Three Simple Salads and One Expensive Fork

Salad can make for a rather boring blog post. But three salads have to be a bit more intriguing and droolworthy, right?

Here are three salads I tried this summer that have made it onto our *keeper* list.

Five Minute Salad: Goat Cheese, Herb and White BeanTrue to it's name, this salad is simply mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cannellini beans and goat cheese. It's tossed with a basic dijon-balsamic vinaigrette and adorned with freshly snipped basil. I've heard that you're either a goat-cheese-lover or not. That tangy flavor that goat cheese adds to a salad is unbeatable. It has secured a permanent spot in my cheese drawer. Though it can be pricey, Costco sells a BIG log of it for about $4.99. Of course if you're adverse to goat cheese, you can always sub another fave in its place (if you must).

Simplest Greek Salad with Lemon- Oregano Vinaigrette
Not quite as simple as the 5 Minute Salad, this Greek-style salad contains cucumber, grape tomatoes, fresh lemon zest & dill, feta, and a homemade Lemon-Oregano Vinaigrette. I might add a few Kalamata olives next time to make it even more Greek. Only Peter could tell us if this is truly a "Greek" salad. But since he's still on vacation, I can tell you that it tastes Greek, and it's good stuff.

Mixed Greens and Goat Cheese and Raspberry VinaigretteThis salad recipe called for arugula and watercress- two greens that are sometimes difficult to find around my parts, so I went with local mixed greens. Fresh raspberries are whirred together with olive oil, shallots, honey and vinegar to make a slightly sweetened and tangy raspberry vinaigrette. Some of that is drizzled over the greens with additional raspberries, goat cheese (told ya I love the stuff) and a few toasted pine nuts. Yum.

See that fork in the picture? I found it at World Market and couldn't resist picking it up to go with our Spanish-style home. I had intentions of buying lots more to complete a set, but now I can't seem to justify buying them at $3.99 per fork. And then, of course, I would also need knives, and spoons, etc. But it's cute, isn't it? I might have to keep buying them.

There you have it.
Three simple salads. And one expensive fork.
Hope you see one you'd like to try for yourself... and that it made for a more captivating blog post than one mere, lonely salad.

Recipes can be found by clicking on the recipe titles above...