summer is for salads

i don't know if anyone else noticed, but we seem to be experiencing a heatwave. i drive to and from work and i can feel my shirt sticking to me and i know once i get out of the car i'll have that very embarrassing back sweat spot going on. 

it's too hot to bake let alone turn on the stove, so that's where salads come in. the one above was super quick and easy and required no stove or oven, just a knife and cutting board. you can jazz it up w/ your own favorite toppings

Tomato, Avocado and Bean Salad

Throw together grape tomatoes sliced in half, avocado, your favorite beans (or grilled chicken chopped up), onions, and lemon juice with salt and pepper. Toss together. I put it all on a bed of arugula and enjoyed it immensely at work!

some other recipes i'm eyeing if this heatwave continues:

• Santa Fe Tuna Salad
• Pesto Pasta Salad
• Arugula Salad with Lemon Parmesan Dressing
• Summer Bean Salads
• Tricolor Salad with Fresh Cheese and Honey-Lime Vinaigrette

Happy melting! (stay hydrated, hang out in my favorite place- the library for some a/c)

up to speed

it's hot in md. not sure how i feel about that. taught muscle works last night at CP as a spontaneous decision. boy, is it weird to teach not only able bodied people but also people who are used to physical activity so they pick up moves really quickly, which means i had to pull from everything i learned this summer and teach them every muscle group i remembered! i also stayed to take cardioboxing, after a summer of teaching to 130bpm going back to 136+ and doing burpees and pushups my body feels like it got the crap kicked out of it...so disappointing how quickly your body adapts, but i'll get back

lunch today! a day off (sort of, got a cakebite order to get done but pushing it off a bit...)
half a whole wheat pita
tuna salad made with yogurt, olive oil, capers, celery, and black pepper
carrot slaw tossed in my tamari ginger dressing with some parsley (that dressing needs to be used up!)
arugula salad w/ leftover tomato/feta/onion/yellow pepper salad

happy tummy!

cooking is still going strong (and i made chocolate hummus today! i want a vitamix, but that's a whole different story)

salmon cooking. oy vey. will not be doing again anytime soon. but i marinated it in a sort of take on the tamari-ginger recipe from gmfr. i didn't have quite the same ingredients so mine came out salty (note to self, apple cider vinegar is much more acidic/salty compared to rice wine vinegar). then a tomato feta and onion salad, with a mixed greens salad and quinoa cooked with garlic. yum! 

i also played with the chickpea saute from gmfr (getting a trend, haha) which i loved when i was there. i used kale instead of spinach (the frozen kale needs to go!) and i didn't have any tomatoes or lemon (i really really want some lemons in my life)

yesterday at the museum mikel paris from OAR wanted to do some acoustic recording in an old building so we closed up the car house for him. after he finished he asked what we were doing that night and that he would try to get us some tickets for his show at merriweather. and wha-la!

i took laura and we ended up about 7 rows from the mosh pit (felt very cool to go up to the will call box and say "sooyoung and guest")! first concert and got totally spoiled. they had this awesome brass section of three guys who mainly played trombone, tuba/trumpet, and saxophone/guitar. i didn't even realize how much of their music i knew, but it was def an awesome night.