Summer Salad

Aug 25, 2009

from Oswald at Large by Oswald Rivera

Waning days of summer, but it's still hot out there. Cooking is the last thing on your mind. So how about a nice summer salad? Unfortunately, some of us do not know how to make a nice summer salad. I am not an expert at this but, through trial and error, I've configured what I consider to be a fairly reasonable salad dish. Given the cheese used, it can be called a French summer salad (if using chervre cheese), a Spanish summer salad (if using manchego cheese), an American summer ad (if using a sharp cheddar), a British salad (if using stilton), or a Greek salad (if using feta cheese). In fact, you can garnish it with whatever ingredients you want.

BASIC SUMMER SALAD

4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced


1 teaspoon dried oregano


Salt to and ground black pepper to taste


1 head lettuce (can use romaine, chicory, red leaf. etc. or, if you prefer, fresh spinach)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 cups cheese, crumbled, sliced or diced
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 Green or red bell pepper, sliced
1 seedless cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup black, pitted olives

1. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic and oregano.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. In a large bowl, add remaining ingredients, and drizzle oil dressing over it.
4. Toss and serve.
Yield: 4 servings.

By the way, if you're a fan of Caribbean Jerk Chicken, like I am; there's a scrumptuous recipe for Jerk Chicken with Lime and Potato Wedges at http://bcukrecipes.blog.co.uk/