Chive Flower, Pistachio, Cilantro-Ranch 5-Ingredient Salad

Anytime I begin with one of my 5-Ingredient Salads, things can only get better and more interesting depending on the current additions. This time, I added mung bean and lentil sprouts, pistachios and a couple pulled-apart chive flowers. The entire chive is edible, and the flowers are often overlooked for an amazing onion-y pop of flavor, as well as their pale violet color and delicate beauty.

The other wonderful, surprise, addition to this salad was the dressing. . .

I combined equal parts of ranch dressing and coriander (cilantro) chutney. Ohhh my. . .so much freshness! However, be aware, there are Serrano peppers in the chutney, so depending on your heat preferences, you may not need to add black or cayenne pepper. After I dressed the salad I realized another great, flavorful addition, would have been a finely minced, crushed, fresh garlic clove.

Mmmm . . . It's Salad Season!
Have fun with them! . .Lin

Another Take on my 5 Ingredient Salad

Salads should be a year-'round part of our diets. My original 5 Ingredient Salad is made with tomato, cucumber, avocado, onion and a lettuce mix usually containing romaine, cabbage and spinach. Today I skipped the lettuce but added fresh mushrooms and some peanuts.

This was lunch today, a late lunch, after grocery shopping, voting and a few other stops in town. I found a new tea at Aldi's today.  Pomegranate, Blueberry, Acai berry. I added lemon juice, zest and honey. That was really good with the salad and a ciabatta I made a while ago and froze. I heated up a big piece of that and spread it with Swiss almond cheese spread. Today's salad dressing was Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing. . .Lin

Yet Another 5-Ingredient Salad

1½ romaine heart ~ cut off end

~ cut vertically then across

¼ sm. green or purple cabbage

~ slice thin or cut in ½ cubes

½ med. onion - sliced

2-3 pickling cucumbers ~ cubed

1 lg. carrot ~ scrubbed and grated

tomato and avocado

My Original 5-Ingredient Salad contained: lettuce mix, onion, cucumber, tomato and avocado.  Lettuce Mix is a loose term since it always contains more than lettuce.  I don't buy pre-packed, I make my own.  Cut or tear the lettuce of your choice into your salad spinner and get it squeaky-clean.  Enhance it with the addition of cabbage, carrot, spinach.  Balance these with thinly sliced kale, radicchio, or other bitter greens (even radish greens!) for a whole different pop of flavor.

Onion. . .Ohhh onion.  Todays salad has solidified my love-hate feelings about purple onion.  Love it cooked, in chili, dark soup or stew since cooking often turns it an odd blue-green!  I thought of Dr. Seuss the few times I used it in an omelette!  I tried once again today, but I stand by my original parting-of-the-ways with numerious TV Foodies regarding putting it in a raw salad.  I hear from several of them that purple onion is the 'mildest' of onions, therefore perfect for this.  Nope!  To me at least, it's the most aggressive of all the onions.  My hands down favorite for a tossed salad is a perfect Vidalia onion.  One that's short and wide...think puffy hockey puck!  They're the best!

I add the onion to the lettuce mix.  Cucumbers too, if they're in their prime.  Otherwise, don't put them in the lettuce mix.  Check them each day for freshness and slice them on the salad as you fix it.

Once the lettuce is spun dry, I put it back into the bowl of my spinner and add whatever else I'm using in the current mix.  I store it there, covered in the 'fridge.  Grab a handful, add tomato, avocado and dressing. . .So easy for a quick lunch or dinner side salad for the next several days.  Today I added gorganzola crumbles, sunflower kernels and my Lemon Olive Oil Dressing *  Summer is the perfect time for a big, colorful salad.  Remember to shop at your Local Farmer's Markets for the best, freshest locally grown vegetables. . .Lin