How to Prepare an Unusual Salad Buffet

I don't know about most women, but I aspire to be one of those "ladies who lunch." Every once and awhile when my husband and I go out to lunch, we run into the "Red Hat Society." The women are all about my age and look exactly like the kind of women I would love to spend time with. Maybe it is the fact that they always seem to be having so much fun.

I miss my sorority sisters back in Oklahoma and all of the lunches we use to share. I even miss preparing long, leisurely lunches for my family and friends.

One of my favorite things to do for such lunches was a salad buffet. I love mixing flavors and textures in salads to come up something totally unexpected. With that in mind, I decided to share my once favorite past time with those of you who might like to try something new.

Salad buffets can be dressed up or down, depending upon the people taking part in the event. My sorority sisters and I oftentimes liked to dress up for lunch. After all, let's face it, we women tend to dress to impress other women rather than the men in our lives.

For a more dressed up salad buffet, I would pull out the crystal, silver, and linens. Although we generally didn't all sit around a table, opting to spread throughout the house and yard, I felt that upscale dish and silverware was called for in that situation. For a casual salad buffet, however, I had no problem pulling out the more casual dishes and silver ware; sometimes even opting for disposable paper or plastic.

The trick in having a good salad buffet, is to make certain that you have a good cross section of ingredients that mix a lot of textures and flavors. It is also important not to forget the salad toppers. I generally made certain to have croutons (in two or three flavors), and as a minimum, sunflower seeds, honey roasted pecans and cashews, and roasted peanuts.

Salads shoulf mix flavors and textures and look pleasing to the eye

Credit: Click Art

Copyright: Broderbund