Picnic Salads

Summer time is great time for having picnics while watching plays and movies, and listening to concerts. One of the foods that I like for picnics is big dinner salads. For the Blues Festival I brought a different salad each night. I start with leafy greens and lettuce. When time is short I buy a bag of salad greens. When I have more time I wash up lettuce purchased at a farmers market. To wash up lettuce and have it keep for a while, spin or shake some of the water off, place it in a plastic bag with a paper towel. The paper towel balances the moisture content and your lettuce doesn’t quickly get soggy and brown.

For the base of the salad you need about 2 cups of leaves per person. If the lettuce isn’t already prepared, tear or cut it up into bite size pieces. Place the lettuce in a bag. Do not assemble the salad ahead of time; preassembled salad becomes a soggy mess. Put your toppings in separate containers. I use the screw top plastic containers.

Salads that I brought were: Chicken Caesar Salad with romaine lettuce, diced cooked chicken, grated parmesan cheese, crotons and Caesar dressing; Taco salad with iceberg lettuce, cold ground beef cooked with taco seasoning, tortilla chips, olives, grated Mexican cheese, sour cream, salsa and tomatoes; Asian chicken salad with mixed greens, chow mien noodles, diced cooked chicken, sliced almonds and Asian dressing; Sort of Cobb salad with mixed greens, diced hard boiled egg, diced cooked chicken, diced cooked bacon, croutons, olives, sliced avocado and the bottle of Caesar dressing.

Pack everything up in a cooler with ice. Bring plates, napkins and utensils. Your favorite beverage if allowed. Most places do not allow glass, a few allow alcohol. Have a fun summer.