Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

This one is for you Jen! This is the salad I brought to Dad's birthday.

2 C Mini Bowtie Pasta, uncooked (I used regular Bow Tie)
2 (15 oz cans) corn OR 3-4 Corn Cobs
1 Avocado
3 Green Onions
1/2 Bunch Cilantro
1 Tbsp Finely Chopped Jalapeno
6-8 Pieces Bacon, crumbled
1/2 C Cotija Cheese or Queso Fresco

Dressing
1/2 C Mayo (I used a little less than this)
3 Tbsp Fresh Lime Juice
1/8 tsp ground Cumin
1/4 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Sriracha or Hot Sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to package. Drain and rinse in cold water. Dry the pasta.

CORN: If you are using the cobs, Pull back the husks and clean the corn, then fold the husks back over the cob. Put corn in water with 1 Tbsp of salt for 10 minutes. Shake the corn cobs and then grill. Grill for 15-20 minutes turning the corn every 5 minutes.
OR canned corn. Drain the corn. In a cast iron skillet, heat a little oil on medium high heat. Pour corn in a single layer and cook for about 5 minutes stirring only once. This should brown the corn. Keep doing this until all corn is blackened.
Chop the avocado into small pieces, chop the green onion and cilantro. Finely chop the jalapeno. Cook and crumble the bacon. Crumble the cheese. In a large bowl combine the cooled, dry pasta, cooled corn, avocado, onions, cilantro, jalapeno, bacon and cheese. Wait to add the avocado, cheese, and bacon until ready to eat. Toss the salad.
In a small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients and whisk together until combined. Toss over salad.

Bean Salad

This is Martha's Recipe and I LOVE it. You can add or take away whatever you'd like.

INGREDIENTS:

1 can Pinto beans
1 can Black beans (or any beans you have)
1/4 C onions (plus or minus to your liking)
2-3 tomatoes, chopped
any peppers you'd like (red, green, yellow, orange)
OR 1/2 - 1 C chopped cucumber
Feta Cheese (Optional)
Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut up vegetables, drain and rinse beans, add it all to a bowl and add dressing to your liking. This is such a delicious and easy salad for a side for dinner.

Cafe Rio Tomatillo Dressing

I know there is one on here already, but I made this and really like it so I want to have it easily accessible. There is only a few small changes I have made.

1 Packet Ranch Mix
1 C Mayo
1 C Buttermilk (or Milk)
2 Tomatillos
1/2 Bunch Cilantro
1-2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Lime Juice (about 2T)
1 Jalapeno, seeds removed

Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

10-16 oz Spinach
3/4-1 lb Fried bacon crumbled
1 C roasted slivered almonds
1 C Strawberries cubed

Dressing
1 Tbs Cider Vinegar
1/4 C Sugar
1/3 C Oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs red onion

Cook your bacon and crumble. I like my almonds candied so I will do that next. I just look up a simple recipe on the internet. If not, regular slivered almonds are fine. Put spinach in a salad bowl. Add bacon crumbles, almonds, and cubed strawberries.

For the dressing, put all ingredients into a food processor and chop until the onion is completely incorporated.

Tomato, Cucumber, Avocado Salad

Such a good, refreshing, fresh salad.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 C chopped tomatoes
1 Cucumber
2 Avocados
4 oz feta cheese - cubed
2 Tbs minced red onion
1 handful parsley or cilantro depending on preference - minced about 2 Tbsp
2 Tbsp olive oil (I only had avocado oil and it worked great)
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar and it was delicious)
8 twists of black pepper
a dash of lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

Chop tomatoes into medium dice. Peel and dice cucumbers. Scoop out avocado and dice. Add tomato, avocado, onion, cucumber and minced parsley or cilantro to a bowl. Whisk together oil, vinegar, black pepper and dash of lemon juice. Pour over salad and gently toss.

Original recipe HERE.

Cottage Cheese Jello Salad

Cottage Cheese Jello Salad

20 oz. can pineapple tidbits, drained
2 (3 oz) packages strawberry jello
24 oz cottage cheese
16 oz cool whip

Combine cool whip and jello. Fold in cottage cheese and pineapple. Serve chilled.

Pretzel Jello Salad

Pretzel Jello Salad

Crust:
2 c. crushed pretzels
1/2 c. melted butter
3 Tbsp. sugar

Mix sugar and melted butter together. Spread pretzels on bottom of a 9x13 pan. Pour butter and sugar mixture over pretzels. Bake at 400° for 8 minutes. Stir after 4 minutes and after you take it out of the over. Make sure the pretzels are spread evenly over bottom of the pan.

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1 c. sugar
12 oz cool whip

Soften cream cheese then blend in cool whip and sugar. Spread over cooled pretzels. Refrigerate to cool. 

