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Gourmet Green Salad


As promised, here is the green salad I made with the Grilled Island Chicken last week. With all the fresh veggies around this time of year, I am always looking for new salad recipes to serve my family. When I saw this recipe at melskitchencafe.com I knew I had to try it. I added pears as the recipe calls for but added apples too. It makes me happy serving my kids healthy, fresh food for dinner. Tyler, my 6 year old, ate 3 bowls of this salad with his dinner!! It's a winner in my book!






Gourmet Green Salad
(Melskitchencafe.com)

*Serves 8-10

Salad:
10-12 cups mixed greens (I use the large rectuangular box from Sam's Club)
1 pound white button mushrooms, sliced
2 ripe, fresh pears, sliced thinly (you can also use fresh strawberries, raspberries, or apples)
1/4 cup thinly sliced Parmesan cheese (I grab my big block of Parmesan cheese and use my vegetable peeler to slice of thin peels of Parmesan)
1 large carrot (or about 5-6 baby carrots), thinly sliced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
5-7 slices of bacon, cooked and coarsely chopped
3 cups croutons

(Note: Mary serves this with candied nuts as well. I am not a huge fan of sugary sweet nuts but if that is your fancy, feel free to throw some in!)

Put mixed greens in a large salad bowl. Top with other ingredients and toss. Serve with red wine vinaigrette dressing below (or any other favorite salad dressing).

Red Wine Vinaigrette:
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup red onions, finely grated (about 1/4 of a large red onion)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons salt
ground pepper to taste
2 cups canola oil

Add all ingredients except oil in a blender. Blend well. While processing, slowly add the canola oil and blend well. Transfer dressing to a jar or cruet. It keeps well in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks (although I've found it gets a little thick if it is too cold so I'll pop it in the microwave for 5-10 seconds to help thin it out before I use it if it has been in the refrigerator for several days).

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