Just a few weeks ago I left Denver on a snowy "spring" morning to travel to California for a small blogger retreat. The plane literally had to be de-iced. It was mid-April. Colorado weather can be a bit wacky, but our spring started in February this year, so I'm not complaining. I was lucky enough to be making the trek with my good friend Lauren, who also happens to be a Denver blogger.

After two hours in the air, Lauren and I were welcomed by palm trees and sunshine in LA. It felt a bit surreal.

(A mix of iPhone and dSLR images are mixed throughout this post.)

Terranea Resort Blogger Retreat | edibleperspective.com

We met up with Megan at the airport and in less than an hour we reached our final destination at Terranea Resort. Or as I like to call it, Disneyland for adults.

I think my jaw remained open the first hour we were there, but most likely for the entire 2 1/2 days of our stay. There were no roller coasters or elephant ears (my childhood fav) but there was basically everything else. I instantly became the most calm version of myself and tried to breathe it all in, while drinking the complimentary champagne we received at check-in and riding on a golf cart up to our room.

Was this seriously where we were staying? I could not have felt more grateful, lucky, or appreciative for this opportunity. What a dream.

Terranea arranged for us to stay in two of their villas that contained everything we needed and then some. We were planning on cooking and holding our group discussions in the rooms, so they worked out perfectly for what we needed. I drooled over the professional series Viking appliances. I've never stayed in a more luxurious place. I still can't stop thinking about the incredibly comfortable bed and sleeping with the cool ocean breeze coming through the sliding doors.

group photo credit: Jay Roberts Photography

from left to right:

It was my brilliant friend Amelia, who started this idea for a blogger retreat and who put it into action and planned the entire thing. She thought of every tiny detail and worked with a few fabulous companies to make sure the retreat was perfect. And it was.

Our first night started with a coursed dinner and wine pairings at one of Terranea's seven restaurants, mar'sel. We were able to meet and talk to the head chef and hear him speak with such enthusiasm about the freshness of ingredients he used to prepare our meals. They were extremely accommodating and went above and beyond to prepare gluten-free and vegetarian options for each course.

The next morning started with an oceanfront, sunrise spin class. I'd never actually taken a spin class before that morning and it kicked my butt. The only thing that kept me going was staring out into the ocean and watching the sun start to peak up over the horizon.

After cleaning up from the killer spin class, we all made breakfast together in the villa. I loved this aspect of the trip. We huddled together in the kitchen, sipping coffee + scoping out the spread that Stonyfield and Nature's Path sent our way. I made two separate breakfast bowls each morning. One bowl was filled with Greek yogurt and piled high with toppings, and the other was filled with oatmeal and nut butter, of course.

We had a full agenda planned for the day, with group discussions on a variety of topics we deal with as bloggers and freelancers. We were paired off with another blogger prior to coming to the retreat and assigned topics. The topics ranged from things like, "social media and time management," to, "how to grow your following." Each topic was extremely relevant and everyone who presented had smart and useful ideas.

I learned an incredible amount of new-to-me things but at the same time couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed. I'm not a social media sleuth, I barely know what SEO means, I am not the best at scheduling things ahead, and accounting has been known to send me into a panic.

But through the sessions I learned something more valuable than SEO or the best way to use Twitter + Facebook. I learned that it's okay to not know how to do everything. That may sound silly or like it should be obvious, but it was reassuring to hear others say that we all have our strengths and weaknesses. We all have different focuses for our careers, while they may all center around or stem from blogging. There were specific things we each felt experienced in and sharing that knowledge was the whole point of the trip.

We had a break for lunch that was prepared for us in the villa with many items from the gardens on site. We also got to sample fresh honey from the bees that are cared for on the property. Above you'll see a very fresh gazpacho that Lauren helped the chef whip up. Below you'll find the meal I want to eat every day of my life.

The perfectly creamy risotto had fresh herbs and strands of lemon zest running through it. The purple mash was actually made from cauliflower. I tried to recreate it home this week, which resulted in a major fail. The carrots were perfectly tender and the beans tasted like they had been picked that day.

We continued with the sessions after lunch, had a few hours for free time, and then headed to Nelson's for sunset cocktails and more blog talk.

Dinner that night was casual. We created a huge salad buffet in our villa with everything you can imagine, including avocados so ripe they melt in your mouth.

The following morning (also the day we were leaving) started with a 6am walk. There are running and walking paths that stretch for miles and weave all around the property. This was such a unique feature I've never seen at a hotel or resort before. The trails were so well disguised by the natural landscape you almost didn't even notice they were there.

