Salads

Easter Bunny Salads
             Kyle Lerfald
             Bill Nyden
             Susan Collicot
Italian Sausage Pasta Salad - Alice Gomez
Unborn Red Bell Peppers - Dawn Harkins
Jello Salads
             Gerry Strey
             Rowen
Ambrosia - Lois
Spinach Salads
             Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans - Alice Gomez
             Additions to the Spinach Salad - Marian Van Til
             Substitutions - Lois
             Spinach Salad with Rosemary Flowers - Alice Gomez
             Spinach Salad With Bacon, Dates, and Feta Dressing - Alice Gomez
Waldorf Salads
             Howard Douglas
             Alice Gomez
Pineapple and Peanut Butter - Susan Wenger
Bella Bruschetta Salad
Greek Salad - Sara Waterson
Cucumber Relish for Salmon or Other Grilled Fish - Invented by Sara Waterson
Corry's Green Salad
Taco Salad Down Under - Kerry Webb
Salad Dressings
             Dressing for Pasta Salad
             Dressing for Fruit Salad
             Robin Welch
             Astrid Bear
             Sara Waterson

Easter Bunny Salads
Kyle Lerfald
Take canned (not fresh!) pear halves(flat side down), place on dessert plate covered in one leaf of iceberg lettuce, pipe cottage cheese at the fat end into round ball, at narrow end place pimento and two raisins on the neck of the pear, stick two sliced almond pieces behind raisins - voila, an easter bunny salad.
Serve in basement of church to bored 8 year-old.

Bill Nyden
Pimento? How about a bit of maraschino cherry to stay on the sweet side?

Susan Collicot
I was always served this dish with the eyes as Redhots. This was quite gruesome, as the red dye would melt away from the Redhot and then slide down the face of the bunny in great "bloody" trails. Made for some horrific stories from my brothers as to what had really happened to the 'bunny'.

Italian Sausage Pasta Salad - Alice Gomez
This is the best pasta salad I've ever had, but it's a giant pain to make. Worth the effort, though, every now and then.
Ingredients
Fennel Dressing:
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon pureed garlic
2 teaspoons fennel seed
1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
Mayonnaise:
2 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon hot water
Sausage, pasta, and vegetables:
1 large bunch broccoli (about 1-1/4 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 raw red bell (sweet) peppers
1/2 pound short, twisted macaroni, or other pasta of your choice
1 pound Italian sweet sausage
4 tablespoons hot water
3 tablespoons white wine or dry vermouth
1. Fennel dressing: combine vinegar, garlic, fennel seed, marjoram, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil till blended.
2. Mayonnaise: place egg yolks, salt, and lemon juice in a warm bowl. Add oil drop by drop, whisking well to form an emulsion. Thin with additional lemon juice if mayonnaise becomes too thick. Stabilize by whisking in 1 tablespoon of hot water.
Vegetables: 3. Cut broccoli into 1 inch pieces. Cook in boiling water until crisp-tender. Drain and refresh in cold water. Drain again, and toss gently with enough fennel dressing to coat, about 1/4 cup.
4. Cut red sweet peppers into a julienne, discard seeds and ribs, and toss with 2 tablespoons fennel dressing.
5. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling water until al dente. Drain and toss immediately with enough fennel dressing to coat well, about 3-4 tablespoons. Toss pasta periodically while finishing salad.
Sausage: 6. In saute pan, place sausage in one layer. Add water and wine/vermouth. Prick sausage well on all sides and cook over high heat, turning, until liquid begins to evaporate and sausage fat runs clear, about 5 minutes. Decrease heat to medium and cook sausage till browned and cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. Remove sausage, leaving juices in pan. Cut sausage diagonally into 1/2"-thick slices. Toss with remaining fennel dressing, about 1/4 cup.
7. Pour off fat from pan. Add mayonnaise and deglaze pan over low heat, scraping up browned bits, being careful not to boil. (Directions say to strain mayonnaise here, but I never have.)
8. When ready to serve, toss broccoli and peppers with pasta. Add cooked mayonnaise and toss well. Place on platter or in a large bowl, and serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled, topped with sausage slices. 6-8 servings.
Some notes: this recipe is pre-food processor and the dressing and mayonnaise can be made more easily and faster in a blender or processor. I've also sliced the sausage before cooking, and it's OK that way, too, plus it cooks faster and the sausage has more crunch. It takes about two hours to do everything, but it can be done ahead, one part at a time, and tastes better the next day after the flavors have married a bit.

