This salad, oh em geeee, this salad.  Not only does it go perfectly with my Christmas-themed tablescape (weirdo-alert), but it is packed full of everything you need, as well as some of my favorite ingredients.  We’ve got a superfood, healthy carbs, fresh veggies, calcium, protein and flavor for days.  This would be a great lunch, light dinner OR you could pair it with a small skirt steak (like we did tonight) for an extra punch of protein.

You could probably do this with regular mozzarella, but then you’ll miss the creamy goodness that burrata provides.  If you’ve never had burrata before – it’s a fresh mozzerella with a mix of cream and mozzerella in the middle.  It’s like what Maya says, “When you know better, you do better.”  So now that you know better… try some burrata.

I think I’m in the running for worst blogger this month.  I’ve gotta say, this has been one of the more hectic months this year, between weddings and parents – I feel like I’ve left Lemons&Lunges at the firehouse in a basket.  If you’re still with me, I promise to buy you a pony for Christmas.

Since I’ve been soooo out of the loop, I thought it might be easier to catch-up with some photos and the recipe I made for Adam’s parents the first night of their visit – Caprese Salmon with Kale Pesto over a Spring Rice.  His stepmom is a FANTASTIC cook, so the pressure was on.  And this one’s a keeper – rave reviews all around.

So here goes:

First, I started out the month getting down and dirty at the Del Mar Mud Run.  It was so fun and so disgusting.  I managed to come up injury-free and repped Team Lemons&Lunges with pride! (I’m probably going to get arrested for this copyrighted photo – but i can’t find it anywhere.)

Then, Adam and I were off to Orlando for my friend’s wedding.  And… we forgot sunglasses:

When in Orlando, you MUST get $25 8.x10 photos of yourselves while doing sports on your birthday:

And then upgrade your rental from compact to convertible…(Only to find the convertible top does not go up, so you get refunded… but still have a GREAT time driving around like two gay men in a parade).

After the trip, it was back to San Diego.  Adam had to miss Dave Chappell (after buying tickets), so I scooped my friend Trish and off we went to a big night on the town.  When we were shown to our seats… in the last row,  I noticed my seat was a little askew, so I notified someone and BINGO, BANGO, BONGO…we were ushered to new seats a few rows from the front, with the security guards and the ushers.  We’re so “in”.  And then we almost got escorted out for taking this picture.

Lastly, our parents came and we did all kinds of touristy stuff – from the Midway (look how cute they all are – new BFF’s forever)…

To Mister A’s, a fantastic restaurant that sits on the circular top floor of the building, overlooking all of downtown San Diego, complete with planes flying in next to your dinner table.  (It’s the kind of place that frowns on someone flicking off a Southwest plane b/c it gives her memories of some bad experiences… but ya know that didn’t stop me.)

And more baseball than any girl should ever be subjected to – “Fear the Beard” – Go Sox!

And last but certainly not least, I knew my proudest moment had arrived when I went into a bathroom stall at a college bar and was face-to-face with myself.  Yep, these flyers for a Vavi (the Mud Run peeps) Halloween party are everywhere.  Bathroom stall status… I’ll never be president.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some good food for you mouth AND your skin

I’ve never met a skewer I didn’t love.  They are fun to put together, you can do most of the prep work ahead of time and you can get everyone involved in the party – “Stab Monkeys!  Stab!” I’m going to keep it pretty short and sweet tonight, Adam just got back from a business trip and I gotta get to catching up with him.  And reminding him why he loves me.  Exhibit A is below:

Sweet and Spicy Salmon Skewers

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. raw salmon, cut into 1.5 inch cubes
• 8 cherry tomatoes
• 1 large yellow pepper, cored; seeded and cut into 1 in pieces
• 1/2 onion, cut into 1 in pieces
• 4 wooden skewers

Marinade:

• 1 tsp each: cayenne pepper, sea salt, parsley
• 2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 TB light brown sugar
• 1 TB reduced-sugar ketchup

Directions:

Mix the marinade together and set aside.  Prepare all the vegetables and fish. Place all the ingredients (minus the skewers, duh.) in a gallon bag and shake that sucker up.  Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.  Preheat the oven to broil.

Cover broiler pan with foil and arrange skewers on top. Put in oven for approximately 3 min. Turn kabobs and broil for an additional 3 to 4 min or until salmon is no longer pink and veggies are well-browned

I added some delicious Baked Lemon and Thyme Mushrooms (Super easy and delicious!)