The most unexpectedly pretty salad! 

This is a variation of an Italian Tri-colore salad, 

shall I call it, the 

New Italian salad

Just look at this beauty!  If you are like me, you love to admire your food before diving into it.  Let me tell you how this one came to be, since I didn't plan it!  I was actually planning the salad below, and then created this a couple of days later while combining some leftover ingredients.  So, you get two recipes in this single post (aren't you lucky).  Try them both and let me know which you like better.

Inspiration

Between my recent trip to Italy and the freshness of summer fruits that are abounding as we move closer to summer, I was inspired to bring the two together.  The tri-colore salad, traditionally made with arugula, radicchio, and endive, is so named for having the colors of the Italian flag. It's a dazzling presentation and has a complex palette of veggies.  To make it summer friendly and cool down the bitterness of the veggies, yet keep the color scheme (I'm am all about looks!), I swapped out the radicchio for a plum, as they are close in color.  The juiciness and sweetness of the plum delightfully balances out the bitterness and sharpness of the veggies.  Muah!  I topped it lightly with a swirl of all natural, fat free poppy seed dressing.  Try it and taste it for yourself! 





 Tri-colore Salad with Plum
Ingredients (makes 2 servings)
baby arugula
one endive, sliced and separated
one small plum, wedged then cut in half
Sprinkle fresh or dried Italian herbs over top (I used a premade blend by Pampered Chef)
poppy seed dressing (I like Maple Grove Farms of Vermont dressing, it's relatively low cal and low sodium)

Arrange desired amount of arugula on single serving size plates.  Sprinkle sliced endive evenly over each.  Arrange sliced plum in circular pattern.  Drizzle with desired amount of dressing.  It's that easy and it's super healthy too. Hint, hint to my fitness competition followers, you can eat this while training.  Just add 6-8 almonds to each for some protein if desired.

Then, a couple of days later, I combined some of the same ingredients with some fresh news ones from the Parker Farmers Market (mainly, the cute little grape tomatoes)

New Italian Salad
Ingredients (makes 2 servings)
baby arugula
shredded iceberg lettuce
shredded radicchio
grape tomatoes, halved
one endive, sliced and separated
Sprinkle fresh or dried Italian herbs over top (I used a premade blend by Pampered Chef)
poppy seed dressing (I like Maple Grove Farms of Vermont dressing, it's relatively low cal and low sodium)

Enjoy!  Please do let me know which you like better. I'd love to hear from you!