Some days it's good to be me...like the day the Wish-bone Salad Dressing people sent me a salad kit and asked me to gather some friends together to create salads using their new dressings...now that was a very good day, indeed!
Wish-bone sent me some great things for my salad day...cute picnic plates, napkins, and some great plastic salad containers...see those yellow tops? They hold the dressing!! Isn't that clever? On the large salad bowl the dressing can be removed and then poured onto the salad...on the smaller containers, the yellow top is just pushed down and the dressing releases over the salad below - with a quick shake you have a fresh salad to eat on the go! I think that's a brilliant idea! (I just found out that these containers are not available yet...but keep an eye out for them because they really would be great for you brown-baggers or to take on a picnic - even if it's just in your back yard.)
All of the salad makers received special "party favors" from me when they arrived (bribery works every time)...a ceramic salad bowl, lettuce knife, salad tongs and one of those great "to go" salad containers! Plus, they were each given an American Express gift card to purchase their salad ingredients and were told to bring everything they needed to make their salad to my house...eight women slicing and dicing - it was the most fun I've had in a long, long time!
Wish-bone sent four of their newest salad dressings: Mediterranean Italian, Bruschetta Italian, Greek Vinaigrette, Superfruit Berry Vinaigrette and the eight of us were challenged to come up with a new salad recipe using those dressings...and I think we succeeded!
Sorry for the bad pic - it really was a spectacular spread! We made eight great salads and then...we got to feast on them! And it was a SUNNY day in Seattle!!! (Last night the weatherman reported that since June 1st we have had just SEVEN days where the temperature hit 80 degrees...SEVEN...and summer is almost gone when it was barely even here!)
Here are the dishes we were inspired to create:
Superfruity Spinach Salad
10 oz. baby spinach, washed, dried
1 carton (16 oz.) large curd cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries (reserve 1 for garnish)
1 lb. bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup Wish-Bone Superfruit Berry Vinaigrette
Combine all ingredients and toss well. Serves 6.
Spinach & Toasted Bruschetta Salad
6 oz. spinach, washed and dried
8 slices bacon, cook crisp and crumbled
8 oz. Mozzarella cheese, cubed
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
2 cups cubed toasted French bread
1 avocado, sliced
1/4 cup Wish-bone Bruschetta Italian Dressing
olive oil for toasting bread
Cube French bread, sprinkle with olive oil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast under the broiler for about 4 minutes, turning, so all sides are toasted, but watch carefully so the bread doesn't burn. Remove and allow to cool. In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients, add in cooled toasted bread and toss. Serves 4 to 6.
Superfruity Salad
3 small oranges, peeled and sliced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 can (8 oz.) quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 cup Gouda cheese, cut into small cubes
3 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup sliced beets
2 cups, packed spinach, washed and dried
1 baby bok choy for garnish
1/4 cup Superfruit Berry Vinaigrette
In the middle of the salad dish (a flat plate or flatter bowl works best) stand the baby bok choy up, trimming bottom of bulb end so it's flat. Layer all of the remaining ingredients around the bok choy, drizzle on the dressing. Serves 6.
Warm Squash and Spinach Salad
1 small acorn squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 package (10 oz.) Pearl onions
1/2 cup pine nuts
6 oz. baby spinach, washed and dried
freshly shaved Parmesan cheese
olive oil
Wish-bone Mediterranean Italian Salad Dressing
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place squash cubes, onions and pine nuts in a rimmed baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and salt. Cook for 20 minutes, turning after 10 minutes. Cover the bottom of a large salad dish with the spinach. Layer the squashes, onions and pine nuts on top. Drizzle dressing, to taste, over all. Top with shaved Parmesan cheese on top and serve. (Additionally, you may add thinly sliced rare fillet mignon to turn this salad into a meal.)
Tuscan Bean Salad
3 whole wheat pitas, cut in 1-inch squares
1 English cucumber, unpeeled and rough chopped
2 to 3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup fresh spearmint leaves, chopped
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup Wish-Bone Greek Vinaigrette, divided
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place pita chips on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in oven for about 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove to salad bowl and pour 1/4 cup of the Greek Vinaigrette over pita chips and toss to coat. Add remaining ingredients, pour remaining 1/4 cup of Greek Vinaigrette over top and toss, (add more dressing if desired for taste.) Serve immediately. Serves 8.
