Corn salad

In lieu of corn on the cob, I decided to make a corn salad for our 4th of July BBQ. It's very simple and quick to make. You can also make it ahead of time to save yourself a bit of stress when you're having over 30 people over :)

Ingredients:
- 2 or 3 cans of sweet corn, drained
- 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 red onion finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper finely diced
- Basil leaves
- Olive oil
- Vinegar
- Salt & Pepper

Directions:
- Mix all the ingredients together and serve or cover and keep it in the fridge until your guests arrive.

I told ya it was easy!

Potato Salad

So I make my potato salad a little differently than how most people make it. I have no idea where I learned it from, maybe my mom? But honestly, I don't remember her ever making potato salad growing up.

Regardless of where I learned it from, it's the way I like it these days, and this is how I make it...

Ingredients:
- Potatoes
- Eggs
- Bacon
- Ham (the real stuff, not sliced lunch meat)
- Peas
- Mayo
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:
- Peel and boil or steam the potatoes until they're cooked through but not falling apart (a knife should go through it smoothly but still meet a bit of resistance)
- Drain the potatoes and dunk them in an ice bath to cool them down if you're short on time, or just set them aside and let them cool down on their own.
- Hard boil a few eggs and set aside or dunk them in an ice bath to let them cool.
- Crisp up some bacon and set aside to let cool.
- Thaw the peas if using frozen or cook them if using fresh.
- Dice the ham into 1/2 inch cubes.
- Peel then dice the eggs into 1/2 inch cubes.
- Crumble the bacon.
- Cut the potatoes into 1 inch cubes.
- If you're using cheddar cheese, either shred it or cut into 1/2 inch cubes, depending on your personal preference.
- Mix the potatoes, eggs, ham, bacon and peas (and cheese if you're using it) with enough mayo to coat everything.
- Season generously with salt and pepper.
- You can either serve it immediately or make it ahead of time, cover it, and store it in the fridge until chow time.

Coleslaw

I don't know about you, but I grew up detesting coleslaw. Then again, my only exposure to it was in the elementary school cafeteria, so who can blame me right?

But you can't have a pulled pork sandwich without coleslaw, and I don't mind coleslaw with a good pulled pork sandwich. In fact, I think it makes the sandwich that much better!

Here's my recipe for coleslaw and how to put it all together.

Ingredients:
- 1 head of cabbage
- 1 carrot shredded
- Mayo
- Greek yogurt (or regular yogurt, drained)
- Dijon mustard
- Vinegar
- Salt & Pepper

Directions:
- Slice the cabbage into thin strips and place it in a colander. Sprinkle some salt every once in a while and let it sit for a few hours. This will allow a bunch of the excess water to drain out so that you don't end up with soggy coleslaw. This is a crucial step and makes a huge difference.

Here it is before...
And here it is after...
It really wilts down a lot.

- After the cabbage has wilted down, rinse off the salt and then squeeze out the water. A salad spinner will work too.
- Mix in the rest of the ingredients to taste. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for a few hours to let all the flavors meld together.
- Take a hamburger bun, pile on some pulled pork, smothered in homemade bbq sauce, topped with some crunchy coleslaw and try not to spill on yourself!

A Simple Spinach Salad

I've got another quick recipe from our Thanksgiving feast. Spinach salad!

Thanksgiving is filled with so many heavy dishes that I thought I'd offer something on the lighter side in case anyone was interested.

Just wash and spin-dry some spinach and sprinkle it with dried cranberries, walnuts, crumbled bacon, and if you'd like cheese. I totally forgot to put the cheese in (oops!) but normally I like blue cheese though goat or feta would probably be great too.

I made a simple balsamic vinaigrette that I put on the side so that the salad wouldn't get soggy.

So easy and you can make it way ahead of time too!

Thai Papaya Salad

I've never seen green papayas (unripe papayas) in the U.S. before (granted I've never looked either), but I got super excited when I saw it and just HAD to grab it. And boy am I glad I did! The next thing I need to keep my eye out for is a mandoline though. Julienning that darn thing by hand only took a year and a half...

To prep the papaya, cut in half (I had to use a cleaver since it was pretty hard) an scoop out the seeds. Oh, and peel it too. Then julienne away!

Ingredients:
- Green papaya (julienned)
- Tomato (sliced into super thin wedges)
- Garlic (minced)
- Dried baby shrimp (soaked in water to rehydrate a bit)
- Peanuts

Sauce:
- Lime juice
- Fish sauce
- Palm sugar (I used brown sugar)
- Chili peppers

Method:
It's super easy! Just mix everything together and let it sit for a bit so that flavors meld and then stuff your face!

*Edit - This recipe has been featured on KeyIngredient! Check it out!

Pasta salad

I had some leftover cucumber from the sushi that I wanted to use up, so I decided to make a pasta salad with it. I basically used whatever I found in the fridge and this is what I came up with. It was pretty good in my opinion and would go well with grilled chicken.

*Edit - I added some cut up ham to the leftovers for my lunch the next day and it was even better!

Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound of pasta (I used shells)
- 1/2 cucumber diced
- 1 can of corn drained
- 1/2 red onion sliced thinly
- marinated artichoke hearts
- ham (diced)

Dressing:
*These measurements are just estimations. Do yours to taste according to your preferences.
- 2 tbs dijon mustard
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 3 tbs balsamic vinegar
- a squeeze of lemon juice
- salt
- pepper
- dill
- oregano

Method:
- Cook the pasta until al dente and then run under cold water to cool it off
- Mix the pasta and other ingredients in a large bowl
- Put all the dressing ingredients in a jar. Close the jar and shake. Taste it and adjust the seasonings/ingredients as needed.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta and veggies and mix.
- Serve alone or as a side.

Southwestern Chicken Salad

This Southwestern Chicken Salad was inspired by Chevy's and their salsa vinaigrette that's yummy AND healthy! Fat free baby! I love it when healthy things are delicious...

Ingredients:
- Romaine hearts cut, washed and dried
- One chicken breast grilled with salt and pepper, sliced
- Black beans (from a can and washed)
- Corn (I prefer canned for this because it's sweeter)
- Avocado (sliced or diced, your preference)
- Tortilla chips (I used the crumbs left at the bottom of the bag that are too small for scooping salsa)
Other possible ingredients that would be yummy too:
- Diced tomatoes
- Crumbled bleu cheese
- Crumbled bacon bits

Dressing (the best part):
- Salsa and Balsamic Vinegar (I used a 3:2 ratio, but you can do whatever you want based on your own preference) and fresh cracked black pepper.

Quick, easy, healthy, and delicious!