Fresh Salads with Fresh Dressings

What do you get when you take Dad's fresh homegrown lettuce, a simple mix of seasoning and a little avocado? Heaven in the summer, I tell you. It's no secret that my dad is a bona fide green thumb and grows the best vegetables in Davis County, but the simple fact that he will share with me is the real coup here. I've got nothing against store bought vegetables, but we all know that something about food grown on your own land is more satisfying and tastes a lot better for some reason. After I washed and dried the lettuce (an important step: you want the lettuce to be dry because then the vinaigrette will stick to the leaves and you can taste it) and sliced the buttery avocado, I whisked together the following:

2 tsp balsamic vinaigrette

1 clove minced garlic

pinch salt

pinch pepper

juice of 1/2 lemon

And then I whisked in about 2 T olive oil as I was pouring it into the bowl to emulsify the oil with the marinade. I poured it over the salad and gently tossed to coat the multicolored lettuce, which I tore instead of chopping so the leaves were nice and large on the plate. So easy and so delicious.

Another favorite summer salad of mine is coleslaw. Alright, I'll admit it, I like it in the winter too. Cabbage is just always available and it's always cheap. Watch, now that I've said that the bottom will fall out of the cabbage market for some freak reason and cabbage will be four dollars a pound. Knock on wood that cabbage stays cheap, because this is one of my mom's standbys that I'm always ready to eat year round, but eating it in the summer is so refreshing. I've had this with green and red cabbage, and I'm dying to try it with a good Napa cabbage one of these days. As you may have noticed by now, I'm a really picky person when it comes to certain vegetables and flavors. Let me list a few of my least favorites:

celery

anise AND black licorice

sea bass

bananas

Now, there's only one of those flavors up there that would even remotely come close to being in contact with coleslaw. Celery only gets to come into my kitchen on Thanksgiving for stuffing, when I boil it into submission with a stick of butter. You can easily add some celery seed to this dish if you like to partake of it, but as for me, I really like the plain and simple slaw that lets the cabbage shine through in all of it's crunchiness.

Mom's Coleslaw

1/2 head cabbage, finely sliced or shredded

1/2 cup Best Foods light mayonnaise

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp sugar

pinch salt

pinch pepper

Place the cabbage in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, pepper and salt. Pour over the cabbage and gently fold the sauce into the cabbage. Cover and let steep in the fridge for 1-2 hours so the flavors meld together.

That's it! Two easy summer salads. Perfect for hot muggy days when you are eating because you're bored. Hey, if you're going to eat mindlessly at least eat vegetables.

Happy eating!