Layered Salad & Produce Vibrant Colors Of Fruits & Vegetables

Layered Salad & Produce—Vibrant Colors Of Fruits & Vegetables

July 31, 2014 at 7:48 am · Filed under Recipes, Tip Of The Day, Vegetables-Salads-Herbs

Layering is trending as a light and refreshing approach that makes you want to eat more salad. The contrast of different colored vegetables (and fruits) makes the food all the more tempting.

This recipe is by Zac Benedict for the California Avocado Commission.

This recipe (below) uses 12-ounce mason jars, a main-dish size salad for each person. You can also use 16.5-ounce mason jars. The handled jars can be used for food or drinks.

If you don’t want to buy mason jars, check to see what you already have; for example, glass dessert bowls or jumbo wine goblets. Use smaller jars for a side salad. Zac suggests collecting large baby food jars, and for the larger mason jars use chopsticks, which easily reach the bottom of the jar.

The idea is to eat the layered salad from the jar, although Zac advises that you can also set out serving bowls for people who want to toss their salads.

In addition to Recipe #1, a second recipe for Seven Layer Salad is below

COLORED PRODUCE: FRUIT & VEGETABLE OPTIONS

Select vegetables in a variety of colors. For example, if you like scallions but have too much green, substitute red onion. If you’re using red tomatoes, use orange and yellow bell peppers instead of red ones.

Green Fruits & Vegetables: broccoli, edamame (soybeans), herbs (basil, cilantro, dill, parsley), green beans, green peas (frozen are fine), mesclun or other salad greens, snow peas, spring peas, sugar snap peas

Orange Fruits & Vegetables: bell pepper strips, carrots (baby carrots, sliced or shaved carrots), cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, kumquats, grape tomatoes, mandarin wedges, mango, sweet potatoes (cubed or sliced)

Purple Fruits & Vegetables: cauliflower, grapes, heirloom tomatoes, kale, Peruvian potatoes, red cabbage, purple raisins (you can plump them in cider)

Red Fruits & Vegetables: beets, bell pepper strips, cherry tomatoes, dried cherries or cranberries, grape tomatoes, lady apples, mini red jacket potatoes, pomegranate arils, radicchio, radishes, red grapes/champagne grapes, red onion, sundried tomatoes, tomatoes

Yellow Fruits & Vegetables: artichoke hearts, bell pepper strips, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, lemon peel, miniature pattypan squash, star fruit (carambola), yellow squash

White Fruits & Vegetables: cauliflower, cucumbers, daikon, Granny Smith apples, grapes, mushrooms, water chestnuts, zucchini

You can also add diced meats and cheeses, cooked grains, beans and legumes; plus condiments such as olives and sliced pickles.

RECIPE #1: YOUR OWN LAYERED SALAD

Ingredients

Choose whatever ingredients you want, from the list above or from browsing the market. Select your dressing. Then, prepare!

The recipe for the Dijon citrus vinaigrette follows.

Preparation

1. LAY out the rinsed, dried, and cut produce ingredients.

2. PLACE the heaviest ingredients on the bottom of the jar (or bowl), and the most crushable items at the top.

Try to be as even as possible: The layers don’t have to be perfect but they look very nice when the ingredients are in neat rows.

7-layer-avocado-salad-in-jar-calavocom-230

[1] Is there a prettier salad? (photo © California Avocado Commission).

Rainbow Of Different Colored Vegetables
[2] Vegetables in the colors of the rainbow brighten your salad (photo © Good Eggs).

7-layer-salad-ingredients-calavocomm-230
Prepare the ingredients; then, it’s easy to layer (photo © California Avocado Commission).

3. CHOOSE your dressing; keep it separate until you’re ready to eat. Then, poured over the salad ingredients, seal the jar and gently invert the jar a few times to disperse the dressing.

Another option is to place the dressing at the bottom of the jar before layering the salad ingredients. Topping it with heavy ingredients like cucumbers and bell peppers will provide a bit of a barrier between the dressing and the salad.

RECIPE #2: SEVEN LAYER SALAD

Ingredients For 4 Servings

2 Persian cucumbers, diced with peel on

1 cup red cabbage, shredded

1 cup cooked, shelled edamame

8 each orange and yellow mini bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and sliced into rings (or substitute equivalent large bell peppers)

1 cup cooked artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped

1-1/3 cup tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup red onion, sliced

1 avocado, diced and sprinkled with citrus juice to prevent browning

RECIPE #3: DIJON CITRUS VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients

3 tablespoons fresh citrus juice (lemon and/or orange or lime)*

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Dijon or spicy mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

8 leaves fresh basil, minced

Salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

Preparation

1. PLACE the ingredients in a small jar with a lid; shake until well-blended.

This recipe uses a fresh citrus Dijon dressing, which is poured over the salad ingredients before serving. Then, seal with the lid and then gently invert the jar a few times to disperse the dressing.

2. POUR dressing over each of the layered salads. Seal with jar lid and serve.

Find more delicious recipes at CaliforniaAvocado.com.

____________________

*You can make the dressing sweeter or more tart to your liking depending on which citrus juice you use.

Please follow and like us: