Sexy Summer Salads (Dallas Hotel Magazine, Summer 2018)

The concept of salad is hardly new. According to historians, the ancient Romans ate an oil-based dressing on raw vegetables. In 1867, the poet Virgil talked about a rustic salad made of herbs, vinegar, and cheese in one of his works. And in 1997, Oregano-flavored olive oil - suspected to be for salad dressing - was discovered in a 2,400-year-old shipwreck in the Aegean Sea. When I was growing up, the word "salad" meant a small plate of iceberg lettuce and sliced tomatoes, usually served with Green Goddess or Italian dressing. The dish was so meager that it was commonly referred to as “rabbit food”. While simple side salads still exist on menus today, this simple starter has grown and developed into sexy, super-sized salads that are entrees in their own rights as our culture has become more health-conscious and developed a more sophisticated culinary palette. If you're looking to add more nutritious foods to your diet or you're shedding inches, salads can be a smart option - although not the way I like them loaded with cheese, bacon and fatty dressings. As we enter the scorching Summer months, a salad is often a refreshing choice and Dallas definitely delivers. I featured a few of my favorite Sexy Summer Salads in the Summer issue of Dallas Hotel Magazine.