Molasses cookies
1 stick butter +1/4 C. canola oil
1/4 C. light molasses
1 C. sugar
1 large egg
2 C. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cloves

Melt butter and oil over low heat. Remove from heat and beat in molasses and 1 c. sugar until blended. Whisk in egg. With spoon, stir in flour and remaining ingredients. Transfer dough to medium bowl and freeze 15 minutes until firm. roll into ball and roll in sugar. Cook 10 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375. 

Chicken Picatta

Chicken Picatta
This is a fairly simple dish, delicious, and nice for company or something special. Very good over buttered angel hair pasta!

2 large lemons
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, split in half horizontally, creating 8 thin breasts
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
4 tbs. oil
1 small shallot, minced, or 1 small garlic clove, minced
1 Cup chicken stock or canned broth
2 tbs. drained small capers
3 tbs unsalted butter
2 tbs. minced fresh parsley leaves.

Halve one lemon pole to pole. Trim ends from one half and cut crosswise into thin slices; set aside. Juice remaining half and whole lemon to obtains 1/4 C. juice; reserve.

Sprinkle both sides of cutlets with salt and pepper. Coat with flour.

Heat pan over medium high heat until hot; add 2 Tbs. oil. Saute half of the cutlets, without moving them, until lightly browned on first side, 2-3 minutes. Turned cutlets and saute other side. Remove and transfer to warm oven (200 degrees). Repeat with remaining 2 Tbs. oil and cutlets.

Add shallot or garlic to now empty skillet and return to medium heat. Saute for a few seconds until fragrant. Add stock, heat to high, and scrape bottom of skillet for the brown bits. Simmer until liquid reduces to about 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes. Add lemon juice, lemon slices and capers and simmer about 1 minutes. Remove pan from heat and swirl in butter until it melts and thickens sauce (mmmmm); swirl in parsley. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve immediately. Serves 4-6. 

Bruschetta

 Bruschetta. 
This is probably my #1 favorite food! It's so simple: 
small loaf good baguette bread
soft butter
fresh tomatoes, preferably a mixture, even more preferably heirloom tomatoes
fresh basil--small to medium handful
1-2 garlic cloves
Parmesan cheese

Slice, butter, and lightly toast bread.
finely chop tomatoes (1-2 large, or mixture of several smaller), drain juices and seeds
chop basil finely
add finely chopped garlic
mix in Parmesan cheese
top onto bread and toast or broil again. 

I could eat this every day!

Rolled pasta with mushroom sauce

Rolled pasta with mushroom sauce

This was a delicious dish I made the other week. It's from The Culinary Institute of America One Dish Meals. 

Mushroom Sauce:
1/4 C. olive oil
3/4 C. minced onion
4 cups sliced white mushrooms
1 C. dry red wine (I think i substituted some chicken broth with a dash of vinegar)
2 C. diced plum tomatoes (fresh)
2 Tbs. mince marjoram leaves (hmm, I left this out too)
1 tsp. minced thyme leaves
salt, pepper

16 dry lasagna noodles
2 C. whole or part skim ricotta cheese
1 C. grated Parmesan cheese
2 C. grated Fontina
1/2 lb thinly sliced proscuitto

1. To make mushroom sauce: heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent and tender. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are tender. Add the wineand cook over high heat until the wine is reduced by half. Add the tomatoes and herbs, reduce the heat slightly, and simmer until the sauce has a good consistency, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. While the sauce is simmering, cook the lasagna noddles in boiling salted water until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain the noodles thoroughly and rinse in cold water. Drain again.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.
4. Combine the ricotta and Parmesan cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Lay one noodle flat on a work surface and spread thenoodle with 2 Tbs. of the ricotta mixtures. Scatter about a tablespoon ofthe Fontina over the ricotta and top with a slice of prosciutto. Roll up the pasta and lay it seam-side down in a baking dish. Repeat until all of the noodles are filled and rolled.
5. Ladle the mushroom sauce over the noodles and bake the pasta until very hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let the past rolls rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 8 servings.

Valentine's Luau Dinner

For Valentine's dinner I made my family a Hawaii themed party.  We listened to our music that have from our trip to Hawaii. That I think makes it feel the most Hawaiian.  I also had a few decorations and leis for everyone (just cheapie ones from the party store--how fun would it be to have real ones).  Here's what we had:

Dessert:
Vanilla bean cheesecake with mango puree

The mango puree was made in my Vitamix.  It's 3 cups of partially defrosted fruit (or fresh is fine), 3/4 cup sugar or to taste (I used about a half cup for this recipe) and 1 tsp lemon juice.  Blend on the hot soups program.  We have made this with frozen mixed berries one time and blueberries another time and it always makes a delicious sauce, which thickens up later in the fridge.

