hello summer salads, nice to see ya!

I had some company visit this past weekend which means, try out some new recipes or old ones I haven't made in a while. Boy, were they a hit! First, I tried my friend's recipe, velvet's asian chicken wraps. Absolutely delicious.
For another meal, a layered chef's salad that I've eaten before but never made myself and a salad I haven't made in a while, pink salad. Why all the salads? It's been in the 90+ degrees since Saturday, so cold meals were a must. These 2 salad recipes are great for company, cookouts or potluck and both need to be made a day ahead so they can refrigerate overnight.
The layered chef's salad came out marvey and I kind of made my own twist to it. There's a lot of chopping involved but I just put my guests to work and it went much quicker! (: The beauty of this salad is that as long as you have some lettuce on the bottom and the dressing on top, you can put whatever you like in the middle. Here's what I concocted.

MB's Layered Salad
Ingredients
1/2 small head of lettuce, chopped
english cuke, sliced, half moons
celery, sliced
1 small can water chestnuts, drained
carrots, shredded
frozen peas, uncooked
tomato, sliced
red bell pepper, diced
I would've used onion but my guests preferred the 'essence' of onion so I added some onion powder to the dressing instead.

Dressing:
about 1 (8oz) jar of mayo
1 tblsp dijon mustard
1 tblsp sugar
stir above together in separate bowl
about 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese-to be added on top of dressing

Topping:
6-8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
3-4 hard boiled eggs, sliced
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Layer serving dish starting with lettuce, and then add each veggie in a single layer in any order. We had to push down on the layers to make sure there was enough room for the dressing and toppings. (:
2. Top with dressing and parm cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight-the dressing seeps into the salad.
3. Just before serving, sprinkle on bacon and eggs, top with black pepper. Serve immediately.

NOTE: I didn't include amounts of veggies because it really depends on the serving dish you're using to make even layers. It also depends on how much you're making which can change how much dressing to make as well. Guideline: This recipe served 4 adults easily and it was the main dish of the meal.

I don't have a pic of the salad but here's a pic of the pretty dish I borrowed from my mom.

Ok, pink salad. Super simple and easy. It may take all of 2 minutes to make and then put in the fridge overnight for a yummy, cold, sweet dessert the next day.


Pink Salad
Ingredients
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 oz) container Lite Cool Whip
1 can lite cherry or strawberry pie filling
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained

Directions:
1. In a 10 cup glass serving bowl (ie. Pyrex), stir together milk and cool whip.
2. Fold in pie filling and then stir in the pineapple.
3. Cover and refrigerate overnight-allows time to set.
4. Serve next day and enjoy a cool dessert on a hot day!