I have this salad I make all the time that reminds me of the Chop't salads in DC. It's so tasty and so healthy and it's gorgeous.

Dressing- equal parts lime juice and olive oil, mnced garlic, cumin, and salt

1 cup to 1 1/2 cups diced tomoto, or halved cherry tomatoes

1/2 can black beans, rinsed

1/2 cup corn

orange bell pepper, grilled or broiled, roughly diced

half an avocado, diced

all of the cilantro

half a head of romaine, chopped

It doesn't need much dressing at all, with the avocado in there. It's so pretty, with the black beans, yellow corn, bright red tomato, orange bell pepper. It can't be a red or yellow pepper- you already have red tomatoes and yellow corn. IT HAS TO BE ORANGE, OK. Also, throw some salt and maybe some hot sauce in when you toss it all together. I always seem to foget this part. This is one of those dinners to eat when you're really hungry... because it's so big and filling and delightful but you feel so good after you eat it, because it's nutritionally perfect.

Lima Bean Hummus

This one time, I made an edamame hummus, I thought it would be really cool with crudites as an hors doeuvre for an Asian dinner. And it was pretty bad. It had tofu.... it looked pretty at least.

Lima bean hummus, on the other hand, turned out great. I just did garlic, cooked lima beans, olive oil and lemon and cumin with mint. It was so creamy and bright tasting, and it was gorgeous.

Keftedes

Ooh these are good. I mean, they're fried, but still. There's so much zucchini right now, and I really can't get on board with zucchini bread and shit like that. I've always wanted to try these but they sounded like a lot of work... grate the zucchini, salt and press out the water, make patties and fry 'em up. But it was really easy, not all that greasy. Totally making these again. Topped with a quick version of tzatziki, Greek yogurt and mint.

So, a pound and a half of zucchini, grated and salted with the water pressed out, diced onion, 1 tsp baking powder and enough flour to pull it together. Make little flat patties, fried in not even that much olive oil (like, less than a 1/4 cup). Making these again soon!

Corn Chowder

Wow. This made my weekend. I usually have a pretty strict No Soup in the Summer policy, so I haven't made a lot of soups with summer veggies. But it's all rainy out, and I didn't feel like making another saute or succotash.

This was crazy easy- I cut the corn off 3 years of corn (bi color, so pretty!), I diced up some prosciutto (the little nubs they sell for cheap, perfect for this), and sauteed that with scallions whites in a little olive oil. Added in the corn, one cob, and little thyme and a can of chicken broth. Simmered for a while (I honestly don't know how long, I'm not good at times and measurements and stuff) and pureed it for a bit with an immersion blender. I went to taste it, thinking, hm I wonder if this will be any good, and I was Blown. Away.

I love how so many veggies can make things creamy- corn, eggplant, lima beans. I want to make this for other people so I can say "No really! There's no cream in it!" The tastiness:effort ratio on this stuff is off the charts.

Pineapple-Poblano Salsa

Whenever possible, I will work into conversation how much I love mango salsa. Mangos in general, really. I always do the same mango, jalapeno, bell pepper, red onion, cilantro and lime juice.

So I had this pineapple sitting around, looking awesome, but it really needed to be dealt with. I also had these poblanos... This guy at work brought them in from his garden, and insisted they were Anaheims. They were clearly not.

Those are poblanos. They tasted like poblanos, too. Poblanos are great grilled/ roasted, like you would do with a bell pepper. My mom makes this quesadilla with roasted poblanos and mozzarella and Serano ham. To clarify, she's never made this for me, she just makes it for herself and then calls me and tells me about it, like once a week.

So I've had roasted poblanos on my mind, and I had that very nearly overripe pineapple. I grilled the peppers on this neat little stovetop grill I just got, diced them up with the pineapple, some cilantro, scallion, and lime juice. I might need to make this more often, it's a nice switch from mango. The almost caramel-y sweetness of the pineapple works with the smokey poblano. I made some chili-rubbed chicken to go with it. (Yeah, I made a protein to go with the topping, not the other way around.)