warm summer salad

I could eat salads for a lot of meals, but Ed isn't always pleased with ruffage for dinner. So, I usually have to add some kind of meat or tasty addition to keep him interested and not heading for the snack container as soon as he's finished eating. There's no greater tragedy for a cook to see someone head straight for the potato chips when they're done eating the meal you've made!

I made the salad dressing for this, and it's a warm dressing. Kind of like hot bacon dressing, but no bacon. Or sugar. This is much more savory.

It does make your house smell like a gigantic pickle jar when you pour in the vinegar. That's for sure.

The recipe I was following suggested hard beef salami, so that's what I went with. I'm glad I did, this isn't a meat we have very often and Ed was glad to see it.

Don't be alarmed. We like our salami a little dark around the edges. You can cook yours considerably less than this. You can also cook it on the stove top if you would like- it doesn't have to go in the oven.

You'll be seeing me use these little yellow tomatoes for a few recipes. Believe it or not, the local grocer didn't have red cherry tomatoes, just yellow. I'm okay with that.

When you pour in your dressing, it'll make the lettuce wilt just a tiny bit, but that's okay! That's kind of what you want anyway. Top with the salami and you're all good! You could always make the dressing cold, or cool it down, but having the warm dressing was something new and we liked it :)

Warm Summer Salad
Saw this little diddy in a Southern Living Magazine!
1/4 lb beef hard salami slices, cut into strips
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or sherry vinegar)
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1 package spring mix lettuce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake salami in the oven for 3-5 minutes, or until slightly crisp and hot. On the stove top, heat olive oil over medium and saute onions and garlic until fragrant and soft, about 2 minutes. Add in vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes. Place lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes into a large bowl and drizzle with oil and vinegar mixture. Toss to combine. Top with crispy salami and serve immediately. Enjoy!