The heat is wavering here in Sacramento, but the summer produce is fully in swing and I’m here for it. While I love lots of summer recipes, summer salads are one of my favorite – no combination seems to be a bad one.
We try to eat seasonally as much as possible, which means embracing what’s local, fresh, and preferably organic! With so much fresh produce available in the summer (and considering I’m now in shorts everyday), I’m looking to add more summer salads to our mix. And let’s be honest how important the best salad toppings are!
CONTENTS
Delicious Summer Salads
I’ve come to understand that salad doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone – even summer salads conjures up different recipe ideas. While I think of in season fruit atop leafy greens and whole grains, others want some pasta salad, cole slaw, and potato salad.
Since I aim to please (at least when it comes to food), there’s a little something for everyone here!
With lean proteins, I’m really big on these easy salads with dinner. And then they’re great as lunch over the next few days too.
You’ll see some ingredients in a few dishes like berries, watermelon, summer tomatoes (yum!), green beans, corn, and avocado!
The berries and cherries are interchangeable in all of the recipes and you can use whatever variety and size of tomato you have access to in each of the salads.
Some of these recipes have whole grains in them as written. Of course you could add cooked quinoa to any of these for a little extra protein!
RATING:
RATING:
RATING:
Summer Salads with Fruit
RATING:
RATING:
RATING:
RATING:
Summer Pasta Salads, Potato Salads, & Cole Slaw
RATING:
RATING:
RATING:
Homemade Salad Dressings
I’m big on making my own salad dressings. They usually have less than 5 ingredients and I love the flavor so much more than store-bought ones now.
Each of my dressings has olive oil, salt, and pepper. Past that it’s usually one or two of these basic ingredients: lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, whole grain mustard, and fresh herbs.
SPRING & SUMMER COOKBOOK
DELICIOUS RECIPES TO ENJOY SPRING & SUMMER PRODUCE TO ITS FULLEST. SIMPLE AND DELICIOUS RECIPES MADE FROM SCRATCH FOR YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR GUESTS ALL SUMMER LONG!
BUY YOURS
We keep them in these small (4.5 oz) hermetic jars. They’re the perfect size for the recipe and great for shaking the ingredients together.
If you need a recipe that screams summer, it’s probably this salad. Three of my favorite summer flavors combine in the salad. Everyone will be reaching for seconds!
RATING:
More Seasonal Summer Recipes
Looking for some more summer recipes besides salads? Try any of these tasty ones…
Homemade Pico de Gallo
Honeydew + Mozzarella Skewers
Sweet & Spicy Grilled Cantaloupe
Cheese + Cherry Tomato Appetizer Board
Summer Corn Pasta w. Zucchini
Fresh Strawberry Cocktails, including this easy and tasty strawberry sangria
Summer Mocktails
Strawberry Cilantro Salsa
Coconut & Melon Smoothie
SUMMER SALADS
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh pepper
- ½ – 1 teaspoon sugar optional
Instructions
- Thoroughly combine mustard, oil, lemon juice, and vinegar. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and sugar.
- Since mustard and vinegar are tangier, sugar is optional for a lighter flavor.
- Store in refrigerator.
Nadia Mehra says
This was a great side dish at our dinner party last week. But honestly, it was so good I would probably make it as an easy way to get my vegetables in!