Quinoa Salad...light and lovely!

1 C quinoa cooked 15 minuets in 2 C water or broth (I used vegetable broth)

Cook and cool quinoa in refrigerator.

Chop these veggies(I didn't really measure these...just eyeball or use more of what you like most):

1/2 C English
cucumber (the long skinny ones although you could probably use regular)
1  tomato
1/2 small red onion, diced
2-3 green onions, sliced
2-3 T chopped cilantro (or use basil if you hate cilantro)
1 t chopped jalapeno (I used the jalapeno paste in a tube from Safeway...add a little more if you like it zippy)


Stir these into the cooled quinoa and dress with:

3 T olive oil
1 T fresh lemon juice (I used a whole lemon...a little tangier...or try using a lime)

This serves 4...

Great Green Beans!

A super simple way to really enjoy fresh green beans....get tender ones (Haricot Vert)...and steam (or microwave) just a few minutes until just tender...they should still be bright green. I usually cook in a steamer basket about 5 minutes, then cover and turn off heat and let sit another 5 minutes. Dump into a dish, sprinkle with lemon or lime juice (one of either), a little nutmeg, a few(2 t?) dried red onions(I got these at Safeway, but regular dried onions would probably be fine)
...they are good like this, but for added flavor drizzle with about 1/3 C-1/2C of the salad dressing from our raspberry, walnut green salad)...leftovers are great cold or as part of a regular green salad...but I usually eat them all!

Chicken Salad Butter Lettuce Wrap...or good for Sandwiches too

Chicken Salad
Similar to other chicken salads I've made over the years...there are lots of variations.

2-3 C diced cooked chicken breast
grapes, seedless red ones, cut in half (maybe about 3/4 C...)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, chopped a bit more
1 bunch green onions, chopped, including some of the green part
1/2 C chopped cilantro (or use basil)
1/3 C slivered almonds
1-2 C leftover brown rice (or make it without rice)

Dressing:
1 C light mayo
1 T Dijon mustard
1 1/2 t ginger
juice of one lime

Toss with salad...eat as is, wrapped in butter lettuce leaves, on a sandwich, in a croissant, pita bread...

Thanksgiving Cran-Raspberry Jello Salad

This is one of Grandma Evelyn's recipes..but it used "cran-raspberry" sauce, which is no longer made....this is close, and pretty and yummy! (Although calling it a salad lends it an aura of nutrition that is probably lacking).

Cran-Raspberry Salad

1 lg (6 oz) pkg Raspberry jello

1 pkg. Knox unflavored gelatin

1 can jellied cranberry sauce

12 oz frozen raspberries

12 oz 7-Up or Sprite

1 1/2 C boiling water

Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over 1/2 C of the 7 up and let set to soften.

Dissolve the raspberry Jello in the boiling water.

Stir the unflavored gelatin mixture into the hot jello.

Mush up the cranberry sauce (use a potato masher or ricer) and stir into the hot jello.

Add 1 more C of 7-Up and the frozen raspberries. Mash the berries a bit with the potato masher.

Pineapple coleslaw

Easy, low cal, low fat and delicious...
(I have a feeling I've alread posted this, but I can't find it...)

Mix: 3/4 C mayonnaise, 3 T vinegar, 3 T sugar (or 3 pkg Splenda)

Pour over:
1 pkg shredded cabbage (or cut your own)
1/2 C crushed pineapple, drained

Asian Noodle Salad

This is the salad we made for our Woman's Conference...it's a little hard to determine how many it serves...it depends on how big your veggies are...but this serves 15-20! It's a LOT of chopping!

