Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Summer Salads



I am swooning over this Mediterranean Summer Salad (via Sunset) - can't wait to try it.

I don't know about where you live, but in my neighborhood - it's triple digit hot. And when I'm brainstorming dinner ideas I want light, fresh and no oven required. Thus, we eat lots of salads during the summer months.

Wanted to share of my fave Summer Salad ideas/recipes with you. (Click links for recipes).

First from My Kitchen Cafe - I have yet to be disappointed by one of Mel's recipes - we must have similar taste(buds):


Pesto Pasta Salad


Gourmet Green Salad

And from Rachael Bailey, whose culinary opinions I also trust:

Dijon Fruited Salad
Just right for summer.

I'm not a huge fan of store-bought dressing; just haven't found many that I like. So I'm always glad to discover a great homemade option. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Emeril's Balsamic (sooooo yummy!)
**The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of brown sugar. I use 2 tablespoons. (To be totally honest, the first time I made it, I read the recipe wrong, but I've been making it with a more generous portion of brown sugar ever since; I like a sweeter vinaigrette).**

Rachael's Red Onion Vinaigrette (this and Emeril's Balsamic are probably tied for my absolute favorite salad dressing. Seriously, try them - you will love.)



What are you eating on hot summer evenings?
What are some of your favorite salads?

9 comments:

Rachael said...

Thanks for the shout-out! These are definitely some of my favorites too!

Jesslyn said...

That Mediterranean salad does look delish!

Melanie said...

Can't wait to give those homemade salad dressings a go!

Melissa said...

What do you make for your kids? Or, make me jealous and tell me they eat what you do. :D We don't get triple digit hot, but because we live by the beach, air conditioning was not a popular amenity. It gets very hot about one month of the year, and I SO get not wanting to turn on the oven. :D

sarita said...

I tried to link to Emeril's dressing but kept being routed to the Dijon fruited salad. Could you post a link for his salad dressing as well? Thank you! I love Bloom!

Sarah said...

Wow the first one posted sounds like my kind of salad! I looked up the recipe and I'll definitely be making it this week. Thanks for the post!

Maggie said...

The Mediterranean Summer Salad looks amazing!!! Due to my current obsession with quinoa, these are two of my favorites:

http://www.magpiesandmore.com/2010/05/greek-quinoa-salad.html

http://www.magpiesandmore.com/2010/03/roasted-red-pepper-chickpea-and-quinoa.html

Can't wait to try a few of these recipes!

Bloom said...

@ Sarita - oops! thanks for pointing that out to me, I just fixed the link.

Rachael said...

Melissa, try the dijon fruited salad with your kids--my older two (5 and 2) can't get enough of it...it was actually the "birthday request" meal when my daughter turned 5!