I was feeling adventurous this week and tried out this spicy shrimp & blueberry salad.
I will say, it is one of the most beautiful salads I’ve made in a while. So colorful!
On the actual taste front, though, I’d just say it’s so-so. The variety of herbs in this salad is lovely, but it’s still missing something… I can’t quite put my finger on it. Well, actually I can. The recipe says “jalepeno-orange dressing,” but there are zero jalepenos in the ingredients list.
The second time I tried this salad, I added a sprinkle of sunflower seeds and a big squirt of lemon to boost the texture and flavor. Much better. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
4.5 out of 5 stars to B Too, a new spot in the U St./14th St. area. 
It’s a Belgian place that has lots of deep-fried goodies, and, of course, waffles. And beer. I took off half a star because the service was sort of slow and like a true critic, I never give anything 5 stars.
The décor is pretty typical for that part of town — cozy and hip with a big ole’ bar.
Perfect for happy hour! My friend Jessie and I spent quite some time gabbing and drinking there.
Side note: I am doing my own hair for the wedding and am working on my French braid skills. It is a serious arm workout!
Speaking of workout: Just some boring gym stuff on the menu today… but in running news I decided at 5 a.m. this morning to register for this half marathon. 13.1 miles through Amish country, complete with horse and buggy? Doesn’t get better than that.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
- Salad recommendations? I always like to try new mixes!
- In your town, what are typical happy hour hours/prices? (In DC most spots keep happy hour prices until 6:30 or 7 and a happy hour beer costs about $4-$5.)
- What race(s) are you training for right now?
Of interest:
- Greatist: 13 unexpected ways to fit cardio into your routine
- Runner’s World: BAA hopeful about bigger 2014 Boston Marathon
- Washington Post: Take a stroll down the new 14th St. (related: PopVille’s photos of U St. from 1991)
minutes per mile 
I’m training for the Philly Rock-n-Roll right now. 🙂 You’ll be in my area when you do the Amish Country race!
woohoo! can’t wait to explore the beauty of Amish land. good luck with your training!
– Salads: I love antipasta salads, Greek salads, and Garbage Salads – where you pretty much take left overs and put them on top of veggies.
– Happy Hour in Manassas VA seems to last pretty much forever – which is nice. The bars around here have deals that go from 5pm – 9pm most nights, but if you’ve been there the entire time they tend to charge you the happy hour prices long after the time frame is over. Winning!
– Races: I have a lot this fall – Potomac River Running Perfect 10 Miler, Wilson Bridge Half marathon, MCM 10K just to name a few.
garbage salads FTW.. i need to go to manassas! man, wilson bridge and potomac river races look good but i checked and they’re during my wedding/honeymoon time! 🙂 i’ll cheer you on from mexico. i am scared of MCM. it’s just so big. i’d much rather go to amish country and lace up my sneaks with a small group of crazies.
I studied for a a few months in Brussels, Belgium a few years ago and I can defnitely say that their food and beer is some of the BEST in the world. I will eat at any restaurant that markets itself as Belgium cuisine!! I hope it lived up to “Belgium” expectations 🙂
we did try some (double deep-fried) chips which were really good. so cool to see waffles everywhere. i’ll have to go back for authentic belgian food — what would you recommend? i’ve never really had belgian food
Love the buggy! Looks like a fun race. I live in a college town so there are quite a few places you can get pitchers of margaritas for $6 during happy hour. And my fab college bar had 10$ all you can drink every Friday til 1am. I think we all know why that was my favorite bar.
wow, that sounds dangerous! btw your little thumbnail picture is super cute. i am going to try and incorporate a cupcake into mine ASAP
What a beautiful salad!! The Amish country half sounds so fun!!! There are definitely areas they could have that in Minnesota!!