Every dinner party I lug out a random bowl to cradle the dinner salad.  Depending on the size of the group, it will range from huge to Goliath-size.  I quite possibility may have a phobia dealing with running out of food for my guests so I tend to overdo the portion amount.

There are worse phobias to have.

How many times have you shut the door after the last guest only to realize that your salad leftovers are overflowing?  You would think that is a good thing until you remember that you tossed the salad with a dressing.  As you bag up the soggy leftovers, you know your efforts are futile.  There isn’t much worse then day-old soggy salad leftovers.

“Why don’t you keep the salad dressing separate?” you ask.

“Of course, that would only be the logical thing to do,” I answer.

Sometimes you want a dressed salad.  It happens.

Recently I was strolling around in the archives of one of my newest favorite blogs, casayellow. Sarah, the blog author, inspires me with her visuals and her stories.  I am smitten with her style, her words, her recipes, and fresh take on food. And then, I found it. Her summer platter salad.

I am smitten with her summer platter salad.

It is the perfect salad to make for company.

It is the perfect salad to purposely make and let it sit in the fridge for several days.  Yes, on purpose.

It is the perfect grazing salad and I am hooked.

Sarah’s provides the basis for the summer platter salad on her blog and tells us to improvise and I have.  The yellow squash ribbons are pretty but I now leave it out.  Definitely use sugar snap peas instead of snow peas. And by all means, buy a bag of organic frozen peas and let them thaw before tossing in the salad.  There is no need to cook them so this salad whips up in minutes.

The dressing is the kicker.  White balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and chopped up handful of scallions.

That dressing, my friends, will be your new best friend.

Happy salad grazing!

Eat well, my friends. Eat well.

Lyndi