Creamy Orange Fruit Salad

I love fruit salad of any kind but in the winter it can be hard (and expensive) to find enough fresh fruit for a nice salad.  I like this recipe because it uses canned fruit and bananas and apples which I can get all year round.

This salad is very easy to make and it makes quite a bit and keeps for a few days in the refrigerator or until the bananas start to turn brown.  When I made it, I had lots of creamy part and actually did not use all of it so I think it would be safe to say that doubling up on your favorite fruits would be fine but don’t be surprised if you have too much creamy part.

The recipe came from Allrecipes.

Creamy Orange Fruit Salad

VIEW PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE!

1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 (16 oz) can peach slices, drained
1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
2 bananas, sliced
1 apple, chopped
1 small box instant vanilla pudding (I used sugar free)
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup orange juice concentrate, defrosted
3/4 cup sour cream

In a large bowl, combine the fruits and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat pudding mix, milk and orange juice concentrate for 2 minutes. Add sour cream and mix well.

Spoon mixture over the fruit and toss gently making sure all the fruit is coated.

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Makes 8-10 servings

Happy Cooking!

Spinach and Lettuce Salad

Mr. Meat Eater is NOT a veggie lover, obviously, but he really doesn’t like raw spinach.  I, on the other hand, love it!  When I found this recipe in Art of Cooking by the Junior League of Ogden I figured it was a happy medium and I was right.  I did leave out the bacon per Mr. Meat Eater’s unnatural dislike of bacon.  The dressing is very good and really goes well with the salad.

I used romaine instead of iceberg because that is what I had but I would probably not use the iceberg anyway as it’s not my favorite green.

Spinach and Lettuce Salad

Salad:
1 head of romaine, or your favorite green
1 pkg of baby spinach
8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
1-2 cups of shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 – 1 pound of bacon
1 red onion, thinly sliced (soaking the onion slices in ice water for 15 minutes or so will take some of the “bite” out of the onion)

Dressing:
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup green onions, sliced thin (I used one bunch instead of measuring out 1/3 cup)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp poppy seeds

In a large salad bowl, toss all salad ingredients together and refrigerate.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients and refrigerate.

Just before serving, whisk the dressing again and pour the amount desired on the salad and toss again.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Warm Mushroom Salad and Some Blog Housekeeping

Something else that I want to do this year is to make an index tab at the top of the page to make it easier to see what all is here.  That will take a bit of time so maybe in the next couple of months that will get done.

The printing issue continues to vex me so I found a neat little site that will take a page from here and put it into a printable form.  You will have to copy the URL of the page you are trying to copy, then go to Print Friendly, paste the URL in the bar and hit print preview.  From that page you can print, put it in a PDF, or email it.  It works, I’ve tried it.  I’ll be adding the button to my sidebar here shortly.  That’s about the best I can do until wordpress puts in a printer friendly function.

Now, the recipe.  This salad is the BOMB!!  I love mushrooms ~ I mean I REALLY love mushrooms.  I was in mushroom heaven eating this.  It’s super easy to make and I can’t see any reason why you can’t just use whatever mushrooms you like.

Remember I said I was going to cook from my cookbooks more?  This recipe is adapted  from one of my newer cookbooks ~ More Recipes Worth Sharing by Favorite Recipes Press.  Really delicious recipes in this book and well worth buying!

Warm Mushroom Salad

2 tbsps olive oil
2 shallots, sliced thinly
8 ozs white mushrooms, sliced
4 ozs shiiitake mushrooms, sliced
4 ozs baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsps olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 cups salad greens
2 tbsps olive oil
2 tsps balsamic vinegar
4 ozs crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Heat 2 tbsps olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and saute until shallots begin to caramelize. Add all the mushrooms, 2 tbsps olive oil, sand salt and pepper and continue to saute until the mushrooms are tender. Stir in the 1 tbsp balsamic.