After another double breakfast bowl morning, we continued with the last few sessions before people started to depart. My favorite of which was the "mastermind session," where we each had one minute to describe a problem we're dealing with. Then, each person had a few minutes to offer their advice on your question/problem. This really helped me realize where my time is best spent and how to be okay with not knowing or doing it all. After hearing advice and gaining support from these seven other brilliant women, it finally clicked for me.

After the sessions wrapped up I tried to savor the last few hours of ocean air.

Disclosure: An enormous thank you to Terranea Resort for so generously providing us with the villas we stayed in, more than enough wine, the spin class, and outstanding food. An equally large thank you to Stonyfield and Nature's Path for paying for our travel and stocking our kitchen with delicious breakfast items during our stay. This post was not sponsored. All opinions are my own. I appreciate your continued support!

And the biggest thank you of all to Amelia, for planning this unforgettable retreat!

Ashley

Today is a very special day.

Not only are we making avocado pesto chickpea salad sandwiches, a few of us bloggers are (more importantly) celebrating our good friend Erin who is about to become a first time mama. I couldn't be more excited to be apart of this surprise for Erin.

Avocado Pesto Chickpea Salad Sandwiches | edibleperspective.com

Erin and I have gotten to know each other pretty well over the years, and we've had the chance to hang out a few times together, too. Most recently, we spent a couple days together at Expo West (the largest natural foods trade show in the country) in California. The trip was awesome but exhausting. Each night, we both ended up back at the hotel, in bed, dinner in hand, in our pajamas. And then we pretty much rolled over and immediately passed out. Erin was such a trooper at 30+ weeks pregnant!

While we were together, Erin seemed so calm and excited about their soon to be baby boy. She is going to be a complete natural as a mom. You can just tell. And I know this little babe will grow up loving and appreciating food, as he watches his mom grow their food and prepare it in the kitchen. He'll see how simple ingredients can be combined together without hassle to create something wonderful. Just like Erin has showed the world with her new cookbook. And soon enough, I'm sure he'll be standing right next to his mama, helping stir and chop, and asking for tastes.

Staying true to Erin's style of cooking, Melissa, Alex, Sonja and I thought it would be fun to throw her a shower and ask everyone to contribute a simple vegetarian meal. We wanted to create a catalog of recipes that Erin and her husband could quickly whip up as their lives become a little more full.

I've seen chickpea salad sandwiches floating around for awhile now but somehow never got around to trying them out. I really have no idea why it took me so long because they're incredibly simple to make and totally delicious.

I was inspired by the avocado lime sauce I made the other day for the corn fritters, thinking that would be been a good base to hold the chickpeas together. However, I was also craving pesto. But traditional pesto probably couldn't hold the chickpeas together and you'd need to make a gigantic batch to even try.

And that's when this avocado pesto was born.

It's like a summery guacamole, filled with basil and lemon and thick enough to act as the perfect binder for the mashed chickpeas.

Toppings are optional but I always like to add a little crunch in my sandwich.

This takes about 15 minutes to throw together and will keep you full for hours on end.

Print Recipe!

inspired by: Corn Fritter Cakes with Avocado Lime Spinach Sauce and Smashed Chickpea & Avocado Salad Sandwich

Avocado Pesto Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

gluten-free, vegan // yields appx. 4 sandwiches

1 large clove garlic, peeled
1/4 cup roasted shelled pistachios
2 medium avocados
1 1/2 cups lightly packed fresh basil
3-5 tablespoons lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt + pepper
1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed + drained

Place the garlic clove in your large food processor and turn on until minced. Scrape the sides. Add the pistachios and pulse until evenly chopped (refer photo 3). Add in the avocado, basil, and 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Pulse a few times until the basil is roughly chopped. Scrape the sides. Add salt + pepper. Stream in the olive oil slowly while pulsing the avocado mixture until it reaches a thick consistency but not fully pureed. Scrapes the sides and bottom as needed. You want to leave it with some texture. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, roughly mash the chickpeas. You want them about half-mashed. Add in as much of the pesto mixture as desired (I used about 3/4 of it) and mix together. Add remaining lemon juice (I added an extra 1-2 tablespoons) and salt + pepper to taste.

Build your sandwich with any other toppings you choose.

Notes:

This can be stored for 1 day but will slightly brown. For best results, place in an airtight container. Spread out evenly then drizzle lemon juice over top. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and secure the lid. Refrigerate. Stir before eating.

The pesto avocado also works well as a summer guacamole with or without the chickpeas!