Mix it up with summer salad savvy

The lazy days of summer are the perfect time to pack up the wicker basket and go for a picnic or dust off the lawn chairs and fire up the grill for a cookout. A “must-have” for any picnic or cookout menu? People-pleasing salads that go with everything.
What’s new with America’s three favorite salads?
Test your summer salad savvy with this quick quiz:
•1. What are America’s three most popular summer salads for picnics or cookouts?
Potato salad (72%), leafy green salad (64%) and pasta salad (58%).
•2. What are the most exciting additions to potato salad?
Chefs and cookbook authors enhance taste and color with ingredients like flavored salts, fresh herbs and black olives.
•3. How can I perk up a chef’s salad?
A chef’s salad usually includes smoked turkey, chopped egg, leafy greens, blue cheese, crumbled bacon and sliced black olives. Pick one ingredient and give it a twist — grilled chicken in place of smoked turkey, pancetta for bacon or Kalamata instead of black olives.
•4. What ingredients make pasta salad fresh and interesting?
Consider adding smoked paprika aioli (garlic-flavored mayonnaise), or chorizo and stuffed Manzanilla olives for a Spanish tapas-style salad.
•5. What’s the one salad ingredient that 70% of adults love eating at picnics?
Olives! When you want to take your summer salads from ordinary to extraordinary, just add one key ingredient — olives. Black or green, in cans or jars, pitted or not, from small to super colossal, sliced or stuffed, olives can add a signature touch to any summer salad.
You Be the Chef
Create a salad concoction and then enter your potato, leafy green and pasta salad recipes in a special contest this summer at www.lindsayolives.com. Your winning recipe could be worth $100, a case of olives and a signed copy of Diane Rossen Worthington’s book “The New California Cook” (Chronicle Books).
Pasta Twist Salad with Olives
Serves: 6 (about 9 cups salad)
12 ounces fusilli, penne or bow tie pasta, uncooked
1 can (6 ounces) black ripe pitted olives, drained and coarsely chopped
1 jar (7 ounces) roasted red bell peppers, drained, cut into strips
1 jar (6 1/2 ounces) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 cup diced provolone or mozzarella cheese
1 cup diced salami
1/2 cup light or regular Caesar or Italiansalad dressing
1/4 cup sliced basil or chopped Italian parsley
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in large bowl combine remaining ingredients. Drain pasta; add to bowl, tossing well. Serve at room temperature or chill up to 24 hours before serving. Serve with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.
Red Potato Salad with Olives and Celery
Serves: 6 to 8
3 pounds medium red-skinned potatoes
Dressing
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1/2 tablespoon celery seed
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 teaspoon dried mustard
3/4 cup sliced black ripe olives
Salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Garnish
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
In large pot of boiling water, cook potatoes until tender but slightly resistant when pierced with fork, about 30 minutes. Drain and cool, but do not peel. When cool, cut into 1 1/2 -inch pieces and place in medium bowl.
In small bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, celery, celery seed, chives, mustard, olives, salt, pepper and parsley. Mix well.
Pour mixture over potatoes and toss gently until evenly coated. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours.
Transfer salad to serving bowl and garnish with parsley and chives. Serve cold or chill up to 24 hours before serving. Taste for seasoning.
Chef’s Tip: The red skins are left on the potatoes in this salad for extra color and texture. Celery seed and celery add freshness and crispness as well as a counterpoint for the tangy chives. This salad is perfect with cold roasted chicken.
Recipe courtesy of “The Taste of Summer” by Diane Rossen Worthington.