Have you ever had a portobello burger before? Probably.

But have you ever had a cayenne portobello burger with herbed goat cheese?

Ohhh my goodness. There’s really nothing like it.

I have a lot of firsthand experience with portobello burgers and sandwiches that are pretty “meh.” Ordering one at a restaurant really seems to be a toss-up: it’s either mind-blowingly delicious or flavorless and underwhelming. Well, I have the antidote to flavorless and underwhelming: cayenne + goat cheese.

Not too much of either (although I think we could debate the assumption that such a thing as too much goat cheese is possible) – just enough for a spicy, tangy, melt-in-your-mouth amazing portobello burger. Pair that with fragrant thyme and peppery arugula, and you just might have the best burger ever.

Oh yeah, on an English muffin bun! That has somehow become my favorite way to eat a burger. Make sure to try it if you never have!

If goat cheese isn’t your thing, I don’t understand. BUT you can leave it out, and the same goes for the arugula. The yogurt sauce and cayenne are flavorful enough to still satisfy.

You can make these on the grill, but as I’ve mentioned before on here, I don’t own one. Don’t judge! I may cave and buy a small one this summer, but first I really want to figure out whether we’re staying in our current apartment next year or not. In the meantime, they are delicious in the oven. Either works!

This post is mostly to let you know how lazy I’ve been lately.

Although I’ve somehow managed to continue making food for the blog, the same has not been true for, say, Tuesday night dinners. Too tired, too busy, too nice out, not enough food in the house – I have all the excuses. There has been a lot of pasta and salad around here.

Luckily, we like pasta and salad. But every once in a while, I need to change up my go-to lazy dinner recipe. Enter tortilla pizzas!

Tortilla pizzas are great because they are quick and easy, personal-sized, and totally customizable.

That means that what we have here is not really a recipe, but more of an idea for what to make next time it’s 6 pm and you’re rifling listlessly through the contents of your fridge.

My favorite homemade pizzas usually involve pesto, goat cheese, parmesan cheese, and a few more veggies. For this one, I sauteed up some sliced mushrooms and onions. BUT you could just as easily do raw veggies – I’ve also made it with thinly sliced red pepper and onion, or handfuls of torn kale on top. Empty out that crisper!

And if pesto isn’t your thing, feel free to swap it out for tomato sauce or some olive oil and garlic.

For as lazy of a meal as this is, I actually look forward to serving and eating it. It’s comfort food, but it’s just a tortilla – I think that makes it a health food. That’s the best kind of lazy meal there is!

I don’t mean to alarm you, but that’s not chocolate I poured on my ice cream.

It’s vinegar.

A balsamic vinegar reduction, to be exact.

And you know what? It tastes way better than chocolate with this sundae.

And that’s me saying that. This girl.

Strawberries + basil + balsamic vinegar is one of my faaaavorite summertime combinations. I’ve gushed about the individual components before, and already given you both a strawberry recipe and a basil recipe in the past week alone. Even so, it’s taking all my self-restraint not to bombard you with all the different ways you can combine strawberries, basil, and balsamic now that the first two are finally in season. Pizza! Quesadillas! Smoothies! There, I did it anyway. But I’ll keep it to this one recipe for now, because this sundae… it’s my favorite.

This is by far the most adult ice cream sundae you’ve ever eaten. You might be a little skeptical before you dig in – I’ve been there – but once you do, there is no going back. Juicy strawberries, tangy balsamic, fresh basil, creamy vanilla ice cream… it may sound like the weirdest possible thing to call dessert, but trust me: It’s a good idea.

Don’t be put off by the fact that this calls for a balsamic reduction. A balsamic reduction is simply balsamic vinegar that has been simmered until a lot of the liquid has cooked off. It is sweeter and almost syrupy, while still a bit tangy. You can buy it by the bottle (I’ve seen it at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s), but you can also make it with almost zero effort.  Just simmer 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar on low heat until it is syrupy and reduced to about 1/3 of its original volume. Easily multiplied if you’re making more than one sundae!

