Made it! Salty Oat Cookies

These salty oat cookies are something special. Sasha and I have been making these cookies for the last couple of years and getting rave reviews from friends and family. This recipe has been tried, tested and approved!

I love this cookie because it's easy and versatile - I've made this recipe with raisins, craisins, dried blueberries and cherries. I'm not a huge fan of nuts in my cookies, so, I leave them out. Go ahead and make your favorite salty oat cookie. Below, I'll tell you how I made mine!

Everyone has a favorite dried fruit, and right now mine happens to be cherries. Sweet and tart, these goodies are my current addiction, so they had to make an appearance in my cookie post. I also added 1/4 of a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder to make this a "chocolate salty oat cookie." I love the combination of chocolate and cherry. Since I live in the mountains now I left out the baking soda and baking powder because I didn't want to make it too cake-y. I also added nutmeg to the recipe to give it more spice. I was thinking about adding cayenne pepper but decided to hold off - perhaps next time?

If you're like me and have a hard time just eating one cookie, here's a great tip to conserve the waistline. Take the cookie batter and mold it into a log that has about a 2-inch diameter. Cover with wax paper or plastic wrap and freeze. When you are craving your salty sweet snack, just cut a slice off the cookie dough log and bake in the oven.

Made It! Sweet Corn Salad

I made this sweet corn salad for a potluck BBQ the other day and received rave reviews. I altered Lisa's recipe quite a bit, to cater to my own taste buds.
Rather than raw corn, I decided to use grilled corn - to give the salad some extra flavor. I love the taste of grilled corn, but sadly I don't have access to a grill or gas stove. However, I discovered that you can "grill" corn right on top of the burners of an electric stove. Simply turn the burner on the highest setting and place the corn on top for a few seconds, rotating the corn until all the sides have some grill marks. Adding this simple step gives the corn a deeper, subtly smokey flavor. To the salad, I also added cucumber, avocado, and cilantro. I omitted the red onion since I don't like the taste of it raw. Instead, I minced a shallot and added it to the lime. The acidity of the lime breaks down the shallot to mellow its flavor. I also added a good quality olive oil to the dressing. That was it!!! This salad is so simple and quick to prepare. Just a few veggies to chop, a dressing to whisk together, mix it all together and you're ready to enjoy this healthy, fresh, and flavorful dish.

Sweet Corn Salad

Nothing is a better representation of summer's bounty than biting into a freshly picked cob of sweet, juicy, crunchy corn. I am so lucky that I moved to Utah just in time for sweet corn season. Farmers are selling freshly picked corn cobs on a daily basis on the streets in my town. There are a million delicious ways to eat corn but here's one recipe that I love to make as a healthy side dish. No cooking necessary here - who wants to stand over the stove top in the summertime heat? Just some basic knife skills and a little marinating time and you're done!