I made the cheesecake from scratch of course, using a recipe for New York Cheesecake.

The feast:  Lobster tail with butter, coconut shrimp, luau pork and rice (from Rumbi grill) and pina coladas.

I've only bought lobster tails a few times and I never remember how to make them, so I had to search the internet on how to deal with them.  I finally found a basic you tube video that explained how to lift the meat out of the shell and bake it on top of the shell.  It was really easy.


The shrimp was the most time consuming, but it was pretty easy.  I used this recipe.

My helper with the shrimp

My best salmon ever (Pecan Crusted)

"Mom this is your best job of salmon ever!"
That is what Nathan told me last night at dinner. This recipe is one of our favorites.

Large Filet Salmon

salt and pepper

2 Tbs. Dijon mustard

2 Tbs. butter, melted

1 1/2 Tbs. honey

1/4 cup soft breadcrumbs

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans (or any nut--last night we used walnuts because that's what we had)

1 Tbs. fresh chopped parsley

lemon slices

Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper.  Place on greased baking sheet or dish.  I would suggest lining with tinfoil or parchment.  

Combine mustard, butter, and honey.  Pour over salmon.  Combine breadcrumbs, pecans, and parsley.  Spoon on top.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the filet.  My filet was probably 1 and 1/3 pounds, and we had plenty of the sauce and bread crumb topping.  

The lemon juiced over it adds the perfect tang.  This salmon is rich and delicious.  

Serves about 4. 

(Recipe adapted from Southern Living Easy Weeknight Favorites)

We love salmon!

I try to serve salmon once a week.  I prefer wild salmon for health and taste, but most of the time we buy farmed as that is what is more readily available.  If it is very fresh, it is still so delicious!  I do salmon really simple, usually baked at 350 for 20-30 minutes depending on how thick it is.  I like to put Penzy's Northwoods seasoning on it, or just salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice.  I have other salmon recipes which I will try to share in the future but those are my go to ones.  My kids gobble it up!

This meal was perfect!! I love this potato recipe and I followed this recipe for coleslaw and it was delicious!

Ugh I can't figure out how to rotate this!!

Here's my version of the potato recipe

• 1 pound potatoes (I used Yukon gold)
• 2 pound sweet potatoes (or more)
• 1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 8 cloves garlic, whole
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
• Pepper
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts (I didn't add this but it sounds good if I had them!)

Directions:

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 450ºF.

2. 2

   Peel and coarsely chop the potatoes and sweet potatoes. Combine potatoes, sweet potatoes, onion, butter, and olive oil in a large bowl and mix well.

3. 3

   Spoon mixture into a 15 × 10-inch roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt. Place on bottom rack of oven.

4. 4

   Roast mixture, stirring twice, for 25 minutes.  Add garlic half way through. 

5. 5

   Add hazelnuts to potato mixture and mix well. Roast, stirring twice, until potatoes are tender and lightly browned, about 10 to 15 minutes.
   
   
   I didn't follow the exact times; just roasted until some bits were brown and toasty and almost burnt, but not quite.  I used my big turkey roaster pan and it worked great.  

Puxtawany Phil

Nathan wanted to make this after seeing it in the family fun magazine. It's a bit past Groundhogs day but we are still talking about that strange tradition. I made homemade chocolate pudding. It was really thick and rich and I'd like to try something a little lighter in taste and texture so I will be on the lookout for another Chocolate pudding recipe, from scratch of course.

Post Script

I just ate some leftover pudding this morning.  I take it back about being too heavy. It was delicious!! I guess it all depends on the mood, but around 11 am is a perfect time for a few bites of rich pudding.  Still, I think I will try a few recipes to see if I might find a less dense and rich pudding just to change things up.  Here's the recipe I followed for very rich and chocolaty pudding:

2 1/2 cups milk

4 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

3 Tbs. cornstarch

4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, (scant 1 cup)  (I used 1 cup of Kirklands semisweet chocolate chips)

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream, whipped for topping 

Pour all but 2 Tbs of the milk into a saucepan and warm gently over medium heat until small bubbles begin to appear at the pans edges.

