Around the Kitchen Table: Our Favorite Summer Salads + 6-Book #Giveaway!

DARCI HANNAH: It’s the first Sunday in August, and you know what that means, time for another lively discussion around our kitchen table! It’s my turn this month, and I really want to talk about a subject that this summer has become a bit taboo due to an untimely outbreak of Cyclospora that’s hit hard here in Michigan, and all around the United States. For me summer is synonymous with salads. I dream about them, and yes, I have even lived dangerously by eating them. I can’t help it. 

How about you? Have you been making salads this summer? What’s your favorite go to summer salad? To be entered in our fabulous book giveaway, join our discussion by leaving a comment below! 

I have to admit that I had no idea there was a bug going around and that a national warning had gone out against eating fresh fruits and veggies. I’d been living in my own happy salad bubble all summer long and was in my kitchen making my favorite summer salad, my MICHIGAN CHERRY BROCCOLI SALAD when I heard the news. I am obsessed with cherries, and this cherry-centric salad is almost as delicious as a cherry pie. 

I’m always very thorough about washing the fruits and veggies I buy. The broccoli for the salad had been washed and chopped, the bacon had been cooked to a nice, crispy texture, I had toasted the pecans, sliced the red onion, and had even put the delicious, dried cherries into the bowl. I was just about to add the special cherry dressing that includes my all-time favorite cherry balsamic vinegar (you can purchase it here!), when my son’s girlfriend came into the kitchen and asked me what I was doing. I told her the obvious, that I was making this salad for dinner. Now, I should tell you that her mother is a nurse at a hospital and was on the front lines of this outbreak. She then informed me very politely that we weren’t supposed to eat any fresh fruits or veggies. I have never been more shocked or outraged in my life. What? No fresh fruits or veggies? But this is summer! This is what we live for in the north! She politely declined staying for dinner. I really couldn't blame her. It's a very scary prospect to eat a food that could make you very ill. However, I wasn’t about to let my favorite salad go to waste. Yep, my hubby and I ate it and lived to tell the tale! I will say that I am a bit more cautious these days about buying fresh fruits and veggies, and haven't enjoyed any summer salads since. This certainly has been a summer for the books!

You can print a copy of my Michigan Cherry Broccoli Salad Here! 

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VICKI DELANY: Salad time! What a great topic. Fortunately, as of this writing, and as far as I know, Cyclospora is not in Canada yet, although it scarcely matters as at this time of year. I buy almost all of my vegetables from the local farm stands. I live in a farm country, and there’s no shortage of wonderful fresh things to buy and eat at the farm gates. 

Probably my absolute favourite, is tomatoes. I’ve given you lots, and lots, and lots, of tomato recipes over the years but in keeping with this month’s ATKT theme, here’s my own recipe for bread salad, also called Panzanella in Italian.  This salad would do one perfectly for a complete meal, would work as a dish to bring to a pot luck, or a side dish for barbequed chicken or sausages. 

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Bread salad

The dressing: Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Red Wine Vinaigrette from Vicki Delany

Good bread, fresh from the vine tomatoes, a few herbs and some cheese. What else on earth would you want? 

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VM BURNS: I have to be in the mood for a salad. Usually, the spirit hits during the summer when it's too hot to fire up the oven. During the summer, I love to make this Cucumber onion salad. It's crisp, light, and refreshing. It's also super easy, which I also love in the summer. I can even make this ahead of time and it will sit in the fridge for at least three days. Actually, I love to make this year round. 

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PEG COCHRAN/MARGARET LOUDON: I love salads, and of course summer is the time when produce is at its peak, so I hope this cyclospora outbreak ends soon!  Growing up, my father had a salad every night with dinner. Chunks of iceberg lettuce (all these fancy greens weren't a "thing" back in the 1960s) and he'd dress it with olive oil and vinegar.  My mother preferred her iceberg shredded and topped with bottled dressing that was orange--French dressing? Russian dressing? I don't remember. 

I particularly love salads that can become the whole dinner.  Add some protein and you have a complete meal.  I also love unexpected ingredients like mandarin oranges, edamame and something crunchy on top--tortilla strips, croutons or crispy won ton strips like this Asian Chicken Salad. 

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MADDIE DAY: I think the advice about the parasite is not to eat any vegetables that haven't been cooked, since washing can't remove it. Lettuce doesn't take kindly to cooking, but I am lucky in that I've had a bumper crop of lettuce in my garden for weeks, and when that's gone, I have two local farms within a two-mile radius. A summer dinner isn't complete for me without a green salad. I also have my own cucumbers and the gold cherry tomatoes are ripening. Yum!

Another favorite summer salad I make features fresh corn. Those same local farms grow the best sweet corn. For the two of us, I buy six ears and lightly steam them. We usually eat three for dinner with grilled chicken or fish. The next day I cut the kernels off the other three, and toss them with tomatoes and cucumbers in a light olive oil and lime juice dressing, topped with slivered fresh basil.

Other delicious salad recipes I've shared here include my beloved Greek Salad, also featuring garden produce, and the yummy Asian noodle salad which I shared as Lucy's guest on the blog before I became a regular! 

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MOLLY MACRAE: So many salads, so little time. I like them crisp and crunchy, full of juicy ripe tomatoes, with greens, grains, and beans, dressed, undressed, you name it. It isn’t summertime at my house, though, without fruit salad. Whatever fruit is ripe goes in the bowl. No recipe, no dressing, just delicious fruit. Here are pictures of two especially pretty ones. The one covered with raspberries really does have other fruit in it. We just couldn’t bear to cover them up. Their beauty didn’t keep us from eating every last one of them, though.

