July 2010 - Salad days

It's really hot. Have I mentioned how hot it is? So here in Vegas (where it's HOT), our theme is salads. Yea!

Since all my kids moved out the lettuce supply isn't dwindling quite as fast as it used to, but we still go through a few heads a week. And when the weather is...okay, but I'm just saying...then it's nice to have a cool salad for lunch or dinner. Even if it's a salad filled sandwich.

Everything goes in this section, fruit salads, green salads, meat salads, side salads, sandwich fillings, you name it.

And please share.

Two of our easy and really good salads that make a quick and filling dinner are Chicken Caesar and Chinese Chicken. These are not recipe worthy, but I will share them anyway. One of my new staples is a bag of pre-cooked mesquite or teriaki chicken breasts from a big-box store like Costco or Sam's.

Chicken Caesar
Our absolute favorite caesar dressing is "Ken's Steakhouse Creamy Caesar".
Romaine lettuce
mesquite chicken breast, cooked and cubed
croutons
* I like to through a little extra parmesan cheese in there.

Chinese Chicken
Your favorite chinese checken salad dressing
romaine lettuce
mesquite or teriyaki chicken breast, cooked and chopped
Chopped green onion
chow mein noodles
*You might like to add some mandarin oranges

Macaroni Salad (yes, THE macaroni salad)
Broccoli Salad
Pasta Salad

Ranch Dressing

Macaroni Salad

Yes, this is THE macaroni salad...

Macaroni Salad

1 lb (16oz dry) salad roni or small shells, cooked
12 hard boiled eggs (I grate them into the salad, or you can chop fine)
¾ to 1 cup finely chopped celery
2 bunches (about 12) green onion, chopped fine
2 tsp salt

Combine in large bowl. Add dressing and serve. Keep refrigerated. This makes a large batch and is easily halved. (The secret is to mix it while it’s still hot so the flavors blend.)

Dressing:

2 cups Best Foods Mayo (Seriously, Best foods makes all the difference in taste.)
8 Tbsp Sweet pickle juice (yes, just the juice)
4 Tbsp sugar

Mix well and add to salad.

It may seem soupy at first but the pasta will soak up the excess soon enough. If it needs to sit for a day then you might want to make a little extra dressing to mix in later.

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad

1 cup mayo (Best Foods)
¼ cup sugar
2 T vinegar (I like white)
8 cups broccoli florets
1 cup chopped orange segments (you can use 11oz can mandarin oranges, drained)
½ cup diced red onion
6 to 8 bacon strips, cooked & crumbled (I think it’s about a half a pound)
½ cup raisins (I’ve used craisins too and they’re good, but the raisins are better)

In a small bowl, whisk mayo, sugar, and vinegar. Can make ahead and cover and refrigerate.
In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients and add dressing. Cover and refrigerate for an hour if you have the time. It helps the flavors blend.

This is easily doubled.

Pasta Salad

This is the family-favorite pasta salad. We've left our mark on it. Mary doubled the cheese, I added the salami. It's very forgiving and very good.

Pasta Salad
(Small batch)

3 cups cooked pasta
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 cups chopped broccoli (approx)
1 small can sliced olives, drained
1 small bottle (8oz?) *Italian dressing
(optional) 1 cup cubed *hard dry salami

Toss together and chill.
(Save a little dressing to refresh salad if it is going to sit in the fridge a long time before serving.)

*I prefer Zesty Italian Dressing and Gallo salami.


(Large Batch)

1 lb (16oz) pasta, cooked
2 cups parm. cheese
4 medium tomatoes (2 or 3 large)
4 cups chopped broccoli
2 small cans olives
1 large bottle (16oz?) *Italian Dressing (or to taste)
2 cups *salami

Ranch Dressing

This is what we call in our family "Lizzie's Ranch Dressing". In our stake its called "Homemade Ranch".

Ranch Dressing

1 cup buttermilk
1 ½ cup mayo (Best Foods!! Seriously, only use Best Foods Mayo)
¼ tsp garlic salt
¼ tsp onion salt
pepper to taste
1 ½ Tbsp (heaping) dried parsley flakes

Mix well.

*This stores for a long time in the fridge (weeks—longer…). It will separate after a while, but if you stir it should still be good. I actually make this up in much larger amounts and just keep it on hand. We use it for a lot of things. My family really likes it on mashed potatoes, taco salad, ham sandwiches, fresh veggies, as a dip for tortilla chips, you name it. Oh yeah, and salad.

Our recipe:
4 c buttermilk
6 c mayo—Best Foods only
1(heaping) tsp garlic salt
1(heaping) tsp onion salt
Pepper to taste (1/2 tsp? more?)
6 heaping Tbsp dried parsley

Probably 50 regular servings, 25 main dish servings?

Mexican Chicken Salad Wraps

This is a great chicken salad filling for a lot of things, but this is my favorite way to serve it.

Mexican Chicken Salad Wraps

4 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 can kidney beans (or black beans), rinsed and drained
1 medium onion, chopped (or 1 bunch green onions or more to taste)
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo
2 envelopes taco seas., or 8 Tbsp
flour tortillas (size is your choice)
shredded lettuce
Ranch Dressing

Mix first five ingredients in a bowl. Combine sour cream, mayo and taco seasoning; add to chicken mixture and stir well. Spread chicken salad on flour tortillas, top with shredded lettuce. Drizzle Ranch dressing over top and roll.


*This salad is also good rolled plain in a flour tortilla, cut in smaller portions and then served with hot bean dip. Mmmm...