Holiday Recipes

This quick and easy Asparagus Pasta is ready to rock pasta night! This creamy homemade fettuccine Alfredo recipe features buttery asparagus, flavorful pesto, and a dusting of parmesan cheese for good measure. We love it!

It was only a matter of time that I’d combine two of my favorite foods into one delicious dish.

Tender seasoned asparagus and creamy fettuccine Alfredo were clearly meant to be. I added a little fresh pesto for good measure (oh YES!) and an extra sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese on top and now I basically want to marry this saucy skillet!

Hello easy cheesy comfort food!

I cannot wait for y’all to try this creamy asparagus pasta recipe!

special diets and swaps

Looking for a T-rex twist on this dreamy creamy Alfredo recipe? Chicken or ham pair fabulously with this dish. You could even try it with shrimp!

Craving more veggies? Rock on! Let some free peas or spinach in on the fun too!

No pesto? No problem! This pesto in this recipe is totally optional and easily skipped if needed.

Asparagus Pasta with Creamy Alfredo Sauce

We’re totally loving the buttery asparagus and kiss of pesto in this creamy, dreamy, Alfredo recipe!

Serve it up with a leafy green salad and some fresh garlic bread to round out the meal – YUM!

If you get a chance to try this tasty vegetarian asparagus pasta recipe, let me know! Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your pasta creation!

hungry for more?

behind the blog

• currently listening to … High Hopes – Panic! At the Disco (on repeat)
• currently watching … Elder Millennial on Netflix (so funny I might actually need to re-watch!)
• currently reading … The Great Alone (affiliate link)

Every Christmas, I look for new ways to incorporate mint and chocolate together, as it’s a favorite combination of mine. This bundt cake is a great way to showcase both flavors, and it’s a bit easier to put together then a layer cake. The chocolate cake is moist, the mint-chocolate ganache rich and indulgent, and the crushed peppermint candies a sparkly touch.

For the cake

• 3 oz (85 g) bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• ½ cup canola oil
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups (284 g) all purpose flour
• 2 cups (396 g) sugar
• ¾ cup (75 g) Dutch process cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the ganache

• 6 ounces (170g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon pure mint extract
• 10 peppermint candies, crushed

For the cake:
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour (or grease) a 10-inch Bundt pan.

Put the bittersweet chocolate in a small bowl. Pour the hot water over it and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk the sour cream, milk, canola oil, eggs, and vanilla.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on low until combined. (If the cocoa powder is lumpy, you can sift it into the other ingredients.) With the mixer running on low, slowly add the sour cream mixture. Increase the speed to medium and beat until combined, 20-30 seconds.

Whisk the chocolate and hot water together until completely smooth. With the mixer running on low, slowly pour the mixture into the batter and mix until just combined. Using a spatula, give the batter a couple of turns to make sure it is fully mixed.

Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake 35-55 minutes, until a wooden skewer or toothpick comes out with a little bit of crumb.

Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Turn the cake out onto the rack, and let cool completely. Once cool, the cake can be topped with chocolate ganache and crushed peppermint candies.

For the ganache:
Place the chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until it is simmering and just about to boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let sit for 5 minutes.

Remove the plastic wrap and whisk until completely smooth. Coat the cake with the ganache while the ganache is still warm, but the cake has cooled. Let the ganache set before slicing the cake.

Enjoy!

Source: https://www.handmadecharlotte.com/chocolate-mint-bundt-cake/

This chamomile blackberry ice cream recipe has a floral chamomile-infused cream base with a sweet blackberry compote swirled throughout. It’s a creamy herbal berry ice cream with notes of honey and vanilla. 

Even though folks all over are heading back to school, summer’s not quite over yet. As far as seasonality goes, ice cream temperatures are actually just beginning to peak here in the Bay Area! There’s still plenty of time for homemade ice cream, which will probably help soften the ease back into a school-time routine anyhow, right?

With our tiny babes, we don’t have “back-to-school” in our house just yet, but Lucas heads back to work after his two-month paternity leave on the Monday after the official last day of summer. It took us until last week to make our way through our new-baby prep freezer dinners to clear out space for the ice cream maker bowl, which seems like a sign. I plan to make sure we’ve got plenty of homemade ice cream on hand to get us through the transition. We’ll have crazy days and share berry ice cream together at night.

