Let's Talk Salad

With Charlotte's hot humid days the last thing I want to do is stand over a stove to cook dinner.  I'm thinking a nice crisp salad sounds perfect!

There are so many ways to make a salad.  I can come up with thousands of different combinations of veggies and fruit that are perfect together.  But when I think of the Mac Daddy of all salads I always come back to the 1905 Salad by The Columbia Restaurant.

I can guarantee this salad will fill up even the manliest man! :)

 
Recipe modified from Columbia Restaurant


Salad Ingredients

4 cups iceberg lettuce, broken into 1 1/2" × 1 1/2" pieces
1 ripe tomato, cut into eighths
1/2 cup baked turkey, julienned 2" × ⅛"
1/2 cup Swiss cheese, julienne 2" × ⅛"
“1905” Dressing (see recipe below)
1/2 cup Romano cheese, grated
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 lemon

Preparation

Combine lettuce, tomato, turkey, and Swiss cheese in a large salad bowl. Before serving, add “1905” Dressing, Romano cheese, Worcestershire, and the juice of 1 lemon. Toss well and serve immediately. Makes 2 main course salads or 4 side salads.

“1905” Dressing

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgin Spanish olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
⅛ cup white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Salad Dressing Preparation

Mix olive oil, garlic, and oregano in a bowl with a wire whisk. Stir in vinegar, gradually beating to form an emulsion, and then season with salt and pepper. For best results, prepare 1 to 2 days in advance and refrigerate.  

Cookouts Watermelon Milkshake Redo

July through August, my favorite time of the year.  Yes I absolutely love summer.  The hot weather, beaches, summer clothes, bright colors... and the list goes on.  But from July 1st until the last day in August, Cookout has there famous watermelon milkshakes!!  OK so I'm with you if you have never had the watermelon milkshake and you just hear the name you're thinking watermelon plus milk.. umm no thanks I think I'll pass on that one!  But trust me it's Heaven in your mouth.  Once the weather is hot enough for it to be considered summer here in North Carolina and that happens around May I start my count down until July 1st.  Then when I pick out my first watermelon of the year at the local farmers market I start my count down again... I just can't stop thinking about when Cookout will finally have the watermelon milkshake!! 

So it's June and I really don't think I can make it one more month.  I started looking around on the Internet for different watermelon milkshake / smoothie recipes.  I decided if I'm going to try one at home that mine will be just as delicious but I'm going to give it a healthy twist.  I found a few recipes, combined and put my twist on them.  It's creamy, it's refreshing, it's healthy, it's bright, and it just screams SUMMER!!

It's also vegan friendly :) :)

On to the recipe:


Watermelon Milkshake

Servings: 2

2 cups fresh seedless watermelon
1 single serving of plain, non-fat Greek yogurt (I used the Dannon Oikos. I think it was about 5oz)
2 Truvia packets
1/4 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk
2 handfuls of ice cubes

Place the yogurt, watermelon, sugar, milk, and ice in blender and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.  Then add a few more pieces of the watermelon and blend only about 10 seconds.  This will give you chunks of fruit in the milkshake.  Pour into a tall glass and enjoy!

This milkshake is just the right thing for a summer evening!


Side Note:
You can use plain yogurt but your results will not be as creamy.
You can also substitute regular milk for the almond milk.  But why would you when almond milk taste great, has way less calories, and is so much better for you??



 Hope y'all enjoy!!!