Meanwhile, combined the egg yolks, sugar, flour, and cornstarch in a bowl.  Stir in the remaining 2 Tbs milk to form a paste.  Using a whisk, vigorously stir the hot milk into the egg mixture.  Then pour the mixture back into the pan.  Place over medium-low heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly.  When the mixture reaches a boil, continue whisking constantly for 1 full minute.

Remove from heat and add chocolates and vanilla extract.  Whisk until smooth. 

Pour into dishes and let cool.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  Top with whipped cream before serving if desired.  Or make a fun pudding cup treat with your kids :)  

Ultra rich hot cocoa

Some like it rich!!  I tried this recipe from Bon Appetit and it was delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 cup chilled heavy cream, divided
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large pinch of kosher salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 72% cacao), chopped
• 1/3 cup (loosely packed) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 pints peppermint or mint chip ice cream

Preparation

• Combine milk, 1/2 cup cream, sugar, salt, and 1/4 cup water in a large heavy saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add chocolate and cocoa powder; whisk until chocolate melts and mixture just comes to a boil. 
• Whisk remaining 1/2 cup cream in a small bowl until firm peaks form.
• Remove vanilla bean from hot cocoa; discard. Transfer cocoa to a blender and purée until thick and foamy, about 2 minutes.
• Scoop ice cream into teacups; pour hot cocoa into cups, dividing evenly. Top each with a small dollop of whipped cream. 

whoopie pies vs. macaroons

Bon Appetit featured an article on the next cupcake: whoopies pies or French macaroons

I used their recipe for the French Macaroon with raspberry buttercream and a Family Fun recipe for the whoopie pie. My vote was for the whoopie pie, but I would like to make macaroons again to see if I can get them better. Mine spread thin instead of up.

My friend and I made the whoopie pies together for a church event. They were a hit. We quadrupled the cake recipe and more than quadrupled the filling. I like lots of filling!

Whoopie Pies: (From family Fun Magazine)

Ingredients

• CAKES
• 2 cups flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup softened butter

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• FILLING
• ½ cup softened butter
• 1½ cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup marshmallow crème
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Red food coloring (optional)

Click Here for the macaroon recipe

Creamy Caesar Dressing

I found this recipe from Weber's Real Grilling (an awesome cookbook) and I love it!


1 medium garlic clove
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup good quality mayonnaise (Like Hellman's)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1/4 tsp freshly ground black papper

Roughly chop the garlic, and then sprinkle the salt on top. Using both the sharp edge and the flat side of the knife blade, crush the garlic and salt together to create a paste. Transfer the paste to a small bowl and add the remaining dressing ingredients. Mix well. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Risotto

Always a favorite in the fall! I made this the other day for a postpartum visit. Along with the risotto I made a cesaser salad and apple cake.
This take a lot of time so I only make it once a year!

Ingredients:

• 7 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbs. minced fresh sage
• 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 cups butternut squash puree (I just cook a squash in the oven and make my own)
  
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2/3 cup caramelized onions
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 4 Tbs. of the butter. Add 1 Tbs. of the sage and heat until the butter browns. Strain the butter into a small bowl and discard the sage. Cover the bowl to keep the butter warm.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the stock and squash puree. Bring just to a simmer, 8 to 10 minutes; maintain over low heat.

In a large saucepan or risotto pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the caramelized onions and rice and stir until the grains are well coated with the oil and are nearly translucent with a white dot in the center, about 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 Tbs. sage and the rosemary. Add the wine and stir until it is absorbed.

Add the simmering stock mixture a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently after each addition. Wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed before adding more.

When the rice is tender to the bite but slightly firm in the center and looks creamy, after about 30 minutes, stir in the remaining 3 Tbs. butter, the cheese, salt and pepper. Add more stock if needed so the rice is thick and creamy. Let stand for 2 minutes. Drizzle with the reserved sage butter and serve immediately. Serves 6.

From Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

Blueberry and wild rice salad

My mom used to make a fantastic blueberry and wild rice salad that we would often have on picnics. Her picnics were fabulous, with several different salads, cheese and fruit, and a wonderful dessert. I don't think we still have her recipe for her salad but I found one online that was similar. I served it with some salmon and it made a delicious supper!
1 cup wild rice
2 cups nonfat chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tbsp. honey
1 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. grated lime peel
6 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup blueberries
8 oz mixed greens

recipe directions
Wash the wild rice. Combine the rice with chicken broth and enough water to cover by 1 inch in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 40 min. Drain and cool. Stir in hazelnuts, cranberries, apricots and red onion.

