Summer is in full swing — high temperatures, humidity, busy days with family and friends. Dinners are simplified in the Summer by serving a big, hearty salad, with greens straight from the garden. A Chef’s Salad comes to mind, served with a Rhubarb Dressing.

Rhubarb Salad Dressing, from Nancy Adams, as seen in her column in the Monadnock Ledger. This can be prepared with fresh Rubarb in the Summer, or frozen Rhubarb any time of year. The dressing was well-liked by my tasters.

Enough for 6-8 servings
2 c. Rhubarb, chopped++++3 Tbsp sugar+++++5 Tbsp cider vinegar	Cook these over medium heat until Rhubarb is tender, ~6 minutes.
	Drain, saving juice, using solids for another use. [Muffins/Pudding]
6 Tbsp Rhubarb juice+++2/3 c light olive oil or canola oil+++3 Tbsp minced/grated onion++++1 tsp Worcestershire sauce+++freshly grated black pepper	Pour these into a jar large enough to hold them all. Put a lid on tightly and shake well.
	Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Chef’s Salad: 296 calories… 15.5 g fat… 4.6 g fiber… 16.7 g protein … 5 g carbs… 255 mg Calcium…  PB GF – if using GF cracker  This salad has been part of our repetoire for many years. Perfect for hot Summer days. The recipe serves one [1], but you can easily scale it up.

++ 1½ cups mesclun/mixed salad greens ++++ ½ c chopped cabbage ++++ 1½ oz 4%-fat ham, cubed ++++ 1½ oz cheese, cubed – Jarlsberg or Mozzarella ++++ 1 oz cherry tomatoes ++++ 2 tsp Rhubarb Salad Dressing ++++ 1 piece whole-grain Wasa bread or other bread of your choosing++

Whisk oil, vinegar, and mustard in a single-serving salad bowl. Toss greens and cabbage in dressing. Strew ham, cheese, and tomatoes over top, and enjoy your salad with a crisp cracker or other bread.

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted on 12 August,2025. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.