Roasted Corn and Snap Pea Salad

These last few weeks have brought a lot of emotional milestones to our lives. Last day of school. First time eating at a restaurant. Good-byes to friends who are moving, but also hellos to family we haven’t seen in 15 months. And also… summer weather!

I would like to introduce you to my new favorite summer recipe that has been buzzing around the internet lately – the Roasted Corn and Snap Pea Salad. This addictive and versatile dish can be whipped up in less than 10 minutes for a quick and easy standalone meal or served as the perfect side dish to your summer BBQ. Warm sweet roasted corn, cool and crunchy snap peas, and salty feta are all combined with a lush orange citrus vinaigrette that demands you sit outside and bask in that summer garden sun! This easy recipe is full of unexpected flavors and will quickly become your new go to shareable summer salad.

Salad Ingredients 

  • 2 ears of corn
  • 1 bag of sugar snap peas, sliced
  • ½ cup crumbled feta
  • 1 TB olive oil

Vinaigrette

  • Juice of 1 naval orange OR 2 mandarin oranges
  • 1/8 cup champagne vinegar
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 TB olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Slice snap peas taken fresh from refrigerator and place in a salad bowl. Using a knife, remove kernels from the fresh corn cob and sauté in pan on medium heat with olive oil, turning constantly until slightly caramelized. Alternatively, you can grill the corn, carefully turning until fully toasted and then slice off cooked kernels. Add warm corn kernels to the snap peas and top with the crumbled feta. In a small bowl, whisk together the champagne vinegar, orange juice, olive oil, and garlic, then toss salad to coat with the vinaigrette. Top with a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper and serve fresh.

Advertisement

Greek Lentil Taverna Salad

asher and everett This week we reached a major feeding milestone when Everett nonchalantly picked up a Cheerio from my hand, popped it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. No choking. No gagging. Then he reached for another, and angrily slapped my hand away when I tried to put one into his mouth without giving him the chance to practice his fine motor skills. He has only just recently started snacking on the Gerber puff snacks which all but melt in your mouth so this came as a bit of a shock to me. I can’t believe our 9 month old is already self-feeding!

I have been racking my brain thinking of all the crazy baby recipes I used to make for Asher. Which reminded me of how he absolutely LOVED pureed lentils as an infant. Even to this day, I can pop open a can of Progresso lentil soup on a no-cooking day of desperation and he will gobble the contents of the can without even cooking it. Can I admit that to the world? I guess I just did.

lentils So today’s recipe is for an oustanding Greek Lentil Taverna Salad which did amazingly well in the fridge for a few days. It really could not be easier, and cost around $12 for 6 huge portions. Needless to say, Asher loved the lentils.

GREEK LENTIL TAVERNA SALAD
1 English cucumber, chopped into half moons
4 large beefsteak tomatoes, chopped into large pieces
1 red onion, sliced into slivers
1 package of crumbled feta (traditional flavor)
1 bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
2 cups of lentils
2 packages of cremini mushrooms, sliced into quarters
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, diced

DRESSING
Juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a sauce pot, boil 5 cups of water. Add lentils then let simmer for 20 minutes. When lentils are done, immedialty drain in collander and set aside to cool. In a frying pan, add olive oil and diced garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Then add mushrooms and sautee for 7-9 minutes until the mushrooms have a nice brown color. In a large mixing bowl, combine cooled lentils with the mushroom mixture then add the salad dressing ingredients and let marinate for 10 minutes in refrigerator. Meanwhile, add fresh salad ingredients in a large salad bowl. When you are ready to serve, scoop a heaping portion of taverna salad with 1/2 cup lentils as a topping. The flavors from the lentils will act as a dressing for the salad, but you can add additional red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper if needed. This can be made vegan without the feta, you will just need a tad more salt to bring out the flavors.