bon appetite – It’s Salad Season!

Now that the weather is lightening up and getting a bit warmer everyday, our menu choices are lightening up as well and changing with the season.  We are big fans of salads around here and I am sharing a few of my favorites today, which have a bit of a twist to give them a little extra something.

Caprese salads are super easy and super fresh and tend to be a crowd pleaser.  I dedicated an entire post to the Caprese salad but my favorite form to elevate it is to take it a step further and make it into a Caprese antipasto platter.

beyond the caprese salad

You can find all the steps and instructions on the original post by clicking the link above.  This is a creative way to meld two classic appetizer trays into one beautifully delicious dish.  

This is a very versatile idea, which you can make as simple or as elaborate as you wish depending on the components and ingredients you choose.  Although it’s a fantastic way to feed a crowd you can also adapt it for individual portions as well.  

Another classic salad that I love is the Niςoise Salad, which we pump up around here by using seared, fresh Ahi tuna and avocado.

California style Salade Niςoise 

Once again you can see all the details to assemble this dish along with the recipes by following the link above to the original post.  I love all the individual ingredients of this salad to begin with but when you bring them all together tossed in the light dressing they all merry so well and it’s an explosion of flavors.

The potatoes and eggs plus the seared Ahi tuna make this a hearty salad but the lettuce, tomatoes and avocado balance it out by lightening the dish.  Whenever we make this, there are no left overs so that’s a good sign.

The next dish is a compilation of salads layered together to blend all the fantastic flavors together.  

on the menu – 3-layer salad

This a layered salad starting with a pasta as the base, followed with greens and topped of with a protein salad, which is sprinkled with fresh herbs.  All the details and instructions can be found by following the link above to the original post.

I used a chicken salad here but you can use the protein salad of your choice.  Shrimp salad and tuna salad are frequent substitutes in our home. The pasta can also be substituted by other grains like quinoa or farro.  I love the versatility of this dish, lending itself to be adapted by anyone’s preferences.

We planted our vegetable garden a few weeks ago and we have already stared harvesting lettuces this week.  I love eating right from our backyard.  I shared our preliminary garden for the season here{7 happenings in an early Spring garden}.  I will share more details about our vegetable garden in another post real soon.

“The essence of a good salad is simplicity. Clean, bright flavors that, when brought together, bring out the best in one another.”
~Chuck Williams~