Salads

[MagiePerdu]

I thought summertime would be a great time of year to share salad recipes. Here's my first one:

CRAB SALAD

Serve crab salad with a slice of avocado on salad greens. I actually like to serve mine in an avacado half!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups cooked cooled crab meat, flaked
1 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped green or red bell pepper
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
mixed salad greens
red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper (to taste)
6 avocado wedges, optional (or, 6 avacado halves)

DIRECTIONS:

Mix crab meat with diced celery, chopped bell pepper, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and mayonnaise. Serve over mixed greens with a slice of avocado, or scoop into an avacado half, if desired.

[MagiePerdu]

A little feta, goat cheese or blue cheese is also delicious crumbled over this salad.

INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces fresh torn spinach or baby spinach
1 1/2 to 2 cups cleaned and sliced strawberries
1/2 cup pecan halves or pieces, lightly toasted
2 to 3 ounces goat cheese or blue cheese, crumbled, optional
.
Dressing

1/4 cup Canola oil or other salad oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/8 teaspoon each onion and garlic powder
dash dry mustard

DIRECTIONS:
Toss spinach with sliced strawberries, pecans, and cheese, if using.
Combine dressing ingredients in a jar; shake until well blended.

When ready to serve, drizzle dressing over the salad and toss lightly.

[MagiePerdu]

This is one of my favorite summer salads!

This salad could be made with mayonnaise or commercial salad dressing, or use the dressing in the recipe. The dressing takes only a few minutes to make.

Ingredients

1 chicken breast, cooked and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 stalk celery, bias sliced
1/2 cup seedless red grapes, halved
1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ranch dressing
1/8 teaspoon dried tarragon
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Combine the chicken pieces, celery, grape halves, and pecans in a medium bowl.

In another bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, ranch dressing, and tarragon.

Toss the chicken combination with the dressing. Salt and pepper to taste.

[MagiePerdu]

Fresh fruit is always refreshing. This salad is made with ripe strawberries and cool cucumbers. It’s framed with a honey vinaigrette and served on spinach greens. This is a wonderful mid-summer salad.

Ingredients

1 C. frozen peas
2 C. fresh strawberries, sliced
1 medium cucumber chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup walnut pieces

1/4 cup white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
spinach greens

Directions

Mix the peas, strawberries, cucumber, and nuts together. The peas do not need to be thawed.

In another bowl make the vinaigrette, by mixing the vinegar, honey, oil, and salt together.

To serve, arrange spinach greens on a plate, place the strawberry mixture on the greens, and serve the dressing on the side

[MagiePerdu]

There are many Waldorf salad recipes. Most are made just with mayonnaise. This one is little different, made somewhat lighter with the addition of whipped cream and using grapes instead of raisins. (Of course, you can substitute commercial whipped topping for the whipped cream.) We don’t know that you can call this Waldorf salad “light” like in reduced fat but it is light on the palette, delightfully refreshing. We suppose that if you use a light whipped topping, it would be. Fresh grapes instead of the traditional raisins help.

We think of Waldorf salad as harvest-time salad but all that is really required are good crisp apples. You can usually get good apples year around but if you don’t have good apples, don’t bother making a Waldorf salad.

Ingredients

3 cups coarsely chopped apples, about 3 medium apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup grapes, cut in half
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup mayonnaise, or to taste
1/3 heavy cream, whipped
salad greens or lettuce

Directions

Toss the apples with the lemon juice, sugar, and salt to coat. (The lemon juice will help keep the apples from turning dark. If you were making a Waldorf salad with mayonnaise only, the acidity in the mayonnaise would do the trick.) Add the grapes, celery, and nuts.

Fold the mayonnaise into the whipped cream. Fold the apple mixture into the whipped cream mixture. Serve on greens.

[MagiePerdu]

This makes a great luncheon salad or light summer entree.

INGREDIENTS

1 (16 ounce) package uncooked penne pasta
1/4 pound bacon
1 pound cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 avocados - peeled, pitted and diced
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 cups shredded lettuce

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Rinse under cold running water to cool.
Place bacon in a skillet over medium high heat, and cook until evenly brown. Drain and crumble.
In a large bowl, gently toss together the pasta, bacon, shrimp, avocados, Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice, tomatoes, and red pepper. Serve over lettuce.