What's For Dinner Tonight? Salads All Around!

The past few days the weather has been warm and gorgeous, so we've been eating pretty light. Farm Fresh had some great sales on produce, so we took advantage of that and made different salads all weekend. The great thing about these salads is you can easily add in or take out ingredients based on availability or your taste. Everything here is vegetarian, and easily made vegan by leaving out the cheese in the salad.

Dinner Salad

• 1 bag of romaine mix
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 1 cucumber, cut lengthwise and sliced
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 8 white mushrooms, clean and thinly sliced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup sliced black olives
• Freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Dressing:

• 3 teaspoons sherry vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine all salad ingredients in large bowl and toss.

Whisk vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard, and garlic in small bowl until mixed. Slowly stream in olive oil, while continually whisking.

Add dressing to salad mixture and toss to coat. Top with cheese, salt, and pepper to taste.

Serves 4. Ready in: 10 minutes

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Colorful Pasta Salad

• 1/2 package (8 oz) rotini pasta, cooked
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 large lemon (or 2 small)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 (6 oz) can sliced black olives
• 1 small cucumber, peeled and diced
• 1 large tomato,diced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 small green bell pepper, diced

Cook pasta according to directions until al dente. Rinse with cold water and drain well. 

In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and garlic.

Add to bowl olives, cucumber, tomato, red onion, bell pepper, and pasta. Gently toss everything together until coated. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Serves 4. Ready in: 20 minutes

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Tropical Fruit Salad

• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 mango, peeled and cubed
• 1 papaya, peeled and cubed
• 2 mandarin oranges, peeled and segmented
• 2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
• 1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and cubed
• 6 fresh mint leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange coconut in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast coconut until edges are golden brown, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine mango, papaya, orange, kiwi, and pineapple. Refridgerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, top with toasted coconut. Garnish with mint leaves.

Serves 6. Ready in: 20 minutes

Happy eating!