This simple avocado salsa is basically guacamole mingled with salsa or pico de gallo. It's a dip that has the flavors of guacamole but more of a texture similar to a chunky salsa.

It's brimming with nutritious ingredients, and you'll love it's lively flavor. Plus who can resit that tempting blend of textures? Among them a soft bite, bits of crispness throughout, plenty creaminess, and with crunchy flakey chips a truly perfect pairing.

It's a fine-chop dunk-able chip dip, or you can use it as a topping over cooked protein such as pan seared salmon, black bean burgers, or grilled chicken. Another option of course is to heavily layer it over your favorite Mexican food - things like taco salad, chicken street tacos, fajitas, or even add a few spoonfuls to a bowlful of tortilla soup.

I think you'll really come to appreciate all the various ways you can enjoy this salsa!

It's perfectly fitting for weeknight dinner meals and always a crowd pleasing appetizer at parties! People will say it's a welcome upgrade to classic salsa, and for you it may become a go-to way to use up those ever so delicious avocados.

Wondering what to do with that hearty bread that's getting stale on the counter? One of the best options is to make this refreshing, summery, and brightly colorful panzanella salad! Homemade croutons will blow your mind.

Classic Panzanella is a rustic salad that was originally created by the farmers of the central Italian countryside who made it as a way to use up day-old bread and their abundance of fresh homegrown vegetables.

It comes together quickly and it's the perfect side dish to various grilled meats. It's also such a versatile salad with options to swap in other vegetables, use various cheeses, try it with a protein, or add beans.

This is a great base and guide to get you started from there you can adjust it to your heart's content!

Grilled Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is made with tender penne pasta, lightly charred grilled chicken breasts, crisp romaine lettuce, sweet grape tomatoes, crunchy croutons, rich parmesan and it's all covered in a creamy, lemony caesar salad dressing.

It's a dish so filling and delicious that is could easily pasta for the main entree of a meal.

Plus it's easy to make and there's even a few shortcuts if you want to save some time, such as using rotisserie chicken, store-bought croutons, and even a store-bought caesar dressing (though I'd add some fresh lemon to it).

Or if you love to impress and go all out like I did here, which will create the very best pasta salad, then make the croutons from scratch, go for the grilled chicken option, and make the simple dressing fresh. This pasta salad is a dream and I think you'll absolutely love it!

Summery Grilled Chicken Salad

This ultimate grilled chicken salad is piled high with all the best ingredients, each one adding to it's well balanced fusion of flavors and satisfying variety of textures.

And I think you'll appreciate that the dressing also doubles as a chicken marinade so you won't need to make a separate seasoning for the grilled chicken.

This salad is a perfectly filling, ideal entree for a lunch get together but it also makes for an exceptional dinner salad as well.

You can also easily adjust it to use up what you have by substituting different vegetables or create a new flavor profile by using different fresh herbs in the dressing (basil or cilantro would be welcomed options).

If you are looking for a salad people will remember this is it! It includes that trio people just can't get enough of - chicken, bacon and avocado.

And here everything is highlighted by an unapologetically lemony dressing to really make it sing. It will get compliments all around!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

In this bountiful salad you find it's rich in Tex-Mex flavor and has so much freshness in every bite. There's a beautiful variety of color, flavor and textures, with each ingredient enhancing the dish.

It's layered with nutritious Romaine lettuce, crispy tortilla chips, a zesty citrus marinated chicken, salsa coated beans and veggies, plus rich cheese, sour cream, and avocado.

The chicken is pan seared then the taco salad filling is cooked in that same pan. And it's convenient that you don't need a grill for this recipe and it can be made any day of year no matter the season.

If you happen to have any leftover filling you can use it in tacos, quesadillas or burritos the following day for lunch. There's just so much to love about this delicious Chicken Taco Salad!

A Fun Christmas Appetizer Recipe

This eye catching Christmas tree cheese ball is decorated with plenty of earthy green minced fresh parsley, dotted with tiny red tomatoes and yellow bell pepper pieces, its swirled with a ribbon of pine nuts, then finished with a vibrant golden bell pepper star practically shining atop.

It's a holiday classic with a sophisticated upgrade thanks to its enhancements of herby flavors and fresh vegetables (or technically fruits), the welcomed bold white cheddar goodness, a pine nut finish, and its impressive unique appearance. No boring typical rounded shape plus pecan coating here.

And even though it's quite large this savory treat will be devoured in no time. This charming centerpiece will be a highlight of your gathering and a new striking way you'll want to make the holiday cheese ball every year!

Easy Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board

A charcuterie board has never been so fun to make! Everything you get in a traditional charcuterie board shaped into a festive Christmas tree!

It's simple to assemble, it just takes a little bit of chopping and some basic artistic planning.

This is a family friendly charcuterie board and it's adaptable to swapping out some of the things I've shown here for things you may already have. The idea is just to stick to that simple red, green, and white/yellow theme for those classic Christmas colors. Then of course just keep the "Christmas tree" shape as you go.

A delicious holiday project that may just become a new family tradition at each yearly holiday gathering!

Easy Caprese Salad Christmas Tree Appetizer

Caprese salad is one of the easiest, tastiest Italian side dishes to prepare. And its natural colors just happen to be so perfectly Christmasy too so it only makes sense to bring the two things together for a deliciously festive dish making this cheery "Christmas tree".

This tasty "tree" is party perfect, makes enough for a crowd, doesn't require any special kitchen skills, and only needs a handful of ingredients. It's just a quick and simple, edible art project that will be the talk of the holiday gathering.

It's also a fun thing to do together if you've got friends or family around to help. Someone can slice while the other person assembles. Even kids can help with the layering assembly.

So many reasons to add this easy Christmas side dish to your holiday menu!

Like this Winter version? Also try my go-to classic fruit salad recipe filled with summer fruit.

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe

Typically we think of fruit salads as a summer side dish but there's still an abundance of fruit in season during winter so why not take advantage of that and make a healthy winter fruit salad?

I first shared this recipe eight years ago and we've made it several times each year since. It's so good it almost passes as a tempting dessert!

This is a great dish to add to a holiday menu because there are often lots of heavy sides served but this is a light, refreshing and nutritious option to help balance those out a bit.

You'll find this inviting fruit salad is so easy to make and it adds so much festive natural color to your table.

Just keep in mind the most important thing about a fruit salad is the quality of the fruit. You want the fruit to have a sweet ripe flavor and firm enough texture that it won't get mushy.

From there the honey and lemon will just balance and highlight all of it's natural, fresh fruity goodness.

The Fastest Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe!

Who doesn't love a freshly baked homemade roll warm from the oven?

It's amazing that something made up so few of the most basic ingredients, that's so reasonably easy to make can create something so supremely delicious!

These dinner rolls have the best melt-in-your-mouth texture with a light chew, a rich buttery flavor and just a faint hint of background sweetness. They're the perfect side to homemade Vegetable Soup or Minestrone Soup!

I've shared so many soup recipes so of course it only makes sense to have some delicious rolls to serve with them. These rolls also double as great base for sliders or sandwiches (pulled pork, holiday ham and turkey etc), or use leftovers the next day for a breakfast casserole (like French toast or a strata).

These easy dinner rolls are the ultimate upgrade to a cozy, comforting meal especially when slathered with a fair layer of creamy whipped butter or homemade freezer jam.