My favorite side is... SALAD!!!

My sisters and I love to eat salads. I love main dishes too, but who doesn't love a good side salad that adds to the meal? On many occasions, I eat salads for my main meal but side salads make any meal better. I try and eat one once a day just cause I love them so much. Probly explains why one of my top favorite restaurants is Souper Salad, (if you ever get the chance go there! It is just oh so good!!!) Anyways, here are a couple salads that I have come to enjoy!

My Mom has always loved Broccoli Salad. She would put it out for dinner but none of us kids would eat it. But as we got older and were more willing to try new things, we finally gave in and now it is one of my favorite salads! I make it occasionally and most people are wary to try it but once they do, most really like it.

Broccoli Salad
Serves: 6

1/2 large head broccoli washed and trimmed
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/4 pound bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
¼ cup & 2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

Cut broccoli into small florets, peel the stem and cut into 1/2" pieces. Combine broccoli, onions, raisins, nuts, and bacon. In a small separate bowl, make dressing of mayonnaise, vinegar, and sugar. Pour dressing over salad. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss before serving. This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for hours, even overnight.

This next salad is so good! My old roommate brought it over for our Thanksgiving dinner and oh my goodness I couldn't get enough of it! It was delicious! I ate so much and just enjoyed every bite. It is a recipe claiming to be the olive garden salad recipe. I'm not sure if they are the same but it is really good!

Olive Garden Salad

Olive Garden Salad Dressing:

½ c. mayonnaise

1/3 c. white vinegar

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 Tb. corn syrup

2 Tb. Parmesan cheese

2 Tb. Romano cheese

¼ tsp garlic salt – or one clove garlic, minced

½ tsp Italian seasoning

½ tsp parsley flakes

1 Tb. lemon juice

Salad:

1 large head romaine lettuce

slices red onion

black olives

2-4 banana peppers

2 small tomatoes, quartered

½ c. croutons

freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Homemade Croutons:

4 slices sandwich bread

1 clove garlic, minced

3 Tb. butter

salt and pepper

dried parsley flakes

For the salad:

Chill one salad bowl in freezer for at least 30 minutes. Put lettuce in bowl. Place on top of lettuce red onions, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, and croutons. Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you like, and add plenty of Olive Garden Salad Dressing on top.

For the salad dressing:

Mix all dressing ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little too tart for your own personal tastes, add a little extra sugar.

For the homemade croutons:

Cut off crusts of sandwich bread, and cut bread into cubes. Melt butter in small saucepan and add minced garlic. Toss sandwich cubes in the butter and spread out in a pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper and parsley flakes to taste. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°, turning half way through baking.