Summer Corn Salad

This summer corn salad is one of my favorite barbecue side dishes. Roasting the corn on the grill gives it a beautiful sweet flavor that pairs well with the crispy peppers, onions and cucumbers. A simple balsamic vinaigrette brings the whole dish together. I love serving this salad alongside grilled chicken or fish, and it's not too shabby eaten by itself out of the bowl the next day!
Serves: approximately 8

Ingredients:
6 ears of sweet corn
2 tbsp. butter
1/3 cup diced sweet red pepper
1/3 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup diced green onion
3/4 cups olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. honey
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt, pepper
2 tbsp. dijon mustard

Assembly:
Soften butter and spread along each ear of corn. Wrap corn in foil and grill, turning periodically, for approximately 40 minutes over medium heat. Allow corn to cool completely, then use a knife to cut off the kernels (hold the ear upright, then remove the kernels top to bottom). Mix with the vegetables. In a mini-Cuisinart or using an immersion blender, blend honey, mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic and oil. Toss most of the dressing with the corn mixture and allow to stand for about 30 minutes. Taste to see if you need to add the remaining dressing before serving (you can also reserve some dressing to serve this salad the next day).

Bok Choy Salad with Soy Vinaigrette

Yes, those are ramen noodles floating around in my salad. Don't worry though~ it's not what you think! This is not a dish incorporating those salty, salty seasoning packets!. It's my take on the delicious bok choy salad that everyone always brings to potlucks as their salad dish. The soy vinaigrette is sweet and tangy and is a perfect compliment to the crispness of the bok choy, green onions, cucumber and red peppers. Toasted almonds and crunchy, sweet noodles give this salad extra texture. It's easy to prepare and is can be easily transformed from a simple salad to an entree by adding soy-glazed salmon or chicken (coming soon!). Delicious!

Serves: approximately 6

Ingredients:
1 head of bok choy, washed and chopped
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 package ramen noodles (throw away the seasoning packet, you'll just need the noodles!)
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1/2 cup diced cucumber
2 green onions, diced
3 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsbp. sesame seeds

For the dressing:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
black pepper

Assembly:
Stir all dressing ingredients together except for the oil. Stream in the oil, whisking until combined. I usually use my mini-Cuisinart for this~ it emulsifies dressings beautifully!

Salad Assembly:
Heat almonds in a saute pan over medium heat, stirring after a minute or two. When you begin to smell them, they are ready to come off the heat. Allow the almonds to cool. Break up the noodles while they are still in the bag (I just pound them gently a few times with my fist). Heat the butter and add the noodles. Stir to coat the noodles. Sprinkle the noodles with sugar and cook 2-3 minutes over medium heat until they are fragrant and golden. Allow to cool. Toss bok choy with vegetables and dressing. Stir in almonds, sesame seeds and noodles. Serve immediately. If you plan to use some for leftovers, refrigerate salad, almonds/noodles and dressing separately and combine before serving.

Warm Bacon Spinach Salad

We adore bacon in our house! I keep a package in the fridge and a package in the freezer and use it in so many different recipes. Typical dinners at our house include a mixed salad of baby greens with my standard balsamic vinaigrette (search sidebar for recipe). I wanted to switch things up a little bit one night when I was making barbecue, and I thought that a warm bacon spinach salad would be perfect. It's also a great lunch or dinner salad and pairs really well with a crusty baguette. Not only is this salad really tasty, but it's a surefire way to get your family to eat raw spinach and, yikes, enjoy it! Even if you're not a big fan of raw mushrooms, give this one a try. The mushrooms soak up the dressing and are so tasty. This vinaigrette is simple to prepare, and the salad sweet and tangy with the smokiness of the bacon perfectly contrasting with the freshness of the vegetables. This is one of my new favorites!
Serves 3-4

Ingredients:
4 strips of uncooked bacon
1/4 cup diced red pepper
1 package (5oz.) of washed baby spinach
2 tbsp. thinly sliced red onion
6 diced mushrooms

Dressing:
rendered fat from 4 strips of bacon
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
salt
black pepper
a little splash of olive oil (opt.)

