I know what you’re thinking.

Margherita salad toppings.

Mozzarella, basil, tomatoes…

Nope!

I’m talking about margaritas, like the ones you drink!

While you won’t be getting drunk off of this salad it still holds that refreshing, limey, sweet + salty flavor you are familiar with.

In hopes of taking images that were sharper today, I downloaded a new-to-me camera app called Camera+. It has an image stabilization feature plus loads of other effects + editing tools. It can basically take the place of the camera app that comes automatically on your iPhone. You can even shoot in burst mode to capture quick movement. This app cost $.99 and is definitely worth checking out. The 2 lime photos above were sharper than most of my close-ups have been the past few days.

The trickiest part of editing the photos is that I can never seem to get the coloring just right. Even playing with the white balance, it sometimes turns out a bit off. In the next two photos below my surface is quite blue when it should be a bit grayer, but all of the other colors look accurate.

This summer salad will put all other summer salads to shame. While loading veggies on a salad is my typical setup, fruit is such a refreshing change of pace. Topped with a slightly creamy lime vinaigrette, almonds for crunch, and a little lime infused salt + sugar.

Behind the scenes photo setup.

Print this!

Margarita Salad

vegan, gluten-free // yields approximately 3/4 cup dressing

5 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons limeade juice
5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons honey/agave
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon avocado
1/4 teaspoon salt + 1/4 tsp pure cane sugar + 1T lime zest
lettuce/strawberries/peaches/raspberries/almonds

Rinse + pat dry your lettuce + fruit. Slice fruit into bite sized pieces and chop the lettuce.
Add the olive oil, limeade, fresh lime juice, honey or agave, lime zest, 1/4 tsp salt, and avocado in a blender and blend until smooth.
Taste and add more salt if desired.
In a small bowl mix the 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cane sugar, and 1 Tbsp lime zest with your fingers.
Assemble salad, pour desired amount of dressing on, and top with a few sprinkles of the zest mixture.

notes: Lemonade would be fine to sub in if you don’t have limeade, but make sure to still use limes for the fresh juice.

Chickpeas + avocado would be great toppings to make this a full meal.

One nice thing about editing on the iPhone is that I can do it outside [in a shaded area]. We had an usual thunderstorm around 6pm, so instead of working in my office I took the dogs outside and we sat on the porch. It was a nice little cool down for all of us. The house is h.o.t.!

I’ve actually noticed that it takes me longer to edit photos on my phone in comparison to editing my dSLR photos in Lightroom.

Watch out for a recipe featuring roasted red pepper sauce next week!

Hope you all have a fabulous + relaxing weekend.

Ashley