Salad Platter with Banana Pepper Dressing

^{This post has been sponsored by Miller's Banana Pepper Sauce. All opinions expressed are my own.}

Are you looking for a salad platter that's a delectable craving rather than a virtuous obligation - but that's still worthy of being part of a "New Year New You" resolution? If the answer is yes, then today's salad platter has got you covered. The secret to this salad platter isn't hard to find ingredients or fussy prep techniques. Instead, we're combining simple mixed greens with a delicious, homemade dressing - featuring Miller's Banana Pepper Sauce.

The homemade dressing is the star of the show, and Miller's Banana Pepper Sauce is the dressing's secret ingredient. The dressing is a mix of tangy, vinegar-forward heat courtesy of Miller's Banana Pepper sauce, combined with roasted garlic, honey, and white balsamic vinegar. The best part? This dressing takes just minutes to bring together. We're pairing this with a salad prepped with mixed greens, sliced carrots and celery, olives, cheese, and halved hard-boiled eggs.

This salad is your answer to healthy weeknight dinners, simple dinner party appetizers, and New Year, New You meal prep (the dressing can be made days ahead of time) that doesn't skimp on fun or flavor. Read on for a complete recipe overview, an ingredient checklist, and a printable recipe card.

Quick Answer - What is a Salad Platter?

Miller's Salad Platter is a customizable, fresh salad that features a homemade dressing prepared with Miller's Sauce, olive oil, honey, white balsamic vinegar, and roasted garlic. This tangy, slightly spicy, and deliciously thick dressing transforms simple greens and veggies into a restaurant-quality dish that's endlessly adaptable to your preferences, and whatever ingredients you happen to have on hand.

Recipe Overview - Salad Platter

Taste and Texture

The standout feature of this salad is the dressing, whose secret ingredient is Miller's Banana Pepper Sauce. Miller's Banana Pepper Sauce brings a tangy, vinegar-forward brightness, subtle heat and chili sweet flavors, with distinct fruity-undertones - without ever being overwhelming the way some chili sauces can be. In the dressing, we've also got roasted garlic for some mellow, almost caramel-like sweetness, while honey balances the dressing's acidity with natural sweetness, with simple mayo providing a creamy body. As for the salad itself, we're aiming for a wonderful contrast of textures. We have crisp elements like carrots and celery, creamy elements like cheese and hard-boiled eggs, and satisfying crunch from pumpkin seeds. Olives and red onion add pungent, savory notes, while grape tomatoes bring juicy bursts of sweetness.

Difficulty Level

Very easy. This recipe is beginner-friendly from start to finish. The hardest part of this recipe is roasting the garlic, and all that involves is setting the garlic in a pan and turning the heat on. Beyond that, we're mixing the ingredients for the dressing, and chopping the salad. That's all there is to it.

Preparation Process

The entire process takes about thirty minutes from start to finish - with active prep of about fifteen minutes total. And yes, you can use jarred roasted garlic to cut the prep time by about half. If roasting your own garlic, we starting things off by roasting the garlic and then letting it cool completely. After that, we prep the dressing by combining and mixing all of the ingredients - be sure to mix until completely smooth. Transfer the prepped dressing to a jar. After that, we chop the salad ingredients and assemble. It's that simple.

Pairings

• Grilled Meat: This salad would be a great starter, or side, for grilled steaks or pork chops. It would also serve nicely as a part of an appetizer spread that included grilled steak bruschetta.
• Roasted Chicken: Whether as a side or starter for whole roasted chicken, especially paired alongside crusty bread, this salad would work deliciously.
• Light Pasta: Garlic and oil sauces, lighter cream sauces, or garden sauces would all pair deliciously as the entrée after this salad.
• White Wine: A crisp white wine, such as a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc would pair deliciously.

