Salad Tuesdays (and Wednesdays) in Review

Oh friends, I have been remiss in not sharing several weeks worth of our newly established Salad Tuesdays, but no longer. Some meals I just have to share! These are recipes you are going to want to try. I must say that the salads that Ken and I have crafted lately (its a total team effort!) have been some of the best dishes I've ever made! A few weeks ago, I posted the recipe for Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad with Bacon and Goat Cheese. Here are the newest:

#1 - Chicken Caesar Salad

No salad effort can go very far without a Caesar in the mix. We used shredded rotisserie chicken, freshly grated Parmesan, and made our own croutons with a baguette. Bake the cubes for 10 minutes at 400, tossed with a little olive oil, pepper, and season salt. We made our own dressing as well using this recipe, including anchovies! The dressing was sour and garlicky, and the homemade croutons really made a difference.





#2 - Italian Chopped Salad

This salad, or a variation on it, is one that is on many restaurant menus in Los Angeles, yet I have rarely seen it in the Boston area. I based this salad recipe on the item of the same name on the menu at Factor's Famous Deli, a Beverly Hills deli that I used to order lunch delivery from when I worked in the area. Romaine lettuce was tossed with diced turkey, diced salami, tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, green olives, and Gorgonzola cheese. Usually this salad contains mozzarella cheese but I had Gorgonzola left over and I felt it would be much more flavorful. I was right. I made a really simple dressing of red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper. Delicious.



#3 - Cobb Salad

Who doesn't love Cobb Salad? I certainly do, but I never eat it anymore. Years of reading about food and diet has taught me well that most restaurant Cobb salad's are incredibly high in fat and calories. "A heart attack in a salad," one might say. We tried to lighten it up by using turkey bacon, grilled chicken, a vinaigrette dressing, and not too much cheese. I used this recipe mostly for the dressing but it's basically the same salad we made. I just love the combo of salty bacon, creamy avocado, and tangy cheese.





Salad Tuesdays have truly become one of my favorite nights of the week. Do you have a good salad recipe? Let's share! I can't wait for summer so I have access to farmer's markets for fruits and vegetables. What's your favorite salad?