Salads with Cirtus Dressing

We absolutely love salads in our house. In fact, it would seem that my husband can live on salad alone, as long as it contains jalapeno in some way or form and weather the recipe calls for it or not. My husband is like a dragon in constant need of fire, he loves spicy foods. Some times I make the salads daily, sometime not at all for few weeks. Really depends on my mood. One observation is that if I buy a salad dressing I almost never end up using it up. Sure, there are some good ones out there and my kids like the "white one" but even then, it is used once or twice and expires in the fridge. Somehow my  family's favorite is emulsified oil and vinegar, usually Balsamic but red wine and apple cider will also do with a garlic clove squeezed into it. I also vary it by adding fresh chopped basil or parsley, sometimes oregano works well to. A lot of my salads are an impromptu creation of what ever I have in the fridge. Since I always have carrots and celery, they really often make it into the salad. This is the season for citrus, so I try to utilize it as much as can. Orange or lemon juice this is what I use as an acidic element of my dressing.

The Basic Recipe is

1/4 cup of juice : either lemon, lime or orange or a combination of those

1/3-1/2 cup of oil

1 clove of garlic (optional but desirable)

Optionally you may need to add either sugar or honey to balance out the acidity and enhance the flavor. I always try the dressing before adding it to the salad, since the proportions or juice to oil is only approximate some juices are sweeter then others. It needs to be tasted for doneness and possibly adjusted.

You may also try and experiment with different flavors of oil. What you may find delicious is extra virgin olive, I also used flavorless oils but added about a table spoon of sesame seed oil in the mix. Another oil that will give a superb and original (and very Russian) flavor is a unrefined sunflower seed oil. It is great! I get it in Russian or middle eastern stores.

Here are some of my salads that my husband and I often call "let's see what's in the fridge". These simple combinations of vegetables and fruits worked well together for me and without a dout we love cilantro. However, if cilantro is not your thing, please omit it altogether or try another flavor like basil, dill or parsley, they also work.
 
 Salad with pear and orange
1/3 of a head of lettuce cut up
1 sweet red pepper sliced
1 celery rids sliced
1 Bosch pear sliced
2-3 chopped green onions
1/2 red onion sliced
1-2 oranges, slices cleaned of membranes
12 or more sprigs of cilantro chopped up
Salt and pepper to  taste
Dressing with orange juice
The food possessor is often my best friend if I'm in  a hurry and want a salad.

Carrot and apple salad

2-3 carrots  shredded
1 large green apple shredded
1-2 sliced celery ribs
1 sweet pepper sliced
1 med sweet onion sliced
several leaves of Romano lettuce cut up
several sprigs of Italian Parsley chipped
1/2 c of roasted pumpkin seed (sometimes called Pepitas and sometimes they are spicy, covered with red chilly)
Orange juice dressing here again and salt/pepper goes without saying. Here I added 1 tsp of honey.


Napa Cabbage with Celery Salad

1 small Napa Cabbage cut up in bite size pieces

1-2 celery ribs thinly sliced at an angle

1 sweet onion thinly sliced

1 bunch cilantro chopped up

3 green onions chopped on an angle

1/2 c or more roasted sun flower seeds

Salt and pepper and Dressing with garlic and lime juice. Here I added 1 tbl sp of  dark sesame seed oil to regular flavorless salad oil and it gave an amazing flavor and aroma. One other possible ingredient gives a fantastic flavor is lime zest. It can be added directly to the plate rather then mixing it in, because if zest steeps in lime juice overnight, the next day the salad becomes bitter.

Cabbage and Jicama Salad

1/2 or less shredded cabbage

1/2 Frenched Jicama

1 sliced  pepper

1sliced sweet onion

1/2 bunch of chopped cilantro

1/2 c of roasted pumpkin seed

Extra virgin olive oil and lime juice are perfect here.

Carrot, Grape and Avocado Salad

2-3 carrots  shredded

1 firm avocado sliced

1 large cucumber without seeds sliced

1 c of seedless grapes (or cleaned from seeds)

1/2 c of roasted pumpkin seed

4-5 chopped green onions

1/2 bunch of cilantro chopped

Salt pepper to taste

Oil with garlic and lemon juice dressing was used in this salad

  Salad with Cabbage, Carrot and Apple

1/2 or less shredded cabbage

2-3 carrots shredded

1 sliced celery rib
1 large green apple shredded

1sliced sweet onion

1/2 bunch of chopped cilantro

1/2 c roasted sun flower seeds

Salt and Pepper

Lemon juice with garlic and oil

Seeds, nuts like pignoli or even granola can be added to any one these salads and will add a fantastic crunch to a salad. I have many more to share so stay tuned.