I recommend serving this for dessert the next time you have dinner guests. First of all, your friends will be impressed with your creativity and mature tastes. Second, everyone likes strawberries and ice cream, and those who aren’t willing to take the balsamic leap with you can enjoy theirs plain. And last but never least by my standards, it is incredibly easy. All the parts can be prepared ahead of time and then assembled by each person into their own sundae.

So… would you care for some vinegar on your ice cream?

I am loving the quesadilla thing recently.

Hot, crispy, cheesy, and bursting with flavor.

And how could you not love an easy meal that takes 10 minutes to get to your plate?

That’s right, you couldn’t.

Sometimes I want a quesadilla loaded down with nothing but cheese. But often, especially this time of year, I’d rather prepare something with light, fresh flavors instead of such heavy ones. 

So I was very pleased when the lovely folks at The Laughing Cow offered to send me a few of their cheeses to try out. Yum! Just the thing I had in mind. One wedge was perfect for holding a quesadilla together, making it creamy and delicious, but still qualifying it as a light dinner.

I’ve been experimenting with several different quesadilla combinations using Laughing Cow spreads. I have yet to go wrong, but I think this one is my favorite! I chose the queso fresco and chipotle spread because I wanted the Southwestern flavors, but it would also be delicious with the regular Swiss spread. The cheese itself is not too spicy, don’t worry – although you certainly can add some extra chipotle heat, like I did.

I’ve eaten this quesadilla for both breakfast and dinner – the type of meal you know I’ve been loving lately. Perfect with a spread of salsa and sprinkle of some extra cilantro.

Thanks to the Laughing Cow for generously providing the cheese and inspiration for this quesadilla.

Now get on it. This is yours in 10 minutes!

Oh hello. I am currently in the air on my way from North Carolina to Salt Lake. I was supposed to make the trip last night, but there were flight delays. I got dropped off at the airport in North Carolina yesterday and then had to have my sister come back to the airport and get me… and then drive me back again at 4 AM. BOOOO! That was not the plan. Grumpy traveler over here!

Anyway, let’s talk basil pesto! Fresh basil is tied with strawberries for my favorite summertime produce. I wait all year for it, and when June rolls around and I finally get my hands on some, I make as much pesto as possible.

If I’m lucky, I can buy a 4-oz container of basil at my grocery store for $4.99. I do a happy dance every time I see that big container of basil! Just on the inside, though. I already look like enough of a crazy person in the store – I consistently grocery shop either 1) right after working out, 2) when ravenously hungry, or 3) both – so I don’t need to be seen doing a disco in the produce section.

Last year I tried to grow my own basil, but it turns out I’m not a very good plant mom. (I knew this.) I don’t think my poor basil plant lasted a week. When it wasn’t doing well inside, I decided to put it outside “in its natural environment” where it would obviously thrive. Suffice it to say that the basil plant’s “natural environment” is not 98 degree dry heat with no water. Sorry, little baby basil plant. I never did get to eat any of your leaves.

My sister Caitlin, on the other hand, is a great plant mom. Her basil plant is taking over, along with mint, parsley, jalapenos, etc. She got the green thumb, I think! My sisters and I made pesto together on Friday and it was deeelicious. There’s not much better than fresh-picked basil, if you can get it.

This pesto is vegan! Can you believe it? And, to answer the obvious question: Yes, you can kind of tell it has no cheese in it. It’s not oily like some other pestos. Instead, it’s lightened up, using nutritional yeast and chickpeas (of all things) to get a cheesy, savory flavor without the parmesan. It still has that amazing fresh basil, though, as well as parsley, olive oil and walnuts, for a close approximation of your Italian grandma’s pesto. It’s delicious, and if you just want a liiiittle cheese in your meal, you can always sprinkle a bit of parmesan on top.

We enjoy this pesto on pasta when it’s fresh, and the leftovers make their way onto pizzas or sandwiches. It also freezes well for those long months without fresh basil, if you can make it last that long!

You may know that I like to roast things and put them in tacos. But did you know that you can roast radishes?

Beautiful red radishes are just overflowing the shelves at my supermarket, and I can’t resist picking some up whenever I walk by.

I always buy the organic ones – I find them much more flavorful than conventionally grown. (I am usually lured by the low prices of conventional produce, so I only buy organic when it’s cheaper or when I can really taste the difference. Radishes are a prime example!)

