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22 Jul

My Favorite Summer Salads

My Favorite Summer Salads // shutterbean

I love salads but I love them even more when it’s SUMMER TIME! The fresh produce gets me! I went through my archives, and today I’m sharing with you some of my summer salad favorites. Most of them would be great at a picnic or dinner party and you’ll even find some inspiration for lunches throughout the work week. Enjoy!

GRILLED GREEK PANZANELLA

Bread that’s been grilled and turned into a salad. Need I say more??!

Vegan Taco Salad // shutterbean

VEGAN TACO SALAD

A great salad to take to work!

Spicy Corn Tomato Avocado Salad // shutterbean

SPICY CORN TOMATO AVOCADO SALAD

A salad that would be perfect served with a bag of tortilla chips. And sometimes tortilla chips can pass as dinner during the summertime. Am I right??

COUNTRY ITALIAN SALAD

A hearty Italian number. When you want a SUBSTANTIAL salad for dinner, chicken or tuna are welcome.

Nectarine Caprese Salad // shutterbean

NECTARINE CAPRESE SALAD

Summer bounty mixed with creamy burrata. What could go wrong?

FARRO SALAD

THE BEST SALAD to bring on a picnic.

CHICKEN TOSTADA SALAD

There’s a tostada under that mound of lettuce. Get in there! Have two while you’re at it.

VIETNAMESE NOODLE SALAD W/ GRILLED TOFU

A dish that makes you feel light…and exploits your grill!

BROCCOLI KALE SLAW

When you’re in need of serious crunch! Another Trader Joe’s recreation of mine.

ORZO SALAD

This is what I like to call a BASE salad because you can put a scoop in your other salads for the rest of the week.

Great picnic salad too!

SUPER SPINACH SALAD

There’s so much to love about this one. That carrot ginger dressing is great! Also it’s another Trader Joe’s recreation!

ARUGULA SALAD WITH STRAWBERRIES

If you have a surplus of strawberries, put them in a salad. They go well with arugula, goat cheese & pecans.

CHARRED CORN SALAD

Get your corn fix in with this charred corn salad. Another really good base salad for the week.

THAI WATERMELON SALAD

I could seriously drink this dressing. You’ll love how well it balances with the watermelon & spicy arugula.

SALT & VINEGAR POTATO SALAD

My favorite potato salad EVER. If you’re not a fan of mayo, this one is for you.

It’s got a nice dose of Old Bay Seasoning. I can’t get enough of it.

TOMATO & WATERMELON SALAD

The dressing is incredible and you’re gonna love the goat cheese & cashew additions.

SHREDDED RAINBOW SALAD

Eat the rainbow! This “slaw” is full of crunch. It’s so pretty too!

SIMPLE GREEK SALAD

My GO-TO Summer dinner. Any excuse to eat a grilled pita is fine with me…

We usually add grilled chicken to ours!

THAI BEEF SALAD WITH HERBS

My husband loved this one probably because of the meat, mint & cilantro combination.

AVOCADO APPLE & ARUGULA SALAD

Since apples aren’t a summer fruit, I make this one with nectarines or plums. Still incredible.

SUSHI ROLL EDAMAME SALAD

When you want sushi but you also want a salad…

KALE SLAW WITH RED CABBAGE & CARROTS

Holy FIBER, Batman.

TOMATOES WITH CORIANDER VINAIGRETTE

Enhancing sliced tomatoes like nobody’s business.

MANGO APPLE SALAD W/ SUGARED LIME ZEST

I love offering guests a fruit option for dessert. This fruit salad/dessert definitely passes the test! The lime zest is incredible on mangoes and apples. If you don’t have apples, try pineapple.

MELON & MINT SALAD

Light and refreshing. Best served cold. It’s a palette cleanser for sure which means it’s a great end to a wonderful meal. If you have any leftover it would be great in a cocktail…or how about make a spiked slushy??!

31 Comments

21 Jul

Thai Corn Coconut Soup

Thai Corn Coconut Soup // shutterbean

I spent about 4 years working in a cubicle, so I know how it feels to be stuck at work while you see your friends living it up in the summer. I can imagine it’s even worse since we all check in to what other people are doing on Instagram. Summer seems so out of reach when you’re sitting under florescent lighting, working on spreadsheets and trying to STAY WARM from the incessant air conditioner. It’s like… SUMMER??! WHAT SUMMER? I’d give anything to be a bored 9 year old, playing bank with old Monopoly money on our summer vacations in Tahoe.

