Summer Chopped Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

My diet consists of way too much sugar, baked goods, and ice cream, so I have to make sure to really get in some healthful ingredients by dinner time. A chopped salad always feels fresh and can be changed up so easily by what you have on hand. I had never made my own ranch dressing before and was shocked how easy it was, plus I used light mayo to cut the calories. Any of the ingredients in this can be subbed for what you love. Piling the components up in lines makes for a great presentation and makes it feel a lot less like your run of the mill salad. 

Summer Chopped Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

serves 4

For the Salad: 

5 slices of salami or 4 slices of bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled

1/4 cup of shaved parmesan cheese

1/4 cup of pepitas 

1 avocado, diced

2 ears of corn, cooked, chilled and cut off the ear

1 cup of cooked orzo, Israeli couscous, or quinoa

1 red bell pepper, diced

4 cooked chicken breasts, diced

2 cups baby arugula, chopped

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

On a large platter or wide shallow bowl, align the ingredients in lines against one another. Chill until ready to serve. 

For the Dressing: 

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used light)

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon or chopped flat leaf parsley

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 

Lawry's seasoning salt, & freshly ground pepper to taste

Whisk all of the ingredients together and taste to adjust seasoning. Chill. 

Serve salad cold and toss with the dressing. 

Enjoy! 

xo

Erin 

Ellen Goes Country

I want to thank everyone for the crazy love I got yesterday after telling you my big news. I am already diving into nursery decorating at an alarming pace. So I thought taking a break to look at some much more grown up design would be better. 

Ellen (yes, the one and only) recently moved to sprawling 26 acre ranch outside LA with her Aussie, Portia. This insane place includes horse barns, a barn just for art (#richpeopleproblems), and a half dozen guest houses. How sweet is that? You can always host the family reunion and holidays, but everyone gets their own pad. You just need to come up with a gazillion dollars to land that kind of luxury. No big deal. 

As someone who lives in horse country (sans horses, Ellen has them naturally), I love to see how the country look can be elevated into something modern. I am constantly trying to shy away from the traditional aesthetic of our house and make it more contemporary, but these make me feel like that is not really necessary. 

High beams and an industrial lantern

You will notice that natural wood, black, rich leather and white are really the only colors and textures. 

Beams again in this bedroom. Do they ever get old? Love the crispness of all the white. 

Gray brick fireplace, heaven. 

Wait, there is blue. Love the minimalist painting above the fireplace. Cozy chair, too. 

This room shows how to use some of that equestrian tack and art in a modern way. Pretty masculine room, actually. 

I love this room, although would do something besides that ring. Maybe a giant photo? Oh, and yes I would love to curl up next to that window with an Hermes blanket. Thanks, Ellen. 

This is a really fun and dare I say easy to build (I know nothing about building) gazebo. 

The idea of a giant picnic style table to have giant meals with friends and family at gets me so excited. I wish we did not have bugs in IL, because I swear I would entertain way more with this set up. 

Ellen likes to move around, but apparently Portia is in her dream house since she is a horse person. I love how they move from place to place making it so chic. but if this was my latest, I would think about staying here a bit longer. After I added a few pops of color. 

xo

Erin