Salad Season

About a month ago, our local United Methodist Women's group had their spring guest day - a salad luncheon. It seems like summer is the Salad Season, and covered dish get-togethers with salads are a tasty and refreshing meal.
There are an abundance of salad recipes that can be sweet, tangy, savory or smooth and can include any fruit or vegetable or even meat you want to. Salad recipes also go in trends, food has fashions just like clothing and home furnishings. In my recipe collection, I have old recipes from my mother that parallel a timeline of history; Seven-Up Party Salad and Watergate Salad reflect current events and trends of their times. Lots of Jello salads were popular in the 60's and 70's. Today salads often have ethnic flavors, such as Greek, Italian, or Mexican, to coordinate with popular main courses.
Whatever the favorite flavor, salads are a tasty and often cool and refreshing summer side for grilled meats, or a light meal in themselves. And, as with UMW luncheons, a good selection of tastes for a shared  meal. Here are a couple of recipes I took to that luncheon. The Pasta Salad has an Italian flair and is one of my favorites. The ColeSlaw salad recipe was shared by a friend who called it "the Catholic Church Women's Funeral Dinner Salad". She said it is easily increased if needed with a quick trip to the grocery store for another bag of Coleslaw, sometimes a necessity during a funeral dinner.

Black-Eyed Pea Pasta Salad

1 jar (7-1/2 oz) marinated quartered artichoke hearts

1 cup uncooked tricolor spiral pasta (my family likes it with more pasta)

1 can (15-1/2 oz) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

½ cup shredded Swiss (or Provolone) cheese

½ cup chopped green pepper

½ cup chopped sweet red pepper

½ cup thinly sliced red onion

½ cup sliced pepperoni, cut into thin strips (the mini-pepperonis work well)

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup prepared Italian salad dressing

Drain artichokes, reserving ¼ cup liquid; chop and set aside. Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the artichokes, peas, cheese, peppers onion and pepperoni. Drain pasta; add to artichoke mixture.

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, salad dressing and reserved artichoke liquid. Pour over pasta mixture, toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Cole Slaw Salad

1 sack coleslaw mix

1 cup frozen peas

1 bag shredded cheese

½ bottle Otts poppy seed or honey mustard dressing

1 cup dry roasted peanuts

Mix – add peanuts at end, just before serving.