Summer is a great time for salads. Nobody wants to cook or heat up the oven. Here’s a summer salad with maple balsamic dressing we tried tonight with our BBQ steak and baked potatoes — a simple but delightful meal on a very warm night. A popular one at our house is this Summer Salad with Maple Balsamic Dressing.
With the salad dressing, if you find the taste of maple strong or too sweet, you can try honey or sugar or a different sweetener. As far as the salad ingredients, feel free to get creative. I put in whatever I felt like that was in my refrigerator, and seemed to go with maple balsamic dressing. For the bacon I used pre cooked bacon which I reheated for a few seconds in the microwave and then crumbled it. Here’s the final result:
- Dressing ingredients:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup (or less) maple syrup
- 2 tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
- 3 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh garlic
- ½ tsp. Salt
- Salad suggestions:
- Chopped romaine lettuce
- Sliced fresh mushrooms
- Pear (sliced thin)
- Bacon (4 slices cooked crispy and chopped small)
- Grape tomatoes (halved)
- Red onion (diced)
- Chopped pecans
- Prepare the dressing by whisking the vinegar and the garlic and salt in a bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients and whisk.
- Refrigerate.
- Chop and assemble all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.
- Pecans should be reserved until last.
- When you are ready to eat, pour dressing, and toss salad with the dressing. Sprinkle with pecans and serve immediately.
Do you have a favourite summer salad? One that the whole family loves? Let us know, we are always looking for new recipes to try.
