Favorite Summer Salads

I make this one for group functions.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/orzo-salad-recipe-1944175

Fairly easy to make it vegetarian, or even vegan.

In summer I mostly tried to eat fresh vegetables to fulfill all the nutrients of the body and to stay hydrated. The salad which I use to eat contains some beetroots, smashed cucumber, carrots and add chickpeas in it along with some yoghurt. I really like this salad, it is my self made recipe.

Next question - a CUP of sugar in the dressing?

I adore summer salads. I try to make as many dinner salads as possible in the summer to take advantage of our glorious produce. @ChristinaM can attest to this lol.

117801903_2172153002928715_2387223936282840150_n720×960 146 KB

117853902_2172152966262052_3043159690786170686_n720×960 146 KB

118256391_2172152982928717_7529297908063851573_n720×960 158 KB

118364401_2172152989595383_1859661520770119536_n720×960 139 KB

119269190_2192350384242310_9089528512910598661_n720×960 174 KB

119752844_2200963403381008_7509522006490305570_n810×1080 146 KB

Yup. Plus a lot of vinegar and lemon. This is NOT a savory salad. It is sweet, acidic, and refreshing… things that oil based chicken salads are not.

Note that the dressing components are way more than you would use for 2-4 servings (where it recommends starting with 1/4 cup), and why I indicate it will last in the fridge for up to a month.

I love a good chinese chicken salad, but I just can’t imagine those quanties That is cookies recipe amount of sugar.

Then skip it. But I love it, and everyone I have made it for was blown away (with comments like “restaurant quality”).

I believe you and I’m tempted to give it a go for a single size or two size servings and try it out. Cheers.

Those salads are stunning.

I did a little salad image collection on facebook last year, and when I saw this post, I thought - I have art to contribute! Aren’t they so colorful and appetizing? I love summer!

I wrote them down so I’ll have some ideas of what to make. I’ve been in a salad rut of late.

Let me know if I can do any ingredient ID for you

Is it cheese or meat in the prosciutto and cantaloupe salad? Upper right area.

Looks like fresh mozz. I think there was some torn basil, some romaine and a balsamic vinagrette for that one in addition to the prosciutto and cantaloupe.

Thanks. What sort of dressing is on the rice noodle salad?

The Vietnamese style fish sauce, light colored with little orange and red flakes, rather than the dark brown one. Like if you go to a Viet restaurant and order a rice noodle bowl that comes with all the lettuce and herbs, shaved carrot and daikon… nuoc cham -it is a riff on that dish.

The same sauce is a great marinade for proteins too.

Thank you so much. I’m going to pay closer attention to the fish sauce I buy. Do you recommend any particular brand?

Funny, the last time we were in our Asian grocery, we couldn’t find what we remembered the last bottle looked like. Swiss cheese memory. So we just randomly picked another one. Sometimes they are called fish sauce and sometimes dipping sauce. If you’ve had the ‘bun’ dishes at Viet places, I’d just recommend looking for sauce that has a similar appearance. With the flakes floating in it, it’s pretty distinctive.

Thanks again. I’m not sure I’ve ver seen a light one with flakes. I usually use Tips (Thai), Red Boat (Vietnamese) or Three Crabs (Thai).

I was under the impression that nuoc cham is a sauce made with fish sauce, garlic, chili flake, sugar, lime juice, and some water? And that accounts for the light color? I’m not sure the fish sauce itself is a lighter color…

I like Red Boat or Three Crabs.