Lemon Basil Garden Salad

One of my Grandmother’s favorite local restaurants serves this salad that I find delectable, and since I cannot yet find it in me to go there without her, I have come up with a suitable imitation of this spring garden salad.

I used arugula instead of salad mix, because it’s my favorite, but I imagine that you could use just about any kind of salad greens.  Yellow squash are really beautiful at the farmers’ market right now.  I love them sliced thinly in salads or on pizza. In addition to being yummy, they add such great color to any dish.

Also, raisins are not usually my favorite, but they work really well in this salad.  You could substitute currants or golden raisins.  Sunflower seeds or pepitas would work as well.

Now, if my Grandmother were still here, we would have to have beer bread alongside this salad, which is full of calories and completely defeats the purpose of eating something healthy like a garden salad.

But she was never much for counting calories anyway.

Lemon Basil Garden Salad

(about 4 servings)

8 ounces fresh arugula (or other salad greens)

1 yellow squash, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped into small pieces

5 button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/4 to 1/2 cup sharp cheddar, shredded (I used the lesser amount, but you can vary this to taste)

1/4 cup raisins

Lemon Basil Salad Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons champagne vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

 

Toss all salad ingredients together in a large bowl.  Mix dressing with a hand blender or in a food processor to emulsify ingredients.  Toss dressing with salad just before serving.

Enjoy!

PS. A little news:

I entered this Blackberry Peach Cobbler Recipe and won the Yarnell’s Cobbler Recipe Ice Cream contest, which means that I get a year’s supply of free ice cream!  Exciting!

And, I am going to be preparing it on the local morning news.  If interested you can watch Twitter or Facebook for updates about that! 🙂