I love salad for dinner. Especially if it’s a salad that contains some of my favorite ingredients. I just can’t begin to tell you how many times I order a chef salad when we go out for dinner. Well actually, either a Chef Salad or a Shrimp/Crab Louie. I love them both equally. (Which reminds me. I haven’t posted my recipe for a truly tasty Louie on this site yet. I shall endeavor to correct this glaring omission in the very near future!) But back to the recipe at hand.

Another thing I love – going out to dinner. But, and that’s a capitalized “but”, not too often. I like to go out about every 7-10 days. That gives me just enough of a break from cooking to not feel tethered to my stove! Because, as I’m sure you all know by now – I truly love to cook. But as with everything else, a wee bit of “time-off”, is always appreciated.

But the other night, I didn’t want to go out. Not out for dinner, or even to the grocery store for ingredients I might be lacking. So I opened the refrigerator door and found almost everything I needed for this salad. (I didn’t have cherry tomatoes or an English cucumber, but we managed to eat the salad regardless.)

So next time you get a hankering for a big old dinner salad, give this recipe a try. And don’t worry if one or two items are missing, or you want to replace them with something else. That’s the beauty of this salad. You can adapt it to whatever you have on hand. Well, the lettuce part is pretty much a necessity, but it doesn’t have to be romaine and arugula. It can be a spring mix, or iceberg or “whatever” lettuce, if that is your preference. Don’t like Thousand Island dressing, use ranch or another dressing you happen to have on hand. The main thing is to use healthy and delicious ingredients that you and your family enjoy. This is a salad filled with love. Just because it happens to be fairly healthy, should not be held against it.

A toast to summer, to salads, and to all of you out there who provide delicious and nutritious food for your family and friends. Salud!

THOUSAND ISLAND SALAD DRESSING

• 1 c. mayonnaise (I use Best Foods/Hellmann’s Light mayonnaise)
• ¼ c. ketchup, or more to taste
• 1-2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp. prepared horseradish, or more to taste
• dash hot sauce (I use Frank’s RedHot)
• 2 T. dill pickle relish or 2 T. finely diced dill pickle (I usually use dill pickle relish)
• pinch kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ c. minced green onion
• 3 T. finely minced black olive
• 1 T. minced fresh parsley

Combine all ingredients. Store in a covered container in your refrigerator. Can be made ahead. BTW – great on Rueben Sandwiches. (See recipe on site.)

CHEF SALAD

• 4 slices thick, meaty bacon cut into small pieces and fried until crisp
• ½ c. small chunks of deli Black Forrest ham
• ½ c. small chunks of deli roasted turkey or chicken
• 1/3 c. sharp cheddar cheese cubes  
• ½ c. Swiss, Gouda, Manchego, Emmental, or Gruyère cubes (or cheese of choice)
• ½ c. black olive slices
• 1 c. thinly sliced English cucumber (I partially peel and seed the cucumber before cutting into chunks)
• 2 hardboiled eggs, peeled and cut into wedges or slices
• 6-8 c. chopped romaine 
• 1 c. baby arugula leaves, opt. (I love the fresh peppery taste)
• ¼ c. thinly sliced green onion
• ½ c. halved cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 avocado, cut into thin slices
• 1 c. croutons
• Thousand Island Salad Dressing, or dressing of choice  

Prepare the salad dressing and keep in fridge until needed. (Can be made ahead.)

Prep the bacon, ham, turkey or chicken, cheeses, black olives, cucumber, and hardboiled eggs. Set aside.

When ready to serve, combine the romaine, arugula, sliced green onion, and tomatoes in a salad bowl.

Spread the lettuce mixture on 2-3 dinner plates. Divide the bacon, ham, turkey or chicken, cheeses, black olives, cucumber, and egg slices onto each plate in individual sections. Garnish with the avocado and croutons. Serve the dressing on the side. This recipe makes 2-3 good sized dinner salads.