Sunday, July 6, 2014

Summery Hearts of Palm Salad

Salads? I love them, and like to have some type of leafy goodness with every evening meal, but frankly, they can get a little boring. Changing up the dressing can help, but so can adding some interesting ingredients. This simple green salad has been made company fancy with the addition of hearts of palm. If you don't have a jar or two in your pantry, you'd be wise to remedy that because this versatile vegetable can brighten up many a salad and makes an excellent dip.

 Here I have taken a simple bag of mixed greens, tossed them with slices of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, and chopped tomato, added my favorite vinaigrette dressing, plated it and topped it with slices of Melissa's Hearts of Palm and feta cheese. Delicious!

Seasonal adjustments can be made by adding or substituting any or all of the following ingredients:

Sliced fresh strawberries

Toasted walnuts, almonds, or pecans

Diced avocado
Crumbled bacon

 The mixed greens can be replaced with spinach or romaine, depending upon your taste or what you happen to have on hand.

The dressing is up to you, but this simple vinaigrette is one of my favorites:

5 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
Pinch of dry mustard
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
4 Tablespoons olive oil

Whisk together vinegar, onion, sugar, salt, mustard and pepper in a small bowl.  Add oil in a slow stream, whisking constantly to emulsify.  Serve immediately or store in the fridge for up to a week. 


1 comment:

Lisa Boyle said...

I am always looking for a good salad in the summertime. :-) Thanks for linking up with "Try a New Recipe Tuesday." Can't wait to see what you'll share this week. http://our4kiddos.blogspot.com/2014/07/try-new-recipe-tuesday-july-15.html