I love peppery raw radishes in salads, but I also love their mellowed-out taste when roasted. They lose most of the bite that turns so many people off from them, and instead are sweet and tender with a softer crunch. Try them out on the radish-hater in your life (ahem, Nate); I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I mean, who could resist this little taco rainbow?

Roasted radishes are the perfect addition to the chickpeas in these tacos. Especially with the hard shells, they are crispy and crunchy, yet still juicy. Some cilantro-lime yogurt adds a little zing, making them taste very fresh, indeed.

To make these completely vegan, simply take the avocado off the top and substitute it for the Greek yogurt. Some sort of sauce to hold the chickpeas in place and add moisture is necessary, but it doesn’t have to be yogurt if you’re dairy-free.

This recipe can be scaled up or down very easily, depending on how many you’re feeding. Roasted radishes and chickpeas are not the best leftover, though, so I recommend only making enough to eat in one sitting.

In other news, I am flying out to North Carolina today to spend the weekend with my sisters! They both live there, less than 90 minutes away from each other, and I often wonder why I’m all the way out here across the country. I haven’t seen them in months… it is always too long. Who knew adult life would be like that? I’m very much looking forward to some quality sister time.

I hope you have a great and summery weekend, and most importantly, that it involves tacos!

Yes, yes, a recipe for water. But one that I promise is worth your while.

Despite using no fruits or vegetables in Monday’s recipe, I really have been enjoying summer produce. Strawberries are right up there with brownies on my list of favorite foods, actually.

And also up there on my list of most beautiful foods. Please excuse the dozens and dozens of photos that I am cramming into this post… I just can’t help myself.

So, strawberry spa water. I first learned about it during a fitness bootcamp at the Canyons Resort a few years ago. Some co-workers and I were getting our butts kicked by a crazy woman named Helen, who to date is still one of the fittest and also most enthusiastic people I’ve ever met. (I guess that’s how you get to be a fitness instructor.) She warned us, “You’ll be thinking of me this weekend!” And it was true… as I had to use my arms to lower myself down into every chair I wanted to sit in, I definitely thought of Helen… and cursed her name.

As a side note, there are only a few times in recent memory that my quads have been that sore. Besides Helen’s bootcamp, the others have been 1) after my half marathon last fall and 2) the past few days. That 5 miles of downhill on Saturday absolutely tore up my quads, as I knew it would. I was walking veeeery stiffly and Sunday and Monday, and going down stairs has been a struggle! And that whole lowering myself down into the chair thing… embarrassing.

But back to bootcamp: When we weren’t having words of encouragement shouted at us as we sweated through Helen’s circuit workout, we were allowed to relax in the Canyons spa. One of the things they provided was a big pitcher of ice water and strawberries. Like squeezing lemon into your water, only with berries! I remember thinking how luxurious it felt to drink, because at home I could never bring myself to use up a whole container of strawberries on some water.

Then last week, strawberries went on sale for $0.99. And I thought, hmmm, maybe I actually could do that.

That’s one of my favorite things about all berries – that when they’re cheapest is also when they’re best. I can’t think of too many other things in life with such a convenient supply curve.

Speaking of which, I purchased the “berry lovers’ add-on” for our CSA this summer, and am eagerly awaiting our first basket. (The growing season in Utah is pretty late, so our CSA doesn’t begin til early July.) This is my first time doing a CSA, so I don’t really know what to expect… but I do think you will see a lot of frantic attempts around here to use up produce during the months of July to September! Although Nate and I are such berry monsters that I can’t really imagine a scenario where we have too many berries on our hands. I am daring our CSA to prove me wrong!

Anyway, back to this water. It’s quite easy to make (as you might expect, given that it’s a recipe for water). Simply cut up some berries, add water, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Then add ice and enjoy!

As far as timing, I recommend refrigerating the water and strawberries for between 6 and 24 hours. The batch you see here was in my fridge for more than 48 hours, which is why the water is so bright pink (and also why the strawberries in the pitcher are so waterlogged). I wish I could say that I did that on purpose for the beautiful color, but the reality is that we had torrential downpours for two days straight and I couldn’t take a decent picture to save my life. I learned that waterlogged strawberries don’t look very appetizing, so I recommend 24 hours max. The color will be a little less pronounced, but it will still look pretty!

