Here is mine. I start by cooking 500 g of pasta. Any kind, but I like wagon wheels; they end up looking like trivial pursuit wheels. Cook it, add a couple oz. of mayonnaise and put it in the fridge to cool. Meantime, I chop a mixture or black (something like calamita) and green olives, maybe a cup of each (you might find it too olive-y, an oxymoron for me, so use less). Cut up a few oz of sliced banana peppers, diced, two sweet peppers (I like a red and a yellow) diced, five scallions. All diced. Add a few tsps of sweet relish (or dice a handful of sweet pickles). Mix all the ingredients.
At this point, I divide it equally into four containers. It fits perfectly into four 1 liter ice cream containers. This is the basis for four dinners for the two of us. Every night we add a protein. Possibilities are eight oz of cooked shrimp divided in a few pieces each; a couple of small chicken breasts, diced; two cans of tuna flaked; a large can of salmon; 8 oz of scallops diced; whatever appeals. Mix it thoroughly into one of the containers and divide in two.
In really hot weather, this gives us four consecutive delicious meals. Don’t hold the salad over more than four nights.
Here’s a version of Waldorf salad that I made today:
Waldorf/Chicken Salad
1 large chicken breast (boneless/skinless)
1 stalk celery, chopped or thinly sliced
1 handful seedless grapes, halved
1 handful walnut pieces
1 medium apple, cut into bite-sized pieces
A few sprigs of fresh tarragon, leaves diced
Mayo
Saute the chicken until cooked through (165F)
Mix together all ingredients and toss with enough mayo to coat. Serve cold on a bed of lettuce or plain.
There are lots of variations on fattoush, but this is the one I keep in my recipe organizer app:
Mix together:
[ul]
[li]3 tomatoes, cubed[/li][li]2 cukes, peels and cubed[/li][li]1 green bell pepper[/li][li]A few green onions, chopped[/li][li]1 entire bunch of parsley, chopped[/li][/ul]
Add the dressing:
[ul]
[li]0.5 cup of good extra virgin olive oil[/li][li]0.5 cup of lemon juice. Yes, really, that much.[/li][li]A healthy pinch of salt.[/li][li]3 to 4 cloves of garlic[/li][li]3 tablespoons of sumac. Get it on the internet or a Lebanese store. Absolutely required.[/li][/ul]
Toss with lots of fried pita bread, as this is really meant to be a fried pita salad.
If you must, you can add lettuce, but then you have a different kind of fattoush.
The old standby I first had in New Orleans when ivorybill treated me to lunch at Herbsaint:
Shaved Beef Salad
Horseradish dressing
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
3 tablespoons creole mustard (or whole grain mustard)
4 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon hot sauce (we use Louisiana brand hot sauce)
2 tablespoons cane syrup (this is a Louisiana product, and may not be available – you can substitute a mild molasses)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Yield: about 2 cups
Directions
Mix it all together.
I can’t get cane syrup here, so the first time I made it I made simple syrup and added molasses. Now I just use light molasses. (Or you can use Karo syrup and light molasses.) I use Zatarain’s mustard and Louisiana brand hot sauce.
The beef
Most supermarkets will have packets of thinly-sliced roast beef. I go to the local supermarket’s deli counter and have them shave some Dietz & Watson roast beef as thin as they can get it. Dietz & Watson is the brand The Market carries. Boar’s Head is also popular in this area. We like the ‘shaved’ beef, but it would be easier to plate if we went the next thickness up. Last night we had the second-thinnest slices.
The salad
You can make your own salad, but I find it easier to use the bagged mixed Spring greens.
Assembly
Use two or three slices of the second-thinnest sliced roast beef or the appropriate amount of ‘shaved’ roast beef. Tear it into bite-sized bits (no more than a couple of inches square) and arrange them on a large plate. Pile on the greens. Add as much dressing as you desire. Top with French’s fried onions.
