Garden Salad

By Lidey Heuck

Total Time 20 minutes Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 5 minutes

This simple salad works well as a side for almost any main dish and is an excellent way to use up whatever fresh vegetables you have on hand. You’ll end up with a delicious, well-balanced salad as long as you combine mild, crunchy items, like tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, with more intensely flavored ones, like radishes and raw onion. Homemade balsamic, ranch or your favorite bottled dressing will all work well here, but do wait to dress the salad until right before serving for best results.

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

1medium head of green or red lettuce, or ½ large head of iceberg lettuce (10 to 12 ounces)
1cup cherry tomatoes, halved, or 1 medium tomato (5 to 6 ounces), cut into wedges
1cup shredded or diced carrot (about 3 small to medium carrots)
1cup thinly sliced cucumber, peeled if desired
½cup thinly sliced radishes (about 4 radishes)
½cup thinly sliced red onion (about ½ medium onion), optional
⅓cup chopped fresh herbs (such as parsley, basil or mint), optional
1small to medium avocado (optional), diced
Salad dressing, for serving
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Step 1
Rinse and dry lettuce leaves and place in a large bowl, tearing larger leaves into smaller pieces.
Step 2
Add the tomatoes, carrots, cucumber and radishes, as well as the red onion, herbs and avocado, if using, and toss well. Drizzle ¼ cup dressing over the salad and toss again. Season with salt and pepper and more dressing to taste. Serve immediately.