summer salads

Since it's summer, I thought I'd post some salad recipes. 

First of all, this croc caught my eye because I thought Ian would have a lot of fun with it. 

We have a big zucchini that we used and had fun enjoying the salad.

I recently saw the dressing recipe below online.

Ranch Lite

1 cup Dannon Oikos plain greek yogurt
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch mix,
1/2 cup 1% milk.

Whisk together, pour into an air tight mason jar, chill 1 hour before use. Perfect consistency and tastes better than bottled. This whole jar of ranch is only 1.75 grams of fat and 255 calories.

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Cheryl sent me a salad recipe she got from Brenda. Both of them said it was a big hit with the groups they served. Cheryl also sent it to Karen and see said, "Hey- I made your salad, Dee, but due to "extenuating circumstances" it has almonds, green onions, and no feta... so not really your salad!!! But the dressing and "my" salad tasted great!' " It was funny, as I had to write back and let her know it was Brenda's salad via Cheryl. Sounds like a prior cake recipe. I recently made it twice for different friends and they enjoyed it. Perfect for summer, especially just after blueberry picking.

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I saw yet another blueberry salad recipe online just after picking many berries, and tried it on Scott, Ian and a friend. My friend and I liked it, Ian loved picking out the fruit, and Scott was fine not having it again. I really liked the creaming dressing. I used the leftovers on the watermelon blueberry salad. They didn't have fennel at our local store, so I go anise and used that. It was a very unique salad.

Fruit, Fennel and Chinese Cabbage Salad with Blueberry Pomegranate Dressing

For the salad:

2 c. blueberries
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
2 c. red grapes
1 pint organic strawberries, sliced
1 apple, cored, peeled and sliced
2 c. shredded Chinese or nappa cabbage
2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed and very thinly sliced

For the dressing:
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 c. pomegranate juice
1/4 c. raw cashews
1/4 c. raw sunflower seeds
3 T. Dr. Fuhrman's Wild Blueberry Vinegar or other fruit-flavored vinegar 

    (I used a balsamic vinaigrette)
4 dates, pitted
1/2 t. vanilla extract

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl.
Blend all dressing ingredients in a high-powered blender until smooth and creamy.
Toss salad with desired amount of dressing. Serves 6.



Here's a link to 4 more summer salads that look delicious.