post #10. summer salads

If I had to pick a favorite food, while it would depend on the day, I would most likely pick salad. I love salad because you can put anything on one. It might not taste good, but really, put anything in a bowl and you can call it a salad. I especially love salad in the summer when locally grown produce is in abundance and shipped produce is cheap. I've decided to devote this post to salad, and here are all my favorite things to have in my favorite food.

Base: baby greens. Yum. Love the mix of textures, flavors, and sizes.
Essential vegetables: tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers (especially red, which have been SO cheap lately!!), and cucumbers.
Other fantastic salad vegetables: green beans, broccoli, beets, zucchini, asparagus and corn.
*Grill the vegetables before tossing them in your bowl of mixed greens and you've got a warm, healthy, delicious meal.
Fabulous salad fruits (for when you're feeling fruity): dried cranberries, dried cherries, strawberry slices, and apple sticks.
Cheese (for when you're feeling cheesy, of course): feta. All the way, hands down. But only with vinegar. Too dry otherwise.
As far as I'm concerned: forget the nuts. They only spell stomachache for me.
Yum: black olives.
When you haven't had enough servings of grain for the day: croutons. Only the original ones though. Leave the flavors behind. Or better yet, make your own with stale bread.
When you haven't had enough servings of dairy for the day: cottage cheese. Especially with the vinegar.
Protein: tofu, black beans, kidney beans, and chickpeas.
To top it off. and this is essential: balsamic vinegar. Absolutely essential. Regular balsamic, infused balsamic, white balsamic. Doesn't matter what kind, just don't leave it off.
If you're out of balsamic. and all other vinegars: celery salt, or at least some Mrs. Dash original blend (that stuff is awesome, found it in the spice drawer yesterday. Whoda thought?)
Great sides: a baked sweet potato with salt and pepper, a piece of toast with jam, or a bowl of soup.
Things to avoid: too much dressing (that's all you'll taste), anything that's pickled, rice (keep it as a side dish or use it to sop up the vinegar afterwards), graham crackers (what? They were about to expire and it seemed like a good idea at the time), frozen vegetables that haven't completely defrosted, and onions (but only if you're concerned about offending someone's olfactory organs).

Obviously it depends on your tastes, but that's how I make my favorite food. And I never make the same one twice, so I never get bored. What does your salad look like?

Happy (healthy) eating,
<3 ereese.