And as a bonus, eating the strawberry slices out of your glass is encouraged.

Don’t expect this to taste like lemonade or a cocktail, though. It’s not sweet at all. Think the strawberry equivalent of adding a splash of lemon to your water, like I mentioned above. Light, refreshing, and chock full of antioxidants.

This would be great to serve at a brunch or baby shower, or simply to keep a pitcher of in the fridge when strawberries are on sale.

Well, now that I’ve shown you more pictures of strawberries and water than you thought was humanly possible, you should go make this yourself. Just $0.99 of berries will make you feel like you’re relaxing in your own home spa… butt-kicking bootcamp workout completely optional.

You know you’re a crazy person when you sign up for a race called “Crack of Dawn.”

Yet that’s exactly the race I found myself running this weekend: the Crack of Dawn 8K, an all-downhill road race starting at 6 AM.

I regretted this decision slightly when my alarm went off at 4:00 on Saturday morning.

Buuut it was all good after that. It depends on the day, of course, but I’m pretty good at early wake-ups. I brewed myself some French press coffee, laced up my sneaks, and even ran the dishwasher before leaving the house at 4:30. That’s true adulthood right there.

This race was in Millcreek Canyon in Salt Lake, home to one of my favorite running trails, Pipeline. But this wasn’t a trail race; it started at the top of the canyon road and ran all the way down, finishing in the parking lot at the bottom.

Downhill races seem to be big here in Utah, where we have lots of canyons that you can run down (or up!) for miles. They even have down-canyon marathons and half marathons! I’ve avoided them because they seem like a bad idea with my history of knee injury. But naturally, since I made it my goal not to injure myself this year, it seemed like a great time to try one out. Right. My friend Jacquey convinced me to sign up… but to be fair, it didn’t take too much convincing.

Anyway, we picked up our numbers around 5 AM and got up to the start around 5:15 or 5:30. (Thanks to Jacquey’s brother for the early ride!) It was cooold up there! A 6 AM start means that the sky was just barely getting light when we started (hence the whole “crack of dawn” thing). To add to that, the air is always cooler up in the canyons, with all the trees and extra altitude. We were chilly!

The race started without much warning, since it was chip timed, and you could basically start whenever you wanted. I thought it was odd to chip time a race with only about 200 runners, but whatever. Accurate timing is never a bad thing, so no complaints.

I didn’t really have a goal for this race. I had no idea what to expect for a time given the downhill, so I figured I would just let my legs roll me down at a comfortable pace. Jacquey took off fast from the start, but I didn’t even try to keep up. I know she is speedy! I just stayed at a comfortable pace and let go as much as possible on the steeper downhills. As you might expect, the downhill was pretty hard on the legs, but easy on the lungs. I tried to enjoy the beautiful canyon and cool air as I made my way down the road. The first time we came around a corner and had a view down into the Salt Lake Valley, which was already bathed in sunlight, it was breathtakingly beautiful! I always wish I had my camera during runs for moments like that. But really there’s only so long I can focus on anything outside of my body during a race. So mainly I enjoyed the feeling of going pretty fast without having to work too hard for it.

My mile splits were:

Mile 1: 7:05

Mile 2: 6:58

Mile 3: 6:25

Mile 4: 6:41

Mile 5: 7:00

Last .07: 0:35

The last half mile, the only flat part, was where I slowed up. Just a little reality check that I cannot run that fast on a flat surface.

The raced ended up being a little longer than 8K, about 5.07 miles. At the finish line my watch showed 34:45, but my final chip time was 34:40. That’s a 6:50 pace – crazy! Again, due solely to the downhill course, but I’ll take it. Jacquey finished 100 yards or so ahead of me. I could see her the last 2 miles of the race, but of course I couldn’t catch her!

All the runners looked noticeably happier and warmer after the race. And also more awake!

Once we finished, we relaxed a bit and cooled down. My quads cramped up immediately! Just in case I start to think of running one of those down-canyon half marathons… please remind me that I will have quad cramps the last 8 miles. OK, thanks.

