Taco Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

For the dressing:
1/4 c honey
juice of 3 limes
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 c olive oil

Put everything except olive oil in a bowl and whisk to combine. While whisking, slowly pour in olive oil. Whisk until smooth.


For salad:
1 head of Romaine, shredded
3 gr onions, sliced
1 red pepper, diced
half of a red onion, sliced thin
grilled corn or a bag of thawed frozen corn( I forgot the corn)
half of a bunch of cilantro
tomatoes
grilled chicken(I marinated it in some of the dressing)
1/2 shredded cheese
tortilla chips, crushed
*1 can kidney or black beans(see recipe below)

Put everything except for the chips and beans in a large bowl. Toss it. Add some dressing. Top with chips and beans.

* Take a can of beans and rinse well. Put them in a pan with about 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add 2-3 cloves of garlic, about 1 tablespoon oregano and salt and pepper. Heat the beans through and they are done.

Source: Baked Bree

Citrus Shrimp Salad

This salad is so simple and yet so tasty.The dressing has a nice light flavour and really brings all the ingredients together. I served it as a dinner salad with a homemade loaf of french bread. If you don't like shrimp, you could always serve it as a side salad without them. This would be a really great summer salad, with the shrimp done on the grill.
Ingredients:
2 oranges, peeled and cut into segments
1 avocado, cut into cubes
2-3 tsp fresh lime juice
6-8 c romaine lettuce
1/2 c red onion, thinly sliced
3/4 lb shrimp, peeled and deviened
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced

For dressing:
6 tbsp plain yogurt
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
11/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt

In a large bowl, toss cubed avocado with lime juice to prevent browning. Add oranges, romaine and onions. Toss gently to combine.

to prepare dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to blend.

In a medium saucepan , heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute 1-2 minutes. Add shrimp and cook stirring often for 2-3 minutes or until they turn pink.
Remove from heat and set aside. Shrimp can be served hot or cold over salad.

Just before serving, toss salad with dressing and top with shrimp.

Spinach Salad with Curried Pecans and Apples

This makes for a nice side salad or you could make it a dinner salad like I did and add some chicken. I just added a tablespoon of curry powder to some of the salad dressing and marinated the chicken in that before I baked it. The only thing I changed was what kind of cheese I used, the recipe called for blue cheese but I didn't have any so I used havarti. This was one of the best salads I've had in a long time and I plan on making it again very soon.



For the pecans:

6 ounces pecan halves
2 tbsp melted butter
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
a pinch of cayenne pepper

Vinaigrette:
1/3 c cider vinegar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 c olive oil

To make salad:
1(10 ounce) package baby spinach
1 gala or fuji apple thinly sliced
1 small red onion thinly sliced
1/2 c blue cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Toss pecans in the melted butter with the remaining ingredients. toss to coat the pecans completely. Spread the nuts on a foil lined baking sheet and bake 10 to 13 minutes. Cool and set aside. You can make these a few days ahead of time and keep them in a airtight container.

To make the vinaigrette put all the ingredients in a jar and shake until combined. The dressing could also be made ahead of time.

Put everything into a bowl. Season the leaves with some sea salt and pepper and toss with 1/4 of the dressing

Source: bakedbree.com