When the days heat up and summer is in full swing, all you can ask for is a nice refreshing selection of food for when you inevitably get hungry. Few things fit this role better than a delightful, fresh salad. Tasty fruit and vegetable salads are the perfect addition to any summer dinner, or can even be the main course! Fresh summer fruits and veggies make it the best time of year to put an amazing salad on the table that everyone will love. We have a few ideas for you to get the summer salad season kicked off right! These salads, brought to you by a personal chef, are full of flavor, and no matter how busy the day is, anyone can put these together and have a great family dinner.
Watermelon Feta Salad
Watermelon is one of summer’s true stars. The subtle taste of this large fruit brings people wonderful memories of days spent down the shore. Make the most of your watermelon by turning it into an amazing watermelon salad. All you’ll need are cubed watermelon, honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper, and feta cheese. First, you make a dressing from the vinegar and olive oil, adding the lemon juice and pepper for some additional kick. Then crumble feta on top of the watermelon. Pour the dressing over the cubed watermelon and feta mixture. Put the salad in the fridge for at least an hour. This salad works well as a first course or as a lighter dessert on a really hot day.
Purple Potato Salad With String Beans
Cold potato salad is a must on a warm day. For this salad, you’ll want to allow enough time for it to marinate overnight. This helps the flavors merge. Set out minced garlic or garlic paste, pickles or cornichons, minced onions, celery, and the herbs of your choice (here at Foodini’s, for this recipe we like tarragon, oregano and parsley). First, boil the potatoes and slice them evenly. Then add some fresh string beans. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and let the entire salad marinate overnight in the fridge. Serve it as cold as possible.
Modern Fruit Salad
With so many varied kinds of fruit available, we like to serve an updated fruit salad. Looking around at new possibilities, we find fruits like pitaya (more commonly known as dragon fruit), kumquat, mangosteen, quince, tamarind, ugli, rambutan, and pomelos, which are all are elegant choices for a new type of fruit salad. Add fruit salad staples like peaches, pears and strawberries also. Certain fruits, such as pomelos, should be pared before serving (check on serving instructions for each fruit). Any combination of fruits should work, but try to work flavor together, such as pairing the enjoyable sour taste of the kumquat with sweeter fruits such as oranges and cherries. Add additional sweetness with a honey and lime dressing. Here at Foodini’s, we like to let a fruit salad sit for around ten minutes in an ice cold bowl, and then serve immediately afterwards.