Summer Salad

Waning days of summer, but it’s still hot out there. Cooking is the last thing on your mind. So how about a nice summer salad? Unfortunately, some of us do not know how to make a nice summer salad. I am not an expert at this but, through trial and error, I’ve configured what I consider to be a fairly reasonable salad dish. Given the cheese used, it can be called a French summer salad (if using chervre cheese), a Spanish summer salad (if using manchego cheese), an American summer ad (if using a sharp cheddar), a British salad (if using stilton), or a Greek salad (if using feta cheese). In fact, you can garnish it with whatever ingredients you want.

BASIC SUMMER SALAD

4 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt to and ground black pepper to taste

1 head lettuce (can use romaine, chicory, red leaf. etc. or, if you prefer, fresh spinach)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 cups cheese, crumbled, sliced or diced
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 Green or red bell pepper, sliced
1 seedless cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup black, pitted olives

1. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic and oregano.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. In a large bowl, add remaining ingredients, and drizzle oil dressing over it.
4. Toss and serve.
Yield: 4 servings.

By the way, if you’re a fan of Caribbean Jerk Chicken, like I am; there’s a scrumptuous recipe for Jerk Chicken with Lime and Potato Wedges at http://bcukrecipes.blog.co.uk/