All About Salad

I bought a calendar at Aldi last week, and I'm loving it. This is what I saw this morning.

Between the calendar and the wakeup call from my former blog post memories, I decided to get on the ball and finish some of the things I've started. I won't be working in the yard much this week, as we are under a heat advisory, and they keep mentioning, "Not safe for elders." That would be me.

I've finished the first thirteen (1/4) of the salad recipes, but they have such blah names. If you can come up with something snazzy, let me know.

Easy Slaw

EASY SLAW

4 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup chopped unpeeled apple
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
Bottled Cole slaw dressing
 
Moisten cabbage, apple, and raisins with dressing.  Chill.
 
Add peanuts just before serving.

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Crunchy Chopped

CRUNCHY CHOPPED SALAD

4 green onions, thinly sliced

1 cup radishes, diced

1 cup celery, diced

2 cups broccoli, diced

2 cups cauliflower, diced

2 cups shredded Cheddar

Roasted peanuts (optional)

  

Dressing

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup creamy Italian dressing, store bought

1 Tbs lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt 

Chop and chill all veggies. 

Mix and chill dressing. 

Just before serving, mix veggies and dressing; stir in cheese, and top with peanuts (if desired).

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Your Way Adult

YOUR WAY ADULT SALAD

Cooked chicken - crispy fried, rotisserie, baked, grilled or boiled

Salad greens - any

Canned beans – pinto, black, chili, or kidney

Canned corn – or use cooked frozen or cooked fresh off the cob

Finely chopped onion – red, yellow, white, scallions, sweet

Radishes, sliced

Tomatoes – slicing, Roma, cherry, grape

Pepperoncini

Black olives

Shredded Cheese (optional) – Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella,                 Pepper Jack

Dressing: 1 cup Ranch dressing mixed with 1 tsp taco seasoning 

Cover the plate with salad greens. 

Cut off the ends of the pepperoncini and press out the juice. Slit the side and remove the stem and seeds. Dice the remainder. 

Scatter all the ingredients except the chicken and dressing over the salad greens. 

Drizzle with dressing (or serve on the side) and scatter on cheese. 

Top with chicken. 

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Any Flavor Gelatin

ANY FLAVOR GELATIN SALAD

1-3/4 cups sour cream

8-oz container of Cool Whip®, thawed

3-oz package of gelatin, any flavor

3 cups mini-marshmallows

1 cup flaked coconut

20-oz can crushed pineapple, drained

15-oz can of any fruit, drained, and cut up if necessary 

Combine sour cream, Cool Whip®, and gelatin in a large mixing bowl. 

Stir in the marshmallows and coconut. 

Fold in the pineapple and fruit and mix well. 

Cover, refrigerate at least 2-3 hours. Serve cold. 

Note: The photo used orange gelatin and mandarin oranges. Good combinations would be lime gelatin and pears, strawberry gelatin and peaches, lemon gelatin and fruit cocktail.

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Frozen Fruit 

FROZEN FRUIT SALAD

16 oz carton of sour cream

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbs lemon juice

1/8 tsp salt

3 large bananas, mashed

20 oz can crushed pineapple in syrup, do not drain

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries

Combine sour cream with sugar, lemon juice, and salt.

Stir in bananas.

Stir in remaining ingredients. 

Spoon into 20 paper-lined muffin cups. 

Cover and freeze up to one month. 

To serve, let thaw at room temperature about 15-20 minutes. 

I serve two per person on a lettuce leaf, with a dollop of mayonnaise and more chopped cherries.

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Fruit and Nut

  FRUIT AND NUT SALAD

Green leaf or Romaine lettuce

2 ripe but firm pears, peeled, cored, and chopped

2 small apples, peeled or not, cored, and chopped

1 cup fresh or thawed frozen blueberries, rinsed if thawed

Grapes, halved (optional)

Pecans or walnuts or nuts of choice

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 oz fruit juice of choice

1 Tbs sugar or sweetener, or to taste 

Line a salad bowl or individual salad plates with lettuce. 

Top the lettuce with the apples and pears. Add grapes if you wish. 

Sprinkle on blueberries. 

Mix dressing ingredients and spoon over and toss if in a bowl, OR serve separately if using plates. 

Garnish with nuts.

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Exotic Chicken Rice

EXOTIC CHICKEN-RICE SALAD

1 7-oz pkg Near East rice pilaf

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 cup orange marmalade

1/4 cup sour cream

2-1/2 Tbs lemon juice

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups cooked and cubed chicken

2 medium apples, cored and cubed

1/2 cup raisins

Toasted slivered almonds for garnish (optional)

Prepare the rice pilaf following the package directions. 

Place it in a large bowl, cover, and chill. 

Make dressing by combining the mayonnaise, marmalade, sour cream, lemon juice, curry powder, and salt. Cover and chill. 

Combine pilaf, chicken, apples, and raisins. Stir in dressing. 

Garnish (optional) and serve. 

Perfect to serve as the main part of a Lady Lunch. And it makes lots. 

Note: This pilaf is also delicious served hot as a side dish.

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Jan Folks

JAN FOLKS SALAD

1 large package lemon Jello

2 cups boiling water

2 cups lemon-lime carbonated beverage

1 cup crushed pineapple, drain and save juice

1 cup mini-marshmallows

2 large bananas, sliced

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsps flour

1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice

1 egg, beaten

2 Tbs butter

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Dissolve the Jello in boiling water; add lemon-lime soft drink. Chill until syrupy. 

Fold in pineapple, marshmallows, bananas, and nuts. Chill until firm. 

Mix sugar and flour; stir in juice and egg. Cook over low heat until thick. Remove from heat and add butter. Chill. 

Whip the cream and fold in the cooked mixture. 

