Foodie Friday: Salad Ideas

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Good Day Foodies!! Hope you all had a marvelous week. It’s time for Foodie Friday’s. This week we will be taking a look at a few options for making a salad. This will not be the only post on salads but rather a start of a complete series of posts on different salad options. This series will run for the next few months.

Salads don’t just begin with lettuce, but pasta, spinach, fruit or even cheese. What types of items do you like in your salad? If I’m having a salad with lettuce, I’ll usually make a bed of spring mix and add some arugula and spinach, along with shredded carrots, mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, golden raisins, pecans, cucumbers, and avocados. For a dressing sometimes I’ll drizzle honey mustard, ranch, strawberry vinaigrette or an Asian peanut dressing. It all depends on what my taste buds are craving.

Chicken Salad with Grapes & Pecans

Chicken Salad with Grapes Recipe
Photo Credit: Southern Living

1/2 cup of mayonnaise or ranch dressing
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 pounds skinned and boned chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
3 cups red and white seedless grapes, halved
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Combine all ingredients except pecans. Cover and store chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Add pecans when ready to serve.

Quick Chef Salad:

Shredded Cheese
Cherry Tomatoes
Ham
Romaine Lettuce

Mix together and add your favorite dressing

Apple Pecan Gorgonzola Salad

Apple, Pecan and Gorgonzola Side Salad recipe
Photo Credit: Kraft Foods

2 Granny Smith apples, sliced

2 Tbsp. toasted Chopped Pecans

2 Tbsp. Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese

1/2 cup Italian Dressing Mix, prepared with balsamic vinegar

Arrange apples slice on a plate in a circle. Sprinkle with pecans and cheese. Drizzle dressing on top.

Other Quick Salad Ideas:

Tomato & Peaches: Mix wedges of tomatoes and peaches, add slivers of red onion, a few red-pepper flakes and cilantro. Dress with olive oil and lime or lemon juice.

Carrots & Blueberries: Grate carrots, toast some sunflower seeds, and toss with blueberries, olive oil, lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Sweet, sour, crunchy, soft.

Red Salad: Combine tomato wedges with halved strawberries, basil leaves, shaved Parmesan and balsamic vinegar.

5-Bean Salad: Chickpeas, cannelloni or other white beans, kidney or other red beans, steamed string beans and steamed yellow wax beans. Toss with vinaigrette, chopped scallions or red onion, and parsley.

Warm Potato Salad: Boil bite-size red potatoes. While still warm, dress them with olive oil, lemon juice, whole grain mustard, capers and parsley. Chopped shallots, bell peppers, etc.

Watermelon & Feta: combine with roughly chopped mint, crumbled feta, sliced red onion and chopped Kalamata olives. Dress lightly with olive oil and lemon juice.You may need to add salt.

Walnut & Blue Cheese: Toss mixed greens with walnuts, blue cheese and raspberries; drizzle with a simple vinaigrette.

Smoked Salmon & Avocado: Mix watercress with chopped smoked salmon, avocado, red onion and capers. Make a vinaigrette with olive oil, sherry vinegar and mustard powder.

Little Italy: Chop or julienne salami and prosciutto, then toss with cubed mozzarella, chopped tomato, pepperoncini, oil and wine vinegar.

Thai & Sesame Noodles: Combine about a half-cup peanut butter with a tablespoon soy sauce and enough coconut milk to make the mixture creamy (about a half cup), along with garlic and chili flakes in a blender or food processor. Toss sauce with cooked and cooled noodles, a load of mint, Thai basil, and/or cilantro, and lime juice. Shredded cucumber and carrots optional.

Hope you enjoy these salads, as always feel free to comment on our blog, send us an email, a tweet or comment on our Facebook Page.