Welcome September Salad

On Sunday we were invited to a last-weekend-of-Summer BBQ. The weather wasn't perfect but the menu and company more than made up for a bit of rain. Homemade burgers, fresh veggies and dip and potato chips - all hallmarks of a great backyard BBQ. I contributed Rainbow Salad and I was very pleased with how it turned out. Let's take a closer look!



This salad is advertised as a Winter salad but it ate just fine as part of a farewell to Summer dinner. It features romaine lettuce and red cabbage, mango, apple and pear along with roasted hazelnuts. (If you remember to pick them up at the grocery store you can also throw in some pomegranate seeds. I didn't. Remember, that is. I would have used them if I had!) The dressing is a simple mixture of red wine vinegar, minced shallot, honey and extra-virgin olive oil. I used raspberry red wine vinegar since that's what I had on hand. I thought it would go well with the other fruity elements of the salad and happily, it did.

This is a nice, cheerful salad. Each bite was a bit different owing to the variety of fruits and nuts in the bowl. The dressing was tangy and just a bit sweet thanks to the honey. The recipe also indicates blue cheese may be crumbled over-top. An excellent suggestion. This salad would also be wonderful in a wrap or pita.

So that's it. Summer is at an end. Well, not really. I know the calendar says it's Summer for a few more weeks and the weather forecasts are all promising sunshine and high temperatures for the next few days, but once the kids go back to school and the library starts to fill up with Frosh - well, at our house, these are sure signs that Summer is over.