Summer Salad

I seriously believe in eating vegetables raw such as broccoli, onion, tomatoes, garlic, peppers and I heard you can even eat asparagus raw. I'm kind of scared of that because I don't think it will taste good. I actually love asparagus, but I steam it just enough that it remains crisp in some garlic butter. Sometimes the simplest ingredients are the best ingredients for you. I make what I call a simple salad and serve it along side fried chicken, pork chops or some sort of fried food. All of the ingredients to this recipe are raw, and all it requires is chopping or slicing and throwing it into a bowl. There is no way you can mess up this recipe. This recipe is colorful and appealing to the eyes.

Ingredients

2 large tomatoes

1 onion

Sweet bell peppers (green, orange and yellow)

4 to 5 garlic cloves

1 can black olives

¼ to ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

½ tsp sugar

1 cup lite Italian dressing

Salt and pepper

Grab you a large clear serving bowl. Slice the tomatoes in thin slices and place a layer on the bottom of the bowl. The idea is to layer all the vegetables. Slice the onion into thin slices separating the rings and layering on top of the tomatoes. Then slice enough of the peppers ½ cup of each color and place on top. Slice the garlic cloves and sprinkle them over the layers. Keep alternating ingredients until there is none left. Open the can of black olives and drain the liquid and pour into the bowl. Lightly salt the veggies but heavily pepper them. Add 1 cup lite Italian dressing or homemade vinaigrette to the bowl making sure to pour dressing evenly over entire salad. Add ½ tsp sugar over the vegetables. Generously add the parmesan cheese to the salad. Cover and refrigerator so all the flavors will meld together. I would even try adding in some cut up raw asparagus to the salad since it is best eaten in raw form for the health benefits of folate. If you don't have bottled dressing, you can make quick vinaigrette for your salad with the following ingredients.

½ cup olive oil

5 cloves garlic minced

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp parmesan cheese

Taste the vinaigrette and adjust the flavor as needed. Pour into a bottle and shake it up to pour over your summer salad.