salad season: cilantro lime edition

With temperatures reaching the 90s and higher everyday, the hearty comfort foods I adore in winter don’t sound the least bit appetizing on a summer day like today. Could you imagine munching on a bowl of steaming beef stew right now? I’m sweating just thinking about it.

Summer always makes me crave a good crisp salad with a light dressing — one that doesn’t overwhelm the great flavor of the vegetables this time of year. With all the great salad ingredient that are available during the warm months, you’ve got endless possibilities and combinations to keep salads from getting boring.
Like any good three-day weekend, this Memorial Day was filled with barbeques, long days in the pool, bars at night and too much beer. By Sunday I had moved into detox mode —despite the heat, I really just needed a break from all that heavy (yet delicious) food. And what screams detox like a pile of bell peppers, cucumber, avocado, tomatoes, fresh corn, green onions and lettuce?!

So Sunday night, to spice up my pile of veggies, I made a cilantro-lime vinaigrette. I’ve loved this dressing for years, but I’ve never been able to replicate it — until now! This dressing has a great balance of flavors, not too sweet, not too tart. It’s earned itself a permanent spot in the recipe box.

I wanted to make the salad a little more of a meal so I added grilled chicken that had been marinated in the same dressing. As for an appetizer, bruschetta always hits the spot!

Side Note: Typically vinaigrettes are made of a mixture of 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. In my health-nut opinion, that’s way too much oil. So I break that rule and use far less oil- makes for a lighter salad. In this case, the honey cuts the tartness of the lime juice and red wine vinegar so I only used 4 Tbsp here. But do what tastes good to you!

Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

• ½ cup fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• ½ cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• S & P to taste
• 4 Tbsp of olive oil

Puree all ingredients except olive oil in a blender, food processor or with an immersion blender. While the machine is running, slowly pour in 4 Tbsp of olive oil to emulsify. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Summer Salad

• 1 box spring mix
• 1 ear of fresh corn
• ½ of an heirloom tomato, cut into chunks
• 2 green onions, cut on the diagonal, bad ends removed
• 1/8 of red bell pepper, julienned
• ½ cup cucumber, diced
• ½ avocado, diced
• 1-2 oz. plain goat cheese
• 1 ½ chicken breasts, grilled

To use up my leftovers, I made this salad last night with lettuce, corn, cucumber slices, TONS of heirloom tomatoes, green onions, goat cheese and the cilantro-lime vinaigrette!
Who would have guessed "detoxing" would taste soooo good!