Did I mention that I planted too much lettuce?
We do a lot of salads with grilled meat and vegetables.
Sometimes, though, it’s just nice to do a completely cold salad…. One that requires no cooking.
I still have to pick and wash the lettuce, of course, but I always do that in the morning. I always have hard-boiled eggs on hand, especially during salad season (for a quick lunch). This salad only requires assembling – and eating.
Perfect for the end of a busy (or lazy) warm spring day.
Garden Salad, Thousand Island Dressing
Total time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8oz (240gr) ham, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 cup sliced radishes, sliced
- 1 medium carrot, cut into thin matchsticks or shredded
- 1 small fennel bulb, sliced
- 2oz (60gr) white cheddar cheese, cut into cubes
- 2 eggs, hard-cooked, peeled, roughly chopped
- handful of fresh basil leaves, torn if large
- salad greens for 2 main dish salads
- ‘Thousand Island Dressing’
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 tbs ketchup
- 1 tbs white Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tbs capers, chopped
- 1 tbs fresh chives, snipped
- 2 tbs good olive oil
Instructions:
- Put the salad greens and basil in a large bowl.
- Add 3 tbs of the dressing and toss well to coat.
- Arrange remaining ingredients on top of lettuce.
- Drizzle another 2 tbs dressing over the top and serve, additional dressing on the side.
- ‘Thousand Island Dressing’
- Put all ingredients in a bowl. Whisk well to combine.
You can find more Main Course Salads here…
Thousand Island dressing brings back a lot of memories for me.
Not this version (which we love) but the thicker, higher calorie restaurant version.
We never had bottled salad dressings in my house when I was a child. We only had salads at home during the spring (sound familiar?) and my mother always made the dressing. She grew leaf lettuce and fixed it one of two ways: a hot, wilted salad with bacon, onion and a cider vinegar dressing or as a proper, fresh salad with a cream dressing.
Yes, cream…. not sour cream. I think she combined the cream with a bit of Miracle Whip (!), cider vinegar and sugar.
I loved the first (bacon!) and disliked the second.
When I was old enough to be included in dining at restaurants I was introduced to the three classics (at the time) French, Thousand Island and Roquefort. I immediately became a Thousand Island fan.
I still love it – but I now love my version.
I wonder if, now, as an adult, I would like my mother’s salad.
Probably not…..
By the time I was a teenager we had bottled dressing like everyone else and her homemade dressings were a thing of the past.
Oh yes Katie…Thousand Island Dressing brings back childhood memories for me too. Like you we prefer our homemade salad dressings to store bought – this is one I have long forgotten about! Must give it a go.
As my father was British and my childhood was in the 60s in Australia we only had mayonnaise and very few salads at that and only iceberg lettuce was available, tinned beetroot, grated carrot, cucumber and often it was an apple cucumber, tomatoes and sliced radishes….pretty limited era of eating !!!
Ina, it was always my favorite – but the restaurant kind, not the stuff from the supermarkets lol
kate, we had salads at home in summer when my mother grew ‘leaf lettuce’ I hated it. And, yes, most vegetables were tinned. Very limited lol