding (I'm sure every bride says that) and the happiest day of my life (I'm sure every bride says that too, but now its my turn).  I could not have asked for the day to go any better. We are both so grateful to all our friends and family that came from far and wide to celebrate with us.  The whole occasion was definitely one filled with love.

We are even more grateful that the incomparable Shawna Herring was able to come along and photograph the entire thing.  I really could go on and on about how much we loved our photographer. You can check out her work here and what she did for us here.  If you ever want an occasion captured on film, she is the person to call.  And she travels too, so no destination is too far.

After our nuptials and all that partying in Las Vegas, we went for complete R&R for our honeymoon and traveled to Belize.  We flew into Belize City and took a small, very small, charter plane to San Pedro, on a small island off of the coast.  After taking the first couple of days to catch up on our rest (much needed), we did a lot of eating and laying out by the pool.  So of course with this being a food blog and all, I can't go without sharing pics of the delicious food we had.  A mixture of Mexican and Caribbean cuisine with fresh seafood, we were in food heaven.

(top row: curried shrimp with rice and peas, chicken enchilada with black beans, pan seared salmon topped with shrimp served with rice and roasted Parmesan vegetables;  middle row: seafood papusas, rum punch, fish (grouper) fritters; bottom row: curried chicken with roasted potatos, shrimp tacos, margarita & belikin, locally brewed beer)

We are now back. Getting back into our routine and enjoying being husband and wife.  I'll admit that we are in newlywed bliss and I am loving it. 

But that also means that I am getting back into my kitchen to cook some fabulous meals for my husband. And the plus side to that is you get to reap the benefits because I will share them with you.  So make sure you follow the blog (look to the right hand side to subscribe), get signed up to receive them via email and share with your friends.  Mrs. Foodie is getting ready to burn!!

Showered with Love

Last weekend started my unofficial countdown to the Big Day.  I traveled to Los Angeles, my hometown, where some of my oldest and dearest friends threw my first Bridal Shower.  To say the sentiments felt at the shower were overwhelming would be a gross understatement. I'm not really an emotional person and my personality doesn't lend itself to being the center of attention; so this whole showering you and honoring you thing can really get to a person if you are not prepared.  And nothing could have prepared me for the thoughtfulness and creativity of my childhood friends.

The shower was held at Hipcooks, where we had a private cooking class.  Now tell me how perfect is that for a self-proclaimed foodie that loves to cook and landed her fiance' through her surprising cooking skills.

Needless to say, when I received the invitation a few weeks back I was very excited about it.  When I walked into the kitchen studio, I was even more blown away by the set-up.

the beautifully decorated dining table (the middle of the table is glass, simply gorgeous!) to feast on our freshly prepared meal

and the instruction area where we did food prep

But tears came to my eyes and I completely succumb to my emotions when my dear friends insisted I open this one gift before we got started.

please excuse the "ugly" cry

a little blurry but you get the idea

Mrs. Foodie!!!! How could I not cry at this.  Not only am I about to become the Mrs. Foodie to my Mr. Foodie but I was just so touched at my friends attention to detail and getting me...knowing me.  I'm getting all emotional just coming up with the words to write about this so I'll stop and get on to the class and the food.

The class was so much fun.  There were only a handful of us and our mothers.  We have all known each other for a very, very long time so it was definitely like family getting together.  Our instructor and her sous chef were very patient because we were a pretty difficult group to maintain some sort of control over.  The mothers and myself were probably the only ones who were into the class and trying to learn something. 

Everyone else, not so much.  God bless them, they were all so busy taking pictures, drinking wine and washing their hands. A requirement of the class was that you need to wash your hands every time you touched something that was not food related so needless to say, they spent a lot of time at the kitchen sink.

On the menu: New Potato, Green Bean, Basil and Pine Nut Salad (not pictured), Moroccan Chicken with Pearl Barley and Warm Chocolate Tartlets with Raspberry Cream for dessert.