On the bright side, I think my knee was totally fine! It felt a little stiff after I finished, but I chalk that up to running fast in the cold, something that usually bothers it. Knock on wood, but I think I ended my downhill race injury-free. Woo hoo!

When we got back from our cool-down jog, they were just about to start the awards ceremony. I was surprised that this small race would be the type of thing to give out awards. And I was really surprised that Jacquey and I had placed first and second in our age group!

We look really thrilled, but actually we are just cracking up that we somehow won our age group. Let’s just say that the “crack of dawn” tagline didn’t attract too many speedy 20-29-year-olds.

There was a lot of confusion about the awards, and the winning female wasn’t even included in the results sent out after the race. So much for chip timing! So there’s a slight chance we received those medals mistakenly. It doesn’t really matter, though, since I’m very happy with my time… and I have the medal no matter what, muahaha.

Anyway, that’s it – a fun and speedy early-morning run! I’m totally adding my medal to our “trophy room,” a.k.a. the dresser in our guest room where Nate’s impressive stash of running awards is displayed. This is my second medal in there, the first being a finisher’s medal from Moab. Slowly but surely adding to the collection.

Have you ever run a downhill race… or one that started before the sun came up?

Chocolate and pretzels.

I’ve been craving pretzels with everything recently. Hummus, cheese, chocolate. (All the major food groups right there.) And just to prove that I am taking very seriously the tragic lack of brownies (my favorite food) on this site, I decided to bake some pretzels into a batch of them for you.

For you, for me… let’s not split hairs about who is benefiting from this recipe.

Definitely not Nate, because he’s been out of town for the past week. And with the apartment all to myself, clearly my priorities have been:

- Stealing the good pillow

- Watching The Bachelorette

- And eating brownies.

Girly things.

Girly things that it turns out should not be combined, because I was mid-chocolaty-chew during the Bachelorette season premier when Desiree began rollerblading down the boardwalk in her bathing suit, showing off her hot bod. New low point.

Despite that, I could not be more excited to share these brownies with you. I wish I could hand you one through the screen right now!

These are hands-down the most outrageous brownies I’ve ever made (and that is saying something). Outrageous as in dense, fudgy, intentionally underbaked perfection. More gooey chocolate than you ever thought could be crammed into a batch of anything. And a salty pretzel crunch with every bite. Brownie heaven for chocolate and pretzel lovers alike.

If you love the salty/sweet thing, I really can’t talk these brownies up enough. Heaven I tell you!

Oh, and the brownie batter? You already have the bag of pretzels out… they are just begging to be dipped in that batter. Make sure you get some chocolate chips in there. So addictively delicious.

A few tips to make sure your brownies end up as outrageous as possible:

- I recommend a 9×13-inch baking dish, although you can definitely use a 9×9 square if that’s all you have. Just keep in mind that the baking time will be a bit (10-ish minutes?) longer with the smaller dish, and you will get the edges more well-down in order to get the center to your desired done-ness. A deeper pan can get a bit messy if you’re going to intentionally underbake these as I’m recommending. Also, you can fit more pretzels on top if you use the larger dish!

- If at any point your pretzels look like they’re going to burn, you can tent the top with foil and continue baking. If the top of your oven tends to run hot, keep an eye on them.

- I do not recommend baking any pretzels into the brownies. They will get soggy.

- Also, the sooner you eat the brownies, the crunchier the pretzels on top will be. Just something to keep in mind.

- If your brownies are too underbaked to cut neatly when cooled, refrigerate them for an hour or so. They can be cut cold and then brought back up to room temperature before eating.

Now get to it!

Running early in the morning.

Being wicked strong thanks to t-shirts from Dad.

Breaking my faucet off while making a smoothie one morning. Howww does that happen? And yes… my kitchen can get a little grimy.

Relaxing in Cancun a.k.a. Humid Vegas.

Rejoicing over the price of strawberries.

Getting paid (a very small amount) to blog for the first time.

Loving this guy and stealing a kiss every chance I get!

Attending the most beautiful wedding ever.

And again, strawberries. More of those to come next week!

Have a great weekend and start to JUNE!