Cool salads on hot days!

Has this recent streak of hot weather driven a desire to cool off with salads? But, maybe you don’t have the time to make a complicated salad? Or, maybe, because the days have been hot, you want to spend time outdoors, not cooped up in a kitchen?

These two salad recipes are the answers to the above questions. They are quick, simple and don’t require a lot of ingredients. Simple is the operative word. One of the reasons I would rather eat a salad at a restaurant is because it takes a long time to chop, dice, slice, and tear the ingredients. These two salads will solve that problem -- they can be made in a flash!

Buenos Aires Avocado Salad

This was served to me by my friend, Charlie Greer, who discovered the recipe while on a business trip to Brazil.

Ingredients:

• 6 leaves of Belgian endive
• 12 slices of avocado
• Bleu cheese
• Balsamic vinegar

Lay whole endive leaf on plate and layer with two slices of avocado per leaf. Crumble bleu cheese over avocado and endive, then sprinkle balsamic vinegar over the entire salad.

Cool and Colorful Berry Salad

I wanted to serve a berry salad that wasn’t overpowered by strawberries, so I decided to use these three berries because they are similar in size.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup blackberries
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup whipped cream

Wash berries, arrange in three bowls. Divide cup of whipped cream into 1/3 cup portions and top salads with cream. Makes three one-cup salad servings. (May add sugar to taste.)