I’m itching for spring, but in Portland, we’ve got more snow in the forecast! Can we not??

Today I got back from almost a week in NYC – I went to a conference and had the best time kicking around the city in between learning! There’s an amazing exhibit on the history of protest going on at the Whitney Museum right now — if you have a chance, you absolutely must see it. I also snuck over to the MoMA for their free Friday, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a dense collection of masterpieces, holy cow. And finally, my colleague and I got last-minute tickets to see “Hello, Dolly” – Bernadette Peters is starring in the role right now (as of a couple of days ago) and she was AMAZING. The theater was completely electric. It was so fun.

And of course, I ate great food while I was there, and drank some amazing cocktails of course. I had some return trips to favorites Amor y Amargo, the NoMad Bar and Death & Company. To close out our week, my colleague and I had milkshakes from Milk Bar for dinner. It was the first night of the entire time we were in our rooms by 9 p.m.

Now that I’m home, I couldn’t be happier to make a meal at home. I’m actually still trying to decide what to make for dinner tonight, but I’m excited to be home making fresh food in my kitchen. It’s been almost a week since I used a knife or washed a dish, which is *really* unusual for me! If I know myself and my husband, our dinner will probably not be too far from this Winter Rainbow Salad.

It’s got a little bit of everything: whole grains, tasty veggies and a zippy, spicy jalapeno yogurt sauce that I think is about to become my go-to. When I made this, I had meal-prepped the barley and the butternut squash on Sunday, so heating them up and tossing this little salad together was easy peasy. You can also use whatever grain you like or have cooked – doesn’t need to be barley! My gluten free friends can totally use rice or quinoa as well.

Ingredients

• 3 cups your favorite greens
• 1/2 cup shredded red cabbage
• 1 carrot, shaved
• 1 cup roasted butternut squash*
• 1/4 cup cooked grains
• 1 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds
• 1 Tangerine
• For the dressing:
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup mint leaves
• 1 jalapeño or serrano
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• pinch of salt.
• *To roast butternut squash, toss cubed, peeled squash with olive oil and salt. Roast at 450 for about 20 minutes or until fork tender. Keeps well.

Instructions

1. Blend yogurt, cilantro, mint, pepper, garlic and salt in a food processor until dressing is light green and any leftover bits of herbs are small
2. Toss all other ingredients together and drizzle with dressing.