Asian Noodle Salad

1 lb. linguine pasta, cooked, rinsed, cooled

1/2 head sliced Napa cabbage

1/2 head sliced purple cabbage

1/2 bag baby spinach

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

1 orange bell pepper, sliced

3 green onions, chopped

1/2 jicama (about 1 C julienned)

cilantro (optional, up to 1 bunch if you like it)

cashews - 10 oz

Dressing:

1 whole lime, juiced

1/2 C olive oil

1/2 C soy sauce (I used "light")

2 T sesame oil

1/3 C brown sugar

3 T fresh ginger, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

(Safeway has herbs, minced, in plastic tubes...saved a lot of chopping when I was making this x 10!)

Family Favorites: Frozen Pea Salad

Frozen Pea Salad

All the ingredients are quite variable, depending on the size of container you're using and how many people you want to serve. Once mixed, the salad doesn't save overnight...this amount is what I usually make for a family dinner...

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded

3 stalks celery, chopped

4-5 green onions, chopped

1 small can sliced water chestnuts

Layer the above ingredients in order (lettuce first) in a bowl or container. Then over the top dump 1 pkg frozen green peas (about 10 oz.) and spread out so everything is covered. Then "frost" with about 1 C mayonnaise (or enough to seal in the peas) I usually use low fat mayo.

Over the mayo, sprinkle 1 T sugar. Cover and refrigerate overnight (or several hours if possible)

When ready to serve, toss with:

1 C shredded cheddar cheese

5-6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

The "I Hate to Cook Book" by Peg Bracken (Fancy Tomatoes)

This book if 50 years old! I used it a lot in the late 60's...70's...
One of my favorite recipes I just made the other day when the tomatoes were proliferating....
(I'll have to add a picture later...they were so yummy we ate them all before I could find my camera!)

Fancy Tomatoes

Sliced tomatoes (if you want to be REALLY fancy you can peel them first by dipping in boiling water for 30 seconds)

Layer:
tomatoes
Sprinkle with:
a drizzle of oil
a glug of vinegar
a sprinkle of sugar
a shake of salt
a grind or two of pepper
a smattering of chopped basil
a bit of chopped garlic

Then put down another layer of tomatoes and do it all again...three or four layers is good, depending on how many tomatoes you have. Cover and refrigerate a few hours if you can. Flip the container a couple of times to recoat everything.

Ambrosia

Every winter after Christmas our orange trees ripen up and produce some amazing fruit...so this is a great way to use some oranges...it's great even if you have to buy them....it's also fun to use your handy pineapple corer, slicer(thank you Kristi!)...just "screw" the corer down into the pineapple...



And pull out perfectly cored and sliced pineapple...





Then cut into small chunks and mix with about 4 oranges, peeled and cut up...
(Of course, you can just cut up a pineapple any way you want...)




and about 1 C coconut....Voila! It keeps well refrigerated for several days...

Pomegranate Salad

I love this salad recipe I got from Aunt Val....it's sort of like a Waldorf Salad...but tangy because of the pomegranate...it's great for fall, for Thanksgiving...

1 large pomegranate, seeded (the "seeds" are called arils)
2-3 apples, diced (red or green, I usually don't peel them)
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1/2 C raisins or Craisins
1 C whipping cream, whipped (or Cool Whip...but of course, cream is best)
nutmeg

Just chop and mix...the refrigerated salad will keep a couple of days in the refrigerator.

Jicama Salad

From Aunt Val...

I skipped the shrimp and just made the salad...yummm! (except, Kaity, you'll have to leave out the cilantro!)

Cilantro-Lime Shrimp with Jicama, Corn, and Black Bean Salad

Dressing and Shrimp
½ t. lime zest
¼ cup fresh lime juice (I used more..2 limes)
1 tsp whole grain mustard
1 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic, crushed through a press
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or less)
36 large shrimp (1-1/4 lb) peeled, deveined, with tail shells intact

Salad
1 lb jicama, peeled, diced (about 2 cups)
1 ½ cups fresh corn kernels (2 ears of corn, not cooked)
1 (16 oz) can black beans, rinsed, drained
2 medium tomatoes, diced (almost 2 cups)
1/3 cup finely diced red onion
2 ripe hass avocados, pitted, peeled, and diced

Like I said...I just made the dressing and put it all on the veggies...sometime I may try the shrimp.

