Summer Barley Salad

This Summer Barley Salad was easy, quick, and healthy. The dressing with the lemon is light and bright, and I recommend doubling the dressing so you can add more. The feta adds a nice richness to the salad. I used a whole cucumber instead of olives. You could really change up the vegetables in this dish to what you may have on hand.

Asian Chicken Salad

This salad makes it into my recipe rotation at least once every two weeks. The dressing is amazing and the salad is totally customizable.

Asian Chicken Salad
Dressing (recipe adapted from Allrecipes):
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 Tablesoon sesame oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons rice vinegar

Salad:
Two hearts romaine, chopped
Two whole chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
One can mandarin oranges
One cucumber, sliced
One carrot, sliced or shredded
Chow Mein Noodles (Safeway has these for 99 cents for a 6 oz bag-I usually use half a bag)
Sliced almonds (optional)

Combine dressing ingredients and refrigerate while assembling all salad ingredients except noodles. Toss salad with dressing, divide among plates, and top with noodles and almonds.

Ina Garten Potato Salad

I love potato salad and this recipe from Ina Garten is delicious! I did make a few changes. I halved the amounts, used red potatoes, used green onions (just the green part) instead of red, only used whole-grain mustard (but a full 2 Tablespoons to keep the mustard/mayo proportion the same) and added about a cup of cubed cheddar cheese (I love cheese in potato salads). The salad has a strong mustard flavor that I love and the dill adds a wonderful flavor! Also, Ina's method of cooking the potatoes makes perfectly done potatoes. Try it!

Pear, Cranberry Salad

This is a salad I made for Thanksgiving. It was a hit with all the dinner guests and it is one of my favorite combinations. Here's what you need:

One bag Spring Mix salad
Three very ripe pears, sliced into thin wedges
Candied Pecans or Walnuts
Dried Cranberries (I like using Trader Joe's Orange Flavored dried cranberries)
Goat Cheese
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil

Combine vinegar and olive oil to make dressing. Toss other ingredients in bowl. Drizzle with dressing just before serving.

Cajun Flounder Caeser Salad

This is a quick and easy meal that we always love. Dust fish filets (I have used salmon and flounder but I think this would work with just about any fish and would also be great with shrimp) with Cajun seasoning. Put into oven to broil. Meanwhile, make and dress a Caesar salad (I keep it simple with romaine, tomatoes, bottled dressing, and shredded parm). Divide salad between plates and when fish is cooked, place on top of salad. I like serving this with garlic bread.

Tex-Mex Salad

Check out the picture and recipe for this salad here. It looks great in the trifle dish and would be fun to take to a potluck or party. I don't have a trifle dish but it still looked and tasted delicious. The cornbread adds such an unexpected and tasty sweetness and texture to the salad. For three big servings, I used one and a half romaine hearts, one and a half cans of black beans. I used only cheddar cheese, didn't use Sazon seasoning and didn't miss it, and I also added a sliced avocado. The salsa tomato mixture adds a lot to the salad. I made my own dressing that I adapted from the Cafe Rio Salad dressing. The dressing turned out fantastic:

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

1 pkg Ranch Dressing dry mix

3/4 cup milk

1 cup mayonnaise
5 tomatillos, peeled and halved

2 cloves garlic
1/3 bunched cilantro
juice of half a lime

Blend ingredients together in a blender.

Cajun Chicken Caeser Salad

This recipe changes up a classic Caesar salad. I added avocado and I think tomatoes would have been a good addition, as well. I served this with some garlic bread. It was an easy summer meal. I liked the spicy Cajun chicken with the cool lettuce and Caesar dressing.

Greek Tabbouleh Salad

My mom sent me a couple of boxes of Near East Taboule and I followed the directions on the back of the box to make this Greek Tabbouleh (I no idea why it's spelled taboule on the box) Salad. I added four sliced, grilled chicken breasts to the salad so it would work as a main dish at the potluck luncheon I went to. It was a good, healthy lunch. Wheat, vegetables, chicken--quite the nutritionally packed combination. I made this the night before and refrigerating it overnight seemed fine. I would probably double the lemon juice next time. I threw out the box but this is the recipe from their webiste (I've starred my changes):

GREEK TABOULE SALAD
1 package (5.25-ounce) NEAR EAST Taboule Wheat Salad Mix
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1 large tomato, chopped

1 cucumber, chopped*

4 grilled chicken breasts, sliced*
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Romaine lettuce leaves (for serving)
Lemon wedges (for serving)

In large bowl, combine wheat salad mix and contents of Spice Sack. Stir in 1 cup boiling water and oil. Let stand 30 minutes. Stir cheese, tomato, cucumber, chicken, basil and lemon juice into wheat mixture. Cover; chill 2 hours before serving. Serve with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

Taco Salads

This is a yummy take on a taco salad. My mom shared this method with me when she was here visiting. This makes 4 or 5 HUGE salads. I hadn't had Fritos in ages and they add a yummy crunch to the salad.

1 lb ground turkey (or beef)
1 can no-bean chili
1 can black beans
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
1 can corn
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 avocados, sliced
shredded cheese
1 bag Fritos
1 cup salsa
2 Tablespoons sour cream

In a large pan, cook ground turkey and drain. Add chili and black beans and heat through. Combine lettuce and cilantro. Heap lettuce on plates. Top with meat mixture. Add corn, tomatoes, avocados, and shredded cheese. Finally, add a small handful of Fritos on top of the salad. For dressing, mix salsa and sour cream. Add to salads.

Erin's Cranberry Spinach Salad

Isn't that such a pretty salad? Thank you so much, Erin for sending me this great recipe. I loved this salad! I couldn't stop eating it. The dressing is really good. Erin gave me the tip to make the dressing the night before to let the flavors come together and that made it especially tasty. I used olive oil because I was a little low on regular vegetable oil but the olive oil flavor was a little overpowering in the dressing. Next time, I'll use regular vegetable oil like the recipe says, or, a light-flavored olive oil. I also forgot to get blue cheese so I used Feta, which was good. I bet it's even better with blue cheese. I served this along with Trader Joe's frozen breaded chicken breasts (a great TJ's purchase) and some good bread for an easy Friday night dinner.

CRANBERRY SPINACH SALAD
SERVES: 8

DRESSING:
2 TBS SESAME SEEDS
½ CUP WHITE SUGAR
2 TSP MINCED ONION
¼ TSP PAPRIKA
¼ CUP WHITE VINEGAR
¼ CUP CIDER VINEGAR
½ CUP VEGTABLE OIL

SALAD:
¾ CUP SLIVERED ALMONDS
1 CUP DRIED CRANBERRIES
BLUE CHEESE TO TASTE
1 LB BABY SPINACH LEAVES

DIRECTIONS: PLACE ALL DRESSING INGREDIENTS IN POURABLE CONTAINER. SHAKE TO COMBINE. PLACE IN FRIDGE OVERNIGHT.

COMBINE ALMONDS AND CRANBERRIES IN ZIPLOC AND SET ASIDE.

TOSS DRESSING WITH SPINACH THEN TOP WITH ALMONDS AND CRANBERRIES WHEN READY TO EAT.