summer salads

Fresh produce in the summer! There is nothing I'd rather eat in June, July and August.

Each week my parents go and pick up a "box" from the farm in Lubbock where my mother owns a share in a local farm, or CSA.  Whatever she comes home with is what she decides to make for dinner that week - and she freezes/prepares and cleans the rest.  Sometimes she shares with friends (today we had a LOAD of peaches so we took some to her friends) but I have learned so much about how to creatively cook and what to do with ingredients I might never buy on my own.

Something I DO love to eat (and eat all of the time) is CORN!  There is nothing I love more than corn on the cob - so much so that I would cut it off of the cob when I had braces, and will put it on just about anything.  It might be my favorite veggie.

SO...when we got corn on the cob in the box last week, my mom busted out the FAMOUS salad our friend Jessica sent over.

Ingredients Add to grocery list

1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
1   avocado, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cup cooked corn, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup finely diced red onion

Dressing
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Combine the corn, avocado, tomatoes and onion.  In a large glass bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients in a glass bowl. Pour over the salad and toss gently to mix. 

The best part was having fresh corn to use - instead of frozen.  Mami steamed the corn for just a little bit so that it was very crunch and so crisp!  I am embarrassed to admit how much I ate! 

And of course, Mami did it up right for dinner!  We had chicken fajita meat, a plate full of grilled onions and roasted poblano peppers (home-roasted, I might add...), peach and cucumber salsa (remember the large batch of peaches I mentioned earlier?), queso cojilo (farmer's cheese to crumble on the top), tortillas from Market Street, and spoonfuls of other toppings and salsas.  

Here's to eating fresh, local ingredients, making dinner with my Mami and sharing a margarita with my Papi. :)