Tag: summer salad

Corn & Tomato Salad

Leave a comment
Gorgeous Cherry Tomatoes by Gavin Tyte on Unsplash.

I love when little tomatoes are so sweet they’re like candy! Last night I made a super easy, really delicious salad form Southern Living – perfect for a warm, summer evening. I had good cherry tomatoes and frozen corn, so that’s what I used. I also added a little more seasoning and an avocado, Yum!

Ingredients

Dressing:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
½ – 1 tsp Sriracha or other hot sauce

1 bag frozen corn, thawed (I used Trader Joe’s Roasted Corn)*
1 10 oz. container cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, cubed
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley or cilantro, chopped
3/4 cup grated mild cheese (I had a mozarella/parmesan blend)

Mix dressing ingredients in a big bowl until smooth. Add veggies and cheese and toss.

*Southern Living makes it with corn from 4 ears of yellow corn, so you could use that if you have it on hand, too. I’d cook the ears in boiling water for a minute or so and let them cool before cutting the kernels off the cob.

Garbanzo & Feta Salad

Leave a comment


I’ve made this amazing “Chickpea Salad” from The Pioneer Woman twice in two weeks. Does that tell you something? I did make a few changes to her recipe, but nothing too drastic. It’s a great side dish, or even main dish, since there’s protein in the garbanzos and feta. So delish!

I made it yesterday, holding back on the avocadoes and dressing until just before tossing it and serving it today at a picnic. So you can easily make it ahead of time.

INGREDIENTS:

2 15-ounce cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
6 oz. feta, cubed (omit for a vegan version)
4-5 baby cucumbers, (or 1 English cucumber), cut into half moons (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 pt. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red or orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced (optional – Kumy doesn’t like raw onions, so I didn’t add this.)
2 avocados, cubed
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

FOR THE DRESSING:
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp dried Basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

Mix all veggies, beans and feta in a large bowl. If making ahead, don’t add avocadoes.

Mix dressing ingredients in a mason jar, close lid and shake like crazy.

Drizzle dressing over and toss well.

Note for photo: my avocadoes were quite ripe, and were very creamy.

Salade Nicoise

1 Comment

salade-nicoiseA really refreshing change from warm (albeit) comforting casseroles, try this lovely French salad, with its elements in heaps, rather than tossed together.

It’s basically an herby vinaigrette on a very hearty salad – with potatoes, tomatoes, tuna and hard-boiled eggs, meant to be served warm or at room temperature. I love it because it’s also a very forgiving recipe. As long as you’ve got some form of potato, tomato, lettuce and green beans it will be delicious!

It was perfect for a summer evening’s meal, after a good brisk walk.

INGREDIENTS

Vinaigrette

1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh Thai basil (could use any basil or 2 tsp dried basil)
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp fish sauce (optional)
3/4 tsp kosher Salt and
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Salad

1 can albacore tun in olive oil, removed and lightly drained
5 hard boiled eggs, peeled and quartered lengthwise
1 lb small young red potatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 container butter lettuce (or any nice lettuce), torn into bite-sized pieces
15 or so grape tomatoes, cut in half, or 3 small ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges
1/2 yellow or small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 pound green beans, stems broken off
1/4 cup olives (I used Castelvetrano but Nicoise olives are also recommended.)
2 Tbsp capers, drained

Make vinaigrette: In a jar, place the oil, vinegar, garlic powder, herbs, mustard and fish sauce if using. Cover with a lid and shake until well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Marinate onion slices in a couple spoons of the vinaigrette in a small bowl.

Bring a pot of water to boil, add 1 Tbsp of salt and add the potatoes and eggs. Cook for 12-15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork soft. Remove the potatoes, immediately cut in half and toss in a bowl with a little more vinaigrette.

Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook 3-5 minutes. Remove and rinse with cold water. Peel and quarter the hard-boiled eggs.

On each plate, lay a bed of lettuce. Heap some of the tuna in the middle. Sprinkle the onions and tomatoes around the tuna.

Arrange the potatoes and green beans in mounds at the edge of the lettuce.
Arrange hard boiled eggs and olives in mounds on the lettuce bed.

Drizzle everything with the remaining vinaigrette and sprinkle with capers if using.

Can also be served without tuna as a vegetarian option.

Great Warm Caprese Salad

Leave a comment

This may have come from the Wall Street Journal, or maybe Ina Garten – can’t really remember. It’s perfect for when tomatoes are abundant, but even winter grocery store tomatoes taste great.

12 plum tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp cider vinegar
sprinkling of garlic powder
2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
8 oz. sliced mozzarella cheese
12 basil leaves, julienned (Stack all the leaves on top of one another, roll them up and cut little thin slices. They’ll form little strips of basil. Thanks, Ina!)

Set oven to 425.

Lay tomatoes cut side up in a baking dish. Blend olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder and sugar and drizzle over the tomatoes. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and put Mozarella cheese on top. Put back in the oven for 2 minutes to soften the cheese. Remove again, then sprinkle basil over everything. Drizzle one more time with olive oil and give it one last go with the salt and pepper. Serve warm.

So good.