Toss the salad greens with 2 tbsps olive oil and 2 tsps balsamic and season with salt and pepper if desired. Arrange the salad greens on a platter and spoon the warm mushrooms mixture over the greens. Sprinkle the Gorgonzola over the top.

Serve warm.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Holiday Salad

My daughter served this salad on Thanksgiving and it was sooooo good.  I know the bowl looks really messy and I’ll take the blame for being a messy salad tosser.  The recipe called for a raspberry vinaigrette and I couldn’t find just a plain raspberry vinaigrette so I used a raspberry-pomegranate vinaigrette and it was superb as well as being fairly healthy.  This salad is chock-full of yummy ingredients and the color just makes it perfect for the holidays.   The recipe came from allrecipes originally.

Holiday  Salad

1 (10 ounce) package Italian-blend salad greens
1 (5 ounce) package spring mix salad greens
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 medium red apple, cored and chopped
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (8 ounce) bottle raspberry vinaigrette ~ I used about 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle

In a large salad bowl, toss all of the ingredients except the dressing.

Just before serving, drizzle with vinaigrette and toss.

Makes 10-12 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Quinoa Salad

This recipe is so easy and delicious and it would be perfect for a potluck or a party because it makes a big salad.  I left out the red bell peppers because I’m not a fan of them raw and I made a few other adjustments.  The vinaigrette is perfect for the salad.  I was a little leary of the maple syrup but it works.  You can always use your favorite vinaigrette or even a bottled one.

I found both recipes on food.com/formerly Recipezaar posted by magpie diner.

Quinoa Salad

Salad:
1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen (I used frozen and did not cook them)
3 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cucumber, diced (I used 1/2 of a cucumber)
3 tbsps chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp sea salt

Dressing:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sea salt
black pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tbsps real maple syrup, do not use pancake topping only real maple syrup
5 tbsps olive oil

In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients and toss to combine. If serving immediately, add about 1/2 cup dressing and serve. If not serving immediately, put salad and dressing in refrigerator separately and add the dressing just before serving. The quinoa will soak up quite a bit of dressing so you may need to keep adding a bit.

Dressing:
Using a stick blender or a small food processor, mix everything except for the oil. With blender running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Happy Cooking!

Deely’s Seafood Salad and New Directions

Well, it looks like meal planning is the most asked for feature so that’s the direction I will take.  I am working on some meal planning tips, how I meal plan, etc., so look for those in the near future.  I will try to incorporate some of the other things asked for as well.

I also thought that I would start posting about making everyday foods like bagels, tortillas, pitas, and my success or failure at it. I am also trying to go more towards fresh foods but there are some things that I’ll never stop using so I am going to try to find healthier alternatives.  I hope you all will stick with me!

Any other ideas, please shoot them my way!

We had a BBQ for DH’s co-workers and some family friends a couple of weekends ago and one of the salads I made was this very delicious seafood salad.    Deely from Food.com (formerly Recipezaar) suggested it to me and it was a HUGE hit at the BBQ.  I took her advice and used fresh shrimp and crab and I would suggest that you do the same.  It’s a very easy salad to make and I know that I’ll be making it over and over.

Deely’s Shrimp and Crab Pasta Salad

Deely’s Shrimp and Crab Pasta Salad

2 (6 ounce) cans shrimp (drained) or 1 cup fresh shrimp, chopped (I used medium size)
1 (6 ounce) cans crab (drained) or 1 cup fresh crab, picked through
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (8 ounce) cans sliced water chestnuts (drained)
3 cups pasta shells uncooked (cooked)
1/2 cup onions chopped
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
salt and pepper

Mix seafood and lemon juice and then combine all ingredients.

Refrigerate over night.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Summer Salad

This is such an easy salad and dressing to put together that you can really do it at the last minute.  I find that the pimientos don’t really add anything spectacular to the salad so feel free to leave them out if you don’t like them or don’t have any. This makes a large salad so feel free to cut it down to make a smaller one.

The dressing makes much more than you will need to dress this salad so either make half or less or save the rest for another salad later in the week.  It should last in the fridge for at least a week.

