I'm hosting the salad for a progressive dinner - need recipes, please!

[Jenn in Mo]

Nothing with uncommon ingredients. I live in a VERY small town, so items you might think would be common are often on my uncommon list. I need a good salad and I'm stumped.

[kalanamak]

Nothing with uncommon ingredients. I live in a VERY small town, so items you might think would be common are often on my uncommon list. I need a good salad and I'm stumped.

 

A waldorf with good ingredients is hard to beat.

[Jami]

Have you eaten at a Pasta House Co., Jenn? Here's the recipe for their salad. It's really good, I always get raves when I take it somewhere.

 

http://www.recipezaar.com/Pasta-House-Salad-52612

[TwinMominTX]

I had to chuckle at your caveats...you're lucky you can get good lettuce in your town. Our small town grocery store is yucky and the lettuce is likely to be even yuckier!

 

That said, I've had rave reviews when I've done a "mini salad bar" type thing. Lettuce with all types of stuff on the side - tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, croutons, bacon bits, onions, sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, chopped bell pepper, etc. etc.

[Beth in OH]

I have the perfect salad--it's so rich and yummy that it is an excellent stand alone course. The ingredients are very ordinary. Drawback: it's not difficult to make, but it's time consuming (baking croutons that have steeped in the homemade dressing, frying bacon to crumble, grating cheese, washing/chopping several ingredients etc.). I only make this salad for special occasions.

 

Casaburo Salad

8 servings

 

Dressing recipe makes a lot. Can cut in half and have plenty for one salad.

 

1 head iceberg lettuce, torn

1 head romaine lettuce, torn

1 red bell pepper, chopped

½ cup green onions, chopped

1 ¾ cups parmesan cheese, grated

1 cup provolone cheese, grated

1 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled

 

8 oz. red wine vinegar

1 ½ tsp. pepper

2 cups veg. oil

¾ tsp. dried oregano

½ Tbl. salt

¼ cup sugar

1 ½ tsp. garlic salt

 

6 English muffins, cubed

 

Dressing: Blend in blender: wine vinegar, pepper, vegetable oil, oregano, salt, sugar, garlic salt, ½ cup parmesan cheese.

 

Croutons: Mix cubed English muffins, ½ cup Casaburo dressing, ¼ cup parmesan cheese. Spread in single layer on jellyroll pan and bake at 350 degrees. Turn every 5 minutes until brown.

 

Salad: Toss iceberg and romaine lettuces with red bell pepper, green onions, 1 cup parmesan and 1 cup provolone (grated/mixed together), bacon pieces and croutons. Add dressing just before serving.

[lmrich]

I like the idea of a salad bar, too. Don't forget fruit.

[Garga]

I always like pineapple and mandarin oranges in my salad. They come in cans, so might be in your store. And sunflower seeds. Yum.

[Ellie]

Are you talking about a tossed green salad? Then I'd just go to the grocery store and shop down the produce aisle :-)

 

I like to add chopped hard-cooked eggs to a tossed green salad, sliced green onions, sliced (or whole) black olives, and diced avocado. Bean sprouts (not alfalfa sprouts) are good, too. Maybe tomatoes. I do NOT like carrots in a tossed green salad. Bleah. And just for the sake of people serving themselves and moving on, I'd toss the salad with my favorite dressing (which is usually Ranch, but I might choose an oil-and-vinegar kind instead for this event) and call it a day, as opposed to having a salad bar or a variety of salad dressings.

[Wendi]

I love salads with fruit. Romaine lettuce or spinach leaves with blue cheese, toasted pecans or walnuts, and dried cranberries or fresh sliced pears or apples. Mmm. Then a fruity or light vinaigrette.

 

My very favorite lately is a bagged salad from Trader Joe's that consists of spinach leaves, dried cranberries, blue cheese, and candied pecans. Mmmm.

 

Wendi

[Jenn in Mo]

Thank you, all! I just got back from the store. I"m going to do two salads....one will be a combination from both of those yummy recipes shared and the other will be a salad bar salad. I bought peppers, red onion, bacon, craisins, mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds, almond slivers, and croutons, broccoli, & celery.

 

Thanks for the awesome ideas! It would have been a plain old salad without you!