Unborn Red Bell Peppers - Dawn Harkins
Whilst slicing up a lovely red bell pepper I discovered an entire, albeit miniature, pepper inside! (No wonder it was so expensive.)
The dish: Tomato, aforementioned pepper, avocado, broccoli florets, red onion, black olives, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, oregano, pumpkin seeds, cubed extra-firm tofu (all ingredients. raw). Toss and enjoy with a very crusty sourdough baguette from an obscenely good local micro-bakery.

Jello Salads
Gerry Strey
Somehow I feel that this thread is going to be a long one, but for odd combinations, here is a staple jello salad of my mother's making: Lime jello, shredded cabbage, chopped celery, and sliced green olives with pimento. Always melted nicely into the scalloped potatoes.

Rowen
Ok, now Jello salad is something with about a billion variations. We alternate between two: orange jello with shredded carrots and crushed pineapple (the easy way) or red jello (flavour doesn't matter) with melted "red hot" candies and applesauce (the difficult way because of melting the candy and because if you add too much applesauce, it won't set properly). I think Jello salad is probably a midwestern thing. Why our generation was practically raised on Jello!
There's black cherry jello with apples, celery, walnuts, sometimes mini-marshmallows; there's the required Christmas salad (my personal favorite) - three colors - lemon with cream cheese on the bottom, cherry in the middle, lime on top; there's red (any red flavor) micro-bakery mixed with whipped cream into a frothy whip; the same mixture frozen in little molds; of course the quick version - any flavor with a can of fruit cocktail stirred in; orange with mandarin oranges; lime with cottage cheese, celery and grated carrots (not my favorite), raspberry with sliced bananas and apples ....I could "continue on" for another twenty recipes without touching a cookery book, I'm sure. But we Iowans are slackers when it comes to micro-bakery salad; I'll bet our Minnesota lissuns can easily come up with fifty!

Ambrosia - Lois
Every cook had a different version, but one is take a can of crushed pineapple or chunks, including juice; add fresh orange segment cuts in an amount equal to the solid pineapple; add fresh seedless grapes in the same amount; add a cup more or less of sour cream and a half cup or so of the marshmallows. Then let it sit for an hour or two to let the marshmallows melt; serve cold.

Spinach Salads
Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans - Alice Gomez
1/4 cup brown sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
1 cup pecans
6 ounces baby spinach leaves
pomegranate seeds
Candied Pecans: Combine the quarter-cup sugar with one tablespoon of oil and one tablespoon of vinegar in a small frying pan and place over medium heat until the syrup bubbles, about one minute. Toss in the pecans and mix to coat. Stir the nuts for about four minutes or until toasted and evenly coated. Be careful not to burn them. Place the sugared nuts on a foil-lined cookie sheet - butter the foil or spray the foil with non-stick spray - and carefully separate them when completely cooled.
Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining one tablespoon brown sugar, five tablespoons oil, and two tablespoons vinegar.
Place spinach in a salad bowl and coat with the dressing. Top with nuts and pomegranate seeds and serve.
My notes:
This is an incredibly easy recipe.
I actually bought a bottle of balsamic vinegar and recommend its use over regular vinegar.
I didn't have quite enough pecans so I made up the difference with walnut pieces. This recipe is worth it for the candied nuts alone!
Pomegranate seeds? You must be joking.

