I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite sure what happened to July, or this week, for that matter. I think I’ve had too much fun eating and cooking all of the great foods from my garden and the market lately that the days slipped by without my noticing. As I force myself to accept that it’s August, and prepare for the new theme of tacos here at Everyday Chef, check out this summer herb salad that I made last Friday for sampling at Friday Night Live. Though July is gone, you can still find the corn, beans, herbs, and lettuce tomorrow at the market. And maybe in a few years we’ll have avocados growing in Vermont as well.

SUMMER HERB SALAD

• 2 ears sweet corn, husked
• 1 big handful lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
• 3 big handfuls green beans, blanched for 20 seconds in boiling salted water, cooled completely under cold water
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
• 1 handful cilantro, loosely chopped
• 1 small handful of small/medium basil leaves
• 1 handful of pepitas, toasted
• fine-grain sea salt
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 medium avocado

Cut each ear of corn in half and carefully cut kernels from cobs. Combine the corn, lettuce, green beans, red onion, herbs, and pumpkin seeds in a large bowl.

Make the avocado dressing by sprinkling a big pinch of salt on the garlic clove. Chop and crush it into a paste with the back of a knife. Place the garlic in a medium bowl along with the yogurt, lemon juice, and avocado. Puree with a hand blender or put everything into a traditional blender. Taste, add salt one pinch at a time until properly seasoned. If you aren’t dressing the salad immediately, cover with plastic, pressing into the top of the dressing to prevent browning.

Gently toss the ingredients with a couple big dollops of the avocado dressing. Taste, add a bit of salt and/or more dressing if needed.

Recipe from: 101cookbooks.com