Summer Salad Ideas for Outdoor Potluck

[Cleo]

Not sure if you want to make a pasta salad, but I love this Orzo with Tomatoes, Feta, Green Onions from Epicurious.

Also, I have a recipe for a Broccoli Slaw which is really good too. It has ramen noodles in it, and it's always a hit. If you are interested, let me know and I will post it.

We are having people over on July 4th and I am making both of these dishes as sides.

[Anna N]

Not sure if you want to make a pasta salad, but I love this Orzo with Tomatoes, Feta, Green Onions from Epicurious.

Also, I have a recipe for a Broccoli Slaw which is really good too.  It has ramen noodles in it, and it's always a hit.  If you are interested, let me know and I will post it.

We are having people over on July 4th and I am making both of these dishes as sides.

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We enjoy a similar orzo salad.

[divalasvegas]

I did an altered version of this salsa/salad from Ingrid Hoffmann's show on FoodTV Simply Delicioso (it's the second recipe on the page). I kept the corn, avocado, red onion, red bell pepper, but I added black beans, used pickled jalapeños since I like their tangyness in this dish, and substituted lime juice for the red wine vinegar called for. I also omitted the cilantro since it's just not an ingredient I like, but I'm the oddball since most people love it. I served it as a salsa with chips but I don't see why it couldn't be served as a side salad. I made it as part of a barbeque spread and everyone loved it. It not only holds up very well but actually gets better the next day (and no, the avocado didn't turn brown the next day either).

[Jaymes]

I've been enjoying watermelon salads lately. Cubed watermelon, a little black pepper, lemon or lime juice, fresh mint, thinly sliced red onion, feta cheese, on a bed of arugula or not.

I've been making Nigella's recipe which is basically all these, plus good olive oil, sliced Kalamatas and some chopped Italian parsley.

We love, love, love it around our place.

[divalasvegas]

I've been enjoying watermelon salads lately. Cubed watermelon, a little black pepper, lemon or lime juice, fresh mint, thinly sliced red onion, feta cheese, on a bed of arugula or not.

I've been making Nigella's recipe which is basically all these, plus good olive oil, sliced Kalamatas and some chopped Italian parsley.

We love, love, love it around our place.

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Jaymes I've heard of this salad and it sounds delicious but I haven't made it yet. Can you share what kind of feta cheese you use? I want to use the type of feta that doesn't crumble but that holds together when sliced or cut into cubes.

Thanks.

[Fat Guy]

Our family's standard picnic salads are mozzarella-and-tomato, curried chicken salad, potato salad, and carrot salad. Of those, three violate the dairy and/or mayo prohibition but have not been a problem yet. I do think you need to be extra careful when serving those salads outdoors on a hot day, but I also think an absolute prohibition on mayo and all dairy ingredients may be overly cautious.

In any event, carrot salad is all veg. The easiest way to make it is to take those "baby carrots" and cut them in half, then blanch, then mix with just enough vinaigrette to make a light coating, plus scallions, dill, raisins, salt, pepper . . . there are a lot of possible variants, including doing it with grated carrots or big carrots sliced on the bias.

Mozzarella and tomato (I tend to use smoked mozzarella, which is pretty durable) can of course be made without the mozzarella to be just a tomato salad, as mentioned above.

[Jaymes]

I've been enjoying watermelon salads lately. Cubed watermelon, a little black pepper, lemon or lime juice, fresh mint, thinly sliced red onion, feta cheese, on a bed of arugula or not.

I've been making Nigella's recipe which is basically all these, plus good olive oil, sliced Kalamatas and some chopped Italian parsley.

We love, love, love it around our place.

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Jaymes I've heard of this salad and it sounds delicious but I haven't made it yet. Can you share what kind of feta cheese you use? I want to use the type of feta that doesn't crumble but that holds together when sliced or cut into cubes.

Thanks.

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Well, that could be a problem. I'm not really a 'feta expert,' but all of the real fetas I've had do crumble at least some. I very much prefer a real feta from either Greece or Israel. I find that they have more flavor, more 'tang' than others. They are much more expensive than the US-made "Feta-style" cheeses, but I don't think there's any comparison in flavor.

As far as the crumbling thing goes... I do cut them into squares. They hold up fairly well at least for a while. But I am unaware of any feta that won't crumble at all. I just don't think it's in the nature of that particular type of cheese.

[Jaymes]

In any event, carrot salad is all veg. ...there are a lot of possible variants, including doing it with...big carrots sliced on the bias.

A huge 'retro' favorite that appeared at every single potluck I ever went to a couple of decades back is "Copper Pennies." Although you don't see it as much any more, it's still one of the first dishes eaten when it does appear.

You can google "Copper Pennies" and find a couple hundred recipes, all pretty much the same.

[divalasvegas]

I've been enjoying watermelon salads lately. Cubed watermelon, a little black pepper, lemon or lime juice, fresh mint, thinly sliced red onion, feta cheese, on a bed of arugula or not.

I've been making Nigella's recipe which is basically all these, plus good olive oil, sliced Kalamatas and some chopped Italian parsley.

We love, love, love it around our place.

←

Jaymes I've heard of this salad and it sounds delicious but I haven't made it yet. Can you share what kind of feta cheese you use? I want to use the type of feta that doesn't crumble but that holds together when sliced or cut into cubes.

