green salad days

Now that spring time is officially here again, the warmer sunny days made me think of colorful refreshing green salads. I love using a combination of baby greens, sometimes adding other varieties like romaine, spinach and arugula. For starters, I like serving green salads for lunch or dinner most days now.

 

Very fresh Greek salad, shown above and below, is one of the easiest to put together and one of the healthiest too. The combination of crunchy salad greens and other vegetables, salty feta cheese and olives tossed together with a light vinaigrette, is something I truly crave. The vinaigrette may be mixed ahead and stored in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to blend well. 

Another one of our regular favorites is Cobb salad, which is more filling with the addition of ham or other deli meats. I used pastrami for my version then added more crunchy vegetables and avocado which is usually present in traditional Cobb salad. Shown from left to right in the picture below, shredded red radishes, shredded carrots, diced cucumbers, diced feta cheese, diced tomatoes, sliced red onions, pastrami strips, avocado slices and sliced black olives were arranged over a bed of romaine and spring salad greens.The dressing may be a simple ranch or other creamy mixtures.