It all started when my friend Karla brought me fresh mint from her garden. Mint goes so well with feta, which I usually have on hand. Then, I bought spring peas at a local market known for good produce, and found this recipe which tied those ingredients together. But I was craving the crunch of wheat berries, so I used those instead of rice. I had some shrimp in the freezer, so after a quick defrost, I added them in. Finally, it needed some type of dressing, but I wanted to keep it light so I added some lemon juice. This recipe has so many different flavors and textures, I definitely enjoyed it.

1 c. fresh peas, steamed
1 c. cooked wheat berries
1/3 c. fat free feta
1/3 c. diced scallions
1/4 c. chopped fresh mint
1 c. shrimp
3 T lemon juice
Black pepper to taste

I know I made this recipe before, but can’t remember when. Since it has so many ingredients I like – eggplant, zucchini, and barley, I found it again and made it last weekend. I omitted the cherry tomatoes and the coriander, and used red pepper flakes in place of the cayenne pepper. Be warned that this recipe makes enough to feed a large crowd! While the flavors are enjoyable, the texture is fairly soft, so you may want to accompany this with a crunchy green salad.

I found this salad recipe on Kalyn’s Kitchen, and it was fantastic! The combination of shrimp, avocado, and lime juice is great with a kick of cayenne, which I used in place of the chipotle powder. I didn’t have edamame on hand, but I added some chopped cucumber which worked well. This is a keeper, and I look forward to trying other recipes from her site.

The original recipe for this salad calls for raw broccoli, but I knew I would enjoy it more with broccoli that was partially cooked. I also increased the amount of dressing as recommended in the reviews, and the final proportions are below. This tasted great, and could be served as either a light main dish, or a BBQ side dish.

3-4 c. chopped broccoli, steamed for 2-3 minutes
1 (15 oz.) can white beans, rinsed and drained
6 oz. fat free feta cheese
1/2 c. plain nonfat yogurt
2 T lemon juice
1 t minced garlic
1/2 t black pepper

Mix feta, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, and black pepper in a small bowl. Toss with broccoli and beans.

-Adapted from Eating Well

I was looking for a fairly basic balsamic dressing recipe, so I tried this one from Emeril. It worked very well to dress a salad of romaine, spinach, red onion, and cucumber, garnished with Romano cheese. I will definitely use this recipe again.

This salad really is like spring in a bowl. I used this recipe and substituted green beans for the asparagus. I also used 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil in the dressing. The flavors in the salad are all light and fresh; it would have been perfect to eat on a patio with a glass of wine. If you haven’t tried quinoa yet, I really hope this recipe inspires you!

With a bowl full of cooked wheat berries and fresh lettuce, I couldn’t decide between a grain salad and a traditional green salad. Ultimately, I mixed the cooked wheat berries with diced celery and carrots, and then tossed it in a dressing of canola oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper, and finally mixed in some torn lettuce and a sprinkle of asiago cheese. My family enjoyed the salad, even though it was just a bit difficult to keep those wheat berries on the fork.

Dinner entertainment included this graceful bird, on the hunt for his own dinner.

I have been looking to try jicama in a salad, after reading that it provides good “crunch”. Raw jicama tastes something like a cross between a potato and an apple; it has an earthy taste with a hint of sweetness. And while it does provide crunch, there was too much of it in this recipe, and the texture overpowered the tender mango and avocado. Next time I’ll adjust the proportions to achieve a better balance. I still enjoyed the fresh taste of the salad, enhanced by the lime juice. If you’re thinking this salad looks familiar, it is similar to the Chicken and Clementine Salad I made a few weeks ago. Spinach salads are one of my favorites.

2 c. julienned jicama
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 avocado, diced
1 (6 oz.) bag baby spinach
3 T lime juice
1 T olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Toss jicama, mango, and avocado. In a small bowl, mix lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add dressing to jicama mixture, and serve on a bed of spinach.

I think I need a more clever title for this recipe as well! I absolutely loved this salad, and it was a great way to use clementines. I put the spinach, chicken, and feta in a container, and then added the clementine sections and dressing just before serving. Next time I would make more dressing, but the juice from the clementines prevented the salad from being too dry.

5-6 c. baby spinach
12 oz. chicken, grilled and cut into bite sized pieces
6 oz. fat free feta
4 clementines, peeled and separated into sections
1 T olive oil
Juice of 2 limes
Salt
Pepper

Toss spinach, chicken, feta, and clementine sections. Mix olive oil and lime juice and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour dressing on salad and mix well.

My goal was to try buckwheat soba noodles in some type of cold noodle salad. I found 4 different recipes on various sites, and used aspects of each one to make this dish. The ‘recipe combining’ method usually works well for me, but this time it did not. The noodles were too dry, and the salad lacked flavor. I even let it sit overnight so the flavors would meld, and that didn’t help. Next time I try a noodle salad, I will stick to just one of the recipes and see what happens.