Thanks.

←

Well, that could be a problem. I'm not really a 'feta expert,' but all of the real fetas I've had do crumble at least some. I very much prefer a real feta from either Greece or Israel. I find that they have more flavor, more 'tang' than others. They are much more expensive than the US-made "Feta-style" cheeses, but I don't think there's any comparison in flavor.

As far as the crumbling thing goes... I do cut them into squares. They hold up fairly well at least for a while. But I am unaware of any feta that won't crumble at all. I just don't think it's in the nature of that particular type of cheese.

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Thanks. I'd probably need to just compare different kinds of feta (I think there's even French feta?). I love that tang too, I just don't like it when it falls apart so easily that it ends up looking like scattered little curds of cottage cheese which I find visually unappealing.

[skipper10]

I've been enjoying watermelon salads lately. Cubed watermelon, a little black pepper, lemon or lime juice, fresh mint, thinly sliced red onion, feta cheese, on a bed of arugula or not.

I've been making Nigella's recipe which is basically all these, plus good olive oil, sliced Kalamatas and some chopped Italian parsley.

We love, love, love it around our place.

←

Jaymes I've heard of this salad and it sounds delicious but I haven't made it yet. Can you share what kind of feta cheese you use? I want to use the type of feta that doesn't crumble but that holds together when sliced or cut into cubes.

Thanks.

←

Well, that could be a problem. I'm not really a 'feta expert,' but all of the real fetas I've had do crumble at least some. I very much prefer a real feta from either Greece or Israel. I find that they have more flavor, more 'tang' than others. They are much more expensive than the US-made "Feta-style" cheeses, but I don't think there's any comparison in flavor.

As far as the crumbling thing goes... I do cut them into squares. They hold up fairly well at least for a while. But I am unaware of any feta that won't crumble at all. I just don't think it's in the nature of that particular type of cheese.

←

Thanks. I'd probably need to just compare different kinds of feta (I think there's even French feta?). I love that tang too, I just don't like it when it falls apart so easily that it ends up looking like scattered little curds of cottage cheese which I find visually unappealing.

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I've been making & loving this salad since the recipe appeared in Gourmet a while back. I actually prefer the tiniest specs of feta, as it tastes so much better. I am able to find Bulgarian feta in my neck of the woods, I've also used Costco feta and received no complaints. To me, the quality of the Olive Oil and herbs used with this recipe is most important. I've also made it sans olives simply because I did not have them. cheers. Skipper

[jgm]

One of my favorite salads is chunks (~ 1/3 inch) of tomato and cucumber; add chopped mint leaves, and dress VERY lightly with olive oil and vinegar. Yum!

[Anna N]

One of my favorite salads is chunks (~ 1/3 inch) of tomato and cucumber; add chopped mint leaves, and dress VERY lightly with olive oil and vinegar.  Yum!

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Similarly, skip the mint, add some chopped scallion and dress with oil and balsamic. Hubby's favourite side salad.

[MelissaH]

One of my favorite salads is chunks (~ 1/3 inch) of tomato and cucumber; add chopped mint leaves, and dress VERY lightly with olive oil and vinegar.  Yum!

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Similarly, skip the mint, add some chopped scallion and dress with oil and balsamic. Hubby's favourite side salad.

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Your hubby has very good taste.

MelissaH

[Beth Wilson]

What great suggestions!

Now I have decided to take two different salads - Thanks to everyone's suggestions - and will leave the regular salad up to someone else to do.

Such simple ideas and great flavours!

I think I may be eating alot more salads this summer!

[deltadoc]

Two ideas come to mind:

1) Jerusalem Salad: Alternately peel cucumbers so they have stripes, cut lengthwise, use spoon to dig out the seeds, then slice however thick you want them. Throw in a bowl with coarsely sliced onion (Vadalias work nice), sweet bell peppers sliced similarly in size to your onion slices, and seeded, chunked fresh tomato.

Make a dressing of:

(You'll have to figure the proportions you need based on this basic recipe)

1/2 C Roasted Sesame Tahini

Juice of 2-3 lemons

1/4 C EVOO

1 clove of garlic

S&P to taste

All into the processor and whirl away. Add cold water until you get the consistency you want. Usually doesn't take too much. For color add some chopped fresh flat leaf parsley.

A dash of cumin and/or a dash of cayenne will add some zip. Doesn't need too much as the lemon juice makes this dressing go great with the fresh salad ingredients.

2) Wild Rice Salad: Boil a 1lb of (real) wild rice (minnesota). It should just be starting to puff out. Don't want it to look too much like dark rice. Drain and cool.

Add EVOO, red wine vinegar, chopped black olives, whole green peppercorns, diced green onions or shallots, coarsely chopped tomato, S&P to taste, chopped tarragon, dijon mustard, golden raisins, and slivered almonds. Experiment with the proportions. It all goes well together. Easy does it on the green peppercorns!

doc

[LizD518]

It sounds like you have your two items, but I love seeing all of the suggestions in this thread. To add my selection to the mix: corn, avocado & tomato salad with a bit of jalepeno, shallot (or red onion) and cilantro. Dressed with just lime juice, and salt & pepper. Summer staple, either as a side salad or with tortilla chips.