Tuesday, July 6, 2010

still not tired of it yet....

It's hot here this week.  (Temps in the 100s and heat indexes into the 115s!)  Way too hot to cook and heat up the house with the oven or stove.  These are great days for cold plate dinners.  My favorite cold plate meal has got to be a big leafy green salad with all the fixins.   I've been making this current salad for months now and I could eat it every day...seriously.  It's so good.  It's also a nice salad because you can tweak it with what you have on hand. You can mix it up so that you won't get tired of it even if you do happen to eat it every day for a week.  (trust me, I know!)  I've decided to call it the "still not tired salad".  Here are the building blocks, but feel free to add your favorites and make it yours. 
one bowl of leafy greens (romaine, iceberg, green leaf, baby leaf...whatever you have in the fridge)
shredded carrots
sliced cucumbers
crumbled blue cheese (although when I've been out, I've used shredded cheddar and that's been good)
craisins
sliced almonds
Good Seasons Italian dressing (I use the packets and make my own...I swear this dressing makes the salad...no substitutions here)
Feel free to add:
chopped broccoli
chopped cauliflower
chicken stripes or steak
grape tomatoes
sunflower seeds
or whatever your heart desires
Mix every thing together and dress the salad ahead of serving.  A dressed salad allows all those ingredients to get together and mingle, which results in great flavor.   Have fun and don't forget to share a couple of those baby carrots with your favorite pooch. 
Molly is always underfoot when she hears the salad shredder come out of the cupboard.  If you don't have a salad shredder (which I only have because my mom was cleaning out her kitchen) use a grater and grate your carrots.  Do you have a favorite summer cold plate meal that you love to make when the temperatures sky-rocket?  If so, please share, the forecast is looking like we're in for some sizzling summer weather. 

20 comments:

Christina said...

Mmmmm...sounds yummy! I like spinach salad with grilled chicken, fresh cherry halves, shredded mozzarella cheese, and a fruity vinaigrette.

The WoodLand School said...

Jay and I got our first salad shooter at a yard sale about 15 years ago. Every time one breaks (as they tend to do with daily usage!), we go yard sale searching until we find another :-)

Thanks for the salad inspiration. We just adore cold corn/tomato/basil salad with a balsamic vinegarette ... or a chilled couscous made with an apple juice base, topped with garbanzos, apples, and raisins ... and finished with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

hook and needle said...

I love a good harvest salad (for some reason, that and Michigan Cherry are the two names for that salad up here).
My version has bleu cheese or gorg crumbles, sliced granny smith apples, diced grilled (or crispy) chicken, and candied pecans. Mmmm...
Now I'm really wishing I didn't have heat-and-eat pizza for lunch...

Tonya Gunn said...

We have been eating greens from our garden and hard boiled eggs from our chickens during this hot spell.
So nice not to cook when it is so hot.
(Also, blogger is acting up and it wouldn't post your nice comment to my blog - thanks for taking the time to write - I changed the settings though so it doesn't need to be approved anymore which should help)
Warm wishes ,Tonya

At Home Mommy Knits said...

It's lunch time here and that salad looks delicious. I'm going to wander upstairs and see what I have on hand :)

From All Stitched Up said...

This is great and I need inspiration. It's too hot for me to do any thinking. I know I have to stop whinning but I believe this weather is worse than a blizzard.

~ The Jolly Bee ~ said...

Ouch -- we are sizzling here in NYS too. I pulled off two salads tonight, but yours looks so yummy it will be on the menu tomorrow. And I love my little salad shooter. My sister-in-law got it for me about 20 years ago and it's still going strong. Whenever I grate anything with a regular grater, I end up getting hurt. I'm off to look for some ice cream -- just trying to stay cool.

Stephanie said...

It has been so hot here as well and will continue all week! My favorite cold summertime meal is tomato sandwiches, seriously... some bread, lettuce, tomatoes, a little mayo and mustard and I'm good to go. Adding bacon is really good, but some days I don't even need it. Hope it cools down for you soon!

Cecilia said...

yum! my daily salad is: spinach, red pepper, ranch dressing, protein (chicken or ham-and-cheese), and cashews. :o)

Green Acres in the City said...

I think it sounds great. We had a big salad last night and chicken from the grill.

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmm, that salad looks soooooo yummy! =0) We have salad a lot here, too . . . might have to have some tonight!

Love you guys!
Kelly

Kristyn Knits said...

Yum! you make up one rockin' salad, girl!
I have a few favorites:
*thai chicken stir fry salad with a poppyseed dressing flavored with ginger
*spinach and strawberry salad this time with a homemade poppyseed dressing
*and of course our favorite beat the heat in the kitchen idea- take out!

Designs on 47th Street said...

Oh yes! Right up our alley. We too love a good salad OFTEN filled with much of what you are showing. It can't be beat!

ali@skeinsherway said...

Oh yum! I totally read current salad as currant salad, hehe, and I was thinking, I don't know if I've ever had dried currants before, and oh, how I wish my poor little currant bush would grow big and fruitful... but craisins will do, LOL!

rosemary said...

wow that salad looks and sounds wonderful.....hope you are suviving your hot temperatures...salads and bbq is pretty much what we have when it gets hot here.... :)

Liz said...

Looks delicious! I'm going to have to watch for one of those at the thrift shop...

Jessica said...

Salads like that are my go-to during days (weeks!) like this. I don't feel like much besides salads and cereal for my meals.

Sigrun said...

I love the "I wonder what's in the pantry/fridge" kinds of salads--we've put in grapefruit wedges, shrimp, canned mandarin oranges, any kind of seeds or nuts. I love hard-boiled egg in any kind of salad. My favorite dressing is Raspberry vinaigrette. We're lucky not to be so hot here. But summer salads are great anyways. And now some of the fixin's are coming from the garden--even better.

Tracy said...

LOVE this salads, Lisa! I love dried cranberries in anything. And we're enjoying lots of salad now ours are pick-able. Been making one a la Panera Bread with spinach, mixed greens, gorgonzola, walnuts, cranberries & pumpkin sees and with a raspberry vinaigrette...mmm... Keep cook there! It's great to be back here catching up with you after being away a few days MIA and unwell--on the mend now, I think... Happy Days ((HUGS))

Gloria said...

Mmmmm...your salad looks so yummy! I don't enjoy turning on the stove or oven when the temps are so high here. This looks like a great recipe for Summer! Thanks for sharing.
My family loves Taco Salad when the temps rise, but it still requires the stove top for ground turkey meat. It can be cooked in the microwave, but I never seem to do cook it that way.