In the summer months when the temperatures are soaring the way they have been recently, sometimes you need to find a meal solution that will not only fulfill you but refresh you. There are some hot meals that definitely don’t appeal as poignantly as other cooler options during the summer months. That’s why iced tea and ice cream are so popular when the heat is on. So where does that leave you when you are hungry but want a little something that is dazzlingly refreshing as well?
It leaves you in the perfect place to try one of our gourmet house salads that we freshly prepare from locally sourced ingredients – that’s where it leaves you.
Although we are operating on a limited schedule at the moment, a few of our locations remain open and are still providing some of our fresh, original salads for your convenience. Of course, we are still offering many of our gourmet signature sandwiches, wraps, paninis, and breakfast specialties as well – but for the purposes of this endeavor, we’re going to highlight some of our salads.
Why? Because it’s hot and salads are refreshing! Also, contrary to popular opinion, you can eat well and still feel full and satisfied at the end of it too. As we take freshness seriously, we take healthy living seriously too, and our salads are prepared not only with healthy eating in mind but with satisfaction.
No two of our salads are the same, and we know that each one you try will leave you feeling fulfilled in a slightly different way from the next. Whether you choose to go with the crisp sweetness of our Arugula and Apple salad or the Tangy Zesty flavors of our Mediterranean Salad it up to you – just know that each one offers something distinct and you should make it a point to try them all!
Best of all, all of our salads are produced with only the finest, healthiest ingredients, yet each of them will leave you feeling full and happy. Check out some of these delicious salads which we are still offering for pick up or delivery in our open locations. Here are some of the picks that make us the best catering company in Philadelphia.
Arugula and Apple Salad
Arugula and apple – a classic combo to which we do great justice in our Arugula and Apple Salad. Such simple ingredients, such great ability to appeal to so many different tastes, such enduring appeal.
Our Arugula and Apple Salad is layered on top of a bed of spicy, peppery, delicious organic arugula, which all on its own would be quite a piquant treat. There aren’t many herbs out there with more innate character than arugula – perhaps mustard greens, but not in this dish.
On that lush bed of organic arugula, we layer crisp, tart, sliced fuji apples along with tomato, cranberries, and raisins. The apple and tomatoes along with the dried fruit come together with the near bitterness of the arugula to redefine what it means to be flavorful.
The effect is singular – if you have never had arugula and apple together before, you simply must. The tartness of the apple and the sweetness of the tomatoes and dried fruits play off of the peppery character of the arugula to embolden each other. Add to that the subtle umami notes of the ripe tomatoes and you have a recipe that can’t fail to delight; and it doesn’t.
Over this delicious foundation, we lay almonds and walnuts, which add a little satisfying fullness and a just a little bit of crunch to the salad, and then we finish it all off with some goat cheese, which wraps everything up perfectly. There’s nothing this salad doesn’t have – tart, sweet, spicy, bitter, savory, and filling all at once, it is nearly the ideal image of a salad.
This salad comes with your choice of dressing, but if we may, we would like to be so bold as to offer a suggestion. Go with the balsamic vinaigrette or the lime-cilantro dressing. The tartness of the vinaigrette, or alternatively, of the lime, just works wonders with this already zesty salad.
The best part is this salad is a refreshing treat for the summertime that won’t fail to fill you up right quick. The arugula, apples, and fruits are refreshing while nuts and cheese make quick work of hunger. It’s a great combo, which is no wonder why variations of this salad are so popular.
Pop Berry Salad
Our Pop Berry Salad, like our Arugula and Apple salad, is a delightfully cooling and refreshing treat for when you need a pick me up during the hotter months of the year. Just like the Arugula and Apple, it has a little bit of sweetness and a bit of a zing. Overall, it’s something that, like the Arugula and Apple, is a perennial crowd-pleaser. Don’t put them in competition, though; try them both!
Our Pop Berry Salad starts with an inspiring foundation of organic spinach, which, like Arugula, is a ripe and delicious meal without any help. Be that as it may, we add a number of treats to it to make it much better than it would be.
To our spinach, we add cranberries and chopped walnuts, which add a myriad of flavors and textures. The cranberries add a little bit of sweetness and tartness to the dish at the same time as they add some extra body to it. At the same time, the walnuts give a crunch and the filling flavors and oils of walnuts really add a lot of substance to the salad.
From there we keep going, throwing in some crumbled bacon and some feta cheese. The bacon adds a little extra crispiness while at the same time offering the salad an excellent and incomparable mouth feel. It also adds a bit of salty zest to the salad along with its undeniably satisfying filling influence. There just isn’t a dish that bacon can’t fix up!