Additions to the Spinach Salad - Marian Van Til
I added apple slices; and added some salt to the brown sugar mixture to mitigate some of the sweetness (worked well); and used Penzey's French vinaigrette mixture for the dressing instead of more brown sugar, etc. No pomegranates here either.

Substitutions - Lois
No pomegranates here, either, so substituted a lot of thinly sliced onion and some naval orange slices. Lots, because the spinach found here didn't have much taste, even if it does have Popeye stuff. Love those nuts.

Spinach Salad with Rosemary Flowers - Alice Gomez
I have two huge rosemary plants planted outdoors, one is upright, the other is a trailing rosemary which at this moment has tiny lavender flowers all over it. They make a marvelous decoration on a spinach salad (dark green) with red onion in it, and sliced hard-boiled eggs atop. The lavender flowers and yellow of the eggs against the dark green of the spinach is perfect for Easter.

Spinach Salad With Bacon, Dates, And Feta Dressing - Alice Gomez
For feta dressing
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 2 ounces)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 bunch fresh spinach (about 3/4 pound), stems discarded and leaves washed well, spun dry, and torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 medium red onion, sliced thin
1/3 cup pitted dates, chopped
Make feta dressing:
In a blender blend together feta, lemon juice, water, and mayonnaise until smooth. With motor running add oil and blend until emulsified.
In a small skillet cook bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until crisp and transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
In a large bowl toss together spinach, bacon, onion, and dates with feta dressing.

Waldorf Salads
Howard Douglas
Waldorf Salad - as I know it:
1 large chicken breast, grilled with garlic, oregano and lemon juice and diced
1 large (or 2 small) crisp, juicy apples, diced (Recommend Fujis)
3 oz. or so walnut or pecan meats, broken small
1 cup (or so) of seedless grapes
1/3 cup of mayonnaise, preferably homemade
Salt and flavorings ad-lib (I occasionally give my portion a dash of Tabasco)
I mean, what's not to like?

Alice Gomez
I medium apple, chopped to equal about a cup
I cup chopped celery
I cup (or more) purple grapes, cut in half (seedless make it easier)
I cup chopped pecans
Put everything in a bowl with enough mayonnaise to hold it together.
Proportions of ingredients are negotiable -- use what you have on hand.

Pineapple and Peanut Butter - Susan Wenger
Take a canned pineapple ring in the palm of your hand. Fill the hole with peanut butter. Eat while it drips, and then lick out the rest.
(You can also do this on a small saucer). I never heard of anyone but me combining pineapple and peanut butter, but it's a great combo.

Bella Bruschetta Salad
4 cups torn romaine lettuce
8 medium tomatoes, chopped (about 6 cups)
4 cups French bread cubes, toasted
2 cups pepperoni slices
1 cup cubed Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing
1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Toss lettuce with tomatoes, bread, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and basil in large bowl.
Add dressing; mix lightly.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Greek Salad - Sara Waterson
Chop the cucumber into half-inch square chunks, do same with some good firm tomatoes. Chop a hunk of Feta cheese [Greek sheep's milk cheese, quite salty, sold in vacuum packs in which it keeps for ever] into half-inch cubes, add to salad.
Toss in some olives, preferably dry black Greek olives - they are sold in jars in UK. Sprinkle a little oregano over, then a few twists of black pepper, pour a little good olive oil over, and a VERY little lemon juice or vinegar - et voila! Imagine you are on Skorpios, or Hydra, and open the Aphrodite.

Cucumber Relish for Salmon or Other Grilled Fish - Invented by Sara Waterson
Peel then dice the cucumber quite small. Put in a saucepan with a good lump of butter and sweat - add a dribble of water at the start to make sure butter does not burn [covering the pan helps this]. Cook gently till all the liquid is almost gone - the cucumber will give off a lot, but it evaporates as the sauce thickens. Add a little chopped feathery fennel, or fresh mint, or lemon juice/dash of white wine, to taste. I usually use fennel; it's a very nice accompaniment to grilled fish.

