When the weather starts to warm up and the sun shines the last thing I want to do is spend time in a hot kitchen cooking dinner. Hot meals are not too appetizing as in the winter when comfort food doesn’t seem so heavy. I love spring and summer food because I spend less time in the kitchen and I have a tendency to eat lighter and healthier. For some reason a crisp cold salad sounds so much nicer in the spring and summer months than in the winter or fall. So, I wanted to share with you some delicious salads I make when I want to spend more time out of the kitchen and in the sun.
Shrimp and Herb Salad
Ingredients:
5 ounce package of fresh herb salad
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
6 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small red onion, sliced
1 small red bell pepper, sliced
12 ounces cooked shrimp meat
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Rinse and dry salad leaves and divide among four plates. Add sliced mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, red onion and pepper strips. Spoon equal amounts of shrimp meat on top of salad.
For the vinaigrette, whisk vinegar, lemon juice and mustard together and whisk in olive oil. Or, combine vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and oil in a screw-top jar and shake vigorously. Drizzle over salad.
If you decide not to make your own salad dressing but still want something simple try Garlic Expressions. Garlic Expressions is basically my home dressing as every member of my family loves it. Before trying it, my son hated salad. Now, I have kids who ask for salad! So experiment with different dressings if you have finicky children yet stay with simple ingredients.