Greek Salad

For Father's Day I made a Greek salad. It was a recipe I added to my big black cookbook years ago but I had yet to try. 

For the record, I have lots of recipes just waiting in the shadows yet to be tried. I might have a little bit of problem, is there a group meeting anywhere for those of us that are addicted to collecting recipes and cookbooks? I might need to attend...

Ahem..

Back to the salad, it was amazing!! I was a little hesitant because I wasn't too fond of the dressing on just the lettuce leaves, but after adding the other ingredients to the salad, it was perfect! By far one the best salads I have ever made at home. So good in fact that I made it again a couple days later for just the Dude and I.

We even used the beautiful, yummy lettuce from our garden! 

Here is the recipe:

Greek Salad

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tbsp. minced fresh dill

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 

For the salad:

Romaine lettuce

Sliced red onions

Sliced kalamata olives 

Grape tomatoes, halved

Cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced

Crumbled feta cheese

Directions: 

To make the dressing, in a small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients. Whisk together until well combined.

To make the salad, add romaine lettuce (I just used the leafy green lettuce from our garden) to a salad bowl. Drizzle with the dressing and toss well to coat. Top as desired with red onions, kalamata olives, tomatoes, cucumber, and feta cheese. Store leftover dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and shake well before using again.

Recipe from: Annie Eats

Craisin Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

One of the hubby's favorite T.V. quotes he says to me whenever I am going to make a salad is,

 "You don't make friends with salad! You don't make friends with salad!" 

Well I think if you serve this salad it will make you friends with whoever you serve it to!

My Mom had this at a luncheon at a neighbor's house a couple months ago. She served it to me when I went home in April. I have had it twice since then!

The craisins make the salad nice and sweet. The toasted almonds and cabbage give it a nice crunch.

The homemade poppy seed dressing goes nicely with it. I like to use my sister-in-law's Shelly's. Or if you don't have stuff to make the dressing on hand, Brianna's poppy seed dressing is a nice alternative.

These amounts for the salad are approximate for 1 dinner size salad--you can adjust amounts to your preference.

Craisin Salad

3/4 cup spinach

1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1 Tbsp. craisins

1 Tbsp. sliced almonds, toasted (I just chopped up some almonds and toasted them)

3 Tbsp. poppy seed dressing

Mix all ingredients together. Serve. (Pretty simple, eh?)

Poppy Seed Dressing

1/2 C. sugar

1 T. grey poupon mustard

1/3 c. red wine vinegar

1 C. vegetable oil

1 T. poppyseeds

Mix. Serve immediately. Chill remaining dressing.

Recipe for salad from: Randi Rich

Recipe for dressing: Shelly Millgate

Asparagus and Strawberry Salad

I love, love, loved this salad!! 

I love asparagus, I love strawberries, I love feta or blue cheese, and I definitely love poppy seed dressing!! So you this salad was just perfect for me. 

I had this and a church progressive Thanksgiving dinner activity, it was on my list of things to make since then. Thank you Mindy for bringing it!

In fact we had it twice while my parents were here, we had it the night they arrived and the following Sunday. Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I didn't have any sesame seeds and the dressing was still perfect.

I don't know if asparagus is in season where some of you guys are, but if it is I would definitely suggest making this salad!! 

It would be the perfect salad any time of the year. 

Asparagus and Strawberry Salad

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp. sesame seeds

3/4 tsp. grated onion

1/4 tsp. salt, optional

1/8 tsp. paprika

1/8 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 pound fresh asparagus

1 pint fresh pint strawberries, sliced

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese or feta, optional

In a jar with tight-fitting lid, combine the sugar, vinegar, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion, salt if desired, paprika and Worcestershire sauce; shake until sugar is dissolved. Add the oil; shake well cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Snap of ends of asparagus, discard ends. Cut the remaining asparagus into thirds. In a skillet, cook the asparagus in a small amount of water until crisp-tender, about 6-8 minutes, drain well cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 

Arrange the asparagus and strawberries on a serving plate; sprinkle with blue cheese or feta cheese if desired. Pour the dressing over all. Serve with slotted spoon. 

*Instead of cooking the asparagus in a pan, cook it in boiling water for 3 minutes, then pull it out immediately and place it in an ice bath. This helps the asparagus to stay nice and crisp, just make sure you snap the asparagus before you cook it.

Snickers Salad

Who of you likes Snickers Bars? Who of you likes fruit?

If you answered yes to both of those questions then I know for sure you will love this salad!

I haven't had this salad in a while! My Mom usually makes it for Sunday dinners, or for birthday dinners. So when they came into town last week I decided to make it. 

It is the simplest salad ever! All you will need is Cool Whip, fruit, and 2 regular size Snickers.

 I love the snicker bar surprises with yummy fruit. 

Snickers Salad

2 regular size Snickers, cut into chunks

2 apples, cut into chunks 

Canned mandarin oranges 

1-2 Bananas, sliced 

1 container cool whip 

Mix all ingredients together.

Who Could Forget About Candy Walnut Salad!

I was looking through my photos and came across this salad I made for Christmas Eve dinner that I meant to do a post on, but I forgot until now. :)

I will forever be indebted to Camie Rogersons (the Rogersons shared our love for food, they should come to Lubbock so we can share more recipes ;)) for introducing me to this salad. I love it! It has bacon, apples, spinach and candy walnuts, drizzled with poppy seed dressing, it is FANTASTIC! I haven't ever tried a homemade poppy seed dressing but if you have one it would be perfect for this salad. It is on my list of the best salads I have ever eaten.

Candy Walnut Salad

Spinach Leaves (If I remember right I used 2 normal size bags)

2 apples, diced

5 strips cooked bacon, cut into pieces

1 1/2 cup walnuts

1/4 cup sugar for walnuts

Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Brianna's poppy seed dressing


Melt sugar in pan for walnuts; add walnuts when sugar is melted. Stir together put on wax paper to dry. Mix remaining ingredients together. 


Camie if any of this is wrong please let me know! :) 
For the rest of you, try this salad!