May 31, 2012

Battle Salad- a little bit of this, a little bit of that

When I found out about Battle Salad I was bummed because I realized the deadline would fall during my week's vacation on Hilton Head Island; of course I wouldn't be able to participate.  But wait, didn't I tell myself I wanted to do less dining-out and more dining-in on this trip?  Yep, I sure did!  And don't I have friends who love to be subjected to this kind of shiz?  Yes, I sure do!

Despite tropical storm Beryl threatening us with clouds and questionable weather, Memorial Day was beautiful.  While the guys grilled some meats and a lovely sauteed veggie dish I prepared a salad bar! And to quote directly from Grumpy Granny "What's a salad?  You define it.  This is your playground."

This post is very picture-heavy mostly because there's nothing more beautiful than photos of food taken in natural sun light...and my friend Jessica let me use her fancy schmancy camera.  Must. Upgrade. Soon! The salad bar included a spring and romaine mix of lettuce with grape tomatoes, cucumber, snow peas, pepitas and dried cranberries.  We also had the grilled veggie mixture which included green and red peppers and zucchini plus some oven roasted asparagus and eggplant.

 Side view of the raw salad bar with Spanish moss and the golf course in the background:)

It's true, everyone's idea of a salad is different.   Some were minimalists (I was a maximalist!), some had just meat and potatoes and some had just a few sprigs of asparagus.  What can we say, it was our playground!   I love options.  Don't we all?  And a salad bar offers a chance to let your uniqueness shine.  As you can see from the pics, no two salad are created equal.  As far as picking a contender, well, I guess I'll pick mine since this is my blog:)

My salad was a base of the spring/romaine mix, topped with cucumber, grape tomatoes, pepitas, grilled green peppers, over-roasted eggplant and topped with asparagus.  After I ate all the grilled veggies off the top I used a little Marzetti Simply Made Caesar dressing for the remaining greens and veg.  The burger with American cheese and 1/2 sweet potato plus 1/2 a regular potato really rounded out the meal. 
 Here's to fresh veggies and hoping this vacation never ends!

6 comments:

  1. yummy Katie! Now it's time to come to Milford and try it out in this natural sunlight! :)

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  2. What a fantastic array of options you assembled for your salad bar! The pepitas are a great touch, and I love that you included a couple of roasted veggies to round out the raw goodness. “Build your own” bars are a great way to go when you’re prepping food for a crowd. Your tale of doing this on your vacation reminded me of a family reunion in the mountains where we did build your own rice bowls (with a variety of veg and proteins) one night and a Mexican smorgasbord another night. From toddlers to grandparents, everyone could customize and come up with a dinner they were happy with.

    Your photos are absolutely tantalizing, and I’m so glad you shared a glimpse of your vacation surroundings. Hope you had a great vacation. There’s no doubt you ate well :)

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  3. See, now, that's how to do a salad! I loved everything you had to offer and I love how different people made different combinations to their tastes. I'm with Eggy above, I LOVE me some roasted veggies on a salad. When it comes to great gatherings, "build your own" is a great way to go. Thanks for playing!!

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  4. What, no sneeze shield over that salad bar? Good on you for cooking on your vacation. I'm with IE in liking the roasted vegatables with salad. And I can never get enough asparagus.

    My family and I have been to Hilton Head twice and I really like it. We stayed in the Sea Crest villa Condos off of Coligny circle. Hope you enjoyed your time there and I also hope to be in the next challenge after The Mrs. is done with the work on our kitchen.

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  5. I love grilled and roasted veggies in a salad - as well as pepitas and asparagus.

    I love Hilton Head in the fall when the whords have left the area... plus we have friends nearby we visit too, it's a lovely area off season.

    Nice Salad!!

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  6. Hi Katie,
    My name is Jane and I'm with Dwellable.
    I was looking for blogs about the Sea Crest on Hilton Head to share on our site and I came across your post...If you're open to it, shoot me an email at jane(at)dwellable(dot)com.
    Hope to hear from you!
    Jane

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