We’re just in time to take advantage of blackberry season and freeze up a batch of this chamomile blackberry ice cream. This floral berry ice cream is made in partnership with Driscoll’s and The Feed Feed using my favorite late summer bramble berry!

For the past couple weeks, we’ve been rewarding ourselves for getting two kids into bed by sitting down with scoops of this blackberry swirl ice cream together like a mini date night every night. Over Labor Day, we took advantage of sleep-time to make a 3-hour car ride to my family cabin with a toddler and an infant. Leaving at bedtime though meant we couldn’t enjoy our ice cream treat unless we ate it in front of (and shared with) the toddler before we hit the road. To be honest, there’s no greater joy than that of a toddler eating a bowl of ice cream, especially when there are pink and purple berry hues involved – it’s possibly one of my most favorite moments to watch. But you better believe I learned my lesson when I gave Zoella a tiny scoop of ice cream right before bed a few nights earlier. Ice cream is now strictly a daytime treat for Zoella.

If you thought I’d just suck it up and skip my nightly ice cream, then clearly you don’t know me very well.

When the entire car was packed and both kids were ready for bed, I snuck the ice cream out of the freezer. To keep Zoella distracted, I sent her into the living room to help daddy put his shoes on while I ate spoonfuls straight from the carton. It took quite a bit of prompting for Lucas to understand why I insisted the two year old help him put his shoes on. Fortunately he’s a willing accomplice and knows exactly who he married.

Flavor depends on sweet blackberries

When making a blackberry mix-in for ice cream, the burst of flavor you get from the swirl depends on delicious blackberries as a starting point.  Since the base of this ice cream is steeped with chamomile, I wanted the blackberry compote sweet enough to stand out against that backdrop. For this blackberry swirl, I used two clamshells of Driscoll’s organic blackberries, which were sweet and juicy to start – they were neither overly mushy nor underripe and bitter. This is no accident. Driscoll’s Research & Development team selects only the top 1% of most flavorful berry varieties and cross-pollinates with the best parent plants to create the delicious berries right out of the clamshell.

California blackberries are reaching peak season right now at the end of summer, which means the best of the best are available at the market! Blackberries have long been prized for their use in pies and jams and that’s because cooking it down into a compote makes the flavor pop even more.

Frosty blackberries for garnish

As if the bright blackberry compote swirl weren’t enough, I served this blackberry ice cream with some frozen frosty blackberries as garnish. You know those gelato shops that have a garnish on each flavor bin as a nod to its ingredients? A decorative fancy-cut pineapple or kiwi, for example. Somehow it makes it taste that much more fresh, even though they don’t even serve you that garnish on your scoops.

But why not serve them up too? I took an extra clamshell of washed and dried fresh blackberries and spread them out on a baking sheet in the freezer while the ice cream was firming up. As soon as they come out of the freezer, they turn picture-perfect frosty to pop right on top of the scoops. Work quickly or use chopsticks to avoid disturbing the perfect frostiness.

We then ate the rest of the frozen fresh blackberries as a healthy summer snack because we couldn’t put them down!

How to make a blackberry swirl ice cream

In addition to intensifying the flavor, cooking the blackberries down into a compote before swirling it into the ice cream also helps keep the blackberry swirl soft enough to scoop. Cooking the berries with additional sugar reduces the freezing point and cooks down some of the liquid so the berry swirl doesn’t freeze rock solid and icy.

After cooking it down, the blackberry compote gets pressed through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds, which would otherwise leave an unpleasant crunchy grainy texture. Smooth berry swirl ready for chamomile blackberry ice cream!

The last important tip when adding a swirl or mix-in to your ice cream is to reduce the sweetness of the overall ice cream base to account for the sugar in the compote. I start with an ice cream base that’s thickened with corn starch and has cream cheese added for richness – a method created by Jeni’s Spendid Ice Cream. This base method is my go-to when making dairy-based ice cream because it’s super smooth without feeling overly heavy from an egg yolks custard.

With that as my starting point, I cut down the overall sugar in the chamomile-infused ice cream to get it ready for a sweet berry swirl. Doing so both balances the sweetness of the finished ice cream and also keeps it from getting too soft and melty from too much sugar.

Chamomile Ice Cream + Blackberry Swirl + Honey

The final swirly ice cream has flowery herbal notes with a hint of honey sweetness and a bright brambly blackberry pop. This floral berry ice cream is a luscious late summer dessert that’s perfectly balanced between creamy and bright.

