Emeril's Wedgie Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing and Shaved Red Onions

We ate this at one of Emeril's restaurants at Universal Studios. Salad should not be this good, but it is. Just ask my good friend Skip Woosnam. --Mark

Ingredients:

1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 large heads iceberg lettuce, cored, washed, and patted dry
1/2 medium red onion, thinly shaved lengthwise for garnish
1/2 lb sliced bacon, cooked crisp drained, and crumbled for garnish

Instructions:

Combine the blue cheese, lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce, salt, and black pepper in a medium-size mixing bowl. Using the back of a fork, mash the mixture together to form a thick paste. Drizzle in the olive oil, stirring continuously with the fork until the mixture is creamy. Add the buttermilk and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Cut the heads of lettuce into 4 wedges. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the dressing over each wedge. Garnish with the shaved onion and crumbled bacon and serve immediately.

Notes:

Try substituting Greek yogurt for the buttermilk.

Southwestern Roasted Corn Salad

We made this to take to a friend's house for a summer cook-out. This was a HUGE hit. It's fresh, flavorful, and so light you feel like you can eat it forever. It beats plain corn, that's for sure. --Mark

Ingredients:

8 ears fresh corn in husks
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3 limes, juiced
1 tsp white sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 T hot sauce

Instructions:

Place the corn in a large pot with enough water to cover, and soak at least 15 minutes.

Preheat grill for high heat. Remove silks from corn, but leave the husks.

Place corn on the preheated grill. Cook, turning occasionally, 20 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and discard husks.

Cut the corn kernels from the cob, and place in a medium bowl. Mix in the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and red onion.

In a blender or food processor, mix the cilantro, olive oil, garlic, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Blend until smooth, and stir into the corn salad.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Southwestern-Roasted-Corn-Salad/Detail.aspx

Seafood Salad

This salad is definitely hearty enough to be a meal by itself. It's sort of a cross between a potato and crab salad. It's best served cold. --Mark

Ingredients:

1 package imitation crab meat

6 large potatoes, boiled and cut into cubes

4 eggs, boiled and sliced

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

olives (optional)

Instructions:

Toss all together. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate. Garnish with olives if desired.

Four Bean Salad

Another great vegetarian find from Stacy's roommate, Julia. This is a great summer salad and is as simple as it is tasty. --Mark

Ingredients:

1 can green beans, drained

1 can yellow wax beans, drained

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2 T snipped parsley

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup wine vinegar

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp crushed tarragon

1/2 tsp basil leaves

Instructions:

Place first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Combine the rest separately and pour over the beans. Cover and marinate overnight, stirring one or two times.

Wilted Spinach Salad

You haven't lived until you've had a meal at Elizabeth's house, and this salad was a frequent item on the menu. It's always better when she makes it, but it's not bad if you make it yourself. --Mark

Ingredients:

1 1/2 bunches fresh young spinach

6 green onions

1/2 clove garlic

1 T vegetable oil

1/4 lb fresh mushrooms

3 slices bacon

1 egg

1 T sugar

1T tarragon vinegar

1 T red wine vinegar

Instructions:

Cut tough stems from spinach and wash. Drain and blot dry. Tear into bite-sized pieces. Mince green onions and mix with spinach in a large bowl. Mash garlic and cover with oil. Let stand for about 30 minutes. Discard garlic and trickle oil over spinach and let stand. Cut mushrooms into slices and add to spinach and oil.

For the dressing, saute bacon until crisp. Drain. Reserve bacon fat. Beat egg, sugar, and vinegars. Pour slowly into warm fat, stirring constantly until mixture has thickened slightly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour dressing over spinach mixture just before serving and toss well. Sprinkle bacon over salad and serve immediately.

Tauna's Salad de Maison

This salad recipe is from Stacy's college roommate, Tauna. Her orange rolls are fantastic, too, so make a note of her recipes. Warning: this recipe makes a lot of salad. --Mark

Ingredients:

juice of 1 lemon

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 lb bacon, diced

2-3 heads Romaine lettuce

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup Swiss cheese, coarsely grated

2/3 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 cup croutons

Instructions:

Combine lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Beat continually with a fork and add oil slowly. Let stand for 3 hours.

Saute bacon until crisp. Drain. In a large salad bowl combine lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, almonds, and bacon. Toss with dressing, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and croutons just prior to serving.

Southwestern Roasted Corn Salad

We made this for a Mexican-themed barbecue. It was a huge hit and blended with all of the other flavors perfectly. I'm posting it the day after we made it--what does that tell you? --Mark

Ingredients:

8 ears fresh corn in husks
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3 limes, juiced
1 teaspoon white sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon hot sauce

Instructions:

Place the corn in a large pot with enough water to cover, and soak at least 15 minutes. Preheat grill for high heat. Remove silks from corn, but leave the husks.

Place corn on the preheated grill. Cook, turning occasionally, 20 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and discard husks. Cut the corn kernels from the cob, and place in a medium bowl. Mix in the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and red onion.

In a blender or food processor, mix the cilantro, olive oil, garlic, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Blend until smooth, and stir into the corn salad.

Notes:

From Allrecipes: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Southwestern-Roasted-Corn-Salad/Detail.aspx

Grilled Chicken Salad

This is a clear-cut recipe, but we include it to remind us of its existence when we do menu planning. -- Stacy

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts
Salad Fixin's

Instructions:

Salt and pepper chicken. Grill. Put slices of chicken on your favorite salad fixin's . . . enjoy!

Notes:

We love to put avocado in our salads as well as all kinds of yummy salad toppings/fillers -- sunflower seeds, walnuts, grape tomatoes, red onion, flax seed, beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), cheeses, avocado (you can't ever have too much avocado), etc.