#214 Summer Salads, Salads and more Salads

Summer is never the same without a plethora of cool and refreshing salads!! In this modern age of pre-packaged salads and salad bars we have no excuse to stay away from eating healthy. With state-of-the art refrigeration, fresh farmers markets in every town and the plethora of salad sprays available in the market today salad consumption is becoming more and more easy...so go ahead make your dinner plate shine with imaginative nutritious salads! Last year I shared a layered summer salad with my readers. But this year I have been picking up fresh ingredients from the Farmer's Market, which inspired me to make a few interesting ones. Once the glorious greens are in my kitchen, I've found that if they are trimmed, washed, dried and re-packaged they'll keep for several days in the fridge. Whether its butter lettuce, Arugula, iceberg, romaine, escarole or radichio I lay them out over paper towels after a nice wash and they stay in a deep pan covered with a damp towel. When fairly drained of water, I wrap two sheets of fresh paper towels loosely over the leaves and refrigerate in plastic bags and store for 4 days. This comes in handy for me to pull them out as desired for salads every evening.

I've put together a collection of the salads I've made this Summer with a variety of vegetables right here for you. There's no excuse to avoid salads and if you don't like plain lettuce then you can spruce it up with the creamy "Green Goddess" dressing.  

Before we begin, I will take you back to a few of my previous posts

http://chillilovesmalli.blogspot.com/2012/05/206-cabbage-slaw-topped-with-pesto.html

and here's my Greek inspired Tuna salad with cucumber, tomato and avocado http://chillilovesmalli.blogspot.com/2012/05/209-greek-inspired-cucumber-tomato.html

I must mention my refreshing beet and orange salad with goat cheese on a bed of Arugula
http://chillilovesmalli.blogspot.com/2012/05/208-roasted-beets-orange-and-goat.html

Here's a no-fuss veggie wrap without the carbs!!!

Thin slices of Mango, steamed asparagus, red pepper wrapped in thinly sliced cross sections of cucumber drizzled with honey mustard dressing!!

I love vinegar based dressings yet, I favor a few of the creamy dressings like Ranch. However, recently I've been shaking up home made emulsions and oils. I've discovered a new-found love for this creamy dressing that I've made many times over, each time modifying it to my taste and adjusting the measurements to make it less creamy. Many recipes for "Green Goddess" dressing asks for anchovies but I eliminated them altogetherand made it my own......

 Wedge Salad with Green Goddess Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

1 cup scallions chopped

1 cup fresh Basil leaves cut up

1 1/2 limes juiced

2 tspn chopped garlic

2 tspn salt

1 tspn freshly ground black pepper

1 cup sour cream

For the salad:

1 head of iceberg lettuce for making wedges (or any lettuce of your choice)  

1 tomato cut up

3 strips of turkey bacon cooked and crumbled.

How to make the Goddess:

1. Place all the ingredients except those for the salad in the bowl of a blender.

2. Process until smooth and use over a Wedge of Lettuce, some tomatoes and sprinkle with turkey bacon bits.

But that's not all...stay tuned for more and more innovative ways to incorporate Green Goddess Dressing and veggies in your diet!!