This weekend was action packed with awesome sauce and awesome food to go with it. See this weekend, Dan and I got to finally celebrate the nuptials of two of our favorites. Favorite theater goers. Favorite animal advocates. Favorite bloggers. Favorite pitbull moms. Favorite vegans. Favorite friends. Favorite people. Favorite lesbians. All types of favorites going on here.
See we live in new York City where same sex marriage is legal* and a few months ago Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan finally made honest women out of each other and were married in a small – like 4 people** small civil ceremony. We had tea shortly after and Jasmin told me that they were thinking about maybe someday having a reception type of thing but was very noncommittal. That’s why when we were invited to a belated reception I admit the Italian mother in me was “It’s about time! What is this Braveheart? We’re all getting married secretly in the woods now? I wonder if I should bring a lemon cake.” and the Jewish mother in me was like “So what can I bring to feed everyone – besides the lemon cake? People can’t live on cake** you crazy Italian.”
Marisa Miller-Wolfson, you might remember her from her guest post for us but more likely you know her from her film Vegucated, hosted the event and they really only had one party request: Bring something healthy to eat. So no cake.
Jasmin and Mariann eat healthier than anyone I’ve ever met anyways and honestly I’ve known a lot of healthy vegans over the years – so this request kinda freaked me out. I get kinda a bad rap for focusing my recipes on flavor with the added benefits of being healthier than their meaty and cheezy peers. For some that’s just not good enough. Oh well – can’t please everyone all the time but this time I really wanted to bring something these two lovely ladies who have done so much for others would enjoy.
That’s when I remembered seeing a recipe for Strawberry Summer Fantastic Something ****and began tinkering. Thus this recipe was born. There are a few slight changes but the spirit of Betty’s original salad is intact I think. The first draft of this recipe we made for the party had kiwi fruit in it but today when I went to make this for the photos – well our kiwis were past their prime so I left them out. The real stars of this salad is the strawberries anyways. They’re in season now and pretty remarkable containers of rosy little organic gems are coming into NYC from Jersey as I type this. I think using a orange, agave & mustard dressing instead of a balsamic vinaigrette also helps this salad stand out a bit more.
Today I wanted to post this easy, tasty, passed the test at the healthy vegan potluck recipe so you can share in the happiness Jasmin & Mariann have found and we all deserve – no matter who we love.
Strawberry Salad
1/2 Cup Raw Jicama, peeled and cubed
3 Kiwi Fruit, peeled and sliced – optional
1 1/2 Cups Raw Strawberries, de-stemmed and halved
3/4 Cup Black Seedless Grapes, halved
1/4 Cup Fresh Mint Leaves, torn
4-6 Cups Raw Baby Spinach Leaves
Orange, Agave & Mustard Dressing
3 Tablespoons Agave Nectar
3 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard, little less if you like things sweeter
3 Tablespoons Orange Juice, the real kind with pulp not Sunny D
In a small bowl, whisk together all your Dressing ingredients and put in the fridge to both chill and mingle for about 20 minutes like a movie star.
Once your dressing is chill, toss all your salad ingredients in a large bowl and then drizzle your dressing over the top.
Enjoy cold with some sparkling water or wine with someone you love.
*Yippee!
**Our Wedding was about $6,000 and had like 90 people and I thought it was delightfully tiny but those overachieving hens totally out did us.
***Well we could and what a probably short but sweetly, sugar-coated life it would be.
****Not actual title.
Pretty simple... Come with us if you want to live. 
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“I get kinda a bad rap for focusing my recipes on flavor with the added benefits of being healthier than their meaty and cheezy peers. For some that’s just not good enough. ”
Yeah… I saw the reviews on Amazon.com. No fear! I gave you a splendiferous review myself. I’m tickled to be trying out your recipes. I own a copious amount of cookbooks and I feel pretty “meh” about the new stuff coming down the pike… Your book actually inspired me not only to eat vegan (not just veg) but to actually create my own delicacies (I almost left my husband last night for my vegan curry!).
No worries, friends. Your recipes are fried gold.