My 5 favorite summer salads...
1. Standard Caprese - Any type of tomato, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, salt/pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar (if desired)
2. Potato Salad - 3-5lbs of red potatoes chopped and boiled to just soft and cooled, 3-4 stalks celery chopped, 1-2 onion chopped (sweated in bacon fat), 1-2 bell pepper chopped (sweated in bacon fat), 1 lb of bacon (chopped and cooked), salt/pepper, mayo
3. Chicken Salad - Chicken breast poached in broth with fresh rosemary cooled and then chopped, red grapes (sliced), celery (chopped), salt/pepper, mayo, walnuts (optional)
4. Classic Wedge - Iceberg wedge, diced tomato, blue cheese crumbles, either balsamic vinagrette or blue cheese dressing
5. Come y Bebe (Ecuadorian Fruit Salad) - 3-4 ½ cups of orange juice (fresh or bottled), 1 large papaya, peeled, seeded and diced, 1 pineapple, peeled, cored and diced, 6 bananas, peeled and diced, Sugar or honey to taste (put papaya and pineapple in orange juice with sweetner and refrigerate until really cold 30 min-1 hour - add bananas and serve)...you can freeze this into a popsicle, blend up the leftovers the next day into a great smoothie, or enjoy as is which is like a cross between a chunky soup and fruit salad (depending how much juice you use)...you can also add diced mangos to this for an even better salad
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