Southern English Pea Salad

This Southern English pea salad is a refreshing and delicious side dish, perfect for any gathering. Made with peas, bacon, herbs, and a creamy dressing, it’s sure to be a hit at your next potluck or holiday dinner.

It’s the perfect side dish for Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. I don’t know where English pea salad originated from, or why it’s so dang good considering it’s the world’s shortest list of ingredients, but I do know that any time someone shares a photo of a Southern Potluck or church spread, there’s that pea salad!

Last Fourth of July, we had Cade’s mom, brother, and his family and a friend over for a fun day of swimming and eating. Yes, I did wear a red bathing suit. Yes, I did get mistaken for the lifeguard 100 times. I have had the worst time trying to find a bathing suit that wasn’t cut crazy high or crazy low all year and this one I love, though I will watch where I wear it now. 

But back to the BBQ — we swam, the kids became exhausted, and we headed back to the house where we cooked up classic burgers thanks to our 2 hamburger secrets post, and a selection of our favorite summer salads including this green pea salad, our tomato mozzarella salad, and Nancy’s Southern Grape Salad. We finished the night off with our dreamiest Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting EVER.

Green pea salad is considered to be low-carb, gluten-free, and a slightly healthier option to pasta salad (though we have a pasta version of this recipe too if you prefer). But this doesn’t mean it’s straight up healthy — it contains bacon, cheese, and mayonnaise, after all.

What Ingredients Do I Need for This Salad Recipe?

Although English pea salad has a few different names, it’s all the exact same thing — cold pea salad. You may hear it called pea salad, English Pea Salad, Southern Pea Salad, Green Pea Salad, or, as we’ve called it, Southern English Pea Salad.

Here’s what goes into this easy potluck side dish recipe: 

• Frozen Peas
• Mayonnaise
• Apple Cider Vinegar 
• Salt and Pepper
• Red Onion
• Bacon
• Cheese (Colby Jack or Cheddar Cheese is our favorite)

Some recipes also call for hard-boiled eggs, which we left out this time as I’m really enjoying it as a straight up pea salad lately. I’ve added it into the recipe as optional in case

Air Fryer BBQ Salmon [+Video]

Impress your friends and family with this easy and flavorful BBQ salmon recipe in the air fryer. With just a few simple ingredients, you can create a delicious and healthy dish that everyone will love.

When you cook salmon fillets in the air fryer, the edges getting all crispy and delicious while center stays flaky and moist. It’s so fabulous! It only takes 3 quick (less than 15 minutes!) and easy steps to make this no hassle salmon recipe!

Ingredients for Air Fryer BBQ Salmon

You will only need 5 ingredients to make these air fryer salmon fillets and there is practically no measuring needed! This is the perfect recipe for a busy weeknight when you still want to eat something healthy. Here is what you will need:

• Salmon Fillets
• BBQ Rub or Honey Hog BBQ Rub
• Butter
• BBQ Sauce
• Honey

The details for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to Make BBQ Salmon in the Air Fryer

1. Prep: Preheat the air fryer and rub the fillets with the BBQ rub and butter (or olive oil).
2. Cook: Place the salmon filets in the air fryer skin side down and cook for 7-9 minutes. Time may vary based on the size of the fillets and the size of your air fryer.
3. Serve: Brush some barbecue sauce and honey on top and serve!

These instructions can also be found in the recipe card down below. The recipe can also be saved or printed from there.

Watch How to Make Airfryer Salmon

Do You Season Both Sides?

Only the flesh side of the salmon fillet needs to be seasoned since we cook the salmon with the skin on but we won’t eat the skin. And don’t hold back on the seasoning! I love my salmon with lots of flavor!

Do You Remove Salmon Skin Before Cooking?

I always cook salmon with the skin on. It’s almost like a little protective barrier in the air fryer to keep the salmon from getting dried out. Once it is cooked, it is super easy to remove the skin and serve it.

Read more

Grilled Avocado Tacos Recipe

This easy avocado tacos recipe is made with creamy grilled avocados, a little bit of queso fresco, pickled onions and a tangy lime crema. You’re going to love them!

Grilled Avocado tacos, an absolute must this summer! They may not look like much, but trust me before you know it you’ll be shoveling your 5th taco in your mouth.

Recommended Equipment

• Wusthof Knives
• Tongs
• Pastry Brush

Before You Begin…

I like to make the crema before I start doing anything with the avocados or the grill. The flavors meld together if you let it set for a few minutes so the flavor is more bold and fabulous. Our favorite brand of crema is Cacique!

How This Recipe Came to Be

I once had a roommate who made avocado tacos. At first appearance it seemed almost too easy to me, but then she let me try one. And try it I did, over and over, and over again. They were delicious, light, easy and surprisingly flavorful. And then I got married, moved out and totally forgot about them for a few years.

And then enters my darling friend, Lisa. Lisa is a vegetarian and although I’m all about the meat I find myself frustrated for her when people or restaurants don’t have options for vegetarians. I actually think there is no excuse for a restaurant to not have at least a couple of vegetarian options unless it’s something like a place that specializes in just meat, like J Dawgs.

I’m constantly trying my hand at vegetarian recipes ever since meeting Lisa, kind of like this Roasted Red Pepper Pasta, and then one day I remembered the avocado tacos. I’m not saying that these are the most over the top, crazy delicious dinner recipe you could make, but they really are super delicious, and perfect for both vegetarian and meat eaters at get-togethers or BBQ’s.