Frost the salad and sprinkle with cheese.

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Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut Salad

1 14-oz can of sauerkraut, Bavarian style

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

3 Tbs finely chopped red onion

2 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 Tbs Italian salad dressing (purchased) 

Rinse the sauerkraut and gently squeeze out the excess moisture. 

Mix with all the other ingredients. 

Cover and chill at least one hour before serving. 

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St. Patrick's

 

ST. PATRICK’S SALAD

3-oz box lime gelatin

20-oz can crushed pineapple, well drained

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1 cup finely chopped Granny Smith apple, unpeeled 

Make Jello according to package directions.

When partially set, add remaining ingredients. 

Let set for several hours or overnight. 

Cut in squares and serve on a lettuce leaf with a dollop of mayonnaise.

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Corned Beef

CORNED BEEF SALAD

1-1/2 to 2 cups cooked and cubed corned beef

2 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled, and cubed

3 boiled eggs, peeled and cubed

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

2/3 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbs mustard

2 tsps sweet pickle relish 

Mix the mayonnaise, mustard, and relish. 

Put the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. 

Gently stir in mayonnaise mixture and refrigerate. 

Note: This is a good way to use corned beef leftover from your St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage.

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No Frills Potato

NO FRILLS POTATO SALAD

4 cups cubed potatoes, red or white rose preferred

1 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup, finely chopped sweet onion, Vidalia, Maui, Bermuda, Texas    

    Sweet

4 boiled eggs, chopped

3/4 cup mayonnaise or more

Salt

Peel, cube, and boil the potatoes just until tender. Drain and cool. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the potatoes, celery, onion, mayonnaise, and salt. Add more mayonnaise, if desired. 

Fold in the eggs. 

Chill. If salad needs more mayonnaise, stir in gently. 

Note: If you like more pizazz, you can add pickles, relish, mustard.

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 Hawaiian

HAWAIIAN SALAD

8 oz. uncooked elbow macaroni, cooked, drained, rinsed in cold water

2 cups Spam cubes

1 20-oz. can pineapple tidbits

3/4 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup chopped green onion, tops only

1 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbs apple cider vinegar

2 Tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

Drain pineapple and reserve 1/2 cup juice 

Mix juice with mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, and salt. Set aside. 

Mix remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Toss with dressing and chill. 

Note: Hawaii consumes more Spam than any other state in the Union.

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Have you ever met Princess Sassy Pants and her little doggie Prince Pucci? If you haven't, you should, and here's the link: Click Here. You can sign up on her blog post, and she'll come visit you every week. Wait until you see her cute car.

Friend Linda has been creating again. Look at these lovely charcuterie boards. She sandwiched this and the cake from last week in between an all-day-long, two-day yard sale, company for meals, food for church, and taking care of six cats. Move over, Wonder Woman.

The tray in front is for the crackers.

This week's restaurant was Jimmy's Egg; a little noisy, but bright and open.

Elly had breakfast - Country Skillet

And I had a Chopped Steak Skillet

I would order this again. I asked for the gravy on the side, because I thought it might taste as if it came from a jar. It did.

Here's the link HERE. They have a coupon for $5 off if you spend $25. We didn't know that. Lesson learned. They also serve Mimosas and Bloody Marys, and they have another location on South Campbell. 

I didn't care for the advertising pasted to the table, but I did enjoy a poster advertising their drinks which said, "Sip, sip, hooray."

Here's the newest salad. It's "sort of" because Terri's mom ate it at her house and told me it was wonderful. I asked Terri about it, and she told me that it's corn, lime juice and zest, garlic, a little sugar, avocado pieces, red onion, and cherry tomato halves. This is my interpretation.

TERRI’S SUMMER SALAD (SORT OF)

2 ears of corn

Juice from two limes

1 Tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

1-1/2 avocados, chopped

1 cup cherry tomato halves

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

Cook the corn and let it cool. Cut it off the cob, but don’t separate all the kernels. 

Mix the lime juice, sugar, and salt in the salad bowl. 

Chop the avocados into the lime mix and stir gently. 

Add the corn, cherry tomato halves, and red onion. 

Gently toss and chill to let the flavors mingle. 

This will serve four. Just double or triple the ingredients to increase the output. 

Note: Okay to substitute chopped chives or scallion tops for the red onion.

If I want to make this when I can't get fresh corn on the cob, I'll use frozen.

For the avocado: Halve, remove the seed, cut in squares right in the shells, scoop out with a large spoon.

Almost there. I have a photo of the Taco salad (need to write it up); and the recipe for Green and Red (need a photo); I need to develop the Antipasto salad (like the great salad I had at Pasta Express); and I'll make the Panzanella like Friend Linda's with cornbread instead of ciabatta (Texas meets Tuscany). 

I'd like to use a Sweet Potato salad, and finally found some decent potatoes yesterday at  Walnut Neighborhood market. We'll see.

I had a busy week with mole guys, shrub guy, and a/c guy. The a/c was a courtesy check (shoutout to Knight Heating and Air), the shrub guys will be here the third week of August to remove 25 shrubs and shape two large hedges, and after checking with neighbor Bud, I'm going to deal with the moles myself (ordered what I need from Amazon and it will be here Tuesday.)

I hope you're staying cool, enjoying a vacation, or both. And if not, why not? There's still plenty of time for a vacation to give you that "added vigor to your mind" which Seneca, the Greek philosopher, promises will result from "travel and a change of place." 

PRAY FOR PEACE

PRAY THAT WE WON'T GET INVOLVED IN WWIII

HUG YOUR LOVED ONES

CALL YOUR MOTHER, KIDS, GRANDKIDS, OR ANYONE ELSE WHO WOULD APPRECIATE A CALL

AND EAT YOUR LEAFY GREENS

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE