Salad Queen

Somewhere along the way I became the designated salad maker for our family functions. It's probably not what I would have choosen to become, but it is how it is so...(on the bright side salads are like...the easiest thing to prepare and the thing I always have the ingredients for, so even though it was unintentional, I have grown quite accustomed to being the salad person)

I thought I would share with you some salad making tips. Since becoming the salad maker I have learned two things about what makes a salad great 1) lots of "stuff" and 2) a special dressing you make especially for your salad. These things always please the peeps.

I think I aquired my title of "Awesome Salad Maker" by making Ralphie's Avacado Feta Salad.

Here's the recipe, I love it!

Salad

1 package of baby greens (I love the big package of baby greens at costco, and only like $3 for a weeks worth of salads)
1/4 C chopped red onion
1/2 C chopped walnuts (raise your hand if you hate walnuts! Me! I use pecans! or almonds)
1/3 C crumbled feta or blue cheese (raise your hand if you hate blue cheese! Me! I always use feta, and for some weird reason I prefer it grated instead of crumbled. You can get a big ol' pack of feta at costco for cheaper than anywhere else)
2 tsp lemon zest
1 apple - peeled, cored and sliced
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced

Dressing

4 mandarin oranges, juiced (I use half a can of mandarins and squish them with a potato masher)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 t lemon zest
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
salt to taste.

This is a surefire crowd pleaser!



Then a few weeks ago Katie came to dinner and brought an awesome salad, and it took two weeks of harassing her but I have finally secured her dressing recipe for you! This got RAVE reviews last night. Rave.

The dressing

2T Red Wine Vinegar
3T sugar or honey or agave ( I used more like 2)
1/2 C Olive Oil
1/2 t dry mustard
1/2 t salt
1 C strawberry or raspberry jam

The salad

mixed greens from Costco
feta
blueberries
apple - peeled, cored and diced
candied pecans (recipe forthcoming!)
avocado

Seriously, it was amazing.

So, if I am making a sweet yummy type dressing I use a medley of any of the following

spinach or mixed greens
blueberries
apples
strawberries
mandarin oranges
avocado
feta
toasted nuts
candied nuts
red onion


If I am wanting a salad with just plain old ranch dressing (which I loooooove) (hey maybe Janssen will post her homemade ranch dressing recipe....mmm? pretty please?)

Then I use whatever type of lettuce I have, I always get something fancy in my bountiful basket
croutons
snap peas, cut in smaller pieces
red onion
tomato
cucumber
feta
green or red peppers
toasted nuts

and, here is a little super salad maker tip for you...if I am doing a non sweet salad - I always salt and pepper the whole salad. Always. It makes a big difference for me. So now you know.

But please still assign me salads if you invite me to a party. It's kind of my thing.