1. Dressing: In a large bowl, whisk lime zest, lime juice, mustard, cumin, garlic, and salt to combine; slowly whisk in oil until blended. Stir in cilantro.
(Put shrimp in a medium bowl and toss with ¼ cup of the dressing. Preheat the broiler.)
2. Salad: Add salad ingredients to remaining dressing in bowl and gently toss to coat.
( Thread shrimp onto skewers. Broil 4 inches from heat source, 2 minutes per side, or until just cooked through.)
3. To serve, spoon salad onto plates and top with a skewer of shrimp.

Ummmm....luscious, light lunch....

This is one of my favorite things to make for lunch or dinner, especially when I'm trying to eat healthy (healthily?)....it's a great way to get all those helpings of fruit we're supposed to have.
I don't know if I made it up or read about it somewhere...this is enough for 4 people for lunch (or 2 people for dinner or lunch on 4 days...it keeps pretty well,,,)

In a dish (or plastic refrigerator container) start with:

1 pint Cottage cheese

On top of this add a variety of cut up fruit(about 2 cups), such as:

pineapple (1/2 can chunks, crushed)
1 orange, peeled and chunked up
berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, some or all....frozen works)
1 banana, peeled and chunked up
1/2 chopped apple
mango, grapes, whatever you've got around that you like

Dressing:

1 C sour cream (light or fat free)
1/4 C Splenda (or sugar)
1 t vanilla
nutmeg

Pour this over the fruit and finish off with chopped walnuts if you like them.

Grandma Evelyn's Potato Salad

No pickle relish, no hard boiled eggs...super simple...super delicious:

"Some" potatoes, boiled in salted water, peeled, diced (6-8 depending on size)
"About" 1 C Best Food Mayonnaise (I've used fat free, but real is best)
2 T yellow mustard
Season with:
Salt, pepper (white if you don't want it to show), garlic salt, paprika
Add:
1/2 C minced onion (brown or green)
1/2 C minced Italian parsley (or regular)

Mix and add more mayonnaise if it's not creamy enough. Sprinkle top with more paprika. Best if made the day before.

Mark's Super Chicken Caesar Salad

Mark came up with this combo and we make it a lot...I just have to keep 4 items on hand:

Romaine lettuce (heads or preshredded)
Parmesan Cheese
Mesquite chicken breasts (from Sam's Club...but you could use and kind of cooked chicken)
Ken's Steakhouse Lite Creamy Caesar
Croutons (optional)

Do we need instructions? It's pretty obvious.
Cook chicken in oven for 15 minutes; cut into strips
(Mark uses two when he's just cooking for himself...but I use three for a family sized salad)
Cut up lettuce if not using precut...place in bowl; toss with cheese, dressing and chicken.
Throw in some croutons if you have them.

Janie's Yummy Salad

This recipe is from Janie Salvadalena...I usually triple the dressing and "salad nuts" to keep on hand so we can make this easily...(hide the nuts in the freezer since they are hard to resist)

Salad nuts:
Saute for about 10 minutes until caramelized:

• 1 C coarsely chopped walnuts (almonds or pecans)
  
• 1/2 cube butter
  
• 1/2 C brown sugar

Pour out on a piece of foil to cool.

Dressing:

• 1/3 C red wine vinegar
• 1/4 C oil (olive or corn)
• 3/4 C sugar (or Splenda)
• 1 t dijon mustard
• 3 T dry minced onions
• poppy seeds...I never add these, but you could

Buy a bag of "European Salad Greens" or any nice mixture of tender lettuces, endive, etc.
Pour in salad bowl and toss with nuts and dressing.
I usually add about 1 basket of frozen raspberries...you could also try strawberries or pear slices and feta or blue cheese. Serve right away...it doesn't store well.