I plan to make homemade berry ice cream a summer family tradition because it’s the best way I know how to bottle Zoella’s pure bliss. Head over to learn about Driscoll’s #BerryTogether campaign. If you make this recipe, share it on Instagram or Twitter with the #BerryTogether!

Disclosure: Special thanks to Driscoll’s in collaboration with The Feed Feed for sponsoring this post! And thanks to you for supporting the companies that keep Snixy Kitchen cooking!

More from Snixy Kitchen

Filed Under: blackberries, blackberry, chamomile, ice cream

If you've never met a loaded baked potato you didn't like, you're about to meet your new favorite dinner casserole. It's inspired by loaded potatoes, but calls for roasted cauliflower as the base. The florets are drenched in a creamy cheddar cheese sauce, mixed with plenty of crispy bacon bits and chopped scallions, and baked until bubbly and golden.

Loaded Cheesy Cauliflower Bake: Watch the Video

A Decadent Vegetable Bake That's Loaded with Good Things

Decadent isn't often a word used to describe vegetables, but the rules change when cheese sauce gets involved. If you have any cauliflower naysayers at your table, this dish will likely keep them quiet. While it's a great side dish next to roast chicken or steak, where I love it most is at the center of the plate. It's hearty enough to be a main — thanks to all the cheddar and bacon — and really needs no more than a crisp green salad on the side to call it a winning dinner.

Carnitas are Mexican pork candy. Cubes of pork shoulder, simmered until tender, and then fried in their own rendered pork fat. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, I’ve tried Instant Pot Carnitas many times, but the results were not what I wanted…until now.

The problem was, I kept trying to make this a one-pot meal, and fry the pork cubes in the Instant Pot by simmering off the liquid. There were two problems. First, the pork would always burn on the bottom of the pot, no matter how carefully I watched it. Second, pressure cooker pots (like the Instant Pot) are not that wide – at best, I could fit 2 pounds of pork in a single layer on the bottom. That’s not enough to satisfy my hungry crowd of kids.

My breakthrough was giving up on the authentic, one-pot approach. Mexican kitchens cook carnitas in wide, shallow pots, so there’s plenty of room to fry the pork. Me? I brought out my frypan, and use vegetable oil or lard instead of the rendered pork fat. The Instant Pot does what it does best – quickly pressure cook the pork, making it tender and shreddable. Then I scoop the pork into the frypan, where there’s plenty of space to brown.

Are you looking for real-deal pork carnitas, crackling browned cubes of pork, tender and shreddable, in about an hour? Get out the Instant Pot and frypan, and get to work.

Recipe: Instant Pot Carnitas

Welcome to part 2 of Meal Prep Breakfast Taco week! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go check out Monday’s post and read about how we’re prepping once to make 3 different breakfast tacos throughout the week. If you’re not a tacos-for-breakfast person, you can make these for lunch or dinner just the same. Me? I go to bed dreaming of tortillas…

So taco #2 is… Shiitake Bacon & Egg Tacos!

Shiitake “Bacon” is this magical thing where you toss sliced shiitake mushrooms with olive oil and tamari, then you bake them until they’re shriveled and crisp around the edges. It has a wonderfully deep umami savory flavor that’s not exactly like bacon, but deliciously bacon-esque, and OMG it’s perfection in breakfast tacos! These are so yummy with fresh cherry tomato pico and, of course, sliced avocado.

Here’s what I prepped in advance:
– Shiitake Bacon – store it in the fridge; if you like, you can warm it in the oven before serving.
– Cherry Tomato Pico

Here’s what I made fresh:
– scrambled the eggs
– sliced avocado
– topped with a few microgreens and some sliced serrano (all optional)

Here’s a downloadable PDF grocery list for the whole week of 3 recipes. Stay tuned for taco #3 on Friday!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not the holidays­­—it’s salmon season!

From early summer through fall, wild-caught Pacific salmon makes an appearance in most grocery stores, so now is the ideal time for you to head over to your local food markets and stock up.

What’s the deal with wild caught salmon in season?

Most of the salmon sold in today’s grocery stores is farmed, which means they are fed a diet of fishmeal instead of the plants and algae their wild counterparts enjoy. In addition to an inferior diet, being raised in a confined space means they’re susceptible to illness and disease. (There are greater safety measures being enacted everyday, however, that reduce the chance of transmitting food borne illnesses to those who do eat farmed salmon.)

