A SPRING PICNIC

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Remember that picnic essentials board I put together a few weeks back?  Well here’s the real life incarnation of it!  There are a few minor changes, but it’s close and just as tasty as I imagined it would be!  After the jump I’ve got details on all that we ate, including a recipe for a lentil salad that is TO DIE FOR.  Happy Spring picnic-ing everyone!


This post is sponsored by San Pellegrino. Practice the Art of Fine Food, every time you can.

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Here are the components of this picnic:  a baguette with roasted garlic hummus, a lentil salad, sweet potato gnocchi with pesto, an arugula salad with preserved lemons, dried fruits, nuts and San Pellegrino sparkling water.  Simple, delicious, wholesome food that tastes even better when eaten outdoors!  We packed it all in these amazing bento boxes and loaded it all into this darling picnic basket.  I opted to bring these enamel plates instead of the compostable plates for an even more planet friendly picnic!

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ASPARAGUS AND SWEET POTATO HASH WITH CHIMICHURRI

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I almost didn’t share this recipe today because that plate looks like a messy mess.  But I guess that’s what hash IS.  And it’s so damn delicious that I felt keeping it from you would be a crime!  That mess of green on top of the other mess of green- that’s chimichurri.  And if you’ve never had it, or you’ve only had it on steak, I think this is your chance to start a love affair with chimichurri.  On vegetables.  Because that’s where I think it really shines. And by shines I of course mean looks like a pile of green mess but tastes like it was whipped up by a kitchen genius!  It’s so simple to throw together and I’d eat it on pretty much any veggie, so you can bet if you come to my house from this day forward you’ll probably find a bowl of it prepped in my refrigerator.  And all of this is not to downplay the fact that asparagus and sweet potato hash is kind of amazing- it’s just to say that chimichurri steals the show .  Kind of like Jennifer Lawrence.  That’s correct, chimichurri is the Jennifer Lawrence of my breakfast.  I’ll leave you with that to chew on.  xx- Sarah

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SPICY POTATO WEDGES WITH LIME DIPPING SAUCE

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I have a confession- Lou and I ate these, exclusively, for dinner the other night.  A meal comprised almost entirely of potato.  I’m sure that’s a crime in some households but in ours it’s cause for a celebration!  I was so happy, there’s something wickedly decadent about sitting down to a giant plate of potato wedges and being all “OK dinner, let’s do this!”  I should say this might not satisfy some of you as the star if your meal, in which case these can be enjoyed alongside some other vegetables or whatever else you may like.  But if you’re looking for a meal to make you feel like a kid with fancy tastes- I offer you these.  Hope you love!  xx-  Sarah

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MY PERFECT GUACAMOLE

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I debated about sharing a guacamole recipe because it seems like it’s such a simple thing to make, and my version really doesn’t have anything out of the ordinary.  But I’ve eaten enough mediocre guacamole at restaurants to realize that maybe there IS a need.  NO ONE SHOULD SUFFER MEDIOCRE GUACAMOLE!  And if I can save one person from a life  of mediocre guacamole, this post will have served it’s purpose.  But now things seem to have taken a turn and it’s become a HOW MANY TIMES CAN SHE WRITE GUACAMOLE situation.  So I’ll leave you to it, a no-fail exceptional guacamole recipe!  xx- Sarah

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CHICKPEA CAKELETS WITH HARISSA AIOLI

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I should tell you right up front that I’m a little spastically excited about today’s post!  Not because these chickpea cakelets are ridiculously awesome (they are) but because my amazing programmer and super hero designer Aileen have been working non-stop to update the site and now it has magical powers!  I switched over from Squarespace to WordPress and couldn’t be more thrilled with the change, it’s night and day for user experience and we’ve been able to add functions that I’ve been coveting forever!  So, spend a little minute poking around and definitely click through to see the rest of this post and the new features that will allow you to PRINT AND SAVE RECIPES!  It’s bananas good.  My other favorite new feature is the stacked commenting which will allow me to reply directly to your comments and the whole platform makes it SO much easier for me to keep up and respond to comments that you leave on older posts.  So I’m especially excited about that!!!!  Hope you love!  xx- Sarah

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ROASTED POTATO AND PAPRIKA CHICKPEA SALAD

Throw-together salads that have protein, something warm + hearty (helllooo roasted potatoes, I love you!) and a homemade dressing are my savior at the moment.  This is a meal that can be prepped in under 10 minutes and on the dinner table in under 40.  And don’t we all need that some most days?  YES!  So as to not waste any more of your minutes with my blabbering on, I leave you to it.  Enjoy!  xx- Sarah {more after the jump}

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