As for the feta cheese, the subtle notes of brine add a little extra salt on top of the bacon but don’t worry. This isn’t overpowering. In fact, adding a little bit of salt to a dish is an age-old trick to make some of the more subtle flavors pop, and that’s just what the feta does. On top of that, it adds some unique textural influence along with the satisfying nature of the cheese. The bacon-feta combo, although only rarely encountered, is a terrifyingly effective secret to bringing some life to a salad.
Finishing it all off we add some perfectly ripened strawberries to top off the salad. They add not only a pleasing contrast of color to make the whole dish pop – after all, you eat with your eyes first – but the sweetness is the perfect partner to the salt from the cheese and the bacon and ferrous notes of the spinach.
It’s another great option for those looking to add some color and some fresh notes to a summer day – it’ll fill you up, too, so give one of our locations a call and try it out.
Kale Caesar Salad
This is a classic twist on a caesar salad that couples the power of superfood with our own unique take on the dish and spices it up a little bit to make it more satisfying. In addition, like our other salads, it is a great dish to try out on a summer day.
Unsurprisingly, we start out with some crisp, fresh kale and start the salad off with a bed of this delicious and nutritious superfood. From there, we add parmesan cheese and croutons for some zest and crunch. The parmesan cheese adds a lot of depth to the salad and the croutons give it some crunchy texture to add some spirit and character to the dish.
Our finishing touch comes in the form of our signature caesar dressing, with which we toss the entire salad. Sweet, zesty, satisfying, and refreshing, this salad has it all. If you are a fan of the classic caesar, then you can’t go wrong with this reboot. It takes what made the original caesar good and made it great. Being the best catering company in Philadelphia isn’t easy, but we do our best with interesting twists on classics like this.
Mediterranean Salad
Our Mediterranean Salad is a fresh take that brings in a lot of delicious flavors from all over Southern Europe and has aggrandized their culinary traditions in the eyes of the experts. We picked and chose the best of these and created a delicious and satisfying patchwork salad as a result of our efforts. You simply get to enjoy the spoils of the labor.
This salad starts out unassumingly with a base of Romaine lettuce but quickly develops a lot of character. From there it quickly becomes a delectable treat with the addition of tomato and cucumbers. If there’s one ingredient that is renowned for being refreshing, it’s almost certainly cucumber, which is also a great vehicle to carry other flavors like the sweet and savory combo from the tomato.
We don’t stop there but progress boldly forward with a rainbow of red onions, red peppers, and black olives. Sweet, spicy, rich, and filling at once, this combo can’t be beaten but only made better. To round it all out we add some hummus, pita bread, feta cheese, and Greek dressing.
It has all of the flavors you could hope for all packed into one delicious dish, and the addition of the hummus and the feta cheese calls everything to the forefront with just a touch of salinity. On top of that, you have their savory notes and their satisfying character.
We finish this salad off with our own Greek dressing that is carefully prepared to underlay all of the ingredients we include as a part of this salad to make it all the more delicious than it already is. Like the other salads we are featuring here, it is not only the perfect crisp treat on a hot day, but it will allay your hunger.
Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad
If you can’t get away from the call of protein, then you can’t do much better than you’d do to try out our Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad, which just might be the most savory and delectable dish on this list.
Like the Mediterranean Salad, we start out with a foundation of romaine lettuce but build it right up with copious amounts of savory grilled chicken along with tomatoes, corn, cilantro, red onions, avocado, cilantro, and queso blanco before we finish it off with lime-cilantro dressing.
Truthfully, we could write this entire article on the delicious, filling character of this salad, but we would rather have you experience it for yourself. It has every flavor the other salads on this list have and then some more, on top of the fact that it has the unctuous delicious influence of chicken, corn, and avocado to offer. It’s like the perfect meal; once you taste one, it will be a favorite of yours and there’s not much you can do to get away from that.
Don’t believe us? Call one of our locations and order one. We promise you’ll love it, and that you’ll be satisfied, full and refreshed.
While you should definitely try some of those top picks from our collection of salads, don’t forget that we are still offering our classic selection of sandwiches, paninis, wraps, breakfast dishes, coffee, and more on our menu. You can call one of our open locations and arrange to order online or by phone and pick up in-store, although we also offer free local delivery – call us for details. As it turns out, the best catering company in Philadelphia also offers some world-class salads to round out its portfolio of classic dishes.
We’ve all had a lot of time in the past few months and we’re glad to be once again open take out and delivery so we can get back to serving you and our community. For the time being, check out one of our open locations or give us a call – we’d love to hear from you.