Category: Salads

Pasta Salad

This salad was served at a luncheon here at the house for about 20 ladies and they all wanted the recipe. So here it is……….
1 lb box or sack of small shell pasta
3 green onions, chopped
2 6 oz cans of marinated artichoke hearts, chopped and drained
1 5/34 oz sliced green olives, drained
1 small container of feta cheese (any flavor you desire)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 bottle of greek vinaigrette salad dressing

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and cool. Add rest of ingredients, except the dressing. Add about 1/2 cujp of the dressing and cover and chill until serving time.Then add rest of dressing and serve.
This is best mixed together(except the dressing you add at serving time) about 4 hrs before serving.
This gives the flavors a chance to blend. You can choose to add the whole bottle of dressing right after mixing together the ingredients. If you do, the salad might require extra dressing as the pasta absorbs the dressing.

Daily Thoughts · Salads · Starches · Uncategorized

Pasta Salad

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

Today I was going to post the Spanish Rice I made for dinner night before last, but first I wanted to post this really easy and yummy pasta salad. Isn’t it hard to think of new lunch items to make after 4 months of trying to stay home and thus, the 21 meals a week are getting a little more creative of, “what foods left over in the fridge can we put together that will keep us from having to go out into the virus laden world?” Well, ladies and gentlemen, is a really good lunch treat that took me all of 10 minutes to put together (why am I in a hurry when I have no where to go right now) and tastes so good.

Because I didn’t have any cutesy shaped pasta right now, I just remembered eating a spaghetti salad at a steak house in West Texas one year so I used the spaghetti in the pantry. Because back in March when we were hoarding any pasta, toilet paper and canned anything we could get our hands on, I have boxes of pasta just sitting here waiting to be used.

Well, here are the simple instructions:

Boil as much spaghetti as you like. I used enough to make about 4 cups of pasta salad. (now you can go figure out how much raw pasta that is because I forget to measure it)
I add some chicken bouillon to the water when boiling pasta because it gives it a little more flavor so I don’t have to add as much oil or butter.
When pasta is done, drain and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Place drained pasta in large mixing bowl and add enough Italian Salad Dressing as you like. I was so excited because I had splurged one day at the store and bought Olive Garden Salad Dressing so I used what I had left of that. Sprinkle in some Parmesan cheese (but be sure pasta is cooled enough so the cheese doesn’t melt on the pasta.
Next cut up the proscuito/cheese roll that you buy in the refrigerated deli department. I used 4 rolls of them. Open a jar of chopped green olives and spoon about 2 tables into the pasta. Next cut up about 6-7 marinated artichoke hearts into the pasta. I also added about 1 tables of the marinade from the artichokes. If you like more cheese add about 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese to the pasta before serving!
Cut up green onions or 1/4 cup purple onion and add to the mix. Sprinkle Italian Seasoning, garlic powder and pepper to the pasta and mix well.

Place covered bowl of pasta in the fridge and let chill for about 2 hours before serving. This will be our lunch today along with Peanut M&M’s for dessert. I wasn’t kidding when I said I need to go to the store.

Daily Thoughts · Salads · Starches · Uncategorized

Zipppity Do Da Pasta Salad

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Since I am in a most supercalifragilistic kind of mood today, I have that old song, “Zippity Do Da” going over and over in my mind today. Just coming home from Phoenix where I went to visit our daughter and family for a few days. Then last night returning home to Randy taking me out for Mexican food, how can I not be in a great mood?

This morning, I was to meet a new friend for coffee at 9. Because it was my first morning back in town, I began to think, “why did I accept this invite, when I wish I had made it for another day and could just stay home and bake.” But after meeting with her, well, all I can say is that I met a kindred spirit and it just made my day. Felt like I could have sat and talked to her for hours. Isn’t it always like that? When we least expect it, God puts someone in our lives that seems like such a gift. Was so thankful I kept the appointment. We began to share some of the things in our lives that have led up this point and it was apparent that we have so much in common. AND…….we both love white bakery cake!

But back to the pasta salad. As I sat there and began to tell her about the blog, I remembered that I had never posted the pasta salad that many have requested the recipe. So here it is….trust me on this one. It is just so simple, yet it is so so different from most pasta salads and everyone who tried it loved it. So get those salad forks ready and get ready to put this recipe on your “favorite recipe lists for bridal luncheons, Mother’s Day luncheons, and any Spring or Summer day you want something wonderful to eat besides chicken salad.”

