Just Salad It

Most of the Northern Hemisphere is roasting right now. Theres no way anyone wants to cook let alone sraind in front of a hot grill flipping burgers. What to  do? Turn all those ingredients into a salad.

A salad can be just as simple or as compl.ex as you want it cna be. It can have lettuce or not. if you want a hearty one though, then add some protein to it. You can easily buy any kind of cold cut and julieene it into thin strips and pieces. Think Italian cold cuts like salame and capacola cut thin and mixed with a crisp lettuce like Batavia or French crisp. Add some sliced tomatoes or whole grape ones and chunks of mozzarella .Add a zingy Italain dressing, redolent with oregano and garlic. A nice side is sliced Italian bread drizzled with olive oil. This makes for a satisfying and tasty lunch or supper. A shredded rotisserie chicken also makes a great base for a salad. Save the legs and wings for munching on later. Shred the body and skin and add to a bowl of cold , crisp Romaine lettuce. Croutons would work here along with sliced almonds. You could turn it into a chicken Caesar with dressing or go for something lught like a lemon  or lime juice vinaigrette.Even fried chicken can be cut up and added to a salad. Add some cherry tomatoes and a honey mustard dressing for a quick and flavorful dinner.

Can you sub in another ingredient for the lettuce? Yes Cole slaw works well with any other ingredient . Think an Asian cabbage  one with fried tofu squares and a ginger dressing. You dont have to fry tor bake the tofu. That'll creare too much work and generate too much heat. Cube it first . Coat in cornstarch and then air fry it for five minutes, the toss and then air fry for an extra five more minutes. Add  some sliced carrots and water chestnuts for more Asian flavor. Serv with a soy sauce  based dressing. Rice is an excellent sub in for lettuce. A tasty rice salad can include tomaotes, broocoli and a hard cheese line Parmiginao or Gran Padano. If you want mor eflavor think about adding a few artichoke hearts. You coukld make the fun cowboy rice salad which is combining the grain with black beans.it has the usual salad extras like tomatoes,peppers and onions but corn kernals are also adde dalong with the beans. The dressing is a tangy lime dressing. If you want to make it heartier, sub in chopped steak for the beans. Macaroni also makes for a good salad base.  Put in some summer sausage along with mozarella , tomaotes and broccoli. Again an Italian dressing works here.

It's summer.It's hot.It's not the time to cook. Make a cool salad for easy eating during these  sweltering days.