Another Three Ladies craft night was upon us and I was tasked with making the appetizer/side dish for dinner. We had already decided our main dish would be Mexican, which kinda narrowed my pickings for apps. I mean, who wants to have a spring roll followed by a fajita? Not I!
I wanted something fresh and light, and since two thirds of The Ladies are 90-100% vegetarian…preferably something meatless. So, I went for a salad. I know, I know…sounds plain. Out of a strong desire to present my friends with something more than some Iceberg leaves and a tomato slice, I decided to go the 7-layer route and loaded my Pinterest account in a new browser window.
There were a plethora of 7-layer salad recipes, but for the most part they were all pretty similar. Lettuce, tomato, eggs, frozen peas, green onion, salt and pepper were the staple items. I stuck with those, but I added craisins, red onion, red pepper and spinach to add sweetness, color and nutrients. Here’s the layering process:
Recipe
Serves about 4-6.
It really depends on the salad eaters in your crew. Also, keep in mind that you can be pretty conservative/generous with the ingredients. Totally up to your preference for each.
3 cups cut Romaine Lettuce
3 cups Baby Spinach
1/2 Red Onion, diced
1 medium Red Pepper, diced
1/2 cup Craisins
2 medium Tomatoes, diced
1/4-1/2 cup Green Onion, diced
2-3 Boiled Eggs, diced or sliced
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar (or your fave cheese)
Salt
Pepper
1. Grab a clear bowl. You want to see your pretty layers, right?
2. Layer the bottom of the bowl with chopped Iceberg and add a layer of spinach on top. Throw in some salt and pepper to taste here.
3. Add your layer of egg. And if you’re adding bacon, add it in here.
Quick Tip: As you’re moving along with your layer here’s a trick. Keep your layers toward the outside of the bowl, sort of like a donut. You can fill the middle of the bowl with lettuce and spinach, sort of like the donut hole.
4. Next I added the red pepper and another thin layer of spinach/iceberg. This created a barrier between my eggs and the next juicy item.
5. Add the tomatoes. I tried to de-seed the tomatoes as much as possible before adding them to keep the salad as dry as possible since I wasn’t serving it right away.
6. Sprinkle a fair share of craisins and green onions. Then sprinkle your cheese.
7. Repeat all the above. Go layer crazy, but end with the cheese on top!
It was a masterpiece. I made sure to use a semi-clear bowl to marvel at the beautiful layers. It was now time for the topping/dressing. Every 7-layer calls for this homemade dressing made out of mayo and sugar…Ummm NO THANKS! I needed and wanted to keep my contribution to craft night fairly healthy, especially since I knew Amanda would be bringing an amazing dessert. Now, at one point I did consider adding avocado and cucumber to the salad, but decided against it…but I had recently spotted an avocado cucumber dressing in my Pinterest feed. It must be destiny! I followed the recipe almost exactly. However, I left out the mint and went easy on the juice of one lemon. Trust me. It’s so much better than the mayo option. Still creamy, but much better for you.
Now, you can make the salad ahead and put it in an airtight container in the fridge. However, you’ll want to keep the dressing separate until it’s serving time. Happy layering!
Three Ladies at Lunch 