Fig salad with arugula, goat cheese and pickled onions

What do you the day before or the day of travel? I pack, water my plants, charge my computer, phone, camera, and clean out my fridge.

This Saturday I had a 5 pm flight to visit my family in Seattle: this meant breakfast and lunch at home.

For breakfast, I had coconut lentil soup with pickled onions: there was just enough soup leftover to make a small meal. Plus, it was already 11 am: I slept in "slightly" after a night of salsa dancing.

For lunch, I had something special in mind. It's a salad, but it's not your typical lettuce, tomato, cucumber salad.

This one has the sweetness of ripe figs, the mild flavor from the goat cheese, the bite from the arugula and the salty, vinegary crunch of pickled onions. Instead of salad dressing, just use a splash of olive oil and a drizzle of your best balsamic vinegar, which you have reduced on the stove top till it's thick and syrupy.

That's all! Enjoy.

Hope you are all having a great week. I'm enjoying some family and friends time in Seattle! Check in on Wednesday for a panini recipe: it'll use the same ingredients as this salad, but will make something portable to take on the plane with you!