Corry's Green Salad
Any greens work. I just had a bunch of different stuff ready in my garden. And you can put whatever kind of other vegetable you like, I add whatever I have to hand, peppers, cukes, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. But the secret ingredients are Craisons (but I like dried cherries even better--Trader Joe's has them), roasted sugared nuts (directions below), and crumbled blue cheese (big tubs of already crumbled bits available at Costco). Obviously you don't need a dressing, but some kind of sweet vinaigrette is very nice.
To make the nuts: chop your preferred nuts (we like pecans especially, but walnuts work. We tried macadamia nuts and almonds, but didn't like them so well) and toast them in a dry frying pan. John is in charge of this and swears you can tell when they are sufficiently toasted by the smell, so that will be for you to determine. When they are toasted you add some butter to coat the nuts and when coated you throw in some brown sugar. The amount depends on how much nuts, he thought perhaps about a tablespoon of sugar to a cup of nuts. Then just stir until the sugars caramelize. Once this is accomplished you can let the nuts cool in the pan a little before transferring them to a paper towel to drain. We store them on the counter in a plastic sealed container.

Taco Salad Down Under - Kerry Webb
I introduced my loved ones to another American treat on Friday (before we rushed off to see the mighty Brumbies do just well enough to scrape into the Super 12 finals) - taco salad. Chopped lettuce, avocado, smoked chicken (it was all that was available), tomato, shredded cheddar, crumbled corn chips and a couple of glugs of olive oil.

Salad Dressings
Dressing for Pasta Salad
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons red wine or balsamic vinegar
1 pound pasta - tubular pasta will hold more dressing
Vegetable to taste
chopped red onion
broccoli
carrots
cucumber
tomatoes
black olives
feta cheese

Dressing for Fruit Salad
1 4-ounce box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup milk
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
8 ounces plain yogurt
Mix together until well blended.
Add to:
16 ounces mandarin oranges
20 ounces pineapple chunks
3 bananas, sliced
2 apples, chopped
2 cups grapes

Robin Welch
For everyday dressing I use a can of V8, add oil and vinegar and spices. Super easy, fast, and a lot healthier.
For a 12 oz can of (low sodium) V8, I would add about 1/3 C of olive oil, 1/3 C of balsamic vinegar, and about 2 T Mrs. Dash. All ingredients are subject to any adjustment according to taste. Change the spices entirely if you like. My mother would use onion powder and garlic powder. I like the variety in Mrs. Dash, with no salt.

Astrid Bear
I usually make a quick dressing on the salad; coat with olive oil, splash on cheap balsamic vinegar from Trader Joe's, sprinkle with salt, and grind on some pepper.

Sara Waterson
Proper dressing needs an emulsifier - which is the purpose of the egg in some dressings - and yes, cooked egg yolk does work fairly well, especially in 'sauce gribiche' which is a dressing with chopped capers and cornichons - great with hard boiled egg or cold fish
But the French, for everyday salad dressing, use mustard - usually a teaspoon of mild Dijon. Mix the mustard with the salt and pepper [and any crushed garlic or chopped fresh herbs if you want to be fancy]. Then add a tablespoon of GOOD vinegar - wine vinegar is best (cheap vinegar is horrible, and not even proper vinegar usually, it's acetate).
Mix that together then add four parts good olive oil to one of vinegar - make it first in a screw top jar and shake the mix vigorously to emulsify the sauce. You can vary the oil, eg using a little walnut oil with the olive - great with eg watercress; or use a little lighter oil with some olive oil for a lighter texture. The English add sugar or honey - I don't!
The main thing is to use an emulsifier of some sort; and to use enough oil in proportion to vinegar - which most Anglo-Saxons don't. I make a small jar each week, and use it as I go, taking it out of the fridge an hour before I need it if I remember. I only use plain oil and a tiny sprinkling of vinegar on tomatoes, never on 'green leaf' salad which in my opinion requires a proper emulsified dressing, otherwise it goes soggy. Heavier dressings are good on/with eg avocado, beetroot or artichokes.