In fact, we eat them all the time, and if it’s lunch and we don’t want to heat up the grill we just cook the tortillas and skip grilling the avocados. It’s still delicious, I promise. And because Lisa started this new search in us, we’ve actually found that we prefer to not eat meat every single night. Our bodies seem to respond better to meat sparingly. Go figure. But I will say, meat and protein in the form of meat is still essential for us. And Lisa doesn’t mind.

Ingredients for Grilled Avocado Tacos

For the Tacos

• Corn Tortillas: We have become obsessed with this Vista Hermosa brand of corn tortillas. They have such great flavor and hold up well.
• Avocado: You want a ripe but firm avocado that can hold up to the grilling.
• Salt and Pepper: Adds flavor to the avocado as i

Cheesy BBQ Chicken Zucchini Nachos Recipe

Use up your summer zucchini and whip up this easy, cheesy BBQ chicken zucchini nachos recipe! They make for a great party appetizer or a quick, healthy dinner!

I originally posted this recipe back in 2018 with the help of my sweet friend Kristy Denney. She is the best and always has the best healthy dinner ideas! Since then, I have changed the recipe a little, added a few more toppings, and they are better than ever. Zucchini nachos are the perfect way to use up your summer squash and indulge in a slightly healthier version of nachos. Because honestly, who doesn’t love nachos?!

I love good food but I love it even more when it’s easy and healthy…or at least healthy-ish! These can be a great game-day or party app, a quick lunch for mom (just make a smaller version), or make a giant pan for dinner for the family! Easy, cheesy, good!

Ingredients for Zucchini Nachos

All you really need is a few zucchinis and some cheese to make zucchini nachos, but why stop there when you can load them up with BBQ chicken, black beans, grilled corn, tomatoes, etc.? Here is the full ingredients list:

• Zucchinis – picked fresh from the garden or bought from the grocery store
• Olive Oil – helps cook the zucchini on the grill and keeps them from sticking
• Salt and Pepper – adds flavor
• Garlic Salt – adds flavor to the zucchini
• Chicken – you can use rotisserie chicken, grill your own chicken, or use canned chicken
• BBQ Sauce – pick your favorite BBQ sauce or make your own
• Monterey Jack Cheese – we love monterey jack for nachos, but you could use whatever cheese you want
• Bleu Cheese Crumbles – we love the creamy umami burst the bleu cheese crumbles add, and they are totally optional if you have bleu cheese haters in the house
• Black Beans – drain and rinse the beans so that they don’t add any moisture to the nachos
• Grilled Corn – you can grill your own corn on the cob or buy grilled corn from the store
• Tomato – ok, I know there aren’t tomatoes in these photos, but I love some diced tomatoes on top
• Pickled Onions – these are quick and easy to make and add the best burst of flavor
• Red Onions – diced and sprinkled on top
• Bleu Cheese Dressing – I’ve linked to our homemade dressing, but you could also buy your favorite brand

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post. You can also add to or change the toppings to your liking.

How to Make Zucchini Nachos

Zucchini nachos are so crazy easy to make. Even this cheesy bbq chicken zucchini nachos recipe! We like to

Teriyaki Pina Colada Burger [+ Video]

Teriyaki Pina Colada Burger is our favorite! It’s a secret blend of meat for the juiciest burger, topped with teriyaki sauce, grilled pineapple, crispy bacon and a special pina colada sauce.

Cade has created a monster. A real life hamburger monster. Annnd that sounds gross. I’ve never really cared for burgers, but slowly and surely I’m realizing that it’s all about how the burger is made.

In fact I had one in Portland a few years ago that is still one of the best I’ve ever had. Except I had to shower when I got home as all the spices had gotten stuck in my hair and made my hair smell horrid. But it was worth it.

Anyway we’ve been creating quite a few favorite burger recipes like the Brazilian burger and the rest I’ll list at the end of the post so you all can have a list of them. But this teriyaki pina colada burger recipe (which was inspired by the darling Jeana Hammer), well thanks to our 2 secrets for the best burger, is awesome!

How This Recipe Came to Be

This is one of those burgers that you kind of have to trust me on. I know some maybe find it weird that we baste the burger, but trust me, it’s so yum. Good golly it’s good! I mean, if you can make a teriyaki steak (which happens to be a favorite of mine at Tepanyaki grills) then why not a burger?

And then as they were cooking I thought, we just had Maui pork nachos with pina colada sauce which is one of our favorite football foods ever, so why not use the leftover sauce to make a pina colada mayo?! BOOYAH BABY!!

Ingredients for a Teriyaki Pina Colada Burger

Here is what you will need to make these heavenly burgers! This is just meant to given you an overview of the ingredients need. The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card down below.

• Brioche Buns – The bun makes all the difference and brioche is soft and fluff but will home up to the sauce and juicy burger.
• Ground Beef – We recommend using 80/20 or 85/15, but nothing leaner than that. The more fat, the more flavor!
  • This recipe also works great with ground turkey or chicken!
• Teriyaki Sauce – you could make the sauce homemade or buy your favorite brand at the store
• Salt and Pepper – added flavor
• Butter – used to grill the buns
• Pineapple – that grilled brown sugar glazed pineapple ring is noth