Fresh & Unique Summer Salads

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

I’m salad obsessed these days.  Here are a bunch of my faves that are as fresh as they are unique.   I’ll be working back them into the rotation for summer dinners. Grab the links below:

1. Spinach Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing 
2. Crunchy Spring Salad  
3. Bang Bang Grilled Shrimp Salad 
4. Carrot Curl Salad

2013 Highlights

2013 was full of personal highs & lows, as I'm sure it was for most.  I'm grateful for the life lessons it has taught me & look forward to 2014's possibilities! Thanks for reading this year, I appreciate you! Here were the top 5 favorite posts from 2013 (according to you!):
#5 - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Quinoa
#4 - Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels
#3 - Wholefoods Quinoa Salad
#2 - Easy Butternut Squash
#1 - Halloween Costume Ideas

Easy Pickled Carrots

I love pickles & I've been known to like other pickled things like asparagus (that you can garnish a bloody mary with - thank you Vegas). These pickled carrots go great in a salad or on in a sandwich & they just get better the longer the carrots sit in the pickling liquid.  It's way easier than you think.

Strawberry-Basil-Lime Vinaigrette

I usually try to make my own salad dressing because if you've looked at the ingredients on a bottle of dressing lately you'll probably see words that don't even look like they would be food, most likely because they're chemicals (yuck!).  So I opt to keep it fresh with homemade dressings that will dress up even just simple mixed greens.

Ingredients

• 4 strawberries, roughly chopped with stems removed
• 1 small shallot, roughly chopped
• 5 basil leaves, roughly chopped or torn
• 1 lime, juice & zest
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Make it!

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor.
2. Store in an air tight bottle like this one I found at Fish's Eddy.