Cooking with Hope

During the hot of summer, easy to prepare and refresh salad recipes are a wonderful choice for light meals. There are hundreds of recipes to choose from and to create during these fruitful months of harvest from local farms and grocery stores. Combine fruits and vegetables alone and together and/or with pasta and a favorite salad dressing. Cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, and onions are plentiful this time of the year and they mix well with plenty of the selections. Remember to keep the salads refrigerated and chilled.

Zucchini and Vidalia Onion Salad

4 to 6 small zucchini(about 1 ½ pounds), thinly sliced lengthwise

½ Vidalia onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together vinegar, olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper.

Set aside. Using a vegetable peeler slice paper-thin ribbon slices from the zucchini, lengthwise, avoid the seeds. Add zucchini and onion to salad dressing and toss to combine thoroughly. Chill. Serves 4.

Greek Salad

When I visited Greece a few years ago, everyday for lunch I had a Greek salad and a glass of chilled Greek white wine. I learned quickly that lettuces were not part of the salad. Here is a typical Greek salad from Greece.

3 large ripe red tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 cucumber, unpeeled, cut into wedges

¼ cup red onion, thinly sliced into rings

1 cup Kalamata olives or thoer ripe olives

1 cup feta cheese, crumbles

¼ cup olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon dried chopped oregano leaves or 1 tablespoon fresh leaves, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, cucumber and olives. Mix together olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper; pour over salad and gently toss together. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Serves 4 to 6.

California-roll Style Salad

This salad, which is a takeoff on the California Sushi roll, is so easy to make and is quite tasty.

2 ripe avocados

1 English cucumber, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces

2 cups imitation crab meat (about 8 ounces), cut into ½ inch pieces

12 lettuce leaves (I prefer Boston lettuce) rinsed and dried

½ cup frozen peas, thawed

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Peel avocados and cut into halves. Cut 2 halves into 1-inch size chunks for salad and slice the other two halves into 12 thin slices, set aside for garnish. Gently combine imitation crab chunks, cucumber, peas and avocado chunks. Sprinkle salad with limejuice and gently toss. Place 2 leaves of lettuce on a salad plate and top with avocado mixture. Serves 6.

Note: You may want to try a wasabi salad dressing with this for more zip. You can make your own from wasabi, soy sauce and a little limejuice.

Grilled Chicken and Strawberries Salad

4 grilled chicken breasts, sliced into strips

8 cups mixed baby greens, rinsed and dried

2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled

4 to 6 tablespoons raspberry vinaigrette

In a large bowl, combine lettuce greens, strawberries and feta cheese. Pout raspberry vinaigrette over mixture and gently toss. On 4 plates, divide the salad and top with a sliced grilled chicken breast. Serves 4.

Cucumber Salad with Dill and Sour Cream

1 large English Cucumber halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

½ cup Vidalia onion, thinly sliced

¾ cup low-fat sour cream

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon dried dill

Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium size bowl combine sour cream, lemon juice, sugar and dill and thoroughly whisk together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add sliced cucumbers and onions and toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 6 to 8 hours. Serves 4.

Hope's Pasta Salad

1 package of spiral pasta, cooked

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 cup sliced ½ inch pieces of pepperoni

1 cup provolone cheese cut into small cubes

1 cup frozen peas, defrosted (optional)

½ cup Vidalia onion, diced

½ cup black olives, cut in half (optional)

1 cup pickled artichokes

1 bottle of Italian dressing

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Rinse off with cold water, drain and pour into a large bowl. Mix pasta with one-cup salad dressing. In a large salad bowl toss together broccoli, peas, onions, pepperoni, provolone cheese, artichokes and tomatoes. Add olives and extra salad dressing as preferred. Refrigerate fro at least 4 hours. Serves 6.