Salads for Dinner!

Sometimes I count my blessings that I married a wanna-be health nut. Sometimes. Tonight is one of those nights. I had three recipes that I wanted to try out of my new Todays' Kitchen Cookbook, and forgot to make one of them - Katie Couric's Lemon Chicken. I realize that most men would not consider a meat-less dinner an actual dinner, but luckily Joe is ok with my faux pa.

This cookbook has many healthy recipes and it's fun to see recipes from different celebrities. I'm going to have to pull it out again when I'm craving some soul food because Maya Angelou has some great looking meals in there. And a second reason that I got this cookbook - it was only $5 at TJ Maxx! Can't beat that. =)

ORZO SALAD WITH CORN, TOMATOES, AND BASIL
Dressing:

• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

Salad:

• 1 cup uncooked orzo (rice shaped pasta)
• 2 cups fresh yellow corn kernels
• 2 cups chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil (this is a must have for this dish! Don't omit)

To prepare the dressing, combine ingredients in a jar, cover tightly, and shake. To prepare salad, cook orzo according to package directions. Drain and place in a large bowl. Spoon half of the dressing over pasta, toss to coat. Cool to room temperature. Add the remaining dressing, corn, tomato, onion and basil to pasta; toss to coat. Let stand 30 minutes.

APRICOT AND CHERRY SALAD

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds

Salad:

• 6 cups trimmed watercress (I substituted a bag of spinach and red leaf lettuce because Joe and I don't like watercress)
• 4 cups sliced apricots (about 12 medium)
• 3 cups halved pitted cherries

To prepare vinaigrette, place first 5 ingredients in a blender and process until blended. Add oil and poppy seeds and process until blended. To prepare salad, place 1 cup watercress on each of 6 plates. Top each serving with 2/3 cup apricot slices and 1/2 cup cherries. Drizzle 2 tbsp vinaigrette over each salad.