Ingredient Checklist - Salad Platter

• ¼ cup olive oil
  • Use decent quality: We're eating the olive oil raw, and therefore we're going to be tasting it fully. Thus, we want to use a decent quality olive oil.
• 1 tablespoons Miller's Hot Sauce
  • The Star of the Show: The key ingredient for the homemade dressing. Miller's Banana Pepper Sauce works beautifully to create a subtly sweet and spicy dressing, with chili-forward fruit notes - which works deliciously with the veggies, and to balance out the oil and honey in the dressing. The real key here is the sauce's vinegar-forward profile, with subtle fruitiness and copious chili goodness.
• 2 tablespoons white Balsamic vinegar
  • Acidity: White balsamic vinegar brings acidity without changing the dressing's intended golden color.
  • Sweeter: White balsamic is slightly sweeter than dark balsamic, which works nicely in this dressing.
  • Complements the Miller's Banana Pepper Sauce: The Miller's Banana Pepper Sauce is the star of the show, and the white balsamic vinegar works to complement it.
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • The creamy base: Provides a thick and creamy base for the dressing.
  • Substitutes: Greek yogurt would be my go-to. You can also opt for sour cream.
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • Fresh ground: Freshly ground black pepper will give the best aromatics, but pre-ground will also get the job done just fine.
• ½ teaspoon salt
  • Fine salt: This is not a recipe for large or coarse grain salt. Plain, fine-grain salt is really what we're looking for here.
• 2 tablespoons honey
  • Natural sweetness: Provides natural sweetness for the dressing, which works to balance the other ingredients quite nicely.
  • Texture: The honey also works to help smooth the texture, providing a viscous quality that's hard to replicate.
• 2-3 roasted garlic cloves
  • Why Roast the Garlic? Roasting the garlic mellows its bite, and brings out a subtle, caramel-like flavor. If we don't roast the garlic, the garlic risks overpowering the other flavors in the recipe.
• Your Favorite Salad Greens
  • Preferred Greens: I'm using romaine for crunch, but any spring mix will work. Arugula would also pair nicely if you prefer some peppery bite.
  • Mixed Greens: I recommend using mixed greens for varied texture and flavor.
  • How much salad to use? I recommend about 6-8 cups of greens for four servings.
• Carrots, sliced
  • Contrast: Carrots provide some nice color contrast, along with subtle vegetal flavor.
• Olives, your choice
  • Your choice: Black olives, kalamata olives, or green olives all work just fine. Personally, I'm using plain black olives.
• Celery, sliced
  • Texture: Celery brings satisfying crunch.
  • Flavor: Celery also brings subtle vegetal flavor.
• Grape tomatoes
  • Color: The tomatoes bring some nice, bright red color to the platter.
  • Juiciness and sweetness: The grape tomatoes work to provide bursts of juiciness and sweetness, with just a hint of background acidity.
  • Leave whole: I recommend leaving the tomatoes whole, otherwise they'll leak into the rest of the platter, which is not what we want.
• Red Onion, sliced thin
  • Color: I'm using red onion primarily for the color, but it also provides delicious oniony bite.
• Cheese, your choice, diced
  • What type of cheese works well? I would opt for feta, mozzarella pearls, or - as I did here - cubed cheddar.
  • How much cheese? I recommend about a half of cup of cheese per 4 servings.

Equipment You'll Need

Food Processor or Blender

A bullet attachment or small blender cup is perfect for making dressing. All we really want to do is emulsify the ingredients until they have reached a smooth consistency. You 'can' do this by hand with a whisk, but I really don't recommend doing so. Really, I highly recommend using either a handheld emulsifier or a food processor.

Glass Jar for Storage

A glass jar with an airtight lid is what you want to use, since plastic absorbs odors, and this is a highly aromatic dressing. A mason jar works perfectly for this. Stored properly, this dressing can last for up to two weeks in the refrigerator, provided you're using an airtight container. That said, do note that the ingredients can separate during storage, so be sure to shake or stir the dressing prior to use.

Print

And that's Miller's Salad Platter. If you enjoyed today's recipe, or have any questions or suggestions, be sure to let us know in the comments below! We always love hearing from you.

And, of course, be sure to grab a bottle of Miller's Banana Pepper Sauce, you won't be disappointed, I promise.

Happy Cooking!

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