When you hear the word, “Spring”, what’s the first thing to pop into your mind?

Maybe you think of fresh cut grass and buds popping up on the trees, perhaps you hear a choir of birds chirping happily.

I think of salad- any kind of salad made of fresh, crunchy ingredients. Sometimes I start with a bed of salad, and sometimes I don’t. I love mixing it up.

When I go to the grocery store, I make sure my produce has lots of variety. On my list, I always have cucumber, tomatoes, peppers in a rainbow of colours, carrots, green onion and red onion. On occasion, I’ll pick up some Brussels sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, baby corn, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts and olives.

I always make sure to add protein to my salad. My favourite protein to add is chopped up chicken breast, mock crab, and shrimp.

The dressing is always the same. I don’t measure anything, (that would be too easy!), but I basically take a measuring cup (2 cup measuring cup), put about 1/3 cup of canola, then add enough balsamic vinegar (or rice wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar) until the liquid measures about 1/2 cup. Then I take some honey mustard, and swirl it into the dressing about 4 times, add a shake of hot sauce, a pinch of salt, a sprinkle of garlic powder, and 2-3 pinches of white sugar (depending on how big your pinch is). Take a mini whisk and whisk it up. Your dressing should be thick, light brown, and sweet. It’s a crowd pleaser!

To top off my salad, I love to throw on something super crunchy, like roasted pumpkin seeds, or dry roasted mealworms (but that’s a different conversation for another time).

Now that your mouth is watering, and you’re feeling inspired, here are a couple of great sites that have some amazing fresh salad ideas.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/category/dishtype/salad/#CzUJ0vWd4KD5BGbc.97

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/menus_and_collections/top_summer_salad_recipes.php