Cornbread Salad

Yum! I made this salad a couple nights ago for dinner, and I really loved it! Of course, it helps that I love cornbread! I had seen this recipe before on Smitten Kitchen and thought it looked good, but it seemed like a lot of work for a salad- to have to make cornbread and the dressing rather than just cutting up some vegetables and putting them on a pile of lettuce with bottled dressing. But now I am so glad I tried it! I had already made cornbread earlier in the week using this recipe for Low Fat Cornbread so I wanted to use some of it for the salad. The recipe as I made it is below to serve 2 people. (I served it as a side with trout and mashed potatoes).

Ingredients:
Salad-
1.5-2 cups cornbread, cut into small cubes (mine were more rectangular...)
1 cup baby heirloom tomatoes, halved (You can use any kind of good ripe tomatoes)
1/4 Vidalia onion, very thinly sliced
mixed greens
dressing (see recipe below)

Directions:
1. Turn on broiler (low setting if you have it)
2. Spread cornbread in a single layer on a baking sheet
3. Broil until bread cubes are toasted (mine took about 4 minutes, but you will want to keep an eye on this)
4. Place lettuce, greens,toasted corn bread, onion and tomatoes to a large bowl and toss to combine. Drizzle with buttermilk dressing, season with salt and pepper, and toss again. Serve immediately.

Buttermilk Lime Dressing:
1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon good quality olive oil
1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh basil
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely minced green onions
salt and pepper

Whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until combined. Can covered tightly and stored in the fridge up to two days. You probably will not need all the dressing- depending on how much you like on your salad.

Roasted carrots with avocado

I actually made this side dish a while ago, but then I came across the picture and realized I had never added it to the blog! I want to immediately because it was so good, and I wanted to remind myself to make it again soon! I read the recipe for Roasted Carrot and Avocado salad on Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorites and knew I wanted to try it or something similar. I had forgotten how good roasted carrots are!

I made a few changes from the original recipe. First, I reduced the oil because I really didn't think it needed much. Second, as much as I love cumin, I left it out because I just wanted to taste the pure sweetness of the carrots. The recipe as I made it is below:
Ingredients:
- 1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced into 2 inch pieces (I used organic but you don't have to)
-1/2 to 1 Tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 avocado, sliced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Toss carrots with olive oil (or spray if you have an olive oil spray can) on baking sheet
3. Sprinkle carrots with salt and pepper
4. Roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. You will want to check yours because time will vary based on the thickness of the carrots. They are done when they are fork tender, but not mushy.
5. Toss carrots with avocado slices and serve.

I would say this probably serves 3-4 people, but we had no problem finishing it off with just 2 of us!