10 Summer Salad Recipes: Learn to Make Fresh Summer Salads

Summer salads are fresh, light salads made of in-season fruits and vegetables in the summer months. You can use fresh produce from the farmers’ market to make cool and refreshing summer salads with a vinaigrette salad dressing. Popular summer salads also include mixtures of cut fruit with fresh herbs and grain-based salads with chickpeas and arugula.

A refreshing summer salad can feature a mixture of vegetables, fruit, grains, and cheese:

1. 1. Vegetables: The veggies and herbs popular for summer salads include avocados, radishes, arugula, red onion, romaine lettuce, zucchini, cilantro, and fresh basil.
2. 2. Fruit: Popular in-season fruit for summer salads includes sweet corn, cucumber, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon.
3. 3. Grains: Cold salads made with noodle, orzo, farro, pasta, and couscous are popular in warm-weather months.
4. 4. Cheese: You can add a mild cheese to a summer salad, which will give it some creaminess and saltiness. Popular cheeses include feta cheese, Parmesan, and mozzarella.

You can make these summery salads with your farmers’ market bounty:

1. 1. Arugula avocado salad: Pair peppery arugula with creamy avocado for the perfect simple green salad. For an easy vegan, gluten-free lunch or weeknight dinner, add cooked quinoa and chickpeas to your arugula salad. For a non-vegan alternative, try crumbled feta cheese or shaved Parmesan cheese or goat cheese.
2. 2. Caesar salad: Caesar salad is a salad of romaine lettuce, croutons, Parmesan cheese, and dressing. Though the ingredients can vary, in general, the creamy dressing for Caesar salad is made from egg yolk, anchovy paste, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice. The combination of refreshing, crisp lettuce and creamy, umami-rich dressing has made Caesar salad a tangy comfort food staple. To make a vegan Caesar salad, omit the Parmesan in the salad and dressing, substitute the egg yolk with tahini, and use capers instead of anchovy.
3. 3. Chickpea salad: Mediterranean chickpea salad takes the flavors of a Greek salad and adds protein-packed garbanzo beans. It includes a combo of cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and chickpeas, and tosses it with a simple vinaigrette of red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.
4. 4. Cobb salad: Cobb salad is a chopped salad, with ingredients that are chopped and arranged over a bed of mixed greens. Traditionally, the lettuces for cobb salad are romaine, iceberg, endive, and watercress, which all get topped with a combo of crispy bacon, crumbled Roquefort cheese, shredded cheddar, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, chopped chicken or turkey, and tomato. The whole thing then gets dressed with red wine vinaigrette and sprinkled with chives. To make a vegan cobb salad, substitute the meat with hearty protein sources such as chickpeas or nuts. Cobb salad can be served as a main dish.
5. 5. Potato salad: Potato salad is a side dish that combines cooked potatoes with mayonnaise, mustard, fresh herbs, and crunchy elements like pickles or crisp radishes, resulting in a harmonious balance between savory and sweet. As standard fare at BBQs, cookouts, potlucks, and deli lunch counters everywhere, potato salad is a simple, satisfying side dish with unlimited iterations.
6. 6. Caprese salad: This Italian tomato salad features fresh basil leaves, mozzarella, and heirloom tomatoes. The summer salad is typically served as an appetizer or side dish in the summertime when fresh tomatoes are abundant.
   
7. 7. Mexican corn salad: Mexican corn salad is topped with fresh lime juice, mayonnaise, butter, cheese, and chili powder or hot sauce. In Mexico and parts of the U.S. such as Texas, street vendors often sell these corn cups (aka elote en vaso, or “corn in a cup”) side by side with elotes, or grilled corn on the cob. At home, esquites make a refreshing side dish for tacos, quesadillas, or tamales. To make corn salad vegan, use vegan mayonnaise.
8. 8. Smacked cucumber salad: A smacked cucumber salad heavily features fresh cucumbers that you tap with a knife; this process breaks down cucumbers’ texture so they can better absorb flavors, particularly salt. A good smacked cucumber salad recipe includes sesame seeds, parsley leaves, garlic, and olive oil.
9. 9. Papaya salad: Green papaya salad, also known as som tam, is a Thai dish consisting of cool, crunchy strips of shredded unripe green papaya, green beans, cherry tomatoes, and cabbage. The salad is tossed with a tangy-sweet dressing made with a lime dressing of garlic, palm sugar, tamarind, lime juice, and crushed red chilies, then seasoned with dried shrimp and fish sauce.
10. 10. Watermelon salad: Sweet watermelon and salty feta cheese produce a stunning flavor combination in this easy summer fruit salad. Watermelon feta salad is a refreshing side dish for a summertime cookout. Try it with Mediterranean lamb chops, crispy fried chicken, tacos al pastor, grilled chicken and zucchini, tomato and balsamic vinegar bruschetta, or arugula avocado pasta salad.

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