Orzo Salad With Spicy Buttermilk Dressing

• 1 cup uncooked orzo
• 1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed and drained
• 12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons light sour cream
• 2 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 peeled avocado, cut into 8 wedges
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Preparation:

• 1. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and rinse; drain well. Place orzo, corn, and next 3 ingredients (through beans) in a large bowl; toss.
• 2. Combine buttermilk, 2 tablespoons cilantro, and next 8 ingredients (through garlic) in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Drizzle over orzo mixture; toss. Top with avocado; garnish with remaining cilantro and parsley.

My Favorite Salad- Salad de Maison

• 1 whole Lemon, Juiced
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoons Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced Or Pressed
• ¾ cups Vegetable Or Canola Oil (may Require Up To 1 Cup)
• ½ pounds Bacon, cooked and crumbled
• ⅔ cups Slivered Almonds
• 2 heads Romaine Lettuce (or 4 Hearts), Torn Or Cut Into Bite-sized Strips
• ½ Tablespoons Grease From Cooking Bacon
• 2 cups Cherry, Grape, Or Pear Tomatoes, Halved
• 1 cup Grated Swiss Cheese
• ⅓ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 bag Caesar Croutons

Dressing must be made and allowed to sit/chill 3 hours in advance.

DRESSING:

Using a either a stand or a hand blender, combine fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic and mix well. While still blending, slowly add vegetable oil. Continue blending until emulsified and thickened. If the lemon was extra juicy, it may take additional oil to completely emulsify and thicken as it should. When finished, transfer to a glass jar or container and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours.

SALAD:

In a skillet, cook bacon (may be pre-cut into small strips or pieces). Drain and cool on paper towels. Return skillet to heat, leaving 1/2 Tbsp. of the bacon fat in the bottom. Toss almonds into the skillet and cook over medium heat until they reach a nice golden brown. When done, drain and cool almonds on paper towels.

While bacon and almonds are cooling, prepare the remainder of the salad. Place ingredients in a large bowl in the following order:

romaine lettuce
tomatoes
Swiss cheese
parmesan cheese

Once cooled, add bacon. Cover and refrigerate salad until ready to serve. Top with browned almonds and croutons. Toss with lemon-garlic dressing.

Mexican Coleslaw

• 6 cups very thinly sliced green cabbage, (about 1/2 head) (I just use bagged coleslaw mix with carrots)
• 1 1/2 cups peeled and grated carrots, (2-3 medium)
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Place cabbage and carrots in a colander; rinse thoroughly with cold water to crisp. Let drain for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, whisk cilantro, vinegar, oil and salt in a large bowl. Add cabbage and carrots; toss well to coat.

This is really good topped on refried beans and eaten with corn chips.

Chicken Taco Salad with Cilantro Dressing

1 bottle Lawry's Baja Chipotle Marinade

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

Shredded Romaine lettuce

tomatoes, chopped

sliced olives

shredded cheddar and monterey jack cheese

1 can black beans, drained

avocado, cut in chunks

frozen corn, thawed

Dressing

1 extra large handful of cilantro, washed

1 cup of oil (I used Veg. oil)

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

6 crushed garlic cloves

1 egg yolk

1/4 onion, chopped

1 jalapeno, minced

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp. salt

pepper

1/2 package hidden valley ranch salad dressing

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup light mayo

Blend cilantro, vinegar, garlic, egg yolk, onion, jalapeno, sugar, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender. After it is well blended slowly add the oil with processor on. Combine ranch mix, milk and mayo and then add that to food processor and mix. Refrigerate for about an hour till thickened.

Pour marinade over chicken till covered in a ziploc back and marinade for 2-3 hours. Cut up chicken into bite size pieces and cook in a saute pan. When cooked through pour just a tad bit more of marinade from the bottle onto the chicken and heat through. Set aside. Get rest of ingredients ready and put in individual bowls. Now make your salad the way you want it and toss with dressing!

This dressing makes a lot so I halved it for my family of six. Well actually only three of us ate it, but plenty for leftovers the next day. The dressing has a little bit of a kick to it so don't know how much the kiddies will enjoy it. Also, I have not tried this by just adding ranch from the bottle. I assume it will taste fine, but the package stuff is always a little thicker.

Broccoli and Bow Ties

Kosher salt

6 cups broccoli florets (3 heads)

2 Tbs. unsalted butter

2 Tbs. good olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 lemon, zested

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Box of Bow Tie pasta (1 lb)  cooked and cooled

Cook the broccoli for 3 minutes in a large pot of boiling salted water.  Remove the broccoli from the water with a slotted spoon immediately put in an ice bath.(Ice water in a bowl.  This stops the cooking process and keeps the bright green color)  Place in a large bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, in a small saute pan, heat the butter and oil and cook the garlic and lemon zest over medium-low heat for 1 minute.  Off the heat, add 2 tsp. salt, the pepper, and lemon juice and pour this over the broccoli and pasta.  Toss well.  Season to taste, sprinkle with the pine nuts and cheese, if using and serve.

To toast pine nuts, place them in a dry saute pan over medium-low heat and cook, tossing often, for about 5 minutes, until light brown.

