Moxy Thoughts

This week I had an incredible experience traveling in Northern California with new friends and discovering some really exciting parts of this state that I haven’t seen before.  After five years, I’m still amazed at all that this state has to offer, between the landscape, food and wine!  The Sonoma area is very well known for its wonderful Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, which make some of the world’s best wines and at last count has over 500 wineries.  It is a great region because it isn’t quite as fancy as the Napa Valley, but it certainly does have plenty of high end areas and places to eat and stay.  For me though, the best part of this region is the tiny wineries, local deli’s and amazing local families.

So back to my incredible day.  I was given the amazing opportunity to have lunch with a well known wine couple in the area at their home near Guerneville.  The property is gorgeous, but what really captured my imagination is their lovely garden.  They chose to grow their garden as both food and decoration.  The kale plants line the patio, the basil adorn the courtyard with fragrant leaves and the tomatoes make for a lovely picture outside their kitchen window.  As soon as I got there, the hosts handed me a basket and some garden shears and we went after cutting some of these amazing vegetables for our lunch, as well as the best take-out bag I’ve ever had the pleasure of taking.  So from this lovely inspiration, I’d like to share with you tonight’s healthy salad, picked fresh in Sonoma.  I hope you’ll enjoy this nutritious dinner, but also please share your versions or ideas, we’d love to try out all of your recipes.

Here’s to delicious eating filled with Moxy!