Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith!

I'm talking about food y'all! I consider myself a pretty adventuresome eater. But I have to admit, many times the conglomeration of ingredients can be off-putting. Most new restaurants these days are farm-to-table--meaning whatever is available. When I'm reading the ingredients to a dish, maybe the first three things are recognizable and then it goes on to gibberish from there--or at least things I've never heard of. Personally, I'm a pretty basic cook.

Well, after Mass last night, we went to Richland for dinner. After their latest remodel, they have a whole new menu. The food is always reliably good there, so I wasn't worried. Plus, you can always order the old stand-bys even if they are not on the menu. But last night, I decided to take a leap of faith.

We love the new dining room---nice placemats, napkins in rings and little terrariums on each table. The whole room was very pretty!

We started dinner with this new feta and olive spread. We did have that a few weeks ago and really liked it. It comes with the most delicious, soft, warm pita bread I've ever had. Usually pita bread can be sort of touch and dry---not this.  It was delicious.

Usually, when I order an appetizer, then I know I'm going to just get a salad---and they had about 5 new ones! They all sounded so good. I decided I would just start with the first one on the list. I'll get to the Brussel sprouts salad, or beet, or cauliflower salads another time.

Last night I chose the mandarin, fennel, celery salad. I read the description. It also had quinoa, toasted almonds and miso dressing. I love mandarin oranges. I didn't know what fennel was. I'm not really crazy about celery except with dip or in a Bloody Mary which I don't eat anyway. I don't really know what quinoa is other than it's some sort of ultra popular grain. I love almonds in salads. I had no  idea what miso dressing was. Soooo, I did what I usually do---I took a leap of faith.

Oh My Gosh y'all! It was fabulous!! Now the mandarins were not what I expected but rather a fresh clementine. I still don't know what fennel is, but I really liked it. It sort of tasted like celery. Yes, there was plenty of that as you can see, but it added the right amount of crunch. The almonds and quinoa were nice and toasty. I have no idea what is in the miso dressing, but that too was good. And best of all? It was already tossed!! I prefer my salads that way. Usually when you get a salad, the dressing is dribbled on the top and you have to try to mix it without slopping it all over yourself and the table. Kind of hard.

Anyway, the salad was great. I'll be getting it again. But I told Butch, I have to go down the line and try all of the salads first. In order. I'm nothing if not methodical!

After dinner, I asked if they had any cookies in the kitchen. I never did that before. They did. They sent us home with 4 mint chocolate chip cookies. Richland has the best cookies. They always have cookies on the buffets, but those are only on certain days of the week. Cookies are not on the menu. Like their famous banana pudding, I guess it's something they have all the time.

Then, when we got home, it dawned on me---these cookies are ready for the St. Patrick's Day buffet today! We had already eaten one by the time I took this picture.

Oh, and did I mention the iced tea? They have the best! I always get a cup to go.