Salad recipes

Tallahassee chicken salad keeps it Southern simple: poached chicken thighs, crisp diced celery, mayonnaise, and a hit of hot pepper sauce. Three ingredients, big Florida-panhandle flavor.

Cubed turkey and elbow macaroni tossed with bell peppers, celery, and onions in a basil-spiked mayonnaise dressing, then baked warm. A quick 30-minute leftover turkey meal the whole family will love.

Szechuan pasta chicken salad: a cold noodle salad with poached chicken, crunchy snow peas, bamboo shoots, peppers, and a creamy soy-sesame-chili dressing. Make-ahead party platter that improves overnight.

Seven layer salad with crisp iceberg, water chestnuts, peas, and a sweet parmesan-mayo dressing, finished with bacon and hard-boiled egg. A make-ahead potluck classic that chills overnight.

Chicken apple salad with diced unpeeled apples, celery, raisins, and lemon-mayo dressing served in crisp lettuce cups. A light, crunchy no-cook chicken salad ready in 5 minutes.

Fruity chicken salad with mandarin oranges, green grapes, toasted almonds, and a zesty lime-nutmeg mayo dressing. No cooking needed, just 15 minutes to assemble.

Confetti crab salad with lump crab meat, chopped radishes, capers, and fresh parsley in a lemon-mayo dressing. A bright, no-cook seafood salad ready in 10 minutes.

Dilly beef salad with cubed cooked beef, stuffed olives, pickled onions, and green pepper in a beer and dill mayonnaise dressing. A tangy, cold meat salad for lunch or picnics.

Sweet and tangy potato salad with a cooked dressing made from eggs, sugar, vinegar, and cream. A Pennsylvania Dutch staple with hard-boiled eggs and celery seed.

Spicy Southwestern potato salad with Rotel tomatoes, crumbled bacon, spicy brown mustard, and mayo. Red-skinned potatoes keep their shape while soaking up all that smoky, tangy heat.

A playful Hanukkah fruit salad the kids will love: banana halves standing in pineapple rings to look like candles, topped with orange gumdrop flames and green pepper handles. No cooking, just crafting and snacking.

A two-layer Jello salad with a cherry pie filling base topped by a creamy lemon layer of cream cheese, pineapple, whipped cream, and marshmallows. Serves 12 from a 9x13 pan.

Overnight layered salad with chicken, spinach, lettuce, cheddar, and radishes sealed under a tangy mayonnaise-mustard dressing. Make it the night before and toss to serve.

Pecan cheese gelatin salad with pineapple, cottage cheese, whipped cream, marshmallows, and sour cream set in a fruity mold. A classic Southern potluck side.

Pineapple-peach salad with pinwheel-arranged peach slices on fresh pineapple rings, garnished with strawberries, peppery watercress and a dab of mayonnaise. A retro ladies-lunch classic.

Curried chicken barley salad with grapes, walnuts, and celery in a curry mayonnaise dressing. A hearty, chilled main-course salad served in cantaloupe halves.