Spring Salads with Melissa’s Produce!

Spring Salads with Melissa’s Produce!

By Erin

Spring is here! Which means time for lots of fun, delicious colorful salads using Melissa’s Produce! Check out these tasty salads that are so easy to make! Melissa’s Produce provided all of these beautiful fruits and veggies to help us celebrate the start of spring! Happy Spring!

This one is a fun spring treat! A fruity rainbow complete with marshmallow clouds. Yum!

A Rainbow of Fruit

*You can use as much or as little fruit as you want, depending on how large a rainbow/how many people you want to be able to feed with it*

What you need:

RED–1 carton strawberries–chopped up
ORANGE–5 Ojai Pixie Tangerines–peeled and separated
YELLOW–1 pineapple cut up
GREEN–green grapes–however many needed to fill in for your green part of the rainbow
BLUE— 6oz carton blueberries–however many you need to fill in the blue portion of your rainbow
PURPLE–red grapes–however many needed for the purple portion of the rainbow
CLOUDS–Marshmallows–make your clouds as fluffy as you like.

Arrange fruit in a rainbow shape in the above order and ENJOY!

Rainbow Chicken Salad 

What you need:

*baby arugula

*strawberries cut up

*raspberries

*grilled chicken, cut up (about a pound for 4 people)

*1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

*1 avocado, chopped

* fresh blue berries

*purple cabbage, cored and finely chopped

*your favorite salad dressing

*Layer the ingredients in order on your serving plate as listed above. Starting with the baby arugula cover the plate with the arugula then layer the strawberries and raspberries together for the red, then add the chicken, the yellow bell pepper,  avocado, blue berries, and cabbage. Top with your favorite salad dressing and enjoy!

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Sharky’s Woodfired Mexican Grill: Feel Good About Eating @SharkysSocial

Sharky’s Woodfired Mexican Grill: Feel Good About Eating

By Erin

Have you been to Sharky’s yet? Sharky’s Woodfired Mexican Grill recently opened its 22nd restaurant in Northridge. At Sharky’s they are all about using innovative and creative recipes and using local, natural and organic ingredients. Their passion for the variety of flavors of Mexico and using organic and natural foods is evident in every bite. I was invited to attend a media lunch sponsored by Sharky’s Woodfired Mexican Grill in Northridge. I made the trek up the 405 to come here from Long Beach, that’s how good it is.

Sharkys-Exterior

Sharky’s is a fresh & modern, fast casual restaurant that serves Mexican cuisine that wants to make you “feel good about eating” again. The visual appearance is also appealing and welcoming. With a sky-high, sloping roofline and outdoor patio with comfortable seating and a communal firepit that is perfect for people watching or to spend time with family and friends.

Sharkys-Feel Good About Eating

The second you step into Sharky’s, you will notice the open and welcoming space. With 20-foot ceilings, cozy booths, a dining bar with prime TV viewing, or a community table, you have many seating options depending on your needs on any particular visit. The Northridge location is at the corner of Nordhoff & Reseda Blvd and is within walking distance from Cal State Northridge. I can totally see this place being packed by students either waiting for classes to start, taking a lunch or dinner break, or after classes to relax and hang-out. I know I would be making this my go-to spot if I were a student at CSUN or worked super close by!
Sharky's Salsa Bar

A couple other things you will notice; the fresh salsa bar and the beautiful bar which serves craft beers, Sangria & kombucha. I loved the Sangria, look at all of the fruit inside!

Sharkys-Sangria

Who would of thought that kombucha would be served at a bar at a Mexican restaurant? The Kombucha has been a successful addition according to David Goldstein, who is Sharky’s COO. I chose to stick with my fruity sangria though. 😛

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Making a Yoghurt Sundae Bar!

Making a Yoghurt Sundae Bar!

By Erin

 

It’s not a new concept by any means, but making one of these is just so fun and simple that I wanted to share this with you. Wether you make one just for yourself, friends or family, it’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser as everyone gets to make their own and top their creations with their favorite toppings. For my Yoghurt Sundae Bar, I used my favorite kind of yoghurt, Mountain High.

MOUNTAIN-HIGH-US

Yogurt Sundae Bar.

I brought mine to life at home over Memorial Day Weekend as a dessert after having a BBQ. You could make one of these any day of the week though, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert. It is a lot of fun to dress it up a bit for a holiday get together and it is so simple and easy, just use what you already have.

Did I say that it was easy yet? All you need is a handful of toppings, which you probably already have in your pantry, and a tub of plain or vanilla yoghurt.  I recommend using Mountain High Yoghurt because it’s thicker and easy to mix with all of your mix-in toppings.

Mountain-High-Sundae

1. BEGIN by getting out as many toppings as you wish and place them in small serving dishes or bowls along with a small spoon for each topping, or however you wish to set it up: (Some suggestions are)

*Fresh berries and other fruits that are in season

*Dried Fruits like cranberries, bananas, raisins, or apricots

*Nuts such as almonds, pecans, or peanuts

*Seeds such as Chia seeds, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds

*Chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate chips; I used some dark chocolate coconut slivers and those tasted amazing in my sundae!

*Mini Oreos

*Gummy bears or Gummy Worms

*Granola

*Honey, Sprinkles, Cinnamon, or other spices and syrups you enjoy.

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