Chef Donna Prizgintas led a group of interested cooks on a walk through simple, refreshing, and versatile summer salads. Donna's signature salads use brown rice vinegar instead of mayonnaise. The class also tasted Bragg's apple cider vinegar, and a balsamic before and after it was reduced (boiled down to a syrup to intensify the flavor and body) for a helpful comparison.

The first salad Donna made was a Quick Pickle Salad in which she added a little brown rice vinegar to some steamed sliced carrots. Along with the carrots she added some finely chopped onion, a tiny bit of fresh garlic and a little oregano and, of course, salt & pepper. After an hour the pickling process was evident although it would be enhanced with more time.

Donna cautioned against using too much vinegar in any salad or salad dressing but also pointed out that the pungency of the vinegar will dissipate the day after the salad is made so it's best to add vinegar to taste and to taste before serving.

Chef Donna's Cooked Vegetable Salad was made with fresh produce from Wheatsfield so the recipe will change as the summer progresses. For our class she cut the kernels from 3 ears of corn and lightly steamed them, added lightly steamed green beans, one roasted red bell pepper*, a little lovage (a celery like leafy perennial herb with a lot of flavor), a large handful of parsley, chopped, some sliced scallions, and a package of La Quercia's Speck Prosciutto, chopped, which has a nice smoked applewood flavor. Donna then tossed the salad with a vinaigrette of rice wine vinegar and olive oil and adjusted the salt & pepper accordingly. She encouraged everyone to try various seasonal vegetables and to have fun!

Donna finished off the evening with a Sweet Potato Salad that her friends remember for its wonderful blend of flavors. One of the healthy parts of this salad that imparts a lot of flavor by using herbs as greens don't be scanty with the flat leaf parsley!

*During the class Donna showed everyone how to roast a red or yellow pepper over a flame by charring it all over, covering it in a bowl with a lid and then, after it cools, peeling the charred skin off to reveal a wonderful roasted pepper. Other heat sources that work for charring would be a broiler, electric stove top or a grill. If you roast extra peppers try storing them, seeded and sliced, in a jar topped with olive oil for a few weeks.