Side Salad Recs?

[mmmomof2]

I'm hosting a kid party this Sunday that will probably have most adults staying. We're grilling hot dogs and sausages, and I wanted a salad to serve as well. There will be vegans in attendance so no cheese or meat is a plus, although I can always put toppings on the side. Also being able to make ahead of time is a bonus. 

This is my go to party salad www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Kale-Brussels-Sprout-Salad-368295 , but I'm kind of sick of it. 

[dearprudence]

I just made a couscous salad for dinner tonight.
Prepare 1 cup of uncooked couscous
stir in 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, pepper, and 1/2 a red onion sliced thin
Stir in the zest of 2 oranges, the juice of 1 of those oranges, and chop the second orange up and throw that in too.
Chop up some mint, cucumber, and parsley and stir that in.

[SwimDeep]

I make a variation of this salad and it's always a hit: Cucumber & Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Changes I make:

• Chickpeas instead of black-eyed peas
• Kalamata olives instead of black olives
• Diced salad peppers instead of bell pepper (I think they're sweeter, and it winds up making the salad more colorful because you can use red, yellow, and orange peppers.)
• Sometimes I use shallots instead of red onion
  

You could leave the feta cheese on the side to make it vegan. I've made it a full day in advance and I actually prefer it that way. The vinaigrette does pull a lot of water out of the cucumbers, so you might want to wait to add the vinaigrette until the day you serve it or plan to drain off the liquid and then re-dress it with more vinaigrette.

[jcbarbee]

thebarbeehousewife.com/2013/07/02/fresh-basil-corn-salad/

I LOVE this in the summer and you can make it the night before!

[SwimDeep]

jcbarbee -- that looks really good! We had some fresh corn with dinner tonight and it was wonderfully crisp and sweet. I think I'll definitely be trying this recipe while corn is in season