2 Below Salad

So I am going to write about the day I made this salad because I am a little behind and didn't write about it. The day before, I had planned to go "hard core hiking" with Taryn, my crazy varsity cross country friend. I was totally down for it because I didn't really feel like running that day and the weather was beautiful. When I woke up in the morning, I decided to look at the weather on my phone to see how much I should bundle up. To my pure amusement, it read -2 degrees (Fahrenheit). Not 2 degrees I beg you, -2 degrees. Gah! And the funny thing is, you would think that seeing that would make me want to call off the hike but it didn't. I still wanted to go. So I just bundled up and headed to the canyon. When we started hiking, I was warm, all but my nose. We made it a half mile up the canyon, which was actually a pretty steep incline ( or at least I felt like) and then we rested in a large, beautiful, snow covered meadow that overlooked the mouth of the canyon. We were really excited thinking we had gone at least two and half miles, but when we read the sign that we were only half a mile from the trail head, we kind of felt defeated. We were going to continue until we came to a mutual agreement that it was the last day of break, and we could work hard the following week. So we sat in the snow and talked for at least a good thirty minutes. Then that night, I made a salad because I was craving those little green things. Yup. You can say it, that word is allowed on my blog. VEGETABLES! Here is my "2 Below" salad appropriately named for the frigid cold. Just for your info, I could NOT feel my fingers after the hike. Note to self: gloves were invented for the use of smart people. Ok, here we go folks:



Ingredients

• 2 cups of spinach, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup of corn kernels
• 1/2 cup of black beans
• 1/2 small zucchini, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped

For dressing:

• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• salt & pepper to taste

In a large freezer bag combine chopped vegetables. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small dish. Pour the dressing into the large freezer bag. Shake it like a wild woman (or man)! Either serve right away or refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Bon Appetite! Or since this is more of a Mexican flavored dish,

¡Salud!