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ANG POMPANO: I wait all year for the tomatoes in my garden to ripen. To me, nothing says summer like a warm tomato picked right off the vine.  Local tomatoes are so much more flavorful than the store-bought varieties, which are bred for shipping rather than taste.

When the tomatoes are this good, I don't want to hide them in a complicated recipe. My favorite summer salad is a classic Italian Caprese salad made with fresh mozzarella, ripe tomatoes, and fragrant homegrown basil. Best of all, it doesn't contain any lettuce, which I'd rather avoid right now.

It's very easy to make. Arrange slices of tomato on a platter, top each one with a slice of fresh mozzarella and a basil leaf, then season with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of oregano. Drizzle everything with high-quality extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

I serve it with crusty Italian bread that's perfect for soaking up every last drop of the delicious dressing.

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KIM DAVIS: Back during the pandemic, we bought a Lettuce Grow Tower and have had bumper crops of lettuce ever since. It also means I eat salad almost every day of the year, starting with a lettuce base. Depending on whether it's a side salad or a main course salad, I add whatever other vegetables, protein, grains, or legumes I have on hand. And I like a simple balsamic vinaigrette that I throw together with no recipe. I'm also very fortunate to have year-round farmers' markets nearby to purchase produce that I wouldn't feel comfortable buying from the grocery store during this time. Here's to hoping that we're at the tail end of the Cyclospora outbreak!  

Our lettuce tower

The tower even grows other vegetables, and one year we had more cucumbers than I knew what to do with. I made this Spicy Cucumber Salad often (many thanks to author Jennifer Chow for introducing me to the recipe) and I even learned how to make homemade pickles. 

As well as lettuce salads, I frequently make fruit salad, starting with watermelon and cantaloupe, and then adding whatever fresh fruit I find at the farmers’ market. As Molly said, good summer fruit doesn’t require any dressings or additions… it’s perfection all on its own. 

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LUCY BURDETTE: Vicki already mentioned my very favorite salad, panzanella, so I won't do that recipe again. One that I've made over and over and never get tired of is spicy tomato dumpling salad. It's a meal on its own and can be customized with spinach or arugula or fresh mozzarella or avocado--lots of yummy choices. 

Kim, I'm so impressed and envious of your lettuce tower! is it inside or out and does it move around with the seasons? 

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LESLIE BUDEWITZ: What a joy to see a big bowl of salad -- any kind -- in the fridge, ready and waiting, on a summer day! Like some of you, we grow our summer greens, berries, herbs, and a few other veggies ourselves, and shop the local farmstands regularly, so I haven't worried about that cyclops thing (Odyssey joke here!). But it's a pox upon the land, and we all need to keep that in mind when planning meals. I've got a couple of salad posts coming that I think you'll all enjoy, for Watermelon, Blueberry, and Feta Salad, and Couscous and Carrot Salad with Tahini Dressing, using pearl couscous. 

Summer is the perfect time for Tarragon Chicken Salad Croissants, for lunch, dinner, or a picnic. (Take the filling with you in a separate bowl to avoid the sog factor!) 

 

And this Chickpea Salad with Mint, Bell Pepper, and Cucumber is another fun one -- with the bonus that it will help you use up some of that extra mint you always have if you grow it! (Always. Trust me on this.) Add shrimp, chicken, or salmon and you've got most of a meal -- add a crusty roll and a glass of a crisp white wine or rose, et voila! 

Darci, I heard about that cherry vinegar on NPR! The show "We Built This," on small business, featured a Q&A between the owner, host, and a successful entrepreneur on expanding the market. It was fascinating, and the vinegar sounds terrific! Cherry orchards line the lake shore near our town, so my mind was buzzing, wondering who might do something similar here!

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LESLIE KARST:  After tomatoes, my favorite summer veg is green beans, in particular those skinny French beans (aka haricots verts)--so tender and tasty! And this green bean salad with feta and tomatoes is a marvelous and beautiful dish that highlights both summer beans and tomatoes. 

 

 

 

And with those colors, it works for Christmas, too! :)

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CLEO COYLE: During the summer, this German Potato Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing makes a nice change from our typical picnic potato salad (cold cooked potatoes, mayo, a bit of yellow mustard, and chopped celery, which we also enjoy), but this German Potato Salad recipe has special roots. It was inspired my husband's late grandmother Ethel. Like Marc and I, the amateur sleuth in our long-running Coffeehouse Mystery series grew up in Western Pennsylvania, where immigrants from Germany, as well as Poland, Eastern Europe, Italy, Ireland, and other countries mixed the foods of their cultures into one delicious melting pot. They farmed the land, worked in the mills and mines, and shared their favorite dishes with friends and neighbors. That's where this one originated. Marc's grandmother made this tasty potato salad often for her loved ones. It brings back good memories for him (and me, as well). May you too cook with love and eat with joy! 

Cleo's German Potato Salad 
with Hot Bacon Dressing.

 

 

Readers, how about you?

Have you been making salads this summer? What’s your favorite go to summer salad? To be entered in our book giveaway, join our discussion by leaving a comment below. 

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Murder at the Campfire Cookout
by Darci Hannah 

Diet of Death by Ang Pompano 

Essentials of Murder by Kim Davis 

No Roast for the Weary by Cleo Coyle 

A Clue in the Crumbs by Lucy Burdette 

Murder at Cape Costumers by Maddie Day 

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Wed. August 5.

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