Ingredients

1 bag or box of bow tie pasta

1/2 purple onion finely diced

one small jar of chopped pimentos, drained

1 cup finely grated parmesan or mozzarella cheese, (or a combo of both which is what I did)

1 8 or 12 oz jar of olive tapenade. (One jar I bought was 8 oz and another was 12 oz, but because I was making salad for 25, I used 3 jars and 3 boxes of pasta)

1 bottle of Kraft Roasted Red Pepper dressing

*opt if you want to add some cut up pepperoni or dry salami, it goes well with this recipe also, just add the amount you desire to the pasta once you have added rest of ingredients.

Directions

Cook pasta according to directions on box. Drain and cool.

Add all ingredients except the dressing and stir. Add salt and pepper to your liking.

Depending on what brand of olive tapenade you use, will depend on how much of the dressing you will need. If the brand you use has quite a bit of the olive oil in it, you might want to drain some of the olive oil off so that you would need more of the roasted bell pepper dressing.

After you have added the ingredients you want in the pasta, add enough of the dressing to make it moist.  Keep covered in fridge. Right before serving, you might want to add a little more dressing if it has soaked in too much into the pasta. Sprinkle some extra grated cheese on top and serve.

Daily Thoughts · Holiday Fare · Salads · Uncategorized · Vegetables

Fried Okra Salad

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Happiest of New Years! As we sit and wait for the traditional black eyed peas to finish cooking to take to friends for dinner, it dawned on me that I had not posted this new recipe. This morning I realized that for the first time in probably 10 years, I had forgot to buy black eyed peas. How could we begin 2020 without them? Everyone knows that if you don’t have a helping of them Jan 1st, your hopes of ever winning any lotto, well, just forget it. Also, “they” say that if you don’t have the peas, you will probably catch every flu that there is no vaccine for, and you will gain weight just looking at cake and DSW will never have the shoe you want in your size. So just to be sure you are covered for all these things, have a helping of the little gems. Why take chances?

Well, this morning when we realized that we didn’t have a black eyed pea in the house, Randy stopped at the grocery store across the street and I ran in to see if I could find either frozen peas or dried (just can’t do the canned ones, well, let me rephrase that, that would be my last choice if all other possibilities were exhausted) BE peas. Walking up to the frozen food aisle, there was a lady standing looking at the frozen veggies and she saw me looking and moved her cart out of the way, apologizing for being in the way. When I assured her she was certainly not in my way, as I was just looking for BEP, she stated that she was just trying to get some new ideas of foods to make. It was in that instant that I began an internal struggle. Do I just ignore her and assume she was just making a statement, or should I tell her that I have a cooking blog and hand her a card with the blog info on it. It took me about 30 seconds before I finally said, “do you like fried okra?” When she said yes I do, I handed her a card and told her that I would be posting this recipe later today for Fried Okra Salad. That lead to her reading my business card and she said, “oh I’m a believer also, what church to you go to?” And then she noticed my name and as we began to talk, she told me that she was in the title business, just like Randy. In fact she knew several people which we knew. It was just so great to visit. It always amazes me how God orchestrates these sweet little blessings that happen when we are just running into a store to pick up something.
January 2020….the beginning of a new decade. We have so much to be thankful for in this past decade. May we continue to always give thanks and always look for opportunities to share joy and kindness with others, all the while giving thanks for all the joy and kindness we have received from others. Here is the recipe which was given to me from a precious friend, Dena. Can’t wait to have it with a pot of cabbage and onions, potato casserole and ham….a perfect southern meal.

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 1/2 pounds frozen breaded okra, thawed and fried according to directions
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch green onions, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

IN a small saucepan, cook oil, sugar and vinegar over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Set aside

In a large bowl, combine fried cooked okra and remaining 4 ingredients. Pour vinegar mixture over okra, tossing just to coat. Serve immediately.

*Taken from Paula Deen Magazine

Breads · Salads · Uncategorized

Arabic Fattoush Salad (AKA..Arabic Skinnyoush Salad)

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Im sorry but I don’t want to infer that any recipe that I post is associated with the word: Fat. So in my mind, if I think the wonderful salad will make me skinny, it just naturally tastes better. This salad wowed Peter Pumpkin and myself. The flavor was a little like tabouli (I just eat it, I don’t learn how to spell it) but the salad itself made both of us decide to head back to the store today to buy more parsley so we can make it again tomorrow. IT’s THAT GOOD! A new friend of mine, Debbie, which lives down the street picked up this recipe at the grocery store and gave me a copy. She and I had been to lunch at a Afghanistan restaurant and started talking about how much we loved Middle Eastern food so she brought this to me a few days later. I did alter it just a bit as I was in a hurry when I was in the grocery store and thought I was picking up Pita Chips, when in fact, they were Pasta Chips, which I didn’t even realize until I was cleaning up last night. They were a great substitute if you cannot find Pita chips or do not want to make your own, (which the recipe called me to do). AND….I had some left over marinated mozzarella balls so I threw those in also. Great addition. Will always add those. OK, so here is the recipe as it came to me: Im including also pictures of the Pasta Chips so you will know what to look for if you decide to use them, plus a picture of the marinated mozzarella balls…

