Spring Vegetable Crunch Salad and Blogiversary

One year ago today, I published my first ever blog post - I Now Pronounce You Man and Wife.

Happy Blogiversary

Reaching this milestone made me look back on some of my early posts and realize how much I have grown as a writer, chef, blogger, and person overall. The blog has been a channel where I can share my thoughts and opinions about the field I love - cooking. Kettler Cuisine challenges my creativity, writing skills and culinary knowledge every day.

Lessons in Blogging

There are several things that I have learned from the past year of blogging. It certainly isn't as easy as one would think:

1. A post takes time. As simple as it sounds to type up your thoughts and a recipe, it requires drafts, edits, HTML and multimedia. I have never been able to just "throw" a post together in 20 minutes.
2. You must think ahead. Different seasons bring different produce, ingredients and food trends. In order to stay relavant, I try to think a few months ahead and plan for dishes or ingredients I want to write about. 
3. Proper SEO is important. Search engine optimization is key to a good blog. This helps others find your site, and when you are taking the time and effort to write and create, you want people to read it! I have to thank my hubby and BoostSuite for this lesson. 
4. Promotion is a must. Food blogging is a wonderful, collaborative community of awesome people. I have posted and commented on other blogs, and in return, received blog-love in the form of shares, retweets, likes, comments, and shout-outs!
5. Give credit when deserved. I love to create my own recipes, but I often find inspiration from others. There are so many great recipes out there. When I get inspired by them, I make sure to give them some love!
6. This is not a job, but a hobby. I could spend all day, every day writing, cooking, posting, researching, editing, designing, etc. I have to limit my time on the blog so that I don't ignore other aspects of my life, like my job, friendships, health and most importantly, my husband!

Speaking of Ryan, I've got to thank him for all the support and advice. I also want to thank him for his patience, waiting to eat while I fiddle with the camera and lighting to capture our meals. Bless his heart,...as we say in the South.

Speaking of South, Spring has arrived! Well, at least for a day. I am so ready for it that I decided to start posting Spring recipes (see lesson #2). This particular one is a Spring Vegetable Crunch Salad.

The great thing about this salad is that there are no specific measurements or dressings. The amount of ingredients can depend on the number being served (or how many leftovers desired). The combination of these vegetables just screams Spring - a nice refreshing salad for a beautiful Spring day.

The key is to chop all the ingredients into uniform sizes. It was a split decision on dressing though - I went light vinaigrette and Ryan opted for his beloved Ranch.

We have a lot more in store for everyone, so keep following and compromising!

Thanks again for all your support.

Love,
Jess

Spring Vegetable Crunch Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cucumbers

Radishes

Yellow cherry tomatoes

Pea sprouts (or other sprouts)

Chop all ingredients and toss with salt and pepper. Dress with favorite salad dressing right before serving. Salad can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator.