Avocado, Squash, & Pinto Salad with Pesto and Cumin-Honey Yogurt #CrazyIngredientChallenge

I love the idea behind the Crazy Ingredient Challenge (CIC). In the CIC, we are assigned two ingredients to cook and create. Lori of Lori's Culinary Creations and Kelly of Passion Kneaded

are our fearless leaders. So, here goes...

July's Crazy Ingredient Challenge = avocado and cumin

With avocado and cumin, my first thought was something with guacamole. But that seemed too easy.

So, I ended up making an entree salad with pesto, pinto beans, grilled summer squash, avocado, and a cumin-honey yogurt. I feel so fortunate to have just gotten a bounty of summer goodness from one of my favorite farmers, Jamie of Serendipity Farms. The squash, the herbs, the fresh pea shoots. And I had lemons from my parents' tree.

I know it sounds like a crazy combination of flavors, but this is for Crazy Ingredient Challenge after all. It really was delicious. And my Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf ate the cumin-honey yogurt by the spoonful for dessert over fresh blackberries.

Ingredients

• half a dozen baby summer squash
• 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 to 2 large organic avocados, peeled and thickly sliced
• smoked fleur de sel for serving
• fresh herbs for garnish (I used sprigs of basil flowers)
• Also needed: grill or grill pan, oil as needed

Cumin-Honey Yogurt

• 3/4 C Greek yogurt
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/2 T honey

Pea Shoot Pesto

• 1 C pea shoots
• 1/2 C fresh cilantro
• 3 cloves garlic
• juice of 1 organic lemon
• 1/4 to 1/3 C olive oil

Procedure

Place yogurt, honey, and cumin in a small mixing bowl. Stir until well-combined. Refrigerate until needed. 

Place all of the pesto ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until desired texture. Adjust seasoning as needed. Set aside.

Grill the squash until nice char marks develop. Once cool enough to touch, slice them in half lengthwise.

To serve, spoon pesto into the bottom on a serving bowl. Spoon pinto beans over the pesto. Top with grilled squash and avocados.  And add a dollop of cumin-honey yogurt. Garnish with fresh herbs and smoked fleur de sel.

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