Prepare dressing: In a small bowl whisk together the lime juice, honey, grated ginger lime and lemon peel. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour over the rice and mix well. Gently fold in the blueberries. Arrange greens on a platter and mound rice on top.

Classic vanilla cake with mascarpone frosting and raspberries--Jason's birthday cake

I've been making this for Jason's birthday for several years now. It is heavenly!
Ingredients:
1 C. unsalted butter, softened
3 C. cake flour
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 C. granulated sugar
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean, or tsp. pure vanilla extract (*I always use the vanilla bean)
1 C. whole milk
6 large egg whites, at room temperature

Frosting:
1 lb Mascarpone cheese, at room temp
2 C. heavey cream
2/3 C. granulated sugar
seeds from 1 vanilla bean or 2 tsp pure vanilla (The vanilla bean really makes it pretty with the little flecks of vanilla)
pinch table salt

Fresh Rasberries



Directions:
For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of two 9 inch round cake pans. LIne the bottoms with parchement and lightly flour the sides. (I didn't do this because I have good, non stick pans).
Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add 1 1/2 C. of the sugar and teh vanilla. Continue beating until combined and fluffy. On low speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients at a time, alternating with 1/2 cup of the milkat a time, beginning and ending with the flour.
In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add remaning 1/4 C. sugar. Continue beating until the whites from medium firm peaks. Scoop about 1/4 of the whites and stir them gently into the cake batter to lighten it. Gently fold in the remaining whites until just blended.
Scrape the batter into prepared pans. Bake until top are light brown and cakes are done, about 30 minutes. Set pans on rack and let cool 15 minutes. Invert the layers onto the rack. Let cool completely.

Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine the mascarpone, cream, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed until almost smooth about 30-60 seconds. Bet on medium high speed until the mixture is thick and holds firm peaks, another 30-60 seconds. Try not to overbeat or it will look grainy (I did this)

Assemble cake by putting one layer on a cake plate. You probably will need to take a bread knife and slice off the top to make it flat (a yummy treat for the cook). Spread about 2 C. of teh frosting over this layer. Arrange half the berries on it. Put the second layer on. Apply a very thin layer of frosting to seal in crumbs. chill for 5 minutes. Spread the remaning frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Top with rasberries. Refrigerate cake for 4 hours or up to 2 days. Bring it out about a half hour or hour before serving it to get it to room temperature. Enjoy.


Number Of Servings:12

Corn on the cob with basil parmesean butter

This is one of our absolute favorite recipes. Anything with basil does it for me. We don't always grill the corn, but if you want to that makes it even more summery.

Ingredients:
1/4 C. unsalted butter, softened.
1/4 C. freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. granulated garlic

4 ears corn, husked

Directions:
1. To make butter: in a small bowl, mash the butter
ingredients together with the back of a fork, and then stir to
distribute the seasonings throughout the butter.
2. Brush about 1 Tbps. of the seasoned butter all over each
ear of corn. Grill over Direct medium heat until browned in
spots and tender, 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally. (Or
just boil for 10 minutes or less) Serve warm with the remaining butter
spread on the corn.

This butter is good on anything--bread, veggies, meats, etc.

Chicken Pasta Salad

For lunch in Vermont I made this huge chicken pasta salad. I got the recipe from my friend Laura:

Pasta Cranberry Salad

½ package colored spiral pasta (cook, rinse and drain)

½ package bow tie pasta (cook rinse and drain)

1 20-oz can pineapple tidbits (drained)

2 small cans water chestnuts (drained and chopped)

2 cups chopped celery

4 green onions, chopped

1 package raisins or dried cranberries

1 cup cashew nuts or sunflower seeds

1 cup red seedless grapes, halved

4 chicken breasts, cook and diced

1 13-oz bottle cold slaw dressing with one cup of mayo added

Toss and chill. Makes a very large salad.

Bluebery zuchinni bread

For breakfast in Vermont we made blueberry zucchini bread . I got the recipe from a site called "My baking addiction" which I can't visit very often or I am too tempted to make all the treats!
I used half whole wheat flour like the recipe suggested. The zucchini makes it so moist. I had gotten to zucchini from a local farmers market (all was organic) and the blueberries were local too, so that was fun.
Jason also made his famous eggs (well, they are famous in our house). He mixes cream cheese in so they are extra creamy.
We also had some fresh fruit.

