4 Easy Recipes to Make The Perfect Summer Salad.

Salads are the staple of the healthy food community, and we at Miss-President approve of that, Salad is the healthiest food in the world, in my opinion, I truly love the idea of combining raw or cooked vegetables and fruits to make something great–(Never forget the dressing!) I honestly believe that there is no such thing as a bad salad, The whole idea of a salad is combining whatever vegetables and fruits you need in order to make the perfect mix to suit your needs at a particular time. Now, truthfully, I haven’t tried the one million salad recipes in the world and on the internet, although I would like to, but for now, I have only tried about four salad recipes in my life, and I’m going to share them with you so you can try them out this summer.

The recipes below are meant to guide you, but don’t feel the need to run to the store right away to get these exact ingredients. It’s always alright to improvise with any raw veggies or nuts that you already have and want to use before they spoil. Just remember, salads are an easy and delicious way to get key vitamins and nutrients into your diet. Use what you’ve got, make it beautiful, and know that you can’t go wrong.

Follow the simple recipe below:

1.CLASSIC CHICKEN SALAD

Ingredients: 2-3 cups of chopped boiled chicken breast, 2 Chopped stalks of celery, 1/2 seeded and chopped red bell pepper, 4-6 minced green olives, 1/4 Cup of chopped red onion, 1/2 apple, cored and chopped, 1/3 head chopped iceberg lettuce, 5 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of sweet berry preserves, 2 teaspoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of Salt and 1/4 teaspoon of Pepper.

Steps:

1. Place the chicken breasts inside a medium sized pot of boiling water, Reduce the simmer, cover the pot and allow the chicken cook for 15-20 minutes.
2. Strain the water from the pot and transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Once the chicken has cooled, chop them into small pieces.
3. Chop your apple and set aside your chopped red bell pepper, chopped stalks of celery, minced green olives, chopped iceberg lettuce and chopped red onion.
4. Combine the chicken, vegetables, and chopped apple in a large bowl, and Set aside.
5. Mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and berry preserves together in a separate bowl. 
6. Add salt and pepper to the mixture above, and then drizzle the dressing over the salad.
7. Toss the salad and dressing together, and Shake properly.
8. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate for 3-5 hours before serving.

2.VEGETABLE SALAD- THE QUEEN OF ALL SALADS

Ingredients: Medium sized cabbage, Medium sized carrots, Lettuce leaves, Chopped green beans, Green peas, Cooked Eggs, A can of baked beans, Cucumbers, Salad Cream/Mayonnaise.

Steps:

1. Chop the carrot, Green beans and Cucumber, and set aside in different trays (Remove the center seeds from the Cucumber, and peel off the back if you like)
2. Slice the cabbage in a different tray (we use trays often in our home), slice the lettuce leaves, boil the eggs and then remove the shell.
3. You then need to soften the cabbage, green beans, carrot and peas by adding the carrot, green beans and peas to boiling water, and allowing it simmer on low heat for about 3 minutes, then heat the water to boiling point and pour into the sliced cabbage in a bowl, allow for a minute then drain.
4. Also drain the carrot, green beans and peas and set aside in a bowl.
5. Pour a handful of the cabbage into a bowl, then add the carrot, lettuce leaves, green beans and green pea, Shake the bowl to make sure they are all properly mixed together.
6. Slice the egg into your desired shape and drop on the top of the salad.
7. Hold off on the salad cream and baked beans, until you are serving. (Tip: You should keep the salad cream and baked beans away from your full salad mixture, in order to prevent souring over a long period of time).

P.S. The quantity of ingredients depends on the number of people yearning to taste your amazing salad.

Recommendations: I recommend the Heinz Salad cream brand, the addition of it always seems to take vegetable salad above the 100 percent bench mark. If you can’t get access to Salad cream though, Mayonnaise brands like Bama could be used.

3.SUMMER FRUIT SALAD

Ingredients: 2 medium navel oranges, peeled and sectioned, 2 medium kiwifruit, peeled and sliced 1-1/2 cups halved seedless red grapes, 1 cup of sliced peeled apple, 1 cup of diced honeydew melon, 1 cup of fresh blueberries, 1/4 cup of orange juice, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of lime juice, 1-1/2 cups sliced ripe bananas.

Steps:

1. In a large salad bowl, add the peeled and section oranges, kiwifruit, and the seedless red grapes
2. In another bowl, combine the sliced peeled apple, diced honeydew melon and a cup of fresh blueberries.
3. In a third bowl, Mix the orange juice, honey and lime juice.
4. Combine fruits in the first and second bowl together.
5. Drizzle the juice mixture onto the fruits mixture.
6. Chill until serving.
7. Add the sliced bananas just before serving.

Recommendations: I actually recommend this fruit salad for people having any form of health challenge as the fruits contained here provide enough nutrients and vitamins to bolster your immune system. I actually learnt about this recipe when my aunt made it for my mum when she was a little sick a while ago.

4.COLESLAW-CABBAGE SALAD

Ingredients: 1 small cabbage, 1 small green bell pepper, ½ tin of green peas, 2 medium sized carrots, 1 medium onion, 5 tablespoons of salad cream/mayonnaise, ½ teaspoon sugar, A pinch of Salt.

Steps:

1. Cut the cabbage, green bell pepper and onions into very tiny pieces.
2. Scrape and shred the carrots using a grater, then use a knife to cut across the shreds to make the pieces even smaller.
3. Put the cabbage, green pepper, green peas, onions and carrots into a large bowl and stir till you get a good mix.
4. In a separate smaller bowl, mix the salad cream, mayonnaise, sugar and salt.
5. Pour the cream mix into the bowl of vegetables and stir very well.
6. Chill and serve.

Angel’s Two-Cents: I’d use this medium to chip in on the debate on whether coleslaw is a salad or not, and my take is–DEFINITELY it is, because by definition, Salad is a cold dish of various mixtures of raw or cooked vegetables, and of course we all know coleslaw is basically a blend of finely shredded cabbage, carrots and a few other crunchy vegetables which is then generously dressed with mayonnaise and salad cream.

P.S. Please try to eat your coleslaw with BBQ Chicken or Barbecue Ribs and I promise it will change your life (You can thank me later!).

XO, ANGEL JOANNE

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY: LIKE, COMMENT AND FOLLOW THE BLOG.