This is my favorite salad. It is, in my opinion, salad perfected.

My husband is not a salad person. He likes veggies, but his initial reaction to my Salad for dinner? question is No. However, he loves this salad. He even requests it sometimes.

We went to Paris a few years ago. Wed been traveling all day and there was futbol (the sport we Americans call soccer) to be watched. We hunkered down in what appeared to be a hidden Parisian pub and, after days of ingesting heavy British food, were delighted to spot salads on the menu. But, these were no ordinary sports-pub-iceberg-lettuce salads. These were large, beautiful bowls filled with fresh butter lettuce, juicy tomatoes, avocado, green beans, roasted potato slices, cubes of cheese, hard-boiled eggs and grilled fish. And, that salad was delicious.

So delicious, in fact, that we craved those salads when we returned home. While my version always contains a green-leaf lettuce (like butter or romaine), cherry tomatoes, shaved carrots and cucumber, I always throw in other veggies and proteins that I have on hand. In this particular salad, I added hard-boiled egg whites, diced avocado, diced yellow bell pepper, grilled asparagus spears, capers, white Cannellini beans and grilled salmon. I tossed the salad with a quick homemade dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar mixed with a little honey, lemon juice and Dijon mustard.

Yes, this salad is great during the summer, especially with a glass of white wine. But, it was warm enough to grill outside in the mid-Atlantic last week. (This week is a different story a snow storm is about to blow through as I write this.) Served alongside a crusty loaf of whole wheat bread, it was a perfect dinner.

Whats your favorite seafood or fish salad? Please share with us! Feel free to leave a comment here or email me at rkleiner@nfi.org.

Posted by Rima Kleiner, MS, RD