Grilled Asian Chicken with Bok Choy

Jason and I made this the other week. It's straight from the Bon Appetit magazine. I followed everything almost exactly, except I used portabello mushrooms instead of shiitake. We even roasted the radishes. Who would have thought to roast radishes, but they were tasty. It's a keeper! We also made the leftovers as included in the recipe. Here's the recipe as copied from Bon Appetit:

Grilled Asian Chicken with Bok Choy, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Radishes

Be sure to reserve two grilled chicken breasts and a cup of Mango-Sesame Dressing to use in the Asian Chicken-Noodle Salad.

4 servings plus leftovers

by Selma Brown Morrow

Photograph by Marcus Nilsson

June 2010

Ingredients

• 8 1/3-inch-thick rounds red onion
• 8 large shiitake mushrooms, stemmed
• 8 red radishes, trimmed, halved
• 4 baby bok choy, halved lengthwise
• 1 large orange bell pepper, cut lengthwise into 8 strips
• 1 1/4 cups Mango-Sesame Dressing, divided
• 6 boneless chicken breast halves with skin
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

*
Arrange all vegetables on large rimmed baking sheet. Brush vegetables lightly on both sides with 1/3 cup Mango-Sesame Dressing; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
*
Arrange chicken on sheet of foil. Brush both sides of chicken with 1/3 cup dressing, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Vegetables and chicken can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
*
Coat grill rack generously with nonstick spray and prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill vegetables until just tender, turning occasionally, about 8 minutes for onion rounds and 4 minutes for mushrooms, radishes, bok choy, and pepper strips. Return all vegetables to same baking sheet.
*
Grill chicken until cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to cutting board. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Cool 2 chicken breasts; wrap and chill for Asian Chicken-Noodle Salad.
*
Arrange remaining 4 chicken breasts and vegetables on platter. Serve with remaining dressing.


Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/06/grilled_asian_chicken_with_bok_choy_shiitake_mushrooms_and_radishes#ixzz0uFMBiAA0

Mango-Sesame Dressing
Ingredients

* 3/4 cup vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup Major Grey's mango chutney
* 6 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
* 3 large garlic cloves, peeled
* 6 3/4 teaspoons soy sauce
* 1 1/2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper

Preparation

*
Combine all ingredients in blender. Cover tightly; blend until dressing is smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and chill.


Leftovers:
Asian Chicken-Noodle Salad with Snap Peas
Ingredients

* 12 ounces sugar snap peas, strings removed oil
* 1 8- to 9-ounce package fresh Japanese-style noodles (such as udon)
* 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
* 2 grilled chicken breast halves, cut horizontally in half, then crosswise into thin strips
* 6 green onions, thinly sliced
* 1 cup Mango-Sesame Dressing
* Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Preparation

*
Cook snap peas in boiling salted water until crisp-tender, 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl.
*
Return water to boil. Add noodles. Cook until tender but firm, 3 minutes (or as directed on package). Drain; rinse under cold water until cool. Transfer to large bowl.
*
Toss noodles with sesame oil. Cut noodles with kitchen shears to shorten. Add peas, chicken, and green onions; toss with enough dressing to coat. Arrange salad on platter; top with toasted sesame seeds, if desired.

Chopped Salad

Oh how I love chopped salad. I at one point had a recipe that was supposed to be like portillos but I can't find it now. This one is good, I think I will make it this week.

2 c. cooked pasta
2 heads romaine
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 c. cooked chicken, cut up
1 c. feta cheese (bleu may be substituted)
1 c. cooked bacon, chopped
1 c. green onions, sliced
dressing: 1/2 bottle ranch, 1/2 bottle honey mustard dressing (Ken's brand is good)
squirt of Dijon in the dressing is also good
(I got this recipe from my friend Yolanda)

rice pilaf

southwest rice and corn salad with lemon dressing

I got this recipe from bon appetit and would consider it more of a pilaf than a salad, but it is good nonetheless.

Ingredients

• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from 2 ears) or frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1 cup chopped fresh poblano chiles or green bell pepper
• 1 cup diced seeded yellow bell pepper
• 1 cup 1/2-inch cubes yellow zucchini
• 1 avocado, halved, peeled, diced
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

• Cook rice until just tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. Drain again.
• Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice and 3 tablespoons oil in small bowl. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add corn, poblanos, yellow bell pepper, and zucchini. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until vegetables are just tender, 6 to 7 minutes; scrape into large bowl. Add rice, avocado, green onions, cilantro, and dressing; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.