Salad Bar!

Who doesn’t want to sit down to a fresh, colorful and crispy salad topped with your favorite dressing?  The simplicity, the beauty, the different textures all combine to make this lunch time treat such a pleasing and healthy option.

Recently we served this for a retreat, and it received such rave reviews that we thought we’d share our salad bar ideas with you.  We haven’t included amounts, because you can make as little or as much as you want.  As a guide, people would probably want to plan on 1 Tbsp. of toppings per person.   It’s also the perfect “to go” meal – just prep all the toppings, throw them in zip-lock bags or containers and then dish up before serving.

We hope you enjoy some of these ideas as much as we do.

Salad Bar Suggestions:

Lettuce – a blend of iceberg, romaine, bibb and red leaf is nice

diced ham
diced turkey or chicken
hard boiled eggs
cheese – Havarti, swiss, cheddar – all recommended
crumbled gorgonzola
tomatoes, wedged or grape or cherry tomatoes
roasted beets, julienned
avocado
cucumber
celery
olives
grated carrot
broccoli and/or cauliflower flowerets
peas
chopped scallions
sliced red onion
colored peppers
garbanzo beans
cooked lentils
diced cooked bacon
cooked quinoa
sunflower seeds, roasted and salted
chia seeds
toasted nuts – such as walnuts or pecans
croutons

An Assortment of Homemade Dressings – click on the link for the recipes

Homemade Bleu Cheese Dressing
Green Goddess Salad Dressing
English Garden Salad Dressing
Balsamic Vinaigrette

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Salad Bar!
SERVINGS
However much you want
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However much you want
COOK TIME
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PREP TIME
1 hour (or less)
READY IN
1hour

Ingredients

Instructions

Homemade Bleu Cheese Dressing
  1. Makes 1 cup (250ml), about four servings If you can’t get buttermilk, mix one part milk (whole or lowfat) with one part plain yogurt (regular or lowfat) to approximate the taste. Any kind of blue cheese, domestic or imported, should work well.
  2. In a medium bowl, mash the blue cheese with the salt and pepper with the back of a fork until the pieces of cheese are finely broken up.
  3. Stir in the chives, sour cream, buttermilk, and lemon juice or wine vinegar until well mixed.
  4. Add a few drops of red wine vinegar. Taste, and adjust any of the seasonings to your liking and if the dressing too thick, add a bit more buttermilk. *Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz
Green Goddess Salad Dressing
  1. Place the mayonnaise, scallions, basil, lemon juice, garlic, anchovy paste, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth.
  2. Add the sour cream and process just until blended. Refrigerate the dressing until ready to serve.
English Garden Salad Dressing
  1. Combine all but the oils in a bowl and whisk. Slowly whisk in the oils to combine.
Balsamic Vinaigrette
  1. Combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, shallot, garlic, salt, and black pepper together in a glass jar with a lid.
  2. Replace lid on the jar and shake vigorously until thoroughly combined.

Fresh Pear Blue Cheese Salad

Fresh Pear Blue Cheese Salad

A perfectly ripened pear is a beautifully elegant sight to behold.  Equally as satisfying to senses is the savoring of its taste. Here again is something so naturally delicious it needs no enhancing. Be that as it may, whenever I’ve served a Fresh Pear Blue Cheese Salad the responses are so overwhelming that I keep wondering why I don’t do it more often. These two ingredients so naturally compliment each other when “peared” together, it’s as though they were made for each other. Here is all you do to create this marvelous tasting sensation:

Place one beautiful lettuce leaf on a serving plate. Top with a handful of cut lettuce. Drizzle with your favorite ranch dressing. Place a pear half cavity side up. Fill with a spoonful of thick sour cream seasoned with onion salt. Sprinkle the entire salad as generously or as sparingly as desired with crumbled blue cheese. Sprinkle the entire salad with lightly salted toasted pecans. The key of course is the perfectly ripened beautiful fresh pear.

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Fresh Pear Blue Cheese Salad
SERVINGS
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COOK TIME
PREP TIME
READY IN

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Place one beautiful lettuce leaf on a serving plate.
  2. Top with a handful of cut lettuce.
  3. Drizzle with your favorite ranch dressing.
  4. Place a pear half cavity side up.
  5. Fill with a spoonful of thick sour cream seasoned with onion salt.
  6. Sprinkle the entire salad as generously or as sparingly as desired with crumbled blue cheese.
  7. Sprinkle the entire salad with lightly salted toasted pecans.
  8. The key of course is the perfectly ripened beautiful fresh pear.