Fun and Colorful Summer Salad with Avocado dressing

          Some of my best recipe inspirations come from Pinterest. The following recipes are some of those ideas that start from Pinterest, but have been adapted or changed by yours truly. If you know anything about how I tend to cook, you would know that I rarely stick to an actual recipe. At times, that makes this whole "recipe writing" difficult. I enjoy changing and trying different things in recipes. You most definitely live and learn by changing things up in a recipe. Sometimes, it's the best idea and makes everything better, and sometimes, you wish you would have actually stuck to the recipe. All that being said, I hope you enjoy these two recipes. The salad is super easy to just throw together. However, the dicing of the vegetables can be just a little time consuming... It's so worth it though. The dressing is so super easy! Plus, they're delicious!!

Here's the recipes:

Colorful Summer Salad

Serving size: 8-10

Prep time: 20 min

Ingredients:

-1 large romaine lettuce, chopped into bite sized pieces, rinsed and drained (you could save some time and buy a bag of  your favorite lettuce.)

-1 orange or red bell pepper, small diced (orange recommended for color purposes)

-1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered (depending on size)

-1/2-3/4 bag of frozen corn, defrosted

{Tip: if you put the corn in a strainer and run warm water over it for 2-3 minutes, it will defrost it enough for the salad.}

-1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

-2 chopped green onions (optional)

Directions: In a large serving bowl add all ingredients. You can arrange it like I did in the picture for show. (It will impress guests.) Just before serving, toss all ingredients together. Serve and enjoy.

Avocado Ranch Dressing

-1 small container or 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt 

-1 ripe avocado

-2 whole cloves of garlic 

-1/2 lime juiced or 1-2 tablespoons of lime juice

-2 tablespoons of fresh parsley (1 T dried)

-2 tablespoons  of fresh dill (1 T dried)

-2 tablespoons of fresh chopped chives (1 T dried)

-Up to 1/4 cup of milk (depends on the thickness you prefer)

-Salt and Pepper to taste

{Tip: switch out parsley for cilantro and add the other 1/2 of the lime juiced to make a "Southwestern" spin to the dressing}

Directions: Add all ingredients (except milk) to a food processor or blender.  Pulse about about 1 minute. Then, slowly add the milk 1 tablespoons at a time,  until desired thickness is reached. In this particular recipe I used the cilantro version of the dressing. {Word to the wise: a little cilantro dressing goes A LONG WAY.} 

Healthy Summer Salad

           I'm always thrilled when I can find a recipe that does not require actual cooking, especially in the Summer. It keeps the kitchen and the house from getting too hot. Trust me, there is nothing worse than a super hot house in the Summertime. I saw this idea on Pinterest, and as usual, I added my own spin to this recipe. I tried this recipe out on the family again, and everyone approved. With Independence Day (aka 4th of July) coming up, this is a great recipe for entertaining. Your family and guests with love it. It's so light and healthy, you can't feel guilty eating it.

Here's the recipe:

Healthy Avocado, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad
Serving Size: 6-8
Prep Time: 15 min  Suggested chill time: 15-20 min

Ingredients:
-1 ripe Avocado, diced and put in a separate container and toss in 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice to slow down browning.
-2 cucumbers, peeled and diced
-1/2 red onion, diced {if you set the diced red onion in a bowl of cold water, and let soak for 10-15 minutes prior to making dish, it will remove some of the strong raw onion flavor.}
-1 Pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered (depending on the size)
-Crumbled Feta or "Fresh" Mozzarella pearls (I prefer the mozzarella pearls.)
-1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon of parsley flakes (I prefer fresh parsley, but was out the day I made this. It is just as great with parsley flakes.)
-1 Tablespoon of Red Wine Vinegar
-2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
-1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper

Instructions: *First of all, if you are not serving this salad right away, do not dice the avocado. Wait until right before you serve this salad to dice it and add to the salad... because, even with tossing it into lemon juice, it will brown eventually.* Now, for the rest of the instructions... Take the cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, feta or mozzarella and place into a serving dish of your choice. My favorite kind of serving dishes are usually my white Corning Ware. {Quick note}... in the picture, you will see I used the mozzarella pearls instead of the feta crumbles. The original recipe on Pinterest calls for feta. I am not a huge fan of feta, so I substituted that with the mozzarella and it was still fabulous. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the vegetables. In a small separate bowl, I mixed the parsley, red wine vinegar, and olive oil together. Then, I poured it over the salad, and tossed it all together. I, personally, feel the salad should chill and "rest" in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. This allows all the vegetables to marinade in the dressing and develop the flavor. When, you're ready to serve the salad, add the diced avocado and toss to combine with the vegetables and dressing. Serve and Enjoy!