While I do understand that wild-caught salmon is not economical for everyone, I highly suggest budgeting for it while it’s in season. That’s when you’re likely to get great sales on the wild varieties.

What are the benefits of salmon?

I learned the dietary benefits of salmon after I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. When I sat down with a nutritionist to go over any changes that I should make to my diet, I discovered that many people who are battling MS are also Vitamin D deficient and I was no exception.

This poses a problem for many people—especially women—because it means that my body doesn’t absorb calcium as well as it should. Lack of calcium absorption leads to osteoporosis, which causes brittle bones that break easily.

None of that was appealing to me, so we looked for ways to add more vitamin D to my diet. One big way is through salmon, which has an obscene amount of vitamin D! It’s healthy for me, and it tastes good? Sign me up!

How much salmon should you buy per person?

The recommended portion size for salmon is 2 1/2 ounces for an adult. I tend to round up to 3 ounces because my family loves to eat. However, because this particular recipe is more of a pasta meal, anywhere between 2 1/2 to 3 ounces will be a suitable size per person.

If you’re cutting the fillets from a larger piece, the length of your thumb is a good guide to figuring out how wide you should cut each piece.

Ask the fishmonger to remove the scales

Some fish departments don’t always scale (scrape the scales off) their fish without being asked to. You definitely don’t want to eat fish that hasn’t been scaled, and since we’re not skinning our salmon, make sure you ask your fishmonger to scale your fillet.

They’re usually gracious about doing it because it’s a messy pain to do at home, so be sure to ask.

How to remove the pin bones from salmon

The only downside to salmon that I’ve found are the little pin bones that you may discover after you’ve gotten your fillets home from the store—just a minor inconvenience. Even though our local fishmongers may do their very best, sometimes those little guys slip past them.

These bones should always be removed because they can, and will, get stuck in your throat (or your child’s throat) and cause some serious issues. (If you or one of your diners happens to get a bone stuck in your throat, coughing aggressively will usually dislodge it. However, if one begins choking on a fishbone, call 911 immediately.)

To find and remove the little buggers, just run your fingers down the length of the salmon fillet. The pin bones will feel like hard bumps just under the surface of the salmon. If you feel one, push it up gently to expose the tip of it. Using a pair of pin bone tweezers (or even clean eyebrow tweezers), grip the end of the pin bone and pull it in the direction it is pointing.

Don’t jerk it back or twist it because you’ll dislodge (and lose) some of the flesh with it. Pulling forward at the same angle it’s already growing in should remove it cleanly.

How long can you freeze salmon?

If you find wild salmon on sale, buy as much as you can and freeze what you won’t use right away.

I have a handy vacuum sealer that I use to marinate and seal salmon fillets that I purchase in bulk when my local grocer has sales on it. Fatty fish such as salmon will freeze well for two to three months, so there’s no reason not to stock up.

I’m a Sockeye lover, but I also recommend King (or Chinook) salmon if you can’t find the former. Sockeye is beautiful, deep red-orange in color with a flavorful, leaner flesh. The King salmon has a lighter orange appearance and the highest fat content of all the salmon species.

More Ways to Enjoy Salmon!

Are you enjoying a summer of slow?

A summer of naps, a summer of lazy, a summer of peaches bitten straight into, leaning over the sink?

Yeah, me neither.

We did go away with the kids for a couple of weeks in the Aveyron region, which we adore.

There, we relaxed in the garden hammock (I totally need a hammock of my own now! It’s the best!), screamed in joyful concert with all of France, drove around to visit medieval castles (there may have been a few toy crossbows involved), took cable car rides from one mountaintop to another, and celebrated my birthday with blueberry tarts and Lunar eclipses (well, just one of each).

Hammocks are the best.

Throughout this though, I confess I haven’t really turned my brain off (is there even an “off” button on there?) as Maxence and I have been planning and coordinating an apartment renovation from afar, and I have been brewing a bunch of new projects for the fall, scribbling pages of ideas in my notebook (obsessed with this limited-edition copper Leuchtturm) as they took shape in my mind.

That’s not a problem for me though, as I thrive on bubbling ideas and exciting plans, so I’m happy as can be.

What’s your summer been like so far?

xo

Clotilde.

