When I was growing up having a salad meant chopping up some iceberg lettuce into a bowl with quartered beefsteak tomatoes, and dripping on some cheap store brand dressing. I guess that we have come a long way baby, because after living on my own for a while I learned that there are a great many possibilities when you want to create a tasty refreshing salad. Much of the improvement in the quality of my salad creations has been the fact that we have a much wider variety of lettuce, and fixings to choose from than we did back when mom was struggling to feed 6 kids with no financial help from her second husband. That train wreck of a story will have to be left as another tale for another day.
In the summer months, you can find some of the best fresh salad greens, especially in the spring and early summer when the freshest varieties are just ripening. Some lettuce varieties do not store well, and those are typically the ones with the most flavor and color. So if you want to make a beautiful salad, which has some really great flavor, I suggest you go for something in the Romaine family. This lettuce variety is sweet tasting, and presents very well on a plate, also there are a lot of different choices in the romaine family of lettuce
Some people do not realize that there are such a large number of lettuce choices available to the modern shopper. There are essentially 4 common types of lettuce which are typically available to general consumers at the supermarket. The first two are head lettuce, and most people easily recognize the Crisp-head lettuce which is also called Iceberg, and then Butter-Head lettuce which is named for the way the leaves look underneath as you peel the outer layers back, since the inner leaves are actually buttery looking in color. Then you have the leafy non-head forming lettuce varieties, which are the Cos or Romaine types, these are normally sweeter than other lettuce varieties, and finally your basic leaf lettuce variety, which offers quite a number of selections.
For a refreshing summer salad I usually choose a romaine variety lettuce for its crisp sweetness, and then add an equal amount of the Butter-Head style for its crispness. My recipe has a blend of complex flavors which work together to fill your senses with subtle tastes which are very pleasing to the palette. Added to this salad are small amounts of: golden raisins, cashew pieces, home made croutons, pitted black olives, cherry tomato, and a homemade raspberry vinaigrette. This recipe makes about 4 good sized servings, so this is basically a meal in itself.
Salad and fixings
1 small to medium sized Butter-head lettuce (minimum 4 cups)
1 medium bunch romaine lettuce (about 4 cups)
3/4 cup or 12-16 small cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup homemade croutons
1/4 cup pitted black olives
1/4 cup golden raisins
Raspberry Vinaigrette and Cashew Dressing
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp raspberry pie filling (can add more if a sweeter dressing is desired)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp light brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped cashews
Rinse and drain the lettuce, then chop gently into bite sized chunks. Cover with cling-film, and place in refrigerator while you make up the dressing. Chop cashews into small bits and set aside. Using a whisk mix the liquids first and then add in the pie filling until smooth, next add in the salt, pepper, brown sugar, and cashews. Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to serve.
When ready to serve the salad, portion out lettuce onto 4 plates, slice the cherry tomatoes into halves and place them on top of the lettuce. You can spread the olives, croutons and raisins out evenly across the salad, and then let your guests drizzle the amount of dressing they want on their own salad. We use our own croutons, but store bought are alright to use, just make sure they are not too strong flavored so they do not overpower the other tastes.
For this next summer salad recipe I am writing about one of my favorite meals for warmer weather. It is great on those days when you really don’t want a large meal, and the idea of being in a hot kitchen sounds about as appealing as visiting the doctor, the tax man, or a dentist. This salad takes very little time to prepare, and keeps well overnight if you seal in cling-film, and apply dressing right about when you are serving the salad. This can be your whole meal with the Tuna and Tomatoes.
Taking the same dressing recipe we used for the Romaine salad, and adjusting some of the additives slightly, I make a tuna salad plate with Roma tomatoes sliced in half with tiny pinch of sea salt on the tomato halves, place just a dot of tuna in the center of each half, and add a few chopped green onions before drizzling a shot of dressing over the top. This tuna salad and tomato is a light meal, is easy to make, looks great on the plate, and has a very cool and refreshing taste.
Start with basically the same dressing outline as we used for the lettuce salad, and swap in 2 tbsp Dijon for the rasp filling, 1 clove pressed garlic for garlic salt, Roma tomatoes in place of cherry tomato, lose the olives, and raisins. Add 1/2 cup of small fresh chopped green onion for use over top of tuna salad. Add tiny pinch of sea salt per tomato. This recipe makes about 4 servings, so this Tuna and Tomato salad can be a complete meal.
Roma and Tuna Salad plus Toppings
4 large Roma tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup homemade croutons
1 tiny pinch sea salt per tomato
1 can albacore tuna packed in water
Balsamic and Dijon Dressing
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic crushed
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/3 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp light brown sugar
Drain the tuna, and place into a neat mound in the center of your serving plate, then slice the Roma’s down their length on the center-line, place these open halves facing up on outer rim of plate forming a circle around the mounded tuna. If you can, try to cover and chill the tomatoes and tuna on the serving plate for about 30 minutes before presenting it to your guests as this will make it even more refreshing.
Mix salad dressing ingredients and put in a tiny separate bowl. Chop the onion, and set aside. Using a whisk mix the vinegar, oil, mustard, Dijon, and cider vinegar until smooth, then add the garlic, pepper, and brown sugar. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Once you are ready to serve this, have your guests use a small melon balling scoop to dig out small dots of tuna onto the tomato. Place the finely chopped green onion, sea salt, and croutons in small bowls, and give guests chopsticks for picking up these items. Yes you can even use the chopsticks on the sea salt. Make sure they put the salt directly onto the tomato, as this is where those flavors combine to give it a zesty little kick.
These recipes work out nicely for a simple lunch, or even light dinner. You could even merge these two recipes to invent a version which is more to your liking. You can also change the ingredient list so that it suits your family’s tastes, just be creative, and enjoy!