Ingredients

1 tables vegetable oil for frying

2 small (4 inch) pita breads, torn into pieces

1 large English cucumber, finely diced

3 cups halved, grape tomatoes

1/2 red onion, finely diced

3/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

3/4 cup chopped fresh mint

2 tables EVOO, or to taste

1 tables fresh lemon juice, or to taste

1 clove garlic, crushed or more if desired

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

crumbled feta cheese *and I added about 1 cup of marinated mozzarella balls, cut in 1/3’s

Plus I added some fresh basil but recipe didn’t call for it

Directions

Heat veggie oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Place pita pieces into the skillet without crowding and fry in batches until golden brown, draining on paper towel. Combine cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, parsley, mint, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Gently toss to combine. Add your friend pita chips or purchased pasta cups right before serving. Adjust seasonings to your liking.

Salads · Uncategorized

Recipes From The Road

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Yesterday I said that I would post some recipes which we came across while traveling through the East these few weeks. We have eaten at Hudson’s twice while in Hilton Head. Their seafood is just so good. They serve this slaw which they share the recipe on the back of the take away menu.

7 Day Slaw
1 head cabbage
1 small sweet onion
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard
Salt & pepper to taste
Slice cabbage and onions thinly or shred them nod toss with sugar. Mix remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Pour boiling mixture over cabbage and let set five minutes, then mix. Chill in fridge and serve on leaves of romaine.
Serves 8 to 12.
Because it has no mayo, it will last in fridge for a week.

Salads

La Orange Grande Brussels Sprouts Salad

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While living in Pasadena, CA (and every time we go back to visit), I had to go to La Orange Grande and have this salad. The other day, I began to think that maybe it could be found on-line and so it was. This salad is just the best. For those of you who think you don’t like Brussels sprouts, think again, people eat this without knowing they are eating Brussels Sprouts. The flavor is so mild and the cheese, cranberries and almonds just take it over the top. At the restaurant, they always ask if you want crumbled bacon on top…do they really need to ask?

Mustard Vinaigrette:

2 tables honey

1 1/2 tables Champagne vinegar

1 tables fresh lemon juice with pulp

1 1/2 teas lemon zest

1 1/2 teas whole grain mustard, more as desired

1 1/2 teas minced garlic

3/4 cup light olive oil

Sea Salt & pepper

Salad
1 pound Brussels sprouts

1 tables dried cranberries

1 tables dried blueberries

2 tables toasted whole almonds, preferably California or Spanish Marcona (which I get at Costco)

3 tables mustard vinaigrette

1 ounce Manchego cheese, shaved using a peeler

Make the dressing:

In a large bowl, whisk together the honey, vinegar, lemon juice and zest, mustard and garlic. Continue whisking while slowly drizzling in the olive oil until the oil is thoroughly incorporated. Season to taste with the salt and pepper, and brighten the dressing as desired with a little extra mustard and vinegar. Chill well before using. This makes about 1 cup of dressing , which is more than needed for this salad recipe but stays great in fridge, covered for a week.

Salad

Peel the leaves from the Brussels sprouts, discarding the core. In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the Brussels sprouts leaves just until they are a vibrant green and barely tender. Drain immediately and place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking of the leaves. Drain and dry well. You should have about 3 cups of leaves.

In a large bowl, toss the sprouts, cranberries, blueberries, almonds and just enough of the vinaigrette to lightly moisten

Mount the salad on a plate and top with the cheese shavings. Top with crumbled crisp fried bacon if desired.. I desire!

Serve immediately!

*Courtesy of the LA Times and La Grande Orange Cafe

Salads

Three Sisters Salad

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During our vacation in California these past 4 weeks, I had time to go through a friends stack of cooking magazines (which is one of my favorite things to do) and ended up taking a armload of them to make copies! So I came home with lots of new recipes that are on my “to make” lists. Thanks Dee for all the new recipes! This one came in a book from Southern Living: New Fall Recipes

1 (2 lb) butternut squash (about 2 cups chopped, which I now see at Trader Joe’s and other grocery stores already cubed in a bag)

2 tables olive oil

1 (15.5 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups fresh corn kernels

1/3 small red onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

3 cups loosely packed arugula

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Preheat oven to 400. Peel and seed butternut squash and cut into 3/4″ cubes. Toss squash with olive oil to coat. Place in a single layer in a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined jelly roll pan. Bake 20 minutes or until squash is just tender and begins to brown. Do not overcook, stirring once after 10 minutes. Cool completely after baking 20 minutes, total.

