Summer Salads, mixes and dressings. What are the simplest and the best?

@Colmuc (707)
March 31, 2009 10:22am CST
I have already started preparing my Summer Salads. Yes, the first lettuce plants are growing nicely and the spring onions are a couple of inches high. The most important rules I have for making salads are that the ingredients must be fresh and free from chemical treatment. I am lucky enough to have a large balcony on my flat and a huge garden at my disposal. All summer I have an abundant supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. In winter I only use lambs lettuce and bean sprouts that I grow myself so when summer comes the salads are especially welcome. I love to cut what is ready on my balcony, wash it and sit in the sun eating it. The ingredients can be all or any combination of the following; Brown lettuce, green lettuce, tomatoes, spring onions, chives, garlic chives, cucumber, green peppers, red peppers, yellow peppers, parsley and basil. If I have a carrot or an apple from my garden I might grate one or the other and add that. A nice snowball turnip would be even better than the carrot but I cannot get them to grow here. I then mix some horse radish sauce with salad cream or mayonnaise and stir that carefully through the salad. Be careful with the the horseradish, it can be quite nippy! If I am hungry I might add a tin of tuna or herring. Finally I spray the lot with balsamico vinegar. A nice glass of white wine on a small table beside my large tilt back chair and I settle down to a real treat and a follow up nap. So that is my way, What about you. I am always open to new ideas. One thing I never put on salad is pure oil. Don't be influenced by my weird ways though, tell me what you like and maybe, just maybe, I might try it.
2 responses
• United States
11 Apr 09
I really like my summer salads filled with all different types of vegetables and fruit. Some of my favorites are: summer squash (of course!), zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, raw corn, snow peas, and artichoke hearts. For fruit, I also love mandarin oranges, raisins, grapes, and crisp apple and pears in my salads. Also, I'm jealous that you grow yellow pepper, that's one of my favorites too! After tasting raw yellow peppers, I don't really have a need to go back to green. :) As for dressings, I've really been liking berry vinaigrette lately, but they can be overwhelming if used in abundance. And you can never go wrong with a nice creamy Italian dressing. :)
@marguicha (214294)
• Chile
11 Apr 09
I am always changing the kind of salad dressings. Now I´m trying to diet so I am making a dressing with olive oil, salt, pepper and lemmon juice. Sometimes I also add dry oregano or a bit of aceto.