June 27th: Very, Very Green Salad

Around my blog's six-month anniversary, I added a search bar to allow readers and myself ... well, the ability to search my blog. For me, it was a way to keep track of which recipes I've already talked about so I don't end up repeating myself, because I do repeat recipes regularly, even if it's not readily apparent. Recently, I've been having trouble searching for items I KNOW I posted. Turns out it's a "known problem" that Blogger is working to address. Turns out they've also had this problem for years, so I can't see it being solved any time soon. This virtually makes my blog useless, because, as I approach the 200th-post mark, how useful is the blog to anyone if you can't search my bloody posts? I have a few ideas in mind for how to get around this problem, but I'll need to take some time -- sometime -- to work on it. Oh, sigh.


Meanwhile, after 5 years of relentlessly making this salad, which I adore, every summer, Greg is FINALLY on board! He swears he remembers nothing of complaining every year before now when I've made it. He is such a man. Here it is, one of my favourite summertime salads, which, be forewarned, takes tonnes of prep time and then has to sit in the fridge and blend flavours and all that jazz. This is adapted from Best Summer Weekends Cookbook, and came to my attention via the Ottawa Citizen. Somebody, please, buy me this book for Christmas. Or my birthday. I'm not picky.


Very, Very Green Salad


For the creamy citrus dressing:


1 cup (250 mL) mayonnaise
1/2 cup (125 mL) orange juice
2 tsps (10 mL) honey
1/2 cup (125 mL) plain yogurt or sour cream
1 tbsp (15 mL) rice vinegar
1 tsp (5 mL) dry mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup (50 mL) fresh parsley, chopped


For the salad:


1 head broccoli, broken into small florets, and with stems peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) green beans, sliced
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) snow peas
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) seedless green grapes, halved
1 bunch fresh spinach, trimmed, washed and patted dry (optional)
2 tbsps (25 mL) green onion, chopped (optional)
2 tbsps (25 mL) fresh chives, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup (125 mL) golden raisins
Creamy Citrus Dressing
1/2 cup (125 mL) pine nuts, toasted
1/2 lb (250 g) bacon, cooked and chopped (optional)


Combine all dressing ingredients well, and season to taste. Cover and refrigerate until needed.


To make the salad, blanch broccoli, green beans and snow peas, one vegetable at a time, for 1-2 minutes in lightly-salted boiling water. Lift out with a slotted spoon and refresh in cold water to stop the cooking, then drain completely.


Combine blanched vegetables in a large bowl with grapes and, if using, spinach, green onion, chives and raisins. Toss well to mix.


An hour before serving, toss salad with Creamy Citrus Dressing and chill 60 minutes to blend flavours. Just before serving, add pine nuts and bacon, if using, and toss again.


Serves 10 (or so the recipe says. maybe as one of several dishes. we eat this as the one and only main, and in that case, it serves about 4.)




I can tell you from my experience that the bacon definitely tastes icky if left sitting in the salad overnight. Everything else keeps alright. I never include spinach in my version, but for tonight, I served it over red lettuce leaves. I also tossed in some leftover chopped chicken from last night. All in all, a great supper!

Greeny green green
My snow peas had gone off, so I doubled up on green beans.

Finished product. Served over lettuce leaves.