My Top 12 Summer Salads

It's too hot to cook. Hell, let's face it, it's too hot to move. When the temps rise above 95 I pretty much boycott my oven. I'm not kidding. At this very moment, I'm standing in my kitchen holding a big picket sign. I'd pace back and forth, but then I'd sweat more, and that's sort of the whole reason why I chose to boycott my oven in the first place. 

When I'm on my stove sabbatical, nothing saves the day like a salad. My favorite ones include a good mix of different textures, flavors and colors and a healthy dose of lettuce, fruit, cheese and nuts. I pretty much always make my dressings homemade because they're easy, fresher and so much tastier. Here are some of my summer standbys...

Greens with mandarin oranges, mushrooms, sesame seeds and red onion with ginger-sesame dressing

Ginger-Sesame Dressing

2 tbsp minced ginger * 2 tbsp honey or brown sugar * 2 minced garlic cloves * 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar * 2 tbsp soy sauce * 1 tsp sesame oil * 1/2 cup olive oil

Mixed greens with sliced carrot, cucumber, broccoli, sesame seeds and creamy tarragon dressing

Roasted butternut squash salad with cider vinaigrette

(Okay, I did use my oven for this one:)

Taco salad with black beans, avocado, grilled chicken, cheddar and spicy ranch

Baby spinach with red onion, carrots, avocado, sesame and chia seeds

Balsamic Vinaigrette

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar * 1 tbsp dijon mustard * 1 clove garlic, minced * 1/2 cup olive oil, salt & pepper

Angela's chickpea salad with avocado-tahini dressing

Baby spinach with sliced strawberries, goat cheese, red onion, gala apple, curried pecans and maple-cider vinaigrette

Romaine with grilled chicken, roasted red peppers, grilled summer squash, homemade croutons and caesar dressing

Arugula with lemon juice, olive oil, black pepper and shaved parmesan

Houston's Original Grilled Chicken Salad

Mixed greens with bosc pear, gorgonzola, walnuts and honey-garlic dressing

Mixed Greens with figs, blue cheese, carmelized walnuts and honey-garlic dressing

It's only June. I need more ideas. If you have a great salad recipe on your blog or in your back pocket, please link to it in the comments! 

Houston's Grilled Chicken Salad

One of my favorite things to do as a teenager was drive into Houston for shopping and lunch with my mom. We'd head to Rice Village to try on shoes and pretty dresses, mostly from the sales racks. Sometimes, if we weren't ready to stop shopping and lunch was nowhere in sight, mom would ply me with a mocha frappuccino, a clever substitute for a meal in a pinch. I was about 14 when mom started realizing I tend to get a smidge edgy if I haven't eaten in a few hours. Yes, edgy is the word I should be described as. Bitchy is just plain mean. Even if it is accurate. 

One of our favorite places to reverse my mood swing was Houston's restaurant, particularly for their Grilled Chicken Salad. It took moving across the country three times to realize this place was a chain. I just thought every city had a restaurant named after it and ours was particularly good.

Our favorite thing on the menu was always the Original Grilled Chicken Salad. Never had it? Well, to sum up, it smells of limes and tastes like heaven. Plus there are a bunch of crispy fried tortilla strips on the top which can confuse your brain and make you think you're eating nachos instead of salad. Nothing wrong with that. I swiped this from the Secret Recipe blog, which recreates the ingredients in chain restaurant's most popular dishes. If I was spending the day in Houston, I'd take my mom to Houston's. But since we're separated by a few states, the least I can do is send her the recipe.

Houston's Original Grilled Chicken Salad

1 bag mixed salad greens

1 large carrot, julienne cut

2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced

thin tortilla strips

Lime Dressing                                    Peanut Sauce: 

1/2 cup lime juice                               4 tbsp soy sauce

7 tbsp honey                                      4 tbsp hot water

      4 tsp honey mustard                           4 tbsp peanut butter

2 garlic cloves, minced                       2 tsp sesame oil

           tsp black pepper                              1 tbsp ground ginger

                                        1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, combine the lime dressing ingredients and mix well. In a large bowl, combine the salad greens, carrots, sliced chicken and tortilla strips (I baked mine). Pour the lime dressing over the salad and toss to combine.  Transfer the salad to 4 salad plates. In another bowl, combine the ingredients for the peanut sauce and mix well. Drizzle each salad with the peanut sauce and serve.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, grandmoms, soon-to-be moms, and want-to-be-moms. And a big Texas-sized hug to my lil' mama, who means more to me than she'll ever know.