fresh summer recipes :: salads, shakes, and guacamole

Summer is here and that means fresh produce at Farmer’s Markets, grocery stores, and soon right out of our garden! I love all the fresh recipe ideas and the easy to grab fruits and veggies for snacks for me and my family. This year we took time to plan out our garden a little better based on what we could have used more of last year and what we couldn’t quite eat up! I love having a garden for our food, some to share with family and friends, and a little for a roadside stand too!

Our garden is planted and we are enjoying teaching our son the process, and he’s loving helping watering and pulling out weeds (and an occasional plant!) While we wait for the produce from our garden and raspberry bushes, we are enjoying some other local fruits and vegetables and great prices at the stores too!

I’m excited to share a few simple recipes for meals and snacks that our family have already enjoyed this summer!

Easy Guacamole
We love avocados on just about everything. While guacamole is something I love to make and we love to eat with chips, tacos, and burgers, sometimes I don’t want to take the time to go get all the ingredients to put it together. Here’s the recipe for an easy guacamole for this summer.

• 3 avacados
• 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
• a pinch of salt
• juice from 1/4 lime

Place avocados in bowl with a pinch of salt. Mash leaving small chunks. Add salsa and mix together. Squeeze a little lime juice on top. Serve with chips!

So easy, so simple. This has been my weekday lunch, late night snack, or the perfect topping to burgers on the grill!

Raspberry Shakes

• 1 cup vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 oz. raspberries
• splash of vanilla
• 1 tsp sugar

Mix together and blend.

So this is just another quick, easy recipe, but we love the fresh fruit in our shakes! My favorite is raspberries since that’s what grows around our farm, but we also love this with fresh blueberries in late summer!

Bacon, Chicken, and Bleu Salad

• 3 cups mixed greens chopped small (our favorite blends include kale, spinach, and other greens)
• 1/4 cup chopped bacon
• 1 cup cooked chicken, chopped
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup croutons
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
• Bleu Cheese dressing (amount to your preference)

This is one of our favorite salads all year round, but I’m ready for our greens to come up in the garden for fresh salads all summer!

What are your favorite summer foods? What grows in your garden this year?