7 gourmet salad recipes

Gourmet pasta salad with garlic-parsley spaghetti, artichoke hearts, capers, diced tomatoes, and scallions in a spicy olive oil-mustard dressing. Vegetarian and ready in 25 minutes.

Prepare a salad like the top chefs do with this recipe that will have you wanting seconds!

Fresh herb salad dressing with dill, tarragon, chervil, chives, and marjoram steeped in olive oil. A French-inspired vinaigrette that improves the longer it sits.

This Pasta Salad with Cucumber, Tomato, and Feta was not something I had planned on blogging about. It merely came about because I had nothing to cook for dinner, save a package of gluten-free pasta I had picked up for emergencies and a variety of veggies from my CSA. Then my husband loved it so much that he had two helpings, and he insisted that I write about it. I’m trying to move my family towards a more grain-free existence, but sometimes I just don’t have it in me to think gourmet. Sometimes, we do the best that we can. All this is my way of saying that the amounts of ingredients here are really just approximations. I have no idea what exactly I put in here to make it taste so yummy. You’ll have to channel your inner Italian grandma, and just mix in ingredients until the food tastes good.

Gourmet roast chicken salad with yogurt-curry dressing, Belgian endive, papaya, toasted coconut, and baby greens. A restaurant-style composed salad from a simple roast chicken.

Elaborate muffuletta with homemade olive salad loaded with roasted red peppers, jalapeños, fresh vegetables, and oregano. Broiled until the cheese melts for a hot, gourmet sandwich experience.

I make this chicken and roast beef muffulettas very often. Last year for super bowl, they were even not enough. My friends kept asking me for more of these sandwiches...