Pizza Pasta Salad
3 cups small pasta, cooked, according to package directions and chilled
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, marinated in 1/2 cup of Wish-Bone Bruschetta Italian Dressing, divided
1/2 cup each of red, yellow and green peppers, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 large Roma tomatoes, quartered
1 can (4 oz.) black olives, pitted and sliced
1/2 lb. fresh Mozzarella, cubed
1 can (15 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
2 kale leaves, finely chopped, stems removed
small bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 cup buttermilk
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
juice of one lime
red pepper flakes, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
1/2 lb. sliced salami, coarsely chopped
Marinate chicken breasts for 1 hour or more. Grill until juices run clear. Set aside. Toss peppers, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes and olives in large bowl with in 1/4 cup of the dressing. In a medium bowl, whisk remaining 1/4 cup of dressing with buttermilk, lime juice, and red pepper flakes. Add artichoke hearts, olives and Mozzarella, pasta and salami. Add kale, parsley, salt and pepper. Slice chicken and add to salad. Toss. Makes 8 main dish servings.
Greek Chicken Salad
1/4 cup Wish-Bone Greek Vinaigrette Dressing, set aside 2 to 3 teaspoons
2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
1 can (12 oz.) cooked white breast meat chicken, drained and shredded
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion, reserve one large ring (not chopped) for garnish
Pinch to taste of each: rosemary, celery seed, poppy seed, black pepper and chili powder
2 cups (heaping) shredded lettuce
2 tablespoons chopped black olives
2 tablespoons crumbled Feta cheese
4 to 6 sweet pepeprs, red, yellow and orange, cleaned and cut into wedges. The wedges should be large enough to hold the chicken salad
In a bowl combine the Wish-Bone Greek Vinaigrette dressing, mayonnaise, shredded chicken, celery, onion, and spices. Cover and refrigerate while preparing the balance of the salad. On a platter, spread shredded lettuce to cover. Place pepper wedges on shredded lettuce and arrange like flower petals, points facing outward. Be sure to mix up colors of peppers. In the center add a garnish of the large red onion ring. Remove chicken mixture from refrigerator. Scoop by teaspoon and place on each sweet pepper wedge. In the center of the onion ring, place remaining chicken salad. For garnish, add a few extra thin slices of the peppers, skin side up, in between the chicken wedges, black olives outside of the onino ring and sprinkle some of the chopped peppers on the chicken. Scatter the Feta cheese on top. Finish by drizzling the 2 to 3 teaspoons of remaining Wish-Bone Greek Vinaigrette on top. Serves 4 to 6. (If smaller wedges were made this would make a nice appetizer.)
Italian Couscous Salad
1 small red pepper, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup black olives, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup Italian (flat leaf) parsley, chopped
2 cups Pearl Couscous, cooked, according to package directions, rinsed and cooled
1 sun dried tomatoes, in oil, drained and chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Wish-Bone Mediterranean Italian Salad Dressing, plus more to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
sprig of basil for garnish
Combine all in a large salad bowl and toss to coat. Add more dressing, to taste, if desired. Garnish with a sprig of basil. Serves 6.
After taking just a small sampling of all eight salads my plate was full! And then, so was I! I also served the ladies Minestrone Soup and Grinder Cups...I know, what was I thinking?!? That we wouldn't have enough to eat with EIGHT salads?!?! And then, because we could...we had dessert...
It was the Blond Bombshell's birthday and I made her a Cherry Galette (recipe up soon). It was, in a word...Scrumptious. The pastry was so lite and flaky and the fresh cherries, were ripe with flavor...inside was a smattering of Fresh Cherry Preserves...really, one of my better creations!
So that's it...we had such a fun time, eating, talking, chopping, slicing, dicing...all thanks to Wish-bone and their wonderful dressings.
If I had to pick a winner, out of all of the above, I would have to say it's the Greek Salad...it tastes just like you would expect one to taste, except better. I love Wish-bone's Greek Vinaigretti...and you will, too.
Thanks Wish-Bone! And thanks to the talented ladies who joined me for this very fun day...they wish to remain anonymous...probably best since the mental institution just gave them a day pass. If you visit Wish-Bone.com you'll find a lot of great salad recipes...lettuce salads, pasta salads, potato salads, etc., and you can also watch salad making videos with the very cute Tyler Florence! Plus, you can sign up to receive coupons from Wish-Bone...it's just a click away!
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