Topping:

2 (3 oz) packages instant raspberry jello
2 (10 oz) packaged frozen raspberries, or strawberries
2 c. water

Dissolve jello in boiling water and add frozen raspberries. When partially set, pour over cream cheese layer  Refrigerate until set.

Blueberry Jello Salad

Blueberry Jello Salad

2 packages raspberry jello, dissolved in 2 c. hot water
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
1 can blueberries, save juice
1 medium sized can crushed pineapple, save juices
1 c. whipped cream

Drain and save juice (1 1/2c) from blueberries and pineapple. Add water if not enough. Pour dissolved jello into a 9x13 glass pan. Dissolve cream cheese in hot jello. Breaking apart with a fork, leaving small pieces in the jello. Add reserved juice. Partially chill. Then add fruit and fold in whipped cream. Let sit in fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.

Rice-A-Roni Salad

Rice-A-Roni Salad

2 c. cooked, cubed chicken or 1 can chicken
1 c. mayo
1-2 roma tomatoes, diced
1-2 stalks celery, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 box Chicken Rice-A-Roni
3-4 green onions, chopped

Prepare Rice-A-Roni as directed on package. Place in bowl and chill. Add the rest of the ingredients to chilled rice. Chill the salad again before serving.

*You can also add a little bit of curry powder to the mayo to give your salad a little extra kick of flavor.

Three Bag Salad

Three Bag Salad

1 bag romaine lettuce
1 bag baby spinach
1 bag coleslaw mix
craisens
honey roasted peanuts
green onions

Dressing
1/2 Brianna's Poppyseed Dressing
1/2 Brianna's Asiago Caesar Dressing

From Allison Karren

Cabbage Ramen Salad

This salad is best made beforehand about 3-4 hours for the flavors to really soak in.
Salad

3 C Green Cabbage (about half the cabbage)
3 C Purple Cabbage
1 C Shredded Carrots
2 Green Onions
1 Ramen Noodle (broken to smaller pieces)

Dressing

6 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar
4 Tbs. Sugar
1/4 C Oil
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper

Mix cabbage, carrots, onions, and broken noodles together. Sprinkle with ramen seasoning (I usually use chicken flavor, but I believe any will work) Mix all ingredients for the dressing and pour onto cabbage. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Best if made and let sit in fridge for 3-4 hours.

Quinoa, spinach, and fruit salad with balsamic vinaigrette

Quinoa, spinach, and fruit salad with balsamic vinaigrette 

6 oz package of baby spinach, roughly chopped

2 cups sliced strawberries

1 cup blueberries

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

1 cup peaches, diced

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup feta, crumbled

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup chicken broth

In a small pan combine chicken broth and quinoa and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover, cooking for about 15 mins or until all the liquid is absorbed. Allow to cool. You can cool for 5 mins and serve warm, or cool longer and serve room temp, or refrigerate and sever cold.

Combine cooked quinoa with remaining salad ingredients. Toss with balsamic vinaigrette and serve immediately. 

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

4 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Garlic powder

1 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp onion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or dressing shaker and whisk/shake well. Chill for 30 mins before serving.

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

This recipe is more of a rough guideline, rather than an exact recipe. This salad came about because I had random things left in my pantry and fridge before our move and a friend told me this salad would use up some of that stuff. She only told me the ingredient list, no measurements. So here is what I did.

Mediterranean Couscous Salad 

1 box Couscous (I use the Near East brand, typically either the Parmesan or toasted pine nut flavor.) or pearled couscous cooker per package direction, typically makes approx 3 cups cooked.

1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1-2 Tbsp. red onion, diced

2 Roma tomato, diced

1/2 can (15 oz) olives, sliced (either black or kalamata)

1/2+/- cup Greek or Italian dressing

1/4+/- cup Feta cheese

Cook couscous according to package directions. 

Allow couscous to cool before adding remaining ingredients.

Add cucumber, tomatoes, onion, olives, and dressing. Toss to combine. You can add more dressing if desired. 

Let the salad sit in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving, allowing the couscous to soak up some of the dressing. If the salad is too dry you can always add more dressing right before you serve it. Add the feta right before serving and toss to combine.

You could also add grilled chicken and make this a complete meal.

Enjoy!

Pasta Salad

We threw a baby shower for one of our friends here and the theme was "little man" so I was trying to find a bow tie pasta salad, found this one and loved it!

INGREDIENTS

1 C chopped pecans (I didn't do this, but only because I'm not crazy about nuts)
1/2 (16 oz.) package farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
1 pound fresh broccoli
1 C mayo
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C diced red onion
1/3 C red wine vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp salt
2 C seedless red grapes, halved
8 cooked bacon slices, crumbled (I forgot this part, but am sure it would've be better)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 5-7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stir halfway through.
Cook Pasta.
Cut broccoli florets from stems and separate them into smaller pieces. Peel away tough outer layer of stems and finely chop stems.
Whisk together mayo and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; add broccoli, hot cooked pasta, and grapes, and stir to coat. Cover and chill 3 hours. Stir in bacon and pecans right before serving.

