Wednesday, June 1, 2011

What I'm Cooking Wednesday: Olive Garden Salad

Luke has been working a side job most weeknights lately, so I've been spending a lot of time home alone in the evenings. I've been eating a lot of salads and sandwiches for dinner on the nights he's not home, because what's the sense in making a big dinner for one?

One day last week I was really hungry for an Olive Garden salad. I don't know what it is about their salads, but they are just delicious! Usually the salad is my favorite part of the meal; I could go just for that and their breadsticks. So I threw together all the things I had on hand that I knew were in an Olive Garden salad, and then I found a dressing recipe online. It was so easy, but delicious!
Did it taste just like an Olive Garden salad? Not quite...the dressing recipe says that sugar is optional, but I think I added a little too much. It was just a bit too sweet. But it was still delicious!

Here is what I added to my salad
  • iceburg lettuce
  • tomato chunks
  • onion (would have rather done red onion, but only have Vidalias)
  • croutons
  • black olives
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Homemade Olive Garden salad dressing
Below is the recipe for the salad dressing, found HERE

Ingredients:
1/2 c mayonnaise
1/3 c white vinegar
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp ramano cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp parsley flakes
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients in a blender until well mixed.
2. Add a little sugar if the dressing is too tart for your taste...but don't add too much, like I did!
3. chill in a refrigerator for at least a half hour before serving

This is such an easy salad made up of things that I have in my kitchen pretty much all the time. It will go great with an Italian dish. Throw some spaghetti together and make this salad on a night when you can't figure out what to make for dinner...it's as simple as it gets!
Yum!

2 comments:

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