I love the crunch and substance that nuts add to any salad, but bonus here: sunflower seeds are a great source of vitamin E (to help with inflammation and prevent cardiovascular disease) and magnesium (which calms your nerves and muscles).

Next stop: Bangkok. Everyone recommended (and raved about) Nahm — it’s one of the world’s 50 best restaurants! — but I thought the food was way too spicy. And I like spicy food. But this was so spicy I couldn’t eat as much as I wanted to. These rice cakes covered with blue swimmer crab with peanuts and pickled garlic were delicious, and reminded me of the spicy tuna rice cakes we get at Catch (and elsewhere) back home, but I could barely get them down. My mouth was on fiya. HOT, HOT, HOT. (And for those wondering, you apparently can’t ask them to turn down the heat. It is what it is, as they say.)

It wasn’t just the food that was hot, either. We walked around Chinatown in Bangkok one night — eating so much fantastic, and fantastically cheap street food — when it was about 90 degrees and sweltering outside. We stopped in one place for spare ribs and Brian ordered a Thai iced coffee — in that mug I’m using to cool down — and it was one of the most deliciously sweet cups of coffee I’ve ever had. I am far from a coffee connoisseur, but I drank a lot of it on our trip (thank you, jet lag!) and this was by far the best. I wish I remembered the name of the place so I could pass it on… but perhaps  you can find it/figure it out based on that money exchange sign hanging above our heads?

Then we went to Koh Samui, a small island off the coast of Thailand, where we had the best breakfast buffet either of us had ever seen. The whole W Retreat was a dream, and the breakfast buffet was the bright red cherry on top. Just look at this fresh, raw honeycomb! They had a massive cell that they’d cut a piece from, that you could eat however you like. I put half in my yogurt and the other half I ate straight cause it was that good. If I wasn’t scared of bees, or lived in an apartment building, I would get my own.

Elsewhere in Thailand, we had coconuts and fruit smoothies on the beach after we rode elephants. I drink a lot of coconut water here in New York, but they taste so much better on an island. No exotic, tropical vacation is complete without coconuts.

And the fruit! My goodness, the fruit. Truly nature’s candy. This dragonfruit/yellow watermelon platter was part of breakfast at the Chedi Club in Bali. Funny that they serve it with lime segments, as if it needs any added sweetness. I also had dragonfruit sorbet when we were walking around Ubud, and that was tremendous. All the fruit there just tastes… better.

This was our last lunch of the trip… at Nihiwatu, on the beautiful Indonesian island of Sumba. I had whatever the special salad of the day was (bottom right) and Brian had the chicken caesar salad… and again, the fresh watermelon with lime on the side. I would say it keeps you from needing or wanting any sweets for dessert, but I’m pretty sure we had ice cream anyway.

When on your honeymoon!

>> Which was the best advice we got. Do it all. See it all. Don’t think twice about any of it. <<

The trip was a dream and this is just a tiny glimpse of it. Any questions or need/want any recommendations… just ask! We were in Rome, Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore, two places in Bali, Sumba, then Frankfurt, Germany on the way home.

Arielle is a nutritionist who has a fun, clean-eating cooking show on Glamour Magazine so she has some great tips for healthy living. My favorite one, which I plan to start doing this week, is for quick smoothies/shakes. She says to prep all of your ingredients — fruits, vegetables, powders, extras — then take all of that (everything you would have in a shake/smoothie except any liquid you might add: almond milk, coconut water, etc…) and put it in single serving ziploc baggies. Then freeze them.

That way the next time you want a quick shake or smoothie but don’t have time to prepare one, you can just grab a baggie out of the freezer and toss it in the blender with your liquid. No chopping, cutting, or measuring… just blending and enjoying.

Genius, right?!

I already keep some fruit in my freezer, but this is a whole other level. One that I can’t wait to be on.

My favorite dish was this Be Salad at Be Tulum — with avocado, cucumber, celery, green apple, mango and walnuts tossed in a mango/passion fruit dressing. Every bite was fresh and sweet and glorious. I’m determined to recreate it this weekend. Standby for results…

What’s a trip to Mexico without fish tacos? Our new friends Mike and Carrie (friends of our Infatuation friends) brought us here, to Taco La Eufemia, and it lived up to all of their hype.

The frozen margaritas helped, of course. This is what we washed down our tacos with — pineapple for B, mango for me — and the mango won because when it came time for round two, he switched his order to mango.

Another frozen treat… this ice cream in a jar at Casa Jaguar. It was a little steamy during our meal so I told B I could go for some ice cream. Lucky for us, this was one of their two desserts: vanilla ice cream with layers of berries on the bottom. We raced to the bottom because it was melting so fast; the only race that everyone wins is a race to the bottom of a jar of ice cream.

This guy was our last meal in Tulum and while I’d love to take credit for finding this spot off the beaten path, I can only take credit for following the directions provided in the New York Times’ 36 hours in Tulum. Chamico’s has no menu, no website, and they don’t speak a word of English… but it’s some of the most fresh, authentic food we’ve ever had. And the sand is white! (It’s the beach photo at the top of this post.) The perfect taste to leave in our mouths as we boarded the plane home. Til next time…

The salad we created (pictured above): boston lettuce, radish sprouts (which had quite a spicy bite to ’em!), heirloom tomatoes and shaved asparagus on top. I tossed it all with two colors of sesame seeds, some chili flakes, lemon and olive oil. Simple perfection.

1. It takes less than 10 minutes to whip up.

2. It’s super satisfying — not just for me but my big strong husband, too.

3. You can make it with any kind of light, white fish you have on hand. I prefer it with tilapia, but you can use sole, flounder, mahi mahi, etc…

4. You can make the dressing as spicy or creamy as you like by varying the amounts of sriracha and Vegenaise, respectively.

5. Did I mention it takes less than 10 minutes to make? I’m all about a quick, healthy meal.

We love brussels sprouts in our house: shaved raw in a mustard vinaigrette, roasted with apples, sauteed with shallots in a hash, you name it. And now we can add crispy in a salad to that list. I actually made the mistake of making this as a starter before a big meal, not realizing a) how filling it would be and b) how much we’d love it that anything coming after would pale in comparison. So consider yourself warned: this will be your new favorite go-to salad entree. Next time I may even add a piece of plain grilled fish or shrimp on top.

Oh, and not all of the roasted carrots in the picture below made it into the salad — some were for snacking while I prepared the rest of the meal. Dip those in a bit of greek yogurt and onion dip and hello, heaven. Or you could save yourself the roasting time (about 25 minutes) and just throw ’em in the salad raw. Either way, this one’s a keeper.

Chef Francis Derby — part of the opening team at wd~50 and now of The Cannibal here in NYC — wants to make sure that doesn’t happen to you. At least not at his place! He’s just started adding multiple vegetable dishes to his meat-heavy menu, including this tomato and peach salad, which couldn’t be easier to make. It’s great as is — very tasty when both tomatoes and peaches are in season — but add any other vegetables of your liking. If you want it to be a meal all its own, add a piece of fish on top or on the side.

All you need is kale, avocado, lemon, and sea salt. I added a little extra virgin olive oil cause I only had one lonely lime laying around and it needed a bit more liquid. (The lime by the way, was great — but I bet lemon would be even better a la Rina.) She also sprinkles it with parmesan cheese but since I don’t eat dairy I decided to add some pumpkin seeds. The crunch (and added antioxidants) were a perfect addition.

I’d love to hear what you put in your kale salad, or how you prepare yours — so let me know. Either way I can’t think of a better, healthier meal that takes less than 10 minutes to make.