Thai Corn Coconut Soup // shutterbean

Here’s a soup that will help get you through the week at work. We exploit SUMMER CORN and make a beautiful Thai coconut soup with it. It’s both sweet and spicy as well as light and hearty. I’m pretty sure it would be great with an addition of rice (if you’d like to stretch it out even more) and some cold avocado. I might go crazy and serve it over rice with grilled shrimp on top! What do you say about that?

Thai Corn Coconut Soup // shutterbean

So if you’re stuck in cubicle land, you can bring the summer INTO your workspace with this soup. It’s sure to warm you up and make you appreciate the season’s best even if you’re sitting behind a desk with a view of your coworker’s crazy origami collection.

31 Comments

20 Jul

My Everyday Life: Week 29

Here’s what this past week looked like:

We spent the weekend in Napa.

myeverydaylife 054

12 Comments

18 Jul

I love lists, Friday!

I LOVE LISTS FRIDAY!!!

I adore Matt. I really really do. And of course…Gaby too!
How colors play tricks with your mind {grapes}
Let’s get our draaaaank on.
Babies are masters of crime. It’s true.
I wonder if Pinot would like a cat tower…
Who doesn’t love a good Before & After roundup??
That kid from Little People Big World is a great photographer.
Raspberry Ripple Buckwheat Porridge looks good and is fun to say!
I want to do this nail art with golden & black.
This is the ice cream of my dreams!
Love reading these My Beauty Uniform Posts.
I bet Cooper would go nuts for one of these.
More lifehacks! I’ve been employing that banana trick since I listened to Uhh Yeah Dude.
AMEN.
Airbnb logos…. If you don’t know about the controversy here’s some info.
Now THIS is a birthday party!
8 Things I Will Teach My Children (some good ones there)
Photos that show what hasn’t changed about motherhood in 50 years.
A food stylist’s secrets to creating a sexy burger.

butwait

There’s a new Joy the Baker Podcast! ONE SMART FELLOW….. While you’re on Homefries, check out the new site!

Thank you Mom.me for including me as one of your Top 50 Mom Food Bloggers!!

11 Comments

17 Jul

Cheddar + Pretzel Sticks

Cheddar + Pretzel Sticks // shutterbean

Cheese + crackers = my ultimate comfort food. Sometimes I like to imagine a cheese & cracker (or pretzel!) cleanse where all you eat is CHEESE AND CRACKERS. Can you imagine? SIGN ME UP. In an effort to make snack time fun for me and Cooper, I made up this little combination. A pretzel stick makes for a very nice edible toothpick, don’t you think? For some reason poking something with a pretzel stick makes me eat less pretzels. I’d say that that’s a step in the right direction because #pretzelsaremygatewaydrug. Spear a little cube of cheddar with a pretzel stick. GO ON. DO IT.

22 Comments

16 Jul

Corn Tomato Shisito Pepper Pizza

Corn Tomato Shisito Pepper Pizza // shutterbean

Ever since I made the Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza a few weeks ago, I haven’t stopped thinking about all of the possible pizza combinations I’d like to attempt this summer. Confession: I have a separate google doc for that endeavor. I wonder how well my grill will work during the winter….when I’m standing out in the rain with umbrella. I think the crunch and crisp of a grilled pizza is definitely WORTH IT. That reminds me…I need a good pair of rain boots.

Corn Tomato Shisito Pepper Pizza // shutterbean

I bought shisito peppers at the market with the sole intention of grilling them so they’re salty, supple and smokey. Have you had blistered shisito peppers? They’re exceptional! But then I thought…wait can we make a whole meal out of them? I mean…if we eat enough, then YES. But why don’t we take them to the next level and PUT THEM ON A PIZZA.

Corn Tomato Shisito Pepper Pizza // shutterbean

So, I did just that. We exploit summer’s bounty and we add fresh corn, tomatoes and basil. There are several slices of garlic nestled into the cheese to pump of the flavor. And we finish with a squeeze of lime to brighten it up. Oh and I totally #putaneggonit ! Because #WHYNOT

40 Comments

14 Jul

Plum Ginger Coolers

Plum Ginger Coolers // shutterbean

The other day I was over at my mom’s house and she asked what she should do with the leftover ginger she had from another recipe and I immediately told her MAKE A GINGER SYRUP. That’s always what I do or I throw ginger into a fresh juice concoction. Plum Ginger Coolers // shutterbean

If you have a few rogue plums lying around you can make a Plum Ginger syrup with those!

Plum Ginger Coolers // shutterbean

And then you can make a refreshing drink with the beautiful tangy sweet magenta syrup. Sparkling water, lemon juice and gin (my favorite!) pair nicely with plum ginger syrup, you’re gonna want to make sure you always have leftover ginger in your house.

23 Comments

12 Jul