Summer Salads - A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Antipasti Salad 

Not My Mommy's Potato Salad 

Roasted Chicken with Corn and Black bean Salad

Fresh Fruit Salad with Honey and Greek Yogurt

Quinoa Salad 

Jicama Fruit Salad

Tandoori Garbanzo Bean Potato Salad

Pineapple Salsa Salad

Antipasti Salad

  Antipasti Salad

This Antipasti Salad is a delicious mix of flavors and textures, perfect for sharing with friends! It's got fresh veggies, cured meats, cheeses, and a tangy dressing. You can throw in mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, feta cheese, and hard-boiled eggs. The dressing is super simple, too—just olive oil, red wine vinegar, and Dijon mustard. Just mix everything up, drizzle the dressing, and you're good to go. Feel free to tweak the ingredients to your liking!😋

Ingredients

• 2 cups of mixed green salad (like arugula, romaine, or spinach)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup of cucumber slices
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup black and green olives
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, sliced (optional)
• 1/2 cup pepperoncini or banana pepper rings
• 1/2 cup cubed feta cheese or fresh mozzarella balls
• 1/4 cup Parmesan shavings (for garnish)
• 6-8 slices of cured meat (like salami, prosciutto, or mortadella), rolled
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
• Fresh basil leaves (for garnish)

Dressing

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Prepare the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
2. To assemble the salad, layer the salad greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions in a large serving bowl or platter.
3. Arrange the rolled cured meats, feta cheese cubes, olives, and pepper rings on top of the greens. If using, tuck in hard-boiled egg quarters and roasted red peppers.
4. Drizzle the dressing: Pour the prepared dressing over the salad just before serving. Toss gently or let guests serve themselves.
5. Garnish: Add Parmesan shavings and fresh basil leaves for an elegant touch.

Special Note 

You can always adjust the ingredients to suit your preferences—perhaps adding artichoke hearts, marinated mushrooms, or even croutons for extra crunch. Bon appétit! Let me know if you'd like a variation or help with a different recipe.

Vibrant Harvest Tropical Salad Bowl

 About The Recipe

This recipe is for a super colorful and tasty Tropical Salad Bowl that serves one.

It's got a mix of fresh greens like romaine lettuce and baby spinach, along with cherry tomatoes, cooked beets, radishes, black olives, baby bell peppers, diced pineapple, and hard-boiled eggs. You top it all off with scallions and micro-greens. Season it with some salt and pepper, and drizzle on an herb and garlic dressing made from olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and herbs. Just toss everything together for a delicious and healthy meal! Enjoy making your salad!

Ingredients 

• 1 cup of Romain lettuce, chopped
• 1 cup of baby spinach, roughly torn
• 2 medium beets, cooked beets, sliced
• ¼ cup of radish, thinly sliced (about 2 nice-sized radishes)
• ¼ cup black olives, sliced
• ½ cup of baby bell peppers, sliced (red, yellow, orange)
• 1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
• ¼ cup scallions, sliced
• ¼ cup micro-greens
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Salad Dressing of your choice see recipe below

Equipment

Individual salad bowl

Instructions

          1.     In a large bowl, combine Romain lettuce and baby spinach.

2.     Add sliced beets, radishes, black olives, and baby bell peppers.

          3.     Gently fold in freshly diced pineapple and cherry tomatoes.

4.     Arrange quartered hard-boiled eggs on top.

          5.     Sprinkle sliced scallions and microgreens over the salad.

6.     Season with salt and pepper.

7.     Toss gently just before serving, and add salad dressing of your choice.

Salad Dressing recommendations

Herb and Garlic salad dressing (Makes about 8 servings, about 2 tablespoons each)

          1.     ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2.     ¼ cup red wine vinegar

3.     1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

4.     ¼ cup fresh lemon juice

5.     2 tablespoons dried oregano

6.     2 cloves of garlic, grated

7.     1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

8.     1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt

9.     1 teaspoon of herbal seasoning blend

10.  2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

 Place the above ingredients in a blender or food processor, cover with a lid, and blend until smooth.

Warm Quinoa Salad with Sweet Potatoes

 

About The Recipe

Quinoa is as filling as it is reassuringly nutritious. It is ideal for salads, as it happily accommodates other ingredients while providing its own flavor and lightly resistant texture. This salad is perfect for picnics, packed lunches, or dinner.

Serving 4 

Ingredients

2 medium size sweet potatoes, peeled and diced in cubes

¼ cup fresh thyme, chopped

2 tablespoons of olive oil- for roasting sweet potatoes

Salt and pepper to season potatoes

¾ - 1 cup of quinoa- cooked per package instructions (you can use regular or tri-color quinoa)

1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth

1/3 cup chopped scallions

1/2 cup fresh baby spinach julienne for garnish

Equipment

1 medium-sized roasting pan to roast sweet potatoes

1 medium-sized saucepan for quinoa

Instructions

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Preheat oven to 400°F

Place sweet potatoes in a Ziploc bag, add olive oil, chopped thyme, and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Then, place the potatoes on a medium-sized baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until tender and slightly caramelized around the edges.  Once done remove from the oven and set aside.

Quinoa 

Meanwhile, add chicken broth to a saucepan on medium heat and bring to a boil. Add quinoa, salt, and pepper, then reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid, and cook for 10-12 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender.

Make a warm salad

In a large bowl, add roasted sweet potatoes, quinoa, and scallions. Combined everything together, taste for additional salt and pepper if necessary.  Garnish with julienne baby spinach. Served warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Tips

** You make the salad in advance as it will be stored in the fridge for a day.  You remove it from the fridge and let it stand at room temperature or warm in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

** Recipe can be doubled for more people and servings.

** Salad is perfect for lunch or a picnic dish.

Cooking from the Pantry - Salads are not just for summer

Quinoa Salad

Salads are not just for summer but for all year round. They can be crisp and light, stimulating and spicy, or substantial and satisfying.  Imagine tempting appetizers, complementary accompaniments, refreshing palate cleansers, or filling main course, and don’t forget that fruit salads make delicious desserts.  How about mixing fruits and veggies together which also makes wonderful salads. So get creative with making salads with endless possibilities.  In addition to making salads, continue to keep clean eating by making your only salad dressings too. 

Ingredients

Makes – 6 servings

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• ½ cup diced red onion
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar  (organic / raw unfiltered)
• ½ yellow bell pepper (dice)
• 1 medium tomato (diced) (tomato only no seeds or pulp)  
• 1 medium english cucumber, peeled, diced
• 4 tablespoons pitted, sliced kalamata olives
• 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
• 4 tablespoons fresh mint leaves chopped
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste  

Let’s make this!

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and gently blend well. Covered and let marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour or longer. 

                                                                            

Quinoa - Trying to add more healthy whole grains to your diet? Choosing quinoa is a nutritious and easy to prepare whole grain to begin with. Yes, quinoa is healthy, but just how healthy is it? Get the straight nutritional facts and nutrient data about this healthy gluten-free and low-fat grain. Quinoa is a great food not just for vegetarians and vegans, but for anyone looking to lower their cholesterol or add fiber to their diet.

 

Apple Cider Vinegar - is a helpful health tonic that has shown promise in helping diabetes, cancer, heart health, high cholesterol, and weight loss, and for years people have used apple cider vinegar as a folk remedy to lower fever and aid indigestion. Reach for apple cider vinegar to cure everything from the hiccups to common cold symptoms.