Maxence and our boys in Albi.

P.S.: As we work to renovate our apartment, I have been avidly looking at other people’s homes online. If you’re also looking for Paris (or generally French) interior inspiration, I recommend Rue Rodier Interiors and The Socialite Family.

P.P.S.: I have been blown away by how warmly my cookbook Tasting Paris has been received. I receive daily messages from readers, and the media coverage — from Real Simple to Vogue, from The Globe and Mail to Epicurious — has been amazingly flattering, with such quotes as:

“A beautiful cookbook that reads like a memoir”
“Absolutely genius and gorgeous, and a must-have for francophiles everywhere.”
“A striking book that’s like taking a trip to the magic city of Paris”
“[Tasting Paris] focuses on the contemporary recipes that actual Parisians are loving, eating—and cooking—right now. ”
“No matter how many visits you’ve enjoyed in the capital, this book will have you looking at flights immédiatement.”
“[Clotilde] works a special alchemy not only in the kitchen but in the minds and hearts of her readers.”
“These stories will transport you as much as they will whet your appetite.”
“A guide to re-create a day of gastronomic delights as actual Parisians would experience it.”
“A cookbook beyond compare”
“For anyone who wants to be reminded of the beauty and simplicity of cooking French classics.”
“This book will have you booking your ticket to Paris immediately.”

If you don’t yet have your copy of Tasting Paris, these reviewers seem to think you’re missing out!

P.P.P.S.: You know about my amazing Feta and Fresh Herb Quick Bread, right? It’s a long-standing summer classic for me, as are this Zucchini Tarte Fine and this Lemon Kefir Ice Cream.

Dinner with a view.

If you want something deliciously crowd pleasing may I offer you this flavoursome Mexican beef spaghetti? Beef mince is seasoned with Mexican spices, chorizo, chilli and tomato and then cooked down until you get a rich sauce that can pair with spaghetti or added to crunchy sourdough toast!

I got this idea from a breakfast benedict where they offered a Mexican benedict with chorizo and beef mince. It was so tasty that I wanted to make a version of it at home. I served this with spaghetti and it has also adorned thick wedges of sourdough toast and inside a jaffle because it is very versatile. And if you like tasty, easy meals, this is a pushy recipe!

I made this for Mr NQN because I was headed overseas. I don't know about you but sometimes I tell him things and he seems to listen but he doesn't remember any of it at all. I told him that it was like a Mexican version of spaghetti bolognese except with more tomato, chilli and spices and he nodded. And then when I was away he messaged me that he liked the spaghetti but it was a bit different from spaghetti bolognese as it was spicier! Kind of like what I told him! I don't think I could have been any clearer but there you go...

I recently had a situation where clarity in communication was important. Ivy, Mr NQN and I recently visited a pub. Ivy and I got up to order because Mr NQN doesn't care about food (probably why he didn't remember the Mexican mince). The bartender was a bit impatient as Ivy chose her wine, he sort of rolled his eyes and started doing other things but there was no queue of people behind us or anyone waiting.

He then took our order and when we ordered three dishes. The bartender was going back and forth as he was taking our order but we didn't think anything of it.

Except the wrong item arrived. The man that brought us the order was a bit confused and we explained our order. The bartender marched over and said, "So this is what you ordered right???" and he reeled off our incorrect order. We clarified our order with him. "NO YOU DIDN'T" he said, so aggressively that we were all startled, including Mr NQN. We argued back and forth for a bit. Ivy and I could not have been clearer and he was distracted as he was taking the order. And for people that eat out a lot, we rarely get the wrong item.

He finished with a, "I'd like you to be clearer when you COMMUNICATE," he said condescendingly, putting a hand on my arm and then he spun on his heel before we could answer. I don't mind when people touch me or are tactile, but not in that context.

"Woah what the hell was that?" we all said to each other. Ivy and I were furious at his condescending tone. We ate our food and vowed never to go back again. And as we were leaving Ivy and I looked out for him to tell him off for being such a douche but he was nowhere to be found. She wanted to point out that she makes a living by communicating clearly to people and that her livelihood depends on it!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever feel like people don't listen properly? Are you a clear communicator? Would you eat this with pasta or on toast?

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves 4-6

Mexican spice mix:

• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds, ground
• 1.5 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, ground
• 2 teaspoon oregano (Mexican if you have it)
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1-2 teaspoons chilli powder

• Oil for frying
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
• 750g/1.5lbs. beef mince (can also substitute with 350g mince and 400g tin red kidney beans)
• 2 chorizo sausages, sliced
• 400g/14oz. tin diced tomatoes
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 200g/7oz. cherry tomatoes
• 500g/1.1lbs. Spaghetti
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Coriander leaves to serve

Step 1 - I find this easiest to get the spice mix ingredients together in a bowl first. I then dry fry it in a large cast iron pot. Then fry the onion in 3 tablespoons of oil until translucent. Add the garlic and fry for a minute. Add the chorizo slices and fry for a minute and then add the beef mince and brown well.

Step 2 - Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato paste and cherry tomatoes and simmer until the sauce reduces - about 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 3 - Meanwhile cook the spaghetti until al dente. Add the spaghetti to the sauce or ladle the sauce on top of the spaghetti. Top with coriander.

Napa Sweet Corn Salad is full of flavor and crunch! Serve as a fresh and healthy side dish with dinner, or take to your next picnic or potluck.

Although the only visual proof Ben and I have of taking a babymoon a couple months back is a picture of my water cheersing his Hendrick’s martini, it happened! We did it! 24 hours in Kansas City, Missouri! They never saw us coming. Mostly because our visit was so short that the city could have blinked and missed it, but it was a great time nonetheless. We shopped the plaza, roamed around Westport, and Ben sipped bourbons while I drank Arnold Palmers like tomorrow would never come.

It was on this trip when we realized that while we’ve visited at least a dozen times, we’ve never had KCMO’s legendary BBQ. Blasphemous!! Where should we go the next time we’re in town?

Anyway, after checking into our hotel we bellied up to the bar at Cooper’s Hawk for lunch. There are so many great local restaurants in KC but Coop’s has a GF menu I’ve ordered off of several times in the past and trust, plus it was close and Mama was hangry, so inside we went. I ordered the Napa Chicken Salad which doesn’t sound particularly life changing but it was totally magical. Not because of the chicken or greens, but because everything but the kitchen sink was loaded on top. It’s all about the toppings, man! Napa Sweet Corn Salad is my at-home recreation and it’s so dang good that I PROMISE it’ll become your new go-to summer side dish / potluck salad.

Now, July means it’s sweet corn season here in the state of Iowa. Did you know that less then 1% of all the corn grown in Iowa is sweet corn? Some food for thought, har. Anyway, that 1% actually comes out to a whooooole lotta sweet corn (just ask anyone who grew up in Iowa how many ears they were forced to shuck each summer as a kid,) and we find any and all reasons to enjoy an ear or two, any chance we get. Iowa sweet corn in particular is so candy-sweet and tender that I like to eat it raw like in this salad.

That said, I first tossed together the combination of raw sweet corn kernels, cherry tomatoes, avocados, chopped apples, almonds, green onions, and fresh basil for, uh, myself in an attempt to recreate the salad I so loved in KC, and was so jazzed with the results that I whipped it up again the very next day for a dinner we were hosting for friends.

Not only was it wolfed down by all the adults, but 4 kids under the age of 5 too. You know what we call that? A WIN, people! A freaking win. There is nothing that I don’t like about this salad including the heavenly, 4-ingredient (plus S&P) Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette that’s drizzled on top. Crunchy, crispy, snappy, creamy, fresh, healthy, and delicious. You. Will. Love. IT.

Start by adding all the goodies into a big bowl – that’s: 2 cups raw sweet corn kernels (from about 3 medium-sized ears,) 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes that have been halved or quartered if large, 3 small or 2 large chopped green onions, 1 small chopped avocado, 1 chopped red apple, 1/3 cup sliced or chopped almonds, and 1/4 cup packed fresh basil that’s been chopped.

Next shake or whisk up the Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette to drizzle on top – that’s: 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 Tablespoon each honey and dijon mustard, plus lots of salt and pepper. Taste then add up to an additional 1/2 Tablespoon honey if you like – remember that the sweet corn and apple add sweetness to the salad though.

Drizzle your desired amount of dressing on top then toss everything to combine and serve it on up. Take to a summer picnic or potluck, or serve with dinner (this dish pairs perfectly with grilled meats, if I do say so myself!) No matter how ya eat it, I hope you love this bright and colorful, healthy summer salad! Enjoy!