Corn/avocado salad with shrimp and wild rice

Flavor and color explosion!

Now that I am looking at the original recipe in the NYTimes, I'm questioning if this is even the right one. You can compare their photo to mine and play "spot the differences." Or read my explanation below!

My mom and I both thought this recipe sounded good, particularly with the inclusion of avocado, leftover corn on the cob, feta cheese, and a lime dressing. Great flavor combination! The cherry tomatoes from the original recipe stayed, too.

What we added: Chickpeas, artichoke hearts, radishes, and carrots.

How I ate the leftovers: served with wild rice and marinated shrimp.

This is probably not one I would attempt in Russia due to the grocery offerings, but I'd have it again during an American summer for sure!

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018245-corn-avocado-and-cucumber-salad

How to Make Chocolate Mousse Dirt Cake

I'm going through my Instagram feed to see which recipes I can add here. I used to have lots of recipes with no photo, and now I have the opposite problem!

I got the idea a longgg time ago to do a bug theme for my son's birthday party in July. Maybe it was a pregnancy thing, but I was really craving "dirt cake." It's that dessert where you have chocolate pudding with the top disguised to look like garden dirt.

Chocolate Mousse Dirt Cake

Since my family has a favorite chocolate mousse recipe, I decided to use that for the base. No boxed pudding mixes for us, and a benefit of this dessert is that some mousse could be kept "plain" for people who avoid gluten.

Get the recipe: