Salad Recipe for a Crowd

Asain chop salad. I made one recently that was amazing. Google Asian chop, and it should be the raw chef link. It really is a great recipe.

Or, I like to make a southwest bean salad -test kithen.

Those are my favorite crowd recipes.

Ramen Noodle Salad

1. Dressing:
1 cup olive oil
½ c balsamic vinegar (forbest flavor)
3 t soy sauce
1 cup sugar
½ t salt
* Mix dressing before salad preparation so ingredients can blend. Shake dressing often to help sugar dissolve.

2. CrunchyMixture:
1 stick of butter
2packages (any) Ramen noodles break into small pieces (discard bouillon)
½c salted sunflower seeds
¾c slivered almonds

Sauténoodles, seeds, and almonds in butter over medium heat until lightly
browned.Allow mixture to cool.

3. Salad:
1 large broccoli head, chopped into smallpieces
2-3heads of Romaine lettuce (or 4 Romaine hearts); chop/tear into pieces
5 green onions, chopped

Toss lettuce with noodle mixture and shake dressing right before serving.

If you want something a little different, my new go-to recipe is an Israeli couscous salad. It's a nice alternative to a pasta salad and there's no mayo.

Israeli couscous is bigger than regular couscous - you can find it with the rice products, or in the kosher section. It's also sometimes called "pearl couscous). When cooked, it's bigger than regular couscous but smaller than barley, if that helps. It comes in all white (like regular pasta) or in tricolor. Sometimes it says "toasted couscous" and the directions say to fry it up first and then add water, and other times it's like a typical rice recipe where you boil the water, add the couscous, and cook until the liquid is absorbed. You can also substitute vegetable or chicken brother for some or all of the water, or tomato juice.

For 8 people as a side dish, I do 1 cup couscous and about 1-1/4 cups liquid, and add some oil or butter to help it not be too sticky. Then it cooks for about 12 minutes until the water is absorbed. Take it off the heat, and let it cool a little. Add 1/4 olive oil and 1/4 cup rice vinegar (available in Asian food section or with other vinegars), and mix. While it's cooking and cooling, cut up as many vegetables as you like: cucumbers, tomatoes (I use grape tomatoes cut in half), onions, and a lot of fresh parsley are traditional in Israeli salad,. I also use any of the following: celery, carrots, green or red peppers - anything you would put in a regular pasta salad. Quantities don't matter. As the couscous cools substantially (close to room temp), you can mix in the veggies - if it's too hot, the cucumbers will get soggy. Break up any couscous that sticks together using the side of a spoon. Other things you can add, especially to make it a main dish salad, are protein sources like chickpeas and beans. If you keep adding a ton of veggies, you may need to add more oil & vinegar in equal amounts. You can also add salt & pepper to taste.

At this point, the salad can be refrigerated overnight and just stirred & fluffed up when you are ready to serve. Because there is no mayo, it keeps very well in outdoor parties and BBQs.

1. spinach, strawberry, red onion with balsamic, salt, pepper, oil, and a bit of worchestire.
2. poached pear, blue cheese on a mixed green base.
3. chick peas, roasted red peppers, onions, calamata olives & portabello mushrooms on a mixed green base.
4. granny smith apples, cubed peppermill turkey, swiss with a honey mustard dressing over your choice of greens.
5. apricot, almonds, alfalfa sprouts, asiago, grapes with a peppercorn dressing over your choice of greens.

Best,
F. B.

(just salt/ dress the salad at the last moment and you should be fine).

Mixed greens, dried fruits (chopped dried apricots, dried cranberries, golden raisins), cooked shelled edamame, toasted nuts (chopped walnuts, chopped pecans or slivered almonds), and cooked couscous.

Make a simple vinaigrette with olive oil, red wine vinegar and a splash of pure pomegranate juice for a touch of sweetness.

I go to Taste of Home recipes for a crowd or group and get lots and lots and lots of good ideas.

Maybe not "interesting" but I love a huge green garden salad with a WIDE variety of veggies!

I would do a huge garden salad with good greens. Like Roman and spinach and then thinly sliced veggies. Like radishes red onion English cucumber wedges of tomatoes thinly sliced peppers like red yellow or orange then put cheeses (shredded, feta, blu) in bowls on the side with a bowl of home made crutons ( good bread not white bread but a good french bread. Cut into cubes and put in the oven to toast and then toss in a skillet that has warm olive oil herbs garlic and salt and pepper and toss the crutons in it for flavor) so much better then store bought and takes 5 minutes. And then get a few different dressings. An Italian, ranch, blu cheese, ceaser, then a red wine or balsamic vinaigrette and put them out for people to dress the salad how they like.

If this is not a strictly vegetarian salad, just make sure it has real bacon bits in it, that guarantees it to be a crowd pleaser :)

Last year I made a pasta salad for our Easter potluck at church and everyone liked it. It filled a large tin container so I'd say it served at least 20 people. Here is the link from my website:

http://faithfulcooking.blogspot.com/2014/04/ham-pasta-sal...

Budget salad, make a mixed green salad and add "the" salad dressing before the dinner is served. Mix it up and serve.

Variety salad, wash and cut some lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, and set out side dishes of almost everything and anything. Set out a couple of dressings and let the guests build their own.

Do you have a Costco near you? Go and buy a couple of bags of Kale salad. It's absolutely fantastic!!