The Summer Salad with Field Greens, Peas, & Sunflower Seeds is a wonderful all-round summer salad to serve at your next cookout to accompany grilled chicken or the all-American burger, and so versatile that you could serve it for a light lunch with friends on the patio, along with a crusty baguette and a refreshing iced tea.
The warm weather seems to draw us all outdoors for all sorts of activities, including dining. What is it about dining alfresco that we just love? Did you know that ‘alfresco’ simply means ‘in the open air’?
I always look forward to being able to dine outdoors – it is so enjoyable!
This summer salad was one we created when we were in college, about uhhmm…years ago! I guess girls are better at making healthy dishes while in college than the guys are. Do college guys even eat salad? Anyway, it was so delicious that it became a favorite salad over the years.
Summer Salad with Field Greens, Peas, & Sunflower Seeds
(Makes approx. 8 – 1 cup servings)
8 cups Lettuce
(when measuring, gently ‘pack’ into the measuring cup, don’t crush the leaves)
we used a field greens mix – although green and red leaf
lettuces, or romaine would work well, too
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup cucumber, cut in bite size pieces
1 cup broccoli, cut in small florets
1 cup yellow pepper, cut in bite size pieces
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
(allow frozen peas to thaw to room temperature – do not heat them)
¼ cup red onion, chopped thinly
¼ cup sunflower seeds
1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
Preparations
Rinse lettuce and allow time to dry completely. Salad spinners work great for this. Prepare all the vegetables as described. If you use frozen peas, rinse under water, and allow time for them to thaw – after rinsing, I usually place them on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb moisture.
Place the lettuce in a large serving bowl, and mix in all of the ingredients. If you won’t be serving for a while, refrigerate the salad, and then add the shredded cheese just before serving.
We recently made this for a lunch at my house, with one of our nieces. Along with the salad, we had crusty sesame seed baguette slices. The dressing we chose was Simply Dressing Greek Feta, and it was delicious.
As always, you could toss the salad with a favorite dressing before you serve, or let everyone pick their favorite!
We hope you enjoy! ~M
We are participating in –
Tasty Thursdays ~ Mandatory Mooch
Foodie Friday ~ Rattlebridge Farm
Foodie Friday ~ Simple Living Eating
Summer Recipe Link Party ~ Mom 4 Real
Make the Scene Monday ~ Alderberry Hill
What a beautiful salad! The healthy ingredients only add to its visual charm. I’m so happy you included this post at Foodie Friday! I’ll “pin” this to our Consuming Passions board. Have a great weekend.
Gorgeous colors… perfect for a picnic. Thanks so much for sharing your salad with us on foodie friday.