Let's finish this salad!

Okay. I've never done this before, but I need help. Tonight we had baked chicken, mashed garlic potatoes and gravy for dinner. Instead of cooking carrots the traditional way (blah), I decided to try something new. I made a marinated carrot salad and it was good, but it was missing something. What? I'm not sure.

Here's the recipe for what I made:

Ingredients:

4 large carrots, peeled, cut into thirds and julienned

1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced and roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

olive oil

apple cider vinegar

salt

pepper

6 cups fresh baby spinach

Preparation:

In a small saucepan with lid on, cook carrots in water over high heat (water should come up to about half the carrots). Cook until just tender, about 10 minutes from the time you place the pan on the heat.

In the mean time, slice your onion and add to a bowl. Once the carrots are done, drain and add to the onions. Add crushed garlic, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Combine all ingredients, cover and chill for at least one hour. In your serving bowl, add the spinach and pour the entire carrot mixture over the top. Right before serving, toss the salad.

So, this is what we had. Like I said, it was good, but it needs something. We debated about different fruits, cheeses, and nuts being added to it. What I need from you is a finish to this salad. Tell me what you would add to it to make it great!

Cottage Cheese Salad

A side dish at Basque restaurants. You'll think of cottage cheese differently after you have it like this!

Ingredients:

- 1 Pt Cottage Cheese

- 1 C Mayonaise

- 8 green onions, sliced (white to light green only)

- 1 clove garlic, chopped

- 1 T apple cider vinegar

- 1/2 t onion powder

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Marinated Peppers and Tomatoes

At Basque restaurants, this is served with the salad (usually a plain green or Caesar salad).

Ingredients:

- 4 large ripe tomatoes, sliced into wedges

- 1 large green bell pepper, sliced into strips

- 1 medium red onion, quartered and sliced

- Olive Oil

- Balsamic Vinegar

- Salt and Pepper

- Onion Powder

Preparation:

Combine tomatoes, peppers and onions in a large bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and onion powder to taste. Mix, cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours before serving. Stir every-once-in-a-while.

Cole Slaw Mix/Dressing

Combine all ingredients:

1/2 Cup Mayonaise
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
2 T. Sugar
1 T. White Vinegar
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/2 t. Yellow Mustard
Black Pepper

Cafe Rio-Style Salad

A few weeks ago, our friends Staci and Jethro had us over for a party and they made Cafe Rio salads. Here is the recipe that Staci passed along. I especially love the cilantro ranch dressing.

Sweet Pork
2 lbs of pork
3 can Coke, not diet
1/4 c brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 cup water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce (ex. Old El Paso medium spiciness)
1 c brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c of brown cugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight. Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water and garlic salt in crok pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily but don't let it get too dry). Remove pork form crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork. In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup you can add a little more or less to taste). If it looks to thick, add more Coke little by little. Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 more hours.

Clinatro-Lime Rice
1 c uncooked rice
1 t butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t fresh lime juice
1 - 15 oz can chicken broth
1 c water
1 T lime juice
2 t sugar
3 T fresh cilantro, chopped

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

Black Beans
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c tomato juice
1 1/2 t salt
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
*optional* add a drained can of corn with a dash of cumin and chili powder

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat unitil you can smell it. Add beans, tmato juice and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Cilantro Ranch
1 packetTRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix
1 c mayo
1 c buttermilk
2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno (keep the seeds in for a spicy dressing, remove to make it mild)
mix all ingredients in a blender

To put it all together...
Buy the aluminum deep-dish pans found in the grocery store. Lay a tortilla in the bottom of the pan, sprinkle cheese on it, and put in the oven at 375 for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove from oven, add beans, rice, pork, then lettuce and a little scoop of diced tomato and onions. Add guacamole, sour cream and crushed tortilla chips, a shake of parmesan cheese and a few cialntro leaves. Serve with the cilantro ranch dressing.

Party Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I recently made these for an open house. The recipe came from my mother-in-law and she made them for my baby shower (over nine years ago). The recipe makes about 30 small sandwiches or about 15 sandwiches on croissants.

Ingredients

2 lbs cooked chicken, cubed

1 can sliced water chestnuts

2 cups red grapes, halved

1 20 oz can pineapple tidbits, drained

2 cups celery, diced

1 1/2 cups toasted almonds, sliced

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon powdered curry

Mix all ingredients together and stuff between almost completely sliced dinner rolls (makes about 30) or croissants (makes about 15 to 20). This salad is also great by itself with crackers for lunch on the go!

Creamy coleslaw

Made a big pot of beans this evening for dinner and bought some coleslaw-in-a-bag to go alongside. I love coleslaw "dressing" but hate all the calories and fat. I found a recipe to make my own from a cookbook on my shelf, Healthy Cooking for Two (or just you). It's a brilliant cookbook as it lists ingredients for all recipes in columns - buy the fixings for one serving or two, as you see fit. It make it so easy to double things!

Called "Thin & Creamy Coleslaw," it has only 2 grams of fat and 83 calories per serving.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup light sour cream
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• pepper to taste
• 3 cups thinly sliced or shredded cabbage
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced (I omitted this)

Preparation:

In a medium salad bowl, whisk together sour cream, sugar, vinegar, mustard and pepper. Add the cabbage and onion; toss well. Chill the salad for at least 30 minutes to blend the flavors. Just before serving, toss the slaw again.

~Serves 2~

Tabbouli-esque Salad

This recipe is from Angie Hinz via a recipe exchange we had. I haven't made it yet, but it looks wonderful! I will give my tasty comment after I try it.

Tabbouli-esque Salad

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups bulgur wheat
½ cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
2 scallions
1 ½ cups finely chopped parsley
1 ½ Ts finely chopped mint
¾ cup feta cheese

For the dressing:
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
½ ts salt


1. Place bulgur in medium size bowl. Pour enough boiling water to cover bulger and have ~1/2 inch of water over the top. Seal bowl (either with lid or cover with a plate) and let sit for 30 minutes. If, at 30’, all of the water has not been absorbed, remove with a spoon or pour whole mass into clean kitchen towel and wring out excess water.
2. While bulgur is soaking, cut vegetables. I use a mini-food processor for the parsley and mint but I used to make this without one so it isn’t necessary. I don’t really measure the parsley/mint mixture, I just eyeball the color in the salad and the fragrance of the mint. I also frequently use more than ½ of a cucumber depending on the size.
3. Add all vegetables and cheese to the bulgur.
4. Whisk together the lemon juice, oil and salt. Pour over tabbouli and toss to coat—adding a bit more oil if necessary to keep it moist. I think it tastes best freshly made so I try to make it right before I’m going to eat it and avoid refrigeration. That being said, leftovers are GREAT!

Enjoy!