Recipes for Various Salad Kinds of Things
Early in the season, especially, is the time for fresh salad made out of lettuce and other wonderful green things, not to mention some others, too. Here are some of our favorites. It seems that cucumbers play a pretty major role, here.
Our Favorite Last Minute Salad Dressing
We always called this Russian Dressing, but it's not really. Real Russian dressing also has onions and horseradish and some other stuff in it. While this may not be the healthiest of dressings out there, if you get mayonnaise and ketchup (preferably homemade) that's as least processed as possible and (doesn't have ingredients like high fructose corn syrup in it) it's much better.
Mix together well:
A glob of mayonnaise
A couple squirts of ketchup
Adjust to taste as necessary. This will keep a week or so in the fridge, but we try to make just what we need for a meal.
Mix together well:
A glob of mayonnaise
A couple squirts of ketchup
Adjust to taste as necessary. This will keep a week or so in the fridge, but we try to make just what we need for a meal.
4H Marinated Veggie Salad
This recipe comes from the 4H Foods level 2 project book and Maggie liked it so much she decided to share. Maggie started with celery, cucumber, carrot, and summer squash. It was yummy!
Choose the veggies you want in your salad.
- broccoli, broken into flowerets
- cauliflower, broken into flowerets
- carrots, sliced
- celery, diced
- fresh musrooms, sliced
- water chestnuts, sliced
- radishes, sliced
- cucumbers, halved and sliced
- olives, sliced
- red and/or green peppers, cut in strips
- red cabbage, shredded
How about sliced kohlrabi, sliced summer squash or zucchini, chopped stems of milder greens, shredded green cabbage, diced green onions, the sky is the limit.
Slice, dice, shred, and prepare the raw veggies. You'll need 4 cups.
Combine the veggies in a large bowl. Toss gently to mix.
Pour 1/3 C Italian dressing over the veggies and combine gently. The 4H book says to use commercial Italian or light salad dressing, but we used homemade. The recipe is below.
Cover and marinate in the refrigerator four hours or overnight. Turn occasionally.
Choose the veggies you want in your salad.
- broccoli, broken into flowerets
- cauliflower, broken into flowerets
- carrots, sliced
- celery, diced
- fresh musrooms, sliced
- water chestnuts, sliced
- radishes, sliced
- cucumbers, halved and sliced
- olives, sliced
- red and/or green peppers, cut in strips
- red cabbage, shredded
How about sliced kohlrabi, sliced summer squash or zucchini, chopped stems of milder greens, shredded green cabbage, diced green onions, the sky is the limit.
Slice, dice, shred, and prepare the raw veggies. You'll need 4 cups.
Combine the veggies in a large bowl. Toss gently to mix.
Pour 1/3 C Italian dressing over the veggies and combine gently. The 4H book says to use commercial Italian or light salad dressing, but we used homemade. The recipe is below.
Cover and marinate in the refrigerator four hours or overnight. Turn occasionally.
Homemade Italian Dressing
We found the original recipe on Allrecipes and adapted it.
Mix together:
3/4 t. garlic salt
3/4 t. dried onion flakes
3/4 t. white sugar
1 1/2 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/8 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. dried basil
3/4 t. dried parsley
1/8 t. celery seeds
1 1/2 t. salt
Whisk together:
1/4 C white vinegar
2/3 C olive opil
2 T water
Add the dry mix, whisk well. Pour into a glass container with a lid.
This will keep quite a while on the kitchen table. We bet it won't last that long!
Mix together:
3/4 t. garlic salt
3/4 t. dried onion flakes
3/4 t. white sugar
1 1/2 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/8 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. dried basil
3/4 t. dried parsley
1/8 t. celery seeds
1 1/2 t. salt
Whisk together:
1/4 C white vinegar
2/3 C olive opil
2 T water
Add the dry mix, whisk well. Pour into a glass container with a lid.
This will keep quite a while on the kitchen table. We bet it won't last that long!
Pico de Gallo (Fresh Salsa even though it's Spanish for Rooster's Beak)
Play with this recipe until you get a combination you like. Some of the measurements are rather arbitrary - the amount of tomato or pepper you'll get depends greatly on the variety you choose!
1/2 C. chopped onion (green works best, others are fine)
2 Serrano peppers, chopped (or choose your variety)
1 1/2 Fresh Tomato, chopped
6 sprigs fresh Cilantro, minced
Juice from 1 Lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients, chill an hour before serving.
1/2 C. chopped onion (green works best, others are fine)
2 Serrano peppers, chopped (or choose your variety)
1 1/2 Fresh Tomato, chopped
6 sprigs fresh Cilantro, minced
Juice from 1 Lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients, chill an hour before serving.
Dad's Honey Slaw
I haven't the slightest idea whose "Dad" this is named for. It came to us from a trail of sources.
1 head of cabbage, shredded fine
1.5 cups of onion, diced fine
1 medium green bell pepper, diced fine
1 medium red bell pepper, diced fine
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp honey
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
In a large bowl, combine cabbage, onion and peppers. In a small saucepan, add vinegar, vegetable oil, salt, honey, and sugar, bring to a boil. Pour over cabbage mixture, but do not stir. Cover and refrigerate until cool. Then stir thoroughly.
(a low-cal slaw, submitted to the Dayton Daily News Life Section by a reader then passed along to us via MCFCSA members Larry & Lois Ramey)
1 head of cabbage, shredded fine
1.5 cups of onion, diced fine
1 medium green bell pepper, diced fine
1 medium red bell pepper, diced fine
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp honey
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
In a large bowl, combine cabbage, onion and peppers. In a small saucepan, add vinegar, vegetable oil, salt, honey, and sugar, bring to a boil. Pour over cabbage mixture, but do not stir. Cover and refrigerate until cool. Then stir thoroughly.
(a low-cal slaw, submitted to the Dayton Daily News Life Section by a reader then passed along to us via MCFCSA members Larry & Lois Ramey)