Salad Season

Well, it is spring in Colorado, which basically means anything goes. We have had beautiful, sunny weather for the past few days and today the temperature has dropped about 20* F. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain with another chance of light snow in the evening. You just never know what to expect at this time of year. But we did officially kick off salad season at our house. We enjoyed a delicious salad out on our beloved deck before the weather changed directions yet again.

The Verdicchio Wine is from the last batch we bottled, last year, at our favorite winery InVINtions. InVINtions, A Toast to InVINtions! We finished off the last of our Easter herbed popovers too. The salad was a delicious chicken and vegetable salad with a sun-dried tomato lemon vinaigrette.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Lemon Vinaigrette

As with most dressings and vinaigrettes, this was simple and easy-peasy.

1/2 jar of sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, with the oil

2 tsp garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

2-3 TBSP lemon olive oil

2-3 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3-4 basil sprigs

fresh ground black pepper and coarse salt to taste

I just put everything into the food processor and processed it until it was ready, and the tomatoes were cut into very small pieces.

For the salad, well, I like stuff in my stuff. I just loaded it up with all kinds of fresh vegetables. I started off with chopped Romaine lettuce, then added some red onions sliced very thin, shredded carrots, cooked green beans, grape tomatoes cut in half and some avocado slices. Larry’s salad got some cubed Havarti cheese sprinkled around, mine did not. Then I added chicken slices and a sliced hard boiled egg to each salad and topped it with dressing. I like a lot of textures to my salads, so I also added some toasted pepita seeds on top of mine. The result – a very colorful, healthy and delicious salad. 🙂 The more colors and textures added usually means a lot more nutritious the salad will be.

We eat a lot of salads during spring and summer, but we may not be eating any more for a few days, with the weather being what it is currently. Our salad days are definitely fair weather meals. 🙂

Add lots of colors and textures to your foods. Make them pretty and fill them with lots of nutrients.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.