A Great Salad

There are a few things that I always love in salad, but it is the unexpected things and the mixture of flavors that work together to make a salad great... recently I made the most delicious salad, I was one happy camper.

The salad contained my salad staples:

Lettuce (different types)

Spinach (make sure it is washed well, there is nothing worse than taking a bit and tasting the dirt- even in prewashed spinach)

Broccoli slaw

Cucumber

Then I added a few "surprise" ingredients.

Blueberries

Avocado

Bruscetta topping (Roma tomatoes and fresh basil)

Mix all the usual ingredients, add blueberries and avocado.

In a separate bowl mix together diced Roma tomatoes, and sliced basil leaves. Add a little bit of olive oil to coat the mixture and a dash of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Let the flavors marry for about 15 minutes and then add to the salad.

Finally, my favorite dressing is a balsamic vinegarette that is so easy. Use one of the italian dressing mixes that you can buy in the grocery store and it is easiest if you have one of their foolproof cruets that give you a line to show you how much vinegar, oil and water. Fill the cruet with the dressing mix, and balsamic vinegar to the WATER line. Then add olive oil to the oil line (if you don't have the cruet, it is about 1/3 oil and 2/3 balsamic vinegar. It is wonderful! Toss all the ingredients together and serve after about 10 minutes. If you want a little crunch, you can add some almond slices.

The combination of balsamic vinegar, basil, and blueberries make for that lovely mixture of sweet, acid, and savory that is heavenly!