After the cooking, it was time to eat and the fun continued at the dining table.  We were such a talkative bunch, going through multiple bottles of wine.  And when everyone began sharing memories of when we met, those pesky emotions started up again. They have all warned me that I need to get all the crying out now, before the wedding, so I can actually make it through the day.

But on this day, I just felt so much love and such gratitude for the people in my life.

All in all, it was a wonderful shower.  Good times were had, memories were made, great food was consumed and we all got a few recipes out of it.  Although I am a little curious to see how many of my friends will actually use them...heehee.

Oh! Of course I didn't forget my readers.  I've shared one of them with you guys too ;)

Mango & Avocado Salad

 

This was the perfect weekend to make this delightful salad for Pretty Mommy's lighter and brighter recipe exchange.  The weather in Atlanta was absolutely gorgeous, low 70's. Perfect for this California transplant.  I  could not wait to sit outside and soak up all the vitamin D I could get. Can you tell that I am just a little anxious for Spring and so over old man Winter :)

I first tried this salad almost one year ago when Mr. Foodie and I went on a raw foods diet for 1 week.  Mr. Foodie had just purchased the breville juicer and we were very excited to juice that we pushed ourselves one step further and said we would try a raw foods diet.  Being that I am what some would describe as skinny (I prefer the term thin) and very conscious about not losing weight, I was intrigued by the challenge but fearful that I might lose a few pounds too many.  

Then there was the little problem of what we would actually eat. I didn't just want to have apples, oranges and bananas, although there was plenty of each throughout the week.  I knew I needed to keep the meals fun and fresh everyday if we weren't going to succumb to the desires of having a typical, cooked meal.  I scoured the internet and found a ton of recipes using raw fruits and vegetables to create various salad combination's. And this was by far our favorite.

An unlikely pair at first glance, the creamy avocado pairs wonderfully with the sweet mango. Then the fresh pop of citrus from the lime juice plays well with the cilantro, all leading up to one A-maz-ing salad. So, even though this is not much of a recipe, I'm sure it's a dish you might not have come up with on your own.

Try it. Enjoy it. I promise that you will.  I'm going to sit over here and hope I can enjoy more of these Spring like weekends before Spring actually starts.

Welcome Back + Baked Mushroom Linguine

Hello there blogosphere! Are you there? It's me Passion Foodie.

It has been way too long since my last post.  And I absolutely have no good reason except pure lack of motivation.  Yea, I've been somewhat busy.  But that's not even an excuse and something I'm sure you don't want to hear.  Because we are all busy.  And this is supposed to be my outlet.  A chance for me, to share with you, what's been going on in my kitchen. 

So since we have established a friendship, albeit I have not done my part in the past couple of months, I feel comfortable in being completely honest with you.  There hasn't been a whole lot going on in my kitchen.  I have tried a few new dishes, cooked Thanksgiving dinner again and also participated in a few Bobby Flay style Throwdowns at work (I've currently won 1 out of 3 and I'm not settling for this record at all). But the one thing I haven't been doing is taking pictures.  And you know pictures are such an integral part of any food blog.  Well at least this blog.

But this is a new year, another fresh start (lest I remind you I've had a "break" before) and I'm ready to get back to it, if you guys will have me.  I don't want to make too many lofty promises since I still have a wedding to finish planning in the next few months (April will be here before we know it). But I can promise no more 3 month breaks. As one of my besties likes to tell me, "those cupcakes are very stale by now".  Gotta love friends.

So I'm going to get back in the groove with this Baked Mushroom Linguine.

If you love mushrooms, as Mr. Foodie does, this is the perfect dish for you.  I will warn you, this is not a quick, weeknight meal.  Think of it more like a Sunday dinner where you may have a little more time to spend preparing the dish.  It is a generous serving so you will have plenty leftovers for lunch and dinner and it is oh so tasty