One of Travis's favorite pastas.  Let's see do you think I like bow-tie pasta?  Make sure you do NOT cook the broccoli for more than 3 minutes.  Three minutes gives it perfect texture!

Ann's Chicken Pasta Salad

4 cups cooked chicken breasts- cubed

6 cups cooked pasta-bows or rotella

1 1/2 cups green grapes halved

1 1/2 cups red grapes halved

2 can sliced water chestnuts quartered

1 10 oz. can pineapple tidbits drained

2 cups chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 cups almonds or cashews

2 cups craisins

Dressing

1 16 oz. bottle Coleslaw dressing (your favorite)

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup Miracle Whip

Blend all ingredients, except nuts and craisins.  Marinate several hours or overnight.  Add nuts and craisins just before serving.  Serves 30.

Acini di Pepe Salad

1 cup acini di pepe pasta

1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained with juice reserved

1 (15 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained with liquid reserved

1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

7 ounces miniature marshmallows

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp. salt

3 Tbs. flour

1 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries, drained (optional)

1.  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente.  Drain.

2.  In medium saucepan, combine reserved liquids from  pineapple and oranges, sugar, eggs, salt and flour.  Cook until thick, stirring constantly.  When mixture becomes thick, add cooked pasta and refrigerate overnight.

3.  The next day, add pineapple and oranges, whipped topping and marshmallows to taste.  Mix together and top with cherries if desired. Keep chilled until served.

I think we have all had this recipe once in our lives as a child.  Brings back some memories! Some call this Frog-eye Salad.

Akiko's Cabbage and Pasta Salad

1/4 medium cabbage shredded

2 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

4 Tbs. chopped almonds

4 green onions diced

2 cup cooked pasta (I use bow-tie)

Dressing

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup sesame oil

6 Tbs. white vinegar

4 Tbs. sugar

Combine dressing ingredients and toss with salad ingredients.

Broccoli Toss

6 cups chopped fresh broccoli florets

2 Tbs. chopped onion

4 large mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup golden raisins

6-8 slices of bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

Dressing

2 Tbs. cider vinegar

3 ounces cream cheese

2 Tbs. sugar

dash of pepper

 1/8 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. prepared yellow mustard

2 Tbs. milk

2 Tbs. salad oil

1.  To make dressing, mix all dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor.  Refrigerate sever hours to allow flavors to blend.  If dressing is too thick, think with more milk.

2.  Lightly mix the broccoli, onion, mushrooms and raisins.   Pour chilled dressing over vegetables.  Toss to mix thoroughly and refrigerate.  Add bacon just before serving.

This salad kind of sound gross, with all that broccoli, but it is surprisingly delicious.

Almond-Mandarin Salad

1/4 cup slice almonds

1 heaping Tbs. sugar

1/2 head Romaine lettuce

1/2 head Iceberg lettuce

1 cup sliced celery

3 green onions, sliced

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

1.  Cook almonds in sugar in a pan over low heat, stirring continually until sugar dissolves and almonds are covered with sugar.  Cool and break apart. Set aside.

2.  Tear lettuce in bites sizes pieces.  Add rest of ingredients except almonds.  Add almonds and dressing just before serving.

Dressing

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. sugar

2 Tbs. vinegar

1/4 cup oil

Watermelon and Cantaloupe Salad with Mint Vinaigrette

1 bunch fresh mint, chopped

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup simple syrup, recipe follows

1/8 teaspoon amaretto (I just use almond extract)

2 cups watermelon balls, from about half a watermelon

2 cups cantaloupe balls, from about 1 cantaloupe

1.  In a blender, combine mint, lemon juice, simple syrup, and amaretto.  Blend until smooth.

2.  In a large bowl, combine the watermelon and the cantaloupe.  Add the vinaigrette and toss.   Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

Simple Syrup

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

In a saucepan, combine water and sugar over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved.  Take pan off heat and cool the syrup.

Tri-Colore Orzo

1 pound orzo pasta

3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/4 cup

2 cups fresh arugula (about 3 ounces)

3/4 cup crumbles ricotta salata cheese (or feta cheese)

1/2 cup dried cherries (I use cherry flavored craisins)

12 fresh basil leaves, torn

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

3 Tbs. lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook unitl tender, stirring occasionally, about 8-10 minutes.  Drain pasta and put the pasta on a large cookie sheet.  Drizzle the pasta with 3 Tbs. olive oil, toss, spread out,and set aside to cool.

Once the orzo is cool, transfer to large serving bowl.  Combine lemon juice and 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.  Add the remaining ingredients, pour dressing on top  and toss gently to combine.  Serve.

This is one of my most favorite salads!!

Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 garlic smashed

1/2 cup olive oil

Put all ingredients in a jar or container with a tight lid and shake.

You could even add some finely grated parmesan cheese to this for a different twist.

Classic Spinach Salad

1 bag baby spinach

1/2 lb. bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

2 granny smith apples, cored and cubed

2 hard boiled eggs chopped

Vinaigrette

3 Tbs. Dijon mustard

3 Tbs. lemon juice

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbs. sugar

Dash of pepper

1/8 cup water

1/8 cup olive oil

You can make a meal out of this by adding some grilled chicken to this.  Yummy!!!