What You Need:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. low fat cream cheese, room temperature

1 C low fat sour cream

1/3 C sugar

2 t vanilla extract

2 lbs. seedless green grapes

2 lbs. seedless red grapes

3 T brown sugar

3 T pecans, chopped

How to Make The Salad:

Place the cream cheese into a large mixing bowl.

Add the sour cream to the bowl.

Sprinkle the sugar into the mixture.

Pour in the vanilla extract.

Use an electric mixer on medium speed and beat the ingredients until smooth and well blended.

Fold the grapes into the cream mixture, being sure they are covered well.

Cover the bowl tightly, and refrigerate 1 hour or until chilled through.

Place the brown sugar in a mixing bowl.

Add the pecans and coat them with the brown sugar.

Sprinkle the mixture over the salad just before serving.

Serves: 16

The brown sugar and pecans set the tone for this salad. Use any type of grape you like as long as they are seedless. This makes a great salad for potluck dinners or a family get together, or just a special treat for your family as the weather gets warmer.

What You Need:

4 pears

1/2 C honey

6 C salad greens

3 T extra virgin olive oil

1 C toasted walnuts, chopped coarse

1 (8 oz.) pkg. Italian cheese, shredded

How to Make It:

Peel the pears and remove the core.

Cut the pears into thick slices then cut each slice into quarters.

Pour the honey into a bowl.

Place the pear quarters into the honey and coat.

Place the salad greens into a salad bowl.

Drizzle the oil over the greens and toss to coat well.

Place the honey coated pears into the salad.

Sprinkle the walnuts over the entire salad.

Top with the shredded cheese.

Serves: 4

To toast walnuts place them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the walnuts are a pale brown and fragrant. Cool the walnuts before adding them to the salad.

What You Need:

1 (20 oz.) can pineapple tidbits with juice

5 bananas, sliced

1/2 C sugar

1 (16 oz.) can whole cranberry sauce

1/3 C pecans, chopped

1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping, thawed

How to Make It:

Drain the juice from the pineapple into a mixing bowl.

Add the sliced bananas to the juice, and let stand 5 minutes.

Place the sugar into a separate mixing bowl.

Add the cranberry sauce to the sugar and blend together well.

Use a slotted spoon and remove the bananas from the juice and discard the juice.

Fold the pineapple into the mixture.

Add the pecans and stir to combine.

Fold the whipped topping in until all the ingredients are combined well.

Spread into a very lightly greased 9X13 glass pan.

Cover and place in the freezer at least 4 hours or until frozen through.

Allow the salad to stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

Serves: 8

The cranberry sauce and pecans are optional in this recipe. Add a can of cherry or blueberry pie filling instead. This is a tasty treat for the whole family, part salad, part dessert, and all yummy.

A luxurious tasty treat.

1 large head radicchio

4 C baby spinach

4 plums, pitted and quartered

1/2 C toasted pecan halves

6 bacon slices, cooked crisp and crumbled

2 T raspberry vinegar

1 T Dijon style mustard

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1/3 C extra virgin olive oil

1/4 C Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

How to Make It:

Cut the radicchio into 6 wedges.

Place the wedges in a large salad bowl.

Add the spinach to the bowl.

Place the plums into the bowl.

Sprinkle the nuts and bacon over the entire salad.

Pour the raspberry vinegar into a small mixing bowl.

Add the mustard to the vinegar.

Sprinkle in the salt and pepper.

Pour the olive oil into the mixture then whisk until all the ingredients are incorporated together well.

Pour the dressing over the top of the salad.

Carefully toss the salad to coat with the dressing.

Sprinkle the cheese over the salad just before serving.

Serves: 6

Radicchio is a purple-red in color and has a peppery taste. They vary in size so if you have trouble finding one large head use 2 softball size heads instead. Radicchio can be found in the salad greens department of most supermarkets.

What You Need:

1 C yogurt

1/2 C fresh mint, chopped

3 T confectioners’ sugar

4 kiwis, peeled and cut lengthwise into 6 sections

8 ruby red grapefruit

1 C coconut, flaked and lightly toasted

1/2 C raw pistachios, shelled and lightly toasted

How to Make The Salad

Place the yogurt into a small mixing bowl.

Add the mint and sugar.

Whisk the ingredients until completely combined.

Place the kiwi segments into a salad bowl.

Trim the peel and pith from the grapefruit.

Hold the grapefruit over the salad bowl to catch the juice and pull the segments apart.

Place the grapefruit segments into the bowl with the kiwi.

Sprinkle the coconut into the bowl.

Add the nuts and toss gently to combine all the ingredients together well.

Pour the yogurt mixture over the salad just before serving.

Serves: 8

To toast the coconut and pistachios, place them on a rimmed baking sheet in a 375 degree oven for about 2 minutes for the coconut and 5 minutes or the pistachios or until lightly browned. Be sure to stir at least once for even browning.

3 C water

1/4 t salt, divided

1 C wheat berries, rinsed and drained

1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 C fresh snow peas, slivered

1/4 C green onions, chopped

1/2 C dried apricots, sliced

1/2 C dried cranberries

3 T walnut oil

1 T lemon juice

1/8 t pepper

How to Make Your Salad:

Pour the water into a large bowl.

Sprinkle 1/8 t of the salt into the water.

Add the wheat berries to the salted water.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

Pour the water and wheat berries into a large saucepan.

Position the pan over medium heat and bring the water to a brisk boil.

Place the heat on low, cover the pan and simmer for 50 minutes or until the berries are tender.

Drain the berries well and allow them to cool for 1 hour.

Place the cooled wheat berries into a bowl.

Fold in the chickpeas, snow peas and green onions.

Add the apricots and cranberries and gently mix to incorporate all the ingredients together well.

Place the walnut oil into a small bowl.

Whisk in the lemon juice until well combined.

Add the remaining salt and pepper to the bowl and continue whisking until completely combined.

Pour the dressing over the salad to completely cover.

Serves: 8

Serve this salad immediately or cover and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours. Wheat berries are the kernel. They do not contain the hull though. These berries are used often in salad to give it a little extra crunch. Soaking the berries in water helps to soften them. They can be purchased as a hard or soft grain and can be found in most supermarkets.

A bitter tasting lettuce such as Frisee is most often found in mixed greens. This lettuce is often mixed with Mesclun, which also has a bitter taste. The Frise lettuce leaves look a medium green in color and the leaves are long and ragged. Think of frizzy hair. That’s what this lettuce looks like.

Other types of greens include spinach and radicchio. Spinach has a wonderful flavor and a brilliant dark green color. One of the benefits of spinach is that color. Antioxidants are found in these darker colored leaves. Beta carotene is in abundance and can help in warding off free radicals in the body as well. The trouble with spinach is that though it is fine wilted, it will often go slimy and gunge up the rest of your salad, so I try to keep my spinach separate from the rest of my salad fixings.

Radicchio is a lettuce that looks more like a cabbage. Although the leaves are long like lettuce the color and texture are more like that of a cabbage. The red to purple color and the white spine that runs through leaves give this type of lettuce the appearance of a cabbage. Radicchio is rather bitter and works better when mixed with other types of lettuce than alone.

Last but not least is endive. Endive is a Belgian variety of lettuce. Dark green in color the leaves are short and have a tendency to curl. Due to its mild taste, endive is chosen often for salads.

What type of greens do you prefer? These are just a few that you can mix and match to create the perfect salad base. Try something different the next time you prepare a salad, you might just find one you love.