Farmers' Market Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette

I will post a picture of the actual salad later, but last night I ate the perfect summer salad (and yes, technically it is not summer yet but when Central Market is full of heriloom tomatoes? Oh yes it is summer in my kitchen!)

I used a mix of baby heirloom tomatoes, fresh greens, corn from the cob and made a healthy, lite Buttermilk Vinaigrette (adapted from a recipe found on Martha Stewart's webpage.) We had it with BBQ roasted chicken for a delicious Sunday meal.

Farmers' Market Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette

For the Vinaigrette:
*1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
*2 Tablespoons white whine vinegar (I used Pinot Grigio Vinegar)
*2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
*Fresh ground pepper
*1/2 tsp coarse salt if you like (I omitted)
*1/4 cup chopped fresh chives (I think basil would be fantastic, too.)

*Whisk all above ingredients together. Done. Easy!

Now, make a salad with the following:
*Fresh organic greens
*sliced grape, cherry or heirloom tomatoes (the more colors the *prettier* the salad will be. Presentation is EVERYTHING people!)
*One orange bell pepper, diced
*Two ears of corn, corn scraped off the cob using a sharp knife.
*One avocado, cubed

Toss together. Put on plates. Drizzle with your vinaigrette. Grind fresh pepper over the top. Again, look at the veggie count--whooo hooo you have varied your vegetables like the USDA Pyramid tells you to. Don't know what the pyramid is? Here's a link for everyone who wants to learn:

http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/index.html

And that concludes the health portion of the blog today. :)