Thanks for the original recipe you can find HERE.

Cole Slaw

Bo smoked a port butt tonight and we ate it on potato rolls with this slaw on it and it was DELICIOUS!

INGREDIENTS

1 head of cabbage
1 1/2 C mayo
1/3 C sugar
1 Tbsp mustard
1 Tbsp dry mustard
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (they used rice wine vinegar, I like apple cider)
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 C half and half (we didn't have half and half, so I just used whole milk and it turned out great!)

INSTRUCTIONS

Cut the cabbage in half and cut the halves in half. Cut the core out of each quarter. You could use coleslaw mix, or use cabbage (Cheaper). Chop on finely or put it in the food processor. Place cabbage in bowl.

In a mixing bowl mix together all remaining ingredients. Pour mixture over cabbage and toss until the cabbage is coated. Let sit for an hour and serve.

Original Recipe is a YouTube video found HERE.

Potato Salad

I YouTubed how to cook potatoes for potato salad cuz I always mess that part up. The video I liked was where they peeled the potatoes then boiled them for like 18 minutes (I could be way off on this...). Anyways, Peeling was my preference. Bo boils them unpeeled.

INGREDIENTS

8 medium potatoes, cooked and diced
1 1/2 C mayo
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 celery ribs, sliced
1 C onion, minced
5 hard-boiled eggs
paprika

INSTRUCTIONS

Boil peeled potatoes in salted water until done. Cool to room temperature. Place diced potatoes in large bowl. Mix mayo, cider vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, garlic powder, and pepper in another bowl. Add potatoes. Add celery and onions and mix well. Stir in eggs. Sprinkle a little paprika on top.

Original Recipe HERE.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

We had left over meat from a rotisserie chicken that we used for this and it was delicious.

INGREDIENTS

2 whole boneless chicken breasts
1 stalk celery
1 onion, quartered
1 C celery, chopped
1 1/2 - 2 C Mayonnaise (depending on how wet you like your chicken)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp dill seed

INSTRUCTIONS

Place chicken, celery stalk and onion in saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer 20 mins. or until chicken is done. Drain and discard onion and celery. Let chicken cool.

In a food processor chop chicken. In a medium sized bowl combine chicken with mayonnaise, salt and pepper, parsley, dill seed, chopped celery and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

Find original recipe HERE.

Avocado Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Vinaigrette

I came across this recipe when looking for dinner ideas that would not heat up my kitchen, since it was 100* outside.  I made a few minor adjustments. This is a perfect quick recipe for a summer night.

Avocado Strawberry Spinach Salad

1 (6 oz.) bag of baby spinach

16 oz strawberries, sliced

1 avocado, diced

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 of a small red onion, thinly sliced

Combine spinach, strawberries, almonds, and onion in a bowl. Toss to combine. Add avocados and feta and toss gently.

Poppyseed Vinaigrette

1/2 cup canola oil

3 Tbsp. Apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Pinch of ground mustard

Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined.

The original recipe called for toasted almonds, which I didn't even notice until just now. So I didn't toast mine.  It also called for blue cheese or Gorgonzola, but I had feta in the fridge so I went with that. 

I think the dressing is much more flavorful if you make it ahead of time and refrigerate it for a few hours.

Southwest Chicken Chop Salad

I made this recipe a while back and then forgot about it until yesterday when Kristin called and asked me if I had a good Mexican salad for Cinco de Mayo. It was really good and I need to make it again. So I am adding it here so I can see it when I look for dinner ideas. I found the original recipe on Lauren's Latest. I made a few modifications to the recipe because I can.

Southwest Chicken Chop Salad

2 cups diced chicken (I used grilled chicken but you could also use rotisserie)
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 can black beans
1 cup sweet yellow corn (canned or frozen. if you use canned, just throw the whole can in)
2 roma tomatoes, diced
4 green onions, sliced, white and green parts
1 head romaine lettuce
1/2 bunch cliantro, chopped
2 avocados, diced
2 cups crushed tortilla chips

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tablespoon ranch seasoning, (or more if desired)
1 Tablespoon taco seasoning, (or more if desired)
1/2 Tablespoon lime juice
salt & pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients and whisk together.

In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients, except for chips and avocados. Add dressing, chips, and avocados and toss gently. Serve immediately.

Avocado Apple Salad

I threw this together for dinner for us yesterday and thought it was so good I made it for lunch too! I don't eat salads, ever. So for me to rave about this one means it must be pretty dang good!

INGREDIENTS

Romaine lettuce or Spinach
1/2 - 1 Avocado cubed
1 Apple cubed
handful of craisins
Feta Cheese
Balsamic Vinegarette


Portion it as you want. Just thought I'd put up the ingredients. Throw all together and eat. :)
I LOVE IT!
Enjoy!