French Goat Cheese Salad

When John and I were on our honeymoon, I ate about a half a million of these salads. OK, I might be exaggerating (a little...) but I did order one of these at just about every restaurant where it was on the menu. And that's not an exaggeration.

Seriously. These. Are. Delicious. For real. I mean, goat cheese on little pieces of toast on a light green salad. What is there not to love?

French Goat Cheese Salad

For the Toasts:
1 baguette, sliced on a bias into thin slices
4 oz goat cheese
olive oil

For the Dressing:
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
pinch sugar
pinch salt
pinch oregano
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp spicy mustard
2 tbsp olive oil

1 head leaf lettuce

Preheat the oven to 400. Arrange the sliced of bread on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil on both sides. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and spread goat cheese onto all of the toasts. Return to oven for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn the broiler on to finish melting the cheese and browning the toasts.

Meanwhile, wash and tear the lettuce. Place into a large bowl. In a small bowl combine all ingredients for dressing and whisk until combined. Pour over lettuce and mix until lettuce is thoroughly coated with the dressing.

Serve salad in large shallow bowls with toasts on top.

Enjoy!

Grilled Corn Salad

Grilling vegetables is hands down one of my favorite summer activities. Especially fresh picked veggies from the farmer's market. I know, what a truly exciting life I do lead. But, they're so GOOD.

Look at how pretty they are! And so warm and happy! This salad makes me smile. And it tastes like summer. Especially since corn, squash, peppers and tomatoes are overflowing at the farmer's market right now. It's the perfect time to make this salad! You can eat it warm, cold, as a delicious side dish or scooped into pita or tortilla chips for a tasty meal. Make it for your next party with friends!

Grilled Corn Salad
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl
4 ears corn
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow squash, halved
1 red onion, cut into eights
1 tomato
1/4 cup olive oil
1/6 cup balsamic vinegar
10 basil leaves,cut into chiffonade
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced

Heat a grill over medium-low heat. While the grill is heating, drizzle olive oil over corn, red pepper, squash, and onion. Once the grill is heated, grill corn for 5-8 minutes to brown. Grill pepper, squash and onion until tender. Allow the veggies to cool, then chop the onion, squash, and pepper. Scrape the corn kernels from the cob. Dice the tomato and add to the vegetables. Mix the vegetables together and add the basil.

To make the dressing, combine olive oil, vinegar, salt and garlic. Whisk until well combined and pour over the veggies. Stir to combine. Enjoy!