Recipes From the Garden: A Taste of the Season

Jun 19, 2024

The key to summer salads is fresh ingredients. So, whether you head out to the garden or the local farmer's market, be sure to sample the bounty of summer's harvest. The following salad recipes are inviting you to make some new additions to your summer menu, while guaranteeing to be anything but boring. The mango cucumber summer slaw is cool and crisp and as a bonus can be served on burgers, wraps, sandwiches or as a side dish. No bowl is required for the chef's salad on a stick, assembled with all the classic fixings of meats, cheeses, hard-boiled eggs and veggies. The southwestern tostada salad is a new way to eat a salad with every bite having a crunch and topped with a homemade creamy lime-cilantro dressing. Bacon cheeseburger salad takes all the elements of your favorite food and turns it into a salad with lettuce and tomatoes forming the bed, mini cheeseburgers nestled within, and seeded buns toasted to give a toasty crunch. Now you've got the idea of how a favorite salad can highlight the season's best produce offerings. Enjoy!

Mango Cucumber Summer Slaw

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Ingredients

Salad
½ large cucumber, split lengthwise, seeded, and julienned
1 ripe mango, peeled and julienned
2 cups green shredded cabbage
¾ cup bite-sized cut snap peas
¾ cup red shredded cabbage
1 medium red bell pepper, sliced and julienned
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and julienned
? cup roughly chopped cilantro

Vinaigrette
½ cup sesame oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
½ tsp. fish sauce
Optional additional sesame seeds as a garnish

Whisk together sesame oil, salt, rice vinegar, lime, honey, seeds, soy sauce and fish sauce. Place in a small mason jar. Prepare the veggies, mango, and cilantro in a large mixing bowl. Add the dressing and toss. If you wish, garnish with additional sesame seeds. This slaw can be served on burgers, wraps, sandwiches or as a side dish. Serves 6

Chef Salad on a Stick

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Ingredients

4 hard-boiled eggs
½ English cucumber
3 oz. deli ham, thick cut
3 oz. deli turkey breast, thick cut
3 oz. deli roast beef, thick cut
6 oz. Swiss cheese block
6 oz. cheddar cheese block
1 small head leaf lettuce
16 cherry tomatoes
8 large green olives
8 12-inch skewers that have been soaked in water
Ranch dressing
Black pepper

Cut each hard-boiled egg into 4 pieces. Slice the cucumber lengthwise, then cut into half circles about half an inch thick. Cut the ham, turkey and roast beef slices lengthwise into 1-inch-wide strips. Roll each strip into a pinwheel. Cut the Swiss and cheddar cheese blocks into 16 squares. Alternating pieces, place 2 pieces of cheese, cucumber, tomato and egg on a skewer. Add one pinwheel each of ham, turkey, and roast beef. Add 3 small pieces of lettuce that have been folded into bundles on each skewer and finish up with a green olive. Serve on a platter and refrigerate up to 4 hours before serving. Before serving, top with ranch dressing and a shake of black pepper.
Serves 8

Southwestern Salad Tostada

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Ingredients

Tostada
2 Tbsp. avocado oil
6 corn tortillas
Kosher salt
3 Tbsp. shredded Mexican cheese

Dressing
½ light sour cream
2 limes, juiced
¼ cup mashed avocado
? cup chopped cilantro
1 minced clove garlic
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

Salad
4 cups Romaine, sliced thin
¾ cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 avocado, diced
½ cup black beans
½ cup frozen corn
¾ cup shredded Mexican cheese

Toppings
Shredded Mexican cheese
Avocado, sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and drizzle 2 tablespoons avocado oil on a large baking sheet. Rub both sides of each tortilla in the oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 8 minutes on the first side, flip, and sprinkle 1 teaspoon cheese on each tortilla and bake for 4-6 minutes more until golden brown and crispy.
In a blender or using a whisk, blend together the dressing ingredients and set aside. Place the ingredients for the salad in a bowl and add half the dressing, toss, and add more dressing to your liking. Next, season with salt and pepper to your taste. Serve the salad on the tostada shells with some additional toppings of cheese and slices of avocado.
Serves 6

Bacon Cheeseburger Salad

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Ingredients

3 sesame seeded buns, cut into 1-inch cubes
¼ cup salted butter, melted
1½ lbs. ground chuck steak
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 slices yellow American cheese, cut into quarters
3 hearts romaine lettuce
½ cup dill pickle slices
¼ cup pickle juice from the jar
1 lb. cherry tomatoes, halved
½ small red onion, thinly sliced into rings
6 slices cooked bacon, halved width-wise
Thousand Island dressing, for serving

Preheat oven to 350?. Toss the cubed buns into a medium bowl with the melted butter, then place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until toasted, about 10 minutes. Preheat a skillet on medium heat. Stir together the beef, Worcestershire sauce and a dash of salt and pepper in a large bowl until combined. Make into 12 meatball-size patties. Place the patties in the skillet, in batches if necessary, and cook until browned on the first side, about 2 minutes. Flip and top each with a quartered slice of cheese, then cook for 2 minutes more. Meanwhile, roughly chop the lettuce. Place in a large bowl along with most of the pickles, most of the tomatoes and most of the red onion, reserving the leftovers for garnish. Drizzle with the pickle juice and sprinkle with another dash of salt and pepper; toss to coat. Just before serving, top the salad with the burger patties, croutons and bacon, plus the remaining pickles, tomatoes and red onion. Top with Thousand Island dressing.
Serves 6


By Julie Hyske, Master Gardener
Author - Master Gardener