Toss together cannellini beans and next 3 ingredients with squash in a large bowl. Add the Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing and cover and chill about 2-4 hours. Toss with arugula just before serving.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Whish together 2 tables balsamic vinegar, 1 large shallot, minced. Add 1 teas minced garlic, 1/2 Tables light brown sugar, 1/4 teas sea salt and 1/4 teas seasoned pepper. Gradually add 1/4 cup canola or olive oil in a slow steady stream. Whisking until well blended. This can be made a day ahead and allowed to stand, covered in fridge.

appetizers · Fish · Salads

Shrimp Salad

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

Yesterday I wrote that I would post the Shrimp salad if the ladies liked it. It was a success. In fact, it really was such a hit that one of the ladies took the rest of it home.

I ended up serving it in hollowed out avocado and it was such a refreshing summer salad.

1 lb of large shrimp, cleaned, deveined and peeled, cut into pieces

2 tables mayo

1/3 cup sour cream

1/4 cup celery, finely diced

1/2 small red bell pepper

3 green onions, green stalks included

4 large avocado, halved and seed removed

McCormick Lemon Pepper

Seasoned Pepper, Onion powder and dill

After shrimp has cooked and cooled, I cut each shrimp into about 3 pieces.

Mix your mayo, sour cream, and seasonings, Add to the cut up shrimp and place in fridge for at least 4 hours. I mixed it up the night before giving the flavors a chance to blend.

Use the lemon pepper, dill, and onion powder to your liking. I love to add a little more dill and lemon pepper.

This would actually fill about 5 avocado which have been cut in half!

Daily Thoughts · Salads

Slips & Salads

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Being responsible for lunch today for a ladies Bible study, I decided to make shrimp salad and tomato mozzarella salad. At the last minute, I decided instead of making shrimp pasta salad, I would stuff avacados with the shrimp, so ran up to Kroger to buy avacados about 9:30 this morning. Being sure that I looked around for just the perfect soft ones, not to soft, not to hard, I found just the perfect ones that would allow me to cut them in half and scoop out of the shell. I turned to go get a plastic bag to put them in when I walked across some water on the floor by the strawberries. Of course you know the rest of the story, having my cutsie little sandals on with lots of bling, I fell down on my left knee with my right leg going in the opposite direction landing on my rear. The produce guy ran over to help me up and acting like I am a senior citizen, he kept asking me if anything was broken (besides my pride) and thank goodness, he was a hefty little thing, so was able to pull me off the floor before to many people walked by snickering.

Upon arriving home and knowing that this was probably good enough to get me some sympathy from Mr. Great Bedside Manner, I came in from the garage limping and looking like I had just been in a 3 car pile up. He comes over to me, and ask if he can get me anything. I tell him, yes, I would love a tall glass of iced tea and an Advil. I proceed to go sit on the couch and wait for my precious hubby to come bring my tea and pain med. Knowing that maybe, just maybe this would get me dinner out tonight so I wouldn’t have to stand on my already swollen knee, he hands me the tea and says, “isn’t it great that you weren’t on the liquor aisle? They would have just thought you were drunk!” And that my dear friends is about all the sympathy I received. Well, along with, “maybe “we” can just make it an easy dinner tonight since your knee looks pretty swollen, what about just “fixin” meatloaf, baked potatoes and green beans with bacon. I bet there is a couple of slices of butter milk pie left over from yesterday, so just don’t feel like you have to bake something tonight.”

Is he not the greatest and most thoughtful of husbands?

I am so glad I bought a couple extra avocado so I can throw one at him.

But in the meantime, I made a salad of cherry tomatoes with mozzarella balls and put sea salt, olive oil, mashed garlic and fresh basil to go along with the shrimp salad which I will post after I see how the ladies like it.

Salads

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

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I’m stepping out of my dessert mode for a day and posting a recipe that I love to make during the summer. I have discovered that I like broccoli raw, more than cooked.  So this recipe is a favorite of mine. Sometimes, I add a chopped green onion for more color and a 1/2 of a red bell pepper.

1 good size bunch of fresh broccoli, cut into small bite size pieces

1 medium cauliflower, cut into small bite size pieces

1 jar real bacon bits, or 10 strips of bacon, fried and crumbled

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped

1 cup golden raisins

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sugar

2 teas white vinegar

Mix dressing ingredients and blend until thoroughly blended. Can be made the day before pouring over salad mixture.

Mix all salad ingredients, except bacon. Combine with dressing ingredients. Toss gently. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight. Add bacon just before serving.