My friend Ellen is about to enter her first year of culinary school; a couple of years ago she started her blog- gogochicago as a way to track what she eats and cooks as well as recipes that she enjoys and creates.  A while back she posted about her grape almond cilantro salad which appealed to me right away.

In May she threw a birthday BBQ for our friend Natalie and made this salad which was the first time I ever tried it.  It was delicious, I would probably have not considered pairing cilantro and grapes on my own although I happen to really love both of the ingredients.  Including almonds to the mix is wonderful; it adds a completely different texture as well as a new level of nutrition. This recipe is super easy to make and is a unique summer salad- perfect for any summer event.

Ingredients : red grapes, almonds, cilantro, lemon, kosher or sea salt, olive oil.

This salad is not something you should really have to measure out, but for the first time preparer it’s helpful to have guidelines to follow.  Ellen based her recipe for a single serving.  I wanted to make a bit more, 3-4 servings.  So, we adjusted accordingly and this is how we did it…

3-4 servings :: 3 heaping cups of halved red grapes, 2-3 handfuls of almonds, Juice of 1 or 1 1/2 lemon. 3 Tablespoons olive oil, 1-2 cups of plucked cilantro leaves, kosher salt to taste.

Wash and halve the grapes, pluck cilantro leaves from the stems and chop if you want.  We decided to keep the cilantro leaves whole, but I think chopping them a bit would be nice too. Mix in a bowl and toss a couple of handfuls of almonds to the mix.  We used raw almonds, toasted would also be nice. Add your lemon & olive oil and mix well. Salt to taste.  That is it! Enjoy.

Can’t wait to make this again; I would like to try adding cheese and a little spice.  I’ll let you know how it turns out!