Tuesday I went to Trader Joe’s and bought two basil plants. They’re at least 12 inches tall, and only cost $3.29 (or maybe it was $3.49). The Market sells little 6" x 4" x ¾" plastic boxes of fresh basil for $3.29, so the TJ’s plants are a deal.
The former recipe shows how I normally make Caprese salad: Everything nicely arranged on the plate. The latter doesn’t look so ‘formal’. I’m making Caprese salad sometime between tonight and the end of the weekend, and I think I’ll use the ‘How to Not…’ arrangement.
Cubes of chicken breast meat. Cook it, or use leftovers.
Cooked penne pasta
Fresh spinach
Gorgonzola cheese, cubed plus some crumbled
Green onions, sliced
Red seedless grapes
Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Mix it all together. You can add celery, walnuts, or whatever suits your fancy.
I love broccoli coleslaw. But it’s one of those things where I don’t see the point of doing all the work it would take to make it. I buy a bag of pre-shredded broccoli and vegetables and a bottle of coleslaw dressing (I like Marzetti) and then I mix them together.
Thank you all. I bookmarked this and will be looking at some of these to try this summer. Actually, I’m looking at **Chefguy’**s Waldorf salad for this weekend.
I often make pasta salad to take to lunch for work, or to have as a quick dinner. I don’t have any measurements but it’s an easy thing to do, just add/remove whatever you like or don’t like.
My usual pasta salad:
**Veggie stuff: **
[ul]
[li]Quartered chunks of cukes (kept separate because I have texture issues with cukes gone soft)[/li][li]Mandoline-thin-cut radishes[/li][li]shredded carrots[/li][li]black olive slices[/li][li]green pimento-stuffed olives, halved or sliced.[/li][li]VERY SLIGHTLY BLANCHED broccoli florets, cut very small. (Cook 1 minute, then plunge into ice-cold water) You can use raw, I just prefer blanched. [/li][/ul]
You can add a lot of other veggies – whatever you like on your salad! Tomatoes or peppers would be good. I don’t use them because my tummy does not accept uncooked tomatoes or any green/bell peppers. Cauliflower. Those zucchini noodles might be good if you cut them up.
**Pasta **(I like either tricolored rotini or plain tiny shells)
Cook pasta according to directions. At very end, total last minute, add tiny baby peas.
Cook a minute or two (tops), then drain. I cool by running cold water over the pasta. You can omit this.
After the pasta and peas are well-drained, I put them in a large bowl. Add all the veggies you want. Dress with a oil-and-vinegar-based dressing of your choice. I’ve done red wine vinegarettes, including some with parmesean in the dressing. I’ve done cracked black pepper and stuff in the dressing. You can use bottled dressing if you want or prefer. I don’t care for pre-made creamy dressing on this, but if you make your own that balances oil and vinegar and the creamy stuff, it could be ok.
I have had this for lunch many times and people who see it always ooh and ahh like I brought in beef Wellington. Sometimes I serve on really fresh, good salad greens (I’m growing butter bowl and rocket just for this). Sometimes I add shredded rotisserie chicken. Sometimes I serve with a piece of cold cooked salmon or cold beef, sliced thin.
Alas, the mozzarella was not what I wanted, but it was the best I could find locally and was good enough. Organic Roma tomatoes, basil picked off of the plants, California Olive Ranch olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly-ground pepper. Mrs. L.A. and I liked it.
One of my go-to salads for dinner is bagged regular coleslaw with tzatziki sauce as dressing (I like more tang than regular coleslaw sauce). It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
My favorite salad of all time is spring greens, strawberries, candied pecans and goat cheese. For the dressing, really good balsamic vinegar–thick, and extra virgin olive oil in roughly equal amounts with a little salt and pepper.
Fresh, creamy, crunchy, tangy. A perfect balance of flavors and the only salad I can eat as a meal.
Sometimes I serve on really fresh, good salad greens (I’m growing butter bowl and rocket just for this). Sometimes I add shredded rotisserie chicken. Sometimes I serve with a piece of cold cooked salmon or cold beef, sliced thin.