It's SUMMER!!!

From the time I was 16 until I was 29 Summer didn't mean much…then I became a stay at home mom.  No more days spent inside at work, missing out on all of the summer goodness.  The kiddos and I have been busy finding ways to spend our days the past couple of weeks…swimming, the library, picnics, VBS…it's been pretty great and we still have two more months of Summer to go!I'm ridiculously excited.  

Also exciting?  Summer food. 

Cool, creamy salads and delicious meats smoked on the grill.  I think my favorite, though is a combination of the two that I invented (and had published on Allrecipes!)- Asian Chicken Salad. 

It's definitely not necessary to use smoked chicken (I sure don't when pressed for time) but that smoky flavor truly pushes the flavor over the top in this recipe.  The seasoning amounts are really easy to play with- it's fairly mild in flavor as published, I usually kick up the sriracha, lemon juice, garlic, and sesame oil when I make it for my family.  Anyway, it's delicious.  Cool, crunchy cabbage and savory chicken all mixed together with Asian flavors.  It's my absolute favorite meal in the whole world!  My husband loves it served in little bread bowls, but you can serve it on lettuce, a sandwich, or even by itself.  Definitely give it a try!

As always, I've also been cooking up a storm.  I went through a biscotti phase, and we've been grilling out a lot.  I hope all of you have been having an awesome summer so far too!  

As always just click on the picture to get to the recipe :-)