Robert H. Treman State Park

This past Saturday, Jared and I decided to explore Robert H. Treman State Park in Ithaca, NY. Neither of us had been there before and I have to say it's my new favorite park. Check out Jared's post on it here for more details of what we did and saw, including waterfalls, hiking, and swimming.

To fuel our journey into the wilderness I prepared a picnic lunch of a roasted beet salad and chicken salad with rice crisps. Jared supplied a delicious berry smoothie for dessert.

The Roasted Beet Salad was inspired by this post on 125.msn.ca (my ultimate blog/girl crush, Liz let's be BFFs, mkay?). Below is my take on it:

For this salad you will need to roast some beets (not as hard as you may think). As your beets are roasting, saute some rinsed chickpeas with sliced vadalia onions on medium heat. When the onions are softened and translucent, add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (be careful because it may spit) and cook with the chickpeas and onions for a minute more. Set aside and let cool. Once the beets are cooked and peeled, cut into bite-sized chunks and let cool. In a jar or bowl (we used mason jars for portability) layer spinach, crunchy bean sprouts, the cooked chickpea and onion mixture, and top with the beets. Drizzle on a little EVOO and a dash more of balsamic vinegar if your heart desires. When you're ready to eat, simply shake the jar up and eat directly out of the container or on paper plates (remember NY state parks are "carry in, carry out").

Mandy's Summer Chicken Salad

 

Shred 1 lb of pre-cooked chicken breast (or buy a roasted chicken from the supermarket, that works really well too) and set in a bowl. Add in 3/4 cup of sour cream (or Greek yogurt for less fat and more protein) and 1/2 cup mayonnaise, mix well with the shredded chicken until thoroughly combined. Then add in  1 & 1/2 tsp of dried thyme, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp dried oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix together and serve on crackers or sliced cucumber rounds! Super duper easy. I like simple flavors in my chicken salad, but feel free to tweak this recipe with different kinds and quantities of herbs.

Some photos from our hike that same afternoon. 

 Jared nom nom noming on all of the yummy food.

 So we've hiked trails all over the Finger Lakes and we have never seen any snakes on any of those hikes before, but yesterday we saw 3! Eeeekkk!

What is your favorite thing to make for a picnic? And what is one of your favorite hiking trails?