The Salad Days of Summer

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

Well, it finally happened. The weather turned hot enough here to make me want salad for dinner. I know, I know, people in many other parts of the country have been sweltering for months now. But for some reason, the Northeast has been spared with a long stretch of nice, not too hot, and virtually humidity free weather.

But not so much anymore, and I have a feeling the rest of August is going to be long and hot. Now that the “salad days” of summer are truly here, I thought I would give you a few simple ideas for salads you can construct starting with your crockpot. The beauty of cooking ingredients for a salad in your slow cooker is that you won’t heat up your kitchen; your dinner is as simple as tossing a few well chosen ingredients together.

There are so many main course salads, you could have one every day for the rest of the summer and not grow bored. Start with a good old Chef Salad, and then move on to Chicken Salad with grapes over romaine lettuce, Three Bean Salad, Taco Salad, Tuna Nicoise Salad, and Grilled Chicken Caesar.

The basic idea is to bring together a few light ingredients with a variety of textures. Now as we all know, salads aren’t necessarily always the light health food they are made out to be. Especially when you think of the classic Pittsburgh “Salad” which consists of grilled steak, French fries, and Ranch dressing. But if you make or purchase the ingredients to put together yourself, you will have more control over the nutrition and fat content. Plus having salad for dinner makes it easy to get your five (or more) a day servings of fruits and vegetables.

The crockpot is the perfect place to cook protein to add to your salad, from dried beans to lentils to chicken or beef. If you have a hankering for homemade chicken salad (and one taste of homemade versus the kind you buy in the deli section will have you convinced), then you can easily cook the chicken for it in your slow cooker. Once the chicken is cooked through (light or dark meat depending on your preference, but I suggest cooking on the bone for more flavor), chill and shred or dice the meat, adding a bit of mayonnaise, chopped celery, and seasoning to your taste. A couple of other interesting add-ins include sliced grapes or walnuts. Serve over chopped lettuce for an easy and light supper.

Next is a Tex-Mex style taco salad. Now this is one of those infamous, not so healthy salads. You simply cook ground beef and seasonings, just as you would for tacos, for a few hours on low in the slow cooker. Serve over tortilla chips (or in a tortilla bowl) tossed with chopped iceberg lettuce and your choice of the following additions: shredded Jack cheese, avocados, black beans, diced tomatoes, black olives, scallions, and dressing.

The recipe below for Chicken Lettuce Wraps is an Asian variation on salad, made famous by a popular Chinese chain restaurant. I have been craving these for several weeks now. Simply cook the ground chicken with a mix of spices, chopped red pepper, onions, and garlic on low in your slow cooker for several hours. You can add diced waterchestnuts, scallions, or chopped peanuts for added crunchy texture after the mixture has finished cooking. The fun begins at the table, where you roll the Asian infused chicken mixture in Romaine lettuce leaves and top with a slightly spicy sauce.

So next time you feel like a light and easy summer meal, take the cool way out with one of these main course salads!

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 pound ground chicken breast
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 head Romaine lettuce, washed and trimmed (keep leaves whole so they can be rolled)

***Dipping Sauce***

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon hot mustard
• 1 teaspoon red chile paste, or to taste