Get out the grill and add a green salad

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Here’s a tangy, refreshing, healthy side salad to accompany a summer grill meal (for Memorial Weekend, maybe?)
Combine:

  • 1 small avocado, peeled, cored and mashed
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons low-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1-3 tablespoons non-fat (skim) milk (add until you get the consistency you prefer)
  • your favorite all-purpose seasoning salt or salt substitute
  • fresh ground black pepper

Top your favorite salad with a dollop of this. Pretty as a picture!
Do you make your own salad dressings, or do you prefer to get them from a bottle? 
 

17 thoughts on “Get out the grill and add a green salad”

    1. I agree. So do most kids, who will surprise their mother’s by eating my salads at parties and pot lucks. “But he doesn’t like salad,” they tell me. When I ask whether they use bottled dressing, they say yes. I gently suggest that it’s the dressing, not the salad, that their children don’t like, because, look, they’re eating salad. With homemade dressing.

    1. I use your mom’s dressing, too, Diana. With variations — sometimes balsamic vinegar, sometimes white or rice wine or red. And sometimes I substitute fresh lemon or lime juice for the vinegar. <3

    1. Wishing you a great holiday, too, Jill. I use that dressing, too. A seasoning blend from Penzeys called Tuscan Sunshine is an absolute staple — add a pinch of that to the dressing and I get instant Italian, without the chemical taste of packaged mixes or bottled dressings.
      <3

  1. My mouth is watering. I’m imagining adding prawns to this (it’s the mention of avocado!) There are some really nice bought dressings out there, with nice ingredients, but they are quite pricey. I do like the fresh mixed taste of my own dressing, and am fascinated by the consistency of it – how it changes from two runny things into a thick, glossy thing.

    1. The alchemy of dressing…. sounds like the title to the latest hit literary fiction. Right?
      I haven’t tried the pricey bottled ones, because I always make my own in small batches. I eat salad frequently, and like to mix up the dressings so it tastes new and fresh each time.
      I’m adding prawns to this next time, Denise. Thanks for the scrumptious idea. <3

    1. Cheers, back, Julian! We just went wine shopping. I invented a salad I hope will pair well with white wine — no lemon or vinegar to spoil the palette. Fresh baby spinach, topped with a pineapple-cucumber-red-onion salsa and a drizzle of olive oil. To serve with Crusty bread and a nice mellow St. Andre cheese. What do you think?

      1. Wow this salad sounds yummy! Great creation.
        For the wine pairing, I guess it depends on the wine you picked. I can see a light, mineral white wine working perfectly with this dish 🙂
        In any way, I’m hungry now!

  2. Oh, this is so wonderful, Tracy! In addition to writing a cook book, you really should also have your own restaurant!
    For years I made my own dressings. Then we discovered the Bragg’s natural dressings, and our favorite–balsamic with ginger and sesame seed–so now this is my go-to must-have dressing.

  3. It sounds delicious and I love avocados, Tracy. I wonder if this is similar to a homemade “Green Goddess” dressing my Mom used to make? Smiles!

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