The warmer weather has us thinking about eating lighter meals.
Salad days are here!
Anything Goes Salad
My daughter and I were driving home from running errands the other day and we wanted to avoid making one last stop at the grocery store. So we thought about what was in the fridge and decided we had enough food to make a fun salad for dinner.
When we got home, we made a spread with baby lettuces, corn, chopped cucumbers, sliced avocado, grape tomatoes, strawberries that we mixed with a little white balsamic vinegar and agave nectar (honey would be fine), and leftover grilled chicken breast that we sliced. After we assembled our salads, we added some nice locally made Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette by D.E. Vine Foods.
Deviled Egg Salad With Avocado
For this salad, I just mixed six boiled eggs with a little extra virgin olive oil (about 1 tablespoon), Dijon mustard to taste (about 1 teaspoon), a little fresh ground pepper, two slices of chopped bacon (optional - I was using up our leftovers). Then I dropped a couple of spoonfuls over some baby lettuces and sliced avocado. I made the croutons by toasting the leftover ciabatta bread we had with our sausage and bean dinner the other night. For the dressing, I simply sprinkled a little extra virgin olive oil and white balsamic vinegar over the top and freshly ground pepper.
Notes
Avocado: cut open and slice just before serving so they don't turn brown or coat with lemon or lime juice to prevent browning.
Corn: to avoid GMO corn I look for organic corn. Organic corn on the cob is difficult to find so I usually buy organic frozen corn in a bag, rather than corn in a can to also avoid possible BHT in canned goods. Sometimes it's difficult to avoid canned goods as in tomatoes and beans, but avoiding canned goods whenever possible is a good thing. I recently found jarred tomatoes at Trader Joe's but when I went back they didn't have any more in stock. I'll keep looking or jar some myself this summer!