Summer Salad

Dressing:
1 1/3 cups canola oil
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

Salad:
2 bunches romaine, roughly chopped
1 bunch red or green lettuce, roughly chopped
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced, then halved
1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimientos, drained
2/3 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Combine all dressing ingredients and whisk until well combined. Set aside. You can make earlier in the day and store in the refrigerator. Whisk well before dressing salad.

In a large salad bowl, combine all the salad ingredients except the cheese. Dress the salad with the dressing and then sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Toss to coat all salad ingredients with the dressing. The salad may be make ahead up to adding the cheese and dressing and stored in the refrigerator. Just before serving, add the dressing and cheese.

Makes 10-12 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Grilled Romaine Salad

I hope everyone had a fun and safe fourth of July.  Ours was very quiet ~ Zippy played in his pool and then hid when the fireworks started.

I survived my fun day at the dentist but still have some pain ~ hopefully tomorrow will be better.

In the meantime, I made this salad last month and we really enjoyed it.  It was easy to make and tastes delicious.  I found the recipe in one of the Deen Brothers magazines.  My DH did the grilling and I did the rest.  I don’t remember what I served it with but it would go well with just about any protein.

Grilled Romaine Salad

Dressing:
3 tbps balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup olive oil

Salad:
4 large portobello mushrooms
1 head Romaine lettuce, halved lengthwise
1 plum tomato, sliced
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

For the dressing, combine the vinegar, mustard, and zest in a small bowl. Stream in the olive oil, whisking, until all well combined. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Preheat your grill to medium high and grill mushrooms for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Grill lettuce halves for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until browned. Cool.

Cut lettuce into bite-sized pieces and place in a salad bowl. Slice mushrooms and add to bowl along with the tomato slices and then sprinkle with the cheese crumbles. Drizzle with the dressing.

Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Ranch Pasta Salad

This is another recipe that I took some help from  the boxed pasta salads at the grocery store.  I love the flavor and I really like the fact that it makes a smaller amount so nothing goes to waste here at our house.  I didn’t add the corn because I have a corn hater in the house and I used super tiny pieces of broccoli because the corn hater also hates broccoli.  Crazy, I know!  This recipe came from the Betty Crocker website.

Ranch Pasta Salad

1 box Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad classic pasta salad mix
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch
1 tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 cups small broccoli florets
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
4 medium green onions, sliced

Fill a pan 2/3 full of wate rand bring to a boil. Add the pasta from the box and boil uncovered for 12 minutes. Add the corn during the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Drain pasta and corn very well.

In a salad bowl, stir together the seasoning mix, dressing, and lime juice. Then stir in the corn and remaining ingredients.

Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Serve with tortilla chips if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Layered Pasta Salad

The Betty Crocker website has loads of delicious sounding recipes.  Most of the recipes use Betty Crocker products in some form or fashion.  There are days when I will take all the help I can get ~ my “semi-homemade” days.  I prefer cooking from scratch and while I do that 80% of the time, I have days where I need the help.  From talking with friends, many of them do too.  That’s when websites from food companies come in handy.

I make a layered veggie salad that is delicious and when I saw this recipe it intrigued me because of the pasta salad in it.  It’s easy to make ~ chopping up the fresh veggies is the hardest part.  My bacon hater didn’t even complain about the bacon in the pasta salad.

Layered Pasta Salad

1 box of Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad ranch and bacon pasta salad mix
1 1/4 cup prepared Ranch salad dressing
3 cups torn Romaine lettuce
2 cups shredded carrots
2 cups small broccoli florets
2 plum tomatoes, chopped or halved grape tomatoes

Cook pasta packet in boiling water for 12 minutes. Drain.

In a medium bowl, mix the seasoning packet that came in the salad box and the ranch dressing. Add the pasta and mix well. Set aside.

In a footed bowl, glass mixing bowl, or glass 13×9 pan, layer the romaine, carrots, broccoli, pasta salad and tomatoes. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Happy Cooking!