86-Lancastor Farming, Saturday, July 24, 1999 Summertime Salads Salads are more popular than ever. It’s no wonder. Salads are light, fresh, crisp, and healthy, and above all else versatile. Few other foods can creatively start off a meal, serve as a side dish, top off a dinner or even star as the main entree. Wonderful green, pasta or even meat-based salads can support a nutritionally balanced diet and offer a fanciful and hearty alterna tive to traditional supper fare. As side dishes, salads complement all kinds of entrees. There’s always a place fra* sensational salads on the lunch or dinner plate. Home cooks are preparing their favorite salads with everything from turkey, chicken and beef to vegetables and fruits over a variety of lettuce. And with the surge in popularity of convenient, pre packaged salad greens found at grocery produce counters, salad preparations arc easier than ever. Flavored and blended with tan talizing dressings and topped with taste teasers like croutons, bacon bits, and a variety of rich cheese blends, salad combinations are plentiful and diverse. CREAM CHEESE SALAD Dissolve 2V: tablespoons plain gelatin in V: cup cold water. Bring to a boil 1 cup crushed pineapple and 1 cup sugar. Add gelatin mixture to pineap ple and stir until dissolved. Chill until slightly thickened. Add 8-ounces softened cream cheese and a few marachino cherries, cut in pieces. Fold in 1 pint whipped cream and place in refrigerator until ready to serve. Serves 10-12 people. Norecn Rouse Sullivan Co. Dairy Princess BEEF GARDEN SALAD 'A head iceberg lettuce 'A pound fresh mushrooms, sliced 1 cup thinly sliced celery 1 cup sliced cucumber 'A cup ripe olive halves 'A cup sliced green onions 1 pound roast beef, cut into julianne strips 18 cherry tomatoes, halved Salt to taste Favorite dressing Tear lettuce into bite-sized pieces and place in salad bowl. Add all but tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss in tomatoes and add salt Serve with favorite dressing. Yields; 6-8 servings. Recipe Topics If you have recipes for the topics listed below, please share them with us. We welcome your recipes, but ask that you include accurate measurements, a complete list of ingredients and clear instructions with each recipe you submit. Send your recipes to Lou Ann Good, Lancaster Farming, P.O. Box 609, Ephrata, PA 17522. Recipes should reach our office one week before publishing date listed below. July 31 - Recipes Using Corn August 7 - Pickling Recipes PEAR AND GRAPE SALAD 3 cups spinach leaves, washed 2 sliced peats 1 cup seedless ted grapes '/i cup sliced celery 2 tablespoons pecan pieces 'h cup plain lowfat yogurt '/«cup apricot or raspberry spreadable fruit Arrange spinach on platter. Place peats pinwheel-fashion on top. Dot with grapes, celery, and pecans. Combine yogurt and pre serves and serve with salad. Serves four, with 140 calories and 3 grams fat per serving. Penn State Extension TOSSED MUSHROOM SALAD ‘A pound fresh spinach 'A head iceberg lettuce 'A pound fresh mushooms, sliced 12 cherry tomatoes, halved 8 tablespoons yogurt 3 tablespoons French dressing V< teaspoon crushed basil V« teaspoon garlic powder Tear spinach and lettuce into bite-sized pieces and place into a salad bowl. Add sliced mushrooms and sliced tomatoes. Whisk together yogurt, dress ing, basil, and garlic powder. Pour over salad and toss gently. Yields 6 to 8 servings. Dressing: '/> cup plain yogurt I medium orange, sectioned 1 small banana 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest '/«teaspoon salt Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Place in covered container until ready to serve. Yields: 1 cup. Salad: 4 cups shredded iceberg lettuce 'h cup thinly sliced celery 1 large banana, sliced 1 large orange, sectioned 1 pink grapefruit, sectioned 1 cup strawberries, halved 1 cup seedless grapes, halved Mix together celery and other fruit. In bottom of each salad bowl, place one-half cup shredded let tuce. Divide fruit mixture into 8 servings. Place 2 tablespoons dressing on top of each serving. Yields: 8 servings. 14- 21 - Peaches & Pears Summer Produce B. Light Lebanon FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SALAD Salads are a rejuvening temperatures. SEAFOOD VEGETABLE SALAD I'A cups lowfat yogurt 2'A tablespoons Dijon-style mustard Juice of 'A lemon 'A teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated 1 pound cooked lobster, shrimp, crab or combination, cooked 'A head iceberg lettuce, tom into bite-sized pieces 10-ounces cooked asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 cup thinly sliced celery Vi cup red onions, chopped Salt and pepper to taste Whisk together yogurt, mus tard, lemon juice, and zest Place in serving container. Cut up seafood and toss with let tuce, asparagus, celery, onion, salt and pepper to taste. To serve, place portions in bowls and top with a spoonful of dressing. Serves 4 to 6. GRILLED CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD V* cup olive oil 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 clove garlic, minced V« teaspoon salt Vs teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves 2 tablespoons mayonnaise 6 cups tom or sliced romainc let tuce or salad greens 1 cup parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, divided Vj cup garlic croutons In large bowl, wlusk together oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Brush 2 tablespoons oil mixture on both sides of chicken breast halves. Grill chicken over medium coals S minutes per side or until chicken is no longer pink. Add mayonnaise to remaining oil mixture. Add lettuce, % cup cheese, and croutons. Toss well. Arrange lettuce mixture on four serving plates. Cut grilled chicken crosswise into ‘A -inch slices; arrange on top of salads. Top with remaining cheese. mainstay to meals served during summer’s humid Where's your mustache? " Baby carrots peeled from bigger bites How do they make those baby carrots that are already peeled? Ah, convenience foods Aren’t they wonderful? And when they help you reach your goal of eating five servings of fruits or vegetables a day—well, it just doesn't get any better than that. As you've probably already guessed, most bite-sized carrots are not miniature varieties of your favorite crunchy orange vegetable. - Although there are some carrot varietiestljat mature when they’re tiny; it ia more difficult to process .those carrots to end up with a standardized size. Most ready-to-eat carrots start out as varieties that mature when they’re 6 to 8 Inches long. They are grOWn closer together than usual to stunt their growth. Processors wash them in chlorinated water and cut them to their familiar, uniform 2-tnch size, theirput the pieces through a processor that spins them, massagesoff the rough exterior and rounds the cut edges. The carrots are not treated with heat or chemicals, and they normally do not contain any preservatives So,topreservethem as long as possible, they are refrigerated between 34 and 3G degrees At that temperature, they can last 29 days. If they're mistakenly stored above 40 degrees, they’ll lose a day of shelf (Turn to Pago 85) MILK life for each degree above that temperature. To further prolong their freshness, processors Of “minimally processed produce” can use something called “controlled atmosphere storage," in which some of the oxygen is replaced with carbon dioxide or nitrogen or a mixture of both. This slows down the vegetable’s respiration—the process in which a plant cell breaks doata carbohydrates to supply energy. Believe it or not, even though this produce is out of the ground and in plastic bags, its cells continue to “breathe,” as does any cut plant Removing oxygen helps keep them in good condition. While fresh-cut carrots are mort expensive than their traditional counterparts, the convenience of just opening the bag and opening your mouth is no smki)'' consideration. And you cajy thoroughly eiyoy them, know&jf’ that 3.6 ounces contains only. 43 caiones, 3 grams of to three times your daily dose of vitamin A, plus about 15 percent of your daily need of both vitamin C and potassium Chow Line rs a service of The Ohio Stale University Send questions to Chow Line, Com munications and Tech-nology, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 40210-1044, or send e-mail (can oil 11 @osu edu)