Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

Okay, so I don't know if I can actually put this endeavor under the label of "summer food series" since it didn't really involve cooking anything. Rather, I chopped, and, darn it, I'm one good chopper.

As promised, this idea came from one of my recent pins to my Pinterest "Grub" board. This salad doesn't really have a name other than its descriptors: corn, avocado and tomato salad with honey lime dressing. This was so simple and light, perfect for a hot summer evening. (The hubs approved.)

So this was the process...

I collected my ingredients. The beauty of this recipe is that you probably have most of what you need in your refrigerator or pantry. What you don't have is cheap and any extra is easily used for other items on your menus.  

Here's what I gathered for the salad:

1 can of corn (I was making this quickly and didn't want to grill corn on the cob like the recipe detailed)

grape tomatoes (halved)

1 ripe avocado (I bought another for guacamole later)

fresh cilantro (1 tbsp chopped)

Here's what I gathered for the dressing:

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp honey

dashes of salt and pepper to taste

1 garlic clove minced

1 dash of cayenne pepper (which I forgot, but will try in the future)

1 lime's juice

It took me all of five minutes to put together the entire concoction. Here's what the finished, dressed product looked like: 

We paired the salad with Trader Joe's spicy jalapeño chicken sausage and chips and salsa. A summery southwestern inspired meal, yum!

Banana Walnut Bread

The secret has long been out: I am not much of a cook or baker. In fact, when Chad was recently gone for a week on business he called to ask me if I've eaten anything cooked while he'd been away. My only response was a shamefully muttered "Chick-fil-A".  I can follow recipes and do, on occasion, cook or bake something people don't immediately spit out of their mouths in disgust.

Nevertheless, this is an area I wish to change. So I've decided, with some more free time during the summer months, to tackle a few new recipes with the guidance of my Pinterest "grub" board. Every week-if not more frequently when the urge arises-I plan to try a new recipe and share it with readers.

Disclaimer: Be forewarned these attempts may be far from revolutionary. They exist as a simple endeavor to expand my foodie repertoire and build my self-confidence. Seasoned kitchen-goers may not by wowed. 

First in the line-up is banana walnut bread, which happens to be one of my favorite treats. It helps I have some overripe bananas begging to not be wasted. After taking inventory of ingredients I realized that we were out of butter. Mindful not to stifle my ambitions, Chad graciously went to the store. Another minor setback occurred when I discovered we do not own a bread pan, but Chad picked one up for me as well. 

I decided to follow  this recipe, but with a few minor changes that I'll let you know about.

The ingredients, although I took this photo before deciding to scratch the chocolate chips.

I used four medium-sized bananas.

I only used half of the sugar the recipe called for and replaced the other half with brown sugar.

After reading a few reviews of the recipe I decided to add a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Rather than chocolate chips I included some chopped walnuts (roughly 1/2 cup).

And my creation heads into the oven (350 degrees) for one hour. 

Voila! Banana walnut bread!