Make Summer Salads Perfect for Picnics or Entertaining

This post is part of a series about eco-friendly entertaining. Read the entire Green Summer Gourmet series here.

There's no question that when you invited friends and family over for a barbeque, the grilled items are the star attractions. But honestly, every star needs a good supporting cast, and that's where salads come in. When I'm planning a party, I decide on the main course and then choose salads that will work best with that dish. If I'm having a buffet, I make a number of different types of salads so that the meat entree will be one of maybe five or six things on the plate. The salad choices are endless which in one way is fabulous, but it can also be daunting. What kind of salad do you choose? What moves it from the realm of the ordinary to the "must have that recipe" category?

I've done some of the leg work for you. I've been making salads for parties for many years and I've culled some pretty great recipes. I tend to favour recipes that are quick, easy and can be made in advance. The last thing you want to do when your guests are outside in the sun, quaffing their white wine is be stuck in the kitchen making stuff. There are certainly some recipes here where you do a last minute mix to keep things from becoming soggy, but I try to keep those to a minimum. I love the kind of recipes that I can make ahead and then the flavours develop without any more effort from me. To make this a bit easier for you, I've broken the recipes down into categories