Assembly:
Arrange spinach and vegetables on salad plates. Cook bacon and reserve the fat. Crumble the bacon over the spinach and vegetables. Once the bacon fat has cooled a bit, whisk in cider vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper (and olive oil, if you choose). Taste it and adjust by adding more cider vinegar (if you like it tangier) or sugar (if you like it sweeter). Pour the warm dressing over the salad and allow it to wilt the spinach for a minute or two before serving.

Roasted Potato, Green Bean, and Asparagus Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

I've been posting a lot of rich, decadent recipes on The Happiest Belly lately, so I thought it would be a nice change to throw in a light and healthy recipe to balance things out (and show you, yes, I am capable of making healthy food too!). This is one of my favorite things to eat, and it all started with a need to use up what was left in the vegetable drawer! I was grilling burgers a month of so ago and noticed that I had some leftover green beans and asparagus in the fridge. Not enough to serve one or the other, so I made a delicious salad using both. This salad was even great as leftovers served room temperature. This salad is truly a showstopper!

Ingredients:

4-6 stalks of asparagus, steamed or grilled (I prefer grilled!)

2 small potatoes, diced into bite sized pieces

1 small bunch green beans, lightly steamed

1/4 of a red onion, sliced

1 small tomato, diced

1/4 cup olive oil

salt/pepper

1 lemon wedge

Dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

1 medium sized garlic clove

1 tbsp. dijon

1 tbsp. honey

salt/pepper

Assembly:
Toss potatoes with olive oil and roast in a 375 degree oven until crispy (15-20 minutes). Allow potatoes to cool. While potatoes are cooking, chop asparagus and green beans into bite sized pieces. Drizzle with lemon juice. Whisk dressing ingredients and set aside. Combine potatoes with remaining salad ingredients and toss with dressing.

Creamy Garlic Dressing

The other day I ran out of the spring mix lettuce I regularly use to make our dinner salads. I managed to find a head of iceberg in the drawer and decided to make a quick salad using this refreshing, crisp lettuce instead. Unfortunately, my honey-dijon balsamic vinaigrette doesn't work particularly well with iceberg lettuce. I've found that iceberg lettuce begs for a more substantial dressing like a french or ranch. I decided to make homemade creamy garlic dressing and top the salad with green onions and mushrooms. It was creamy and garlicky against the snap of the lettuce. Best of all, it was made with ingredients that I always have on hand in the house. My husband and biggest food critic approved!

Ingredients:
3 cloves of finely minced garlic (use the salting method in my earlier post to make sure you don't get big bites of garlic)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp. milk (to thin the dressing)
salt

Assembly:
Whisk ingredients together and pour over salad. It's that simple!
pepper

Summer Orzo Salad

This salad is delicious and refreshing ~ it's particularly great on a warm summer day. Served warm or cold, you can feel great about eating this one anytime of year! Red peppers, mushrooms and spinach abound in a mouthwatering combination of chicken stock and lemon infused orzo (short pasta that looks very similar to rice) and feta cheese. This salad is wonderful on its own, but it's also a great compliment to a sandwich or a toasted, crusty baguette rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil.
Ingredients:

Juice of 1 large lemon
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup white wine (I prefer pino grigio)
2 cups orzo
1 small package of button mushrooms, quartered
8-10 oz. fresh spinach
1/2 diced sweet red pepper
1/4 cup feta cheese
salt, pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil

Assembly:

Bring chicken stock, lemon juice (reserve 1 tbsp. for later) and white wine to a rolling boil. Add orzo and a good amount of salt then cook for 6-8 minutes or until orzo is al dente. Drain orzo but do not rinse. Using the same pot, add olive oil and turn heat to medium-high. Saute peppers and mushrooms 2-3 minutes until golden. Next, add spinach and cook 1-2 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Pour in reserved tbsp. of lemon juice and stir. Turn off the heat and stir in the orzo and feta. Allow mixture to cool slightly. This dish is best served at room temperature.