Salads!!!!! I've Got So Many More WINNING recipes to post soon!!

I absolutely adore vinaigrette and I swear to you everybody I’ve ever served a salad to with one of my homemade vinaigrettes, always asks for the recipe (maybe because I twist their arms to admit they like it and they have to ask for it). They are quick to make and always delicious. Here are a few family favs:

Mother McIntosh’s Poppy Seed Salad Dressing
1 tbsp of chopped green onion, 1 tbsp. Of Dijon mustard, ¼ cup of honey, 1 tsp of poppy seeds, 1 cup of canned or fresh mandarin oranges, 1/3 cup of oil, ¼ cup of grapefruit juice, and 2 chopped avocados. Mix up all of the liquid ingredients, but save the oranges and avocado for when you are assembling the salad, then serve over the salad leaves of your choice. Romaine is a nice lettuce for this salad.

Blue Cheese Tarragon Dressing
1 cup of olive oil, ¼ or 1/3 cup of rice wine vinegar, 1 ¼ tsp of dried tarragon, ½ tsp of dried Dijon mustard, ¼ tsp finely minced garlic, 3 ounces of blue cheese dressing. Shake all the ingredients together in a jar until smooth. Chill for about 1 ½ hours. When you make your salad, add grapes and pecans.
Soy Lemon Vinaigrette
½ cup of vegetable oil, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp white wine, 2 tbsp of grainy Dijon mustard, ¼ tsp of finely minced garlic, freshly ground pepper to taste.

My Mama’s Chop Chop Salad
Here is my mom’s fabulous Chopped Salad Recipe: chop 2 celery, 2 green onion, and 1 Spanish onion (mom likes this onion best), chop up red or yellow pepper or both if you want, 1 head of iceberg lettuce chopped up into very small pieces, 1 cup of cubed or shredded cheddar cheese (or add whatever cheese you prefer, but at least a cup full), put in one package of shredded fake crab, then add salad toppers like flavoured almonds. Then, wrap it up and put the bowl aside, in the refrigerator for at least a half hour to allow the flavors to mingle. It really made a difference. You basically eat this amazing salad with a spoon.

Potato Caesar Salad
This is amazing and comes compliments from my friend Marie who brought it along to our lacrosse wind up party this past summer – my mom LOVED it.
Parboil (10 minutes) 10 pealed cubed large potatoes, drain and let them cool a bit. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil and Lawrey’s seasoning salt over the potatoes (there are no measurements but use your discretion for how much salt you personally like, and oil to just coat). Then sprinkle some paprika and some parsley flakes on them. Then mix them all together and place the potatoes on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 – 30 minutes. Let cool, add Caesar salad dressing (not the creamy kind, but the oil and vinegar one), sprinkle Parmesan cheese (however little or a lot you like) then add bacon pieces (Marie used the Hormel bacon bits in a jar) or you can make your own. Then toss and serve. You can even add cut up green onions for garnish. Simply delicious!