7 Layer Salad

One of my favorites!

7 layer salad

2 cups mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
1 tablespoon sugar
1 head of lettuce, shredded
1 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup radishes, sliced
4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
10 ounces frozen green peas, uncooked
1 small green onion, chopped
8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled (bacon bits work fine)
1/2 pound cheddar cheese, grated

Combine the mayonnaise and sugar. Mix and refrigerate it until you finish making the salad.

Layer the rest of the ingredients in the following order:

a layer of lettuce on the bottom of the bowl,
then a layer of celery
a layer of radishes
a layer of chopped eggs
a layer of peas
a layer of green onions
a layer of crumbled bacon

Spread the mayonnaise/sugar mixture over the top of the salad like cake icing. Sprinkle grated cheese evenly over it all. Seal the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or for 8 to 12 hours before serving).

Winter Salad

I am always asked to bring this salad to holiday get togethers.  I love making it at Christmastime.  And it really tastes as good as it looks!

1 can beets, cubed
2 Tbs. veg. oil
juice from 1 orange (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup pomegranate juice (I've found this at Smith's Marketplace at Target)
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar (or rice vinegar)
1 med. red onion, thinly sliced
2 cans mandarin orange pieces
1 cup pomegranate seeds
5 cups of fresh greens (Spring Mix)

Whisk orange juice, pomegranate juice, vinegar, and 2 Tbs. oil in large bowl to blend.  Season vinagrette with salt and pepper.  Place onion in small bowl.  Cover with cold water.  Soak onion 1 minute, drain, and squeeze dry in kitchen towel.  Add beets, onion, orange slices, and pomegranate seeds to vinagrette in bowl, toss.  Season salad with salt and pepper, arrange on top of a bed of greens.

Teriyaki Pasta Spinach Salad

I saw this recipe on La Bonne Cuisine, a recipe blog that I think is really cool because it has a lot of french recipes.  It reminded me of one I had at a church function a few years ago, and really liked.  (Coincidentally, I think she got her recipe at a church gathering as well.  Church is a great place to get new recipes, eh?)

My picture above was before I poured the sauce on.  I put the original recipe here, as well as notated any changes that I made to it.  One other thing I did: I used pre-cooked frozen chicken breast strips (love them, I use them for everything), diced them, and fried them in a pan to thaw it and release natural oils, then dumped a little teriyaki sauce on them for added flavor.

Teriyaki Pasta Spinach Salad

1 bag (10 oz.) spinach
2-3 green onions, sliced
1/4 c. fresh parsley (didn't have any of this so I threw in dried and it was just fine)
1/3 c. craisins (or more!)
1/3 c. honey roasted peanuts (I had a bag of chopped nuts, so I dumped that in this time)
1 can mandarin oranges, drained (can cut in half just to make more pieces)
1-2 c. cooked, cut-up chicken (or  she used 1 large can chicken breast)
1/2-1 box (12-16 oz.) bow tie pasta, cooked (I used half a box and it was plenty.  She used the mini-size pasta and they looked so cute)

Dressing:
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. Teriyaki sauce
1/3 c. rice vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Prepare the dressing ahead of time and refrigerate overnight. (Mine got about one hour of refrigeration and it tasted just fine).  

Mix all salad ingredients together and add dressing just before serving.

So yummy!  

Total girl food.

Crunchy Corn Medley

I LOVE this dish. It tastes really fresh and healthy, and it's not too much work to make. Plus it keeps well in the fridge and you can eat it all week. It's got a tangy flavor because of the vinaigrette dressing.

2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can white or shoe peg corn, drained
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 jar diced pimientos, drained (I usually leave these out)
8 green onions, thinly sliced
2 celery ribs
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

In a large bowl combine the first eight ingredients. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, sugar, oil, salt and pepper; whisk until sugar is dissolved. Pour over corn mixture; mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Stir just before serving; serve with a slotted spoon.

Poppyseed Coleslaw

1 bag coleslaw mix
3-5 green onions, diced
1 green apple, unpeeled and chopped
1 can rice noodles (they are by the chow mein noodles at the grocery)
1/2 cup (about) chopped cashews
1 bottle (or less) Brianna's Poppyseed Dressing (it really has to be this one)

Mix all of the above right before serving and enjoy!

From Marcie's Recipe Book

Chinese Chicken Salad

3 chicken breasts, cooked, cooled, diced

2 Tbs. sesame seed

2 oz. slivered almonds

1/2 head finely chopped red cabbage

1 large head green cabbage (napa chinese cabbage)

1 pkg. chicken flavored ramen, crumpled

2 green onions, chopped

*

Mix all the ingredients for the salad together. Save noodles for the end.

*

Dressing:

1 Tbs. sugar

3 Tbs. vinegar

1/2 c. veg. oil

flavor pkg. from the ramen

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. pepper

*

This tastes great the next day for lunch too!

3 ingredient Waldorf Salad

Apples--diced

Snickers candy bar--chopped into bite size pieces

Cool whip

Mix and enjoy! Easy, and how often do you get to have chocolate in your salad? Yum!

Salad Bar

Salad Bar suggestions:

Lettuce
Spinach
Garbanzo beans
kidney beans
carrots
cherry tomatoes
sliced cucumbers
avacado
raisins
bacon
ham shredded cheese
croutons
Hard boiled eggs
dressing

Lion House Salad

Lion House Salad (from Crystal)

1 pound fresh BABY spinach
1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, cleaned & sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 recipe Poppy Seed Dressing, below

Toss all ingredients, except dressing, in a large bowl. When ready to serve, pour dressing over salad & toss to coat.

POPPY SEED DRESSING:
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup salad oil
2 tsp poppy seeds
4 tbs sugar
1 tbs minced red onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
Add all ingredients to blender or food processor and spin 'til well blended. Chill before adding to salad.

Cafe Rio Salad

Cafe Rio Salad
Green Dressing:
3 tomatillos, peeled, rinsed, and quartered
1 pkg. Ranch (buttermilk) dressing
1 c. mayo
1 c. cilantro
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 lime juice plus more for taste
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Blend in blender.
Pork marinade:
Cook pork roast in a crock pot on low for 8 hours with a little water in it. Shred pork. Then add:
1 can enchilada sauce
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 small can diced green chiles
1 can coke (not diet)
1 cup brown sugar
salt to taste
Cook again in crock pot on low for 1 more hour.

Chicken Marinade:
small kraft zesty italian dressing
1 Tbsp. cumin
3 garlic (minced)
5 lbs. chicken
Marinade chicken overnight in any Italian vinagrette dressing. Grill. Or you can cook chicken in the crock pot.

Salad Toppings:
Taco Bowls
Shredded Lettuce
Shredded cheese
sour cream
tomatoes
Avocado/guacamole
Black Beans
corn tortillas cut into strips and fried in oil in a pan
Black Beans:

1 can black beans, rinsed
2 Tbl finely mined onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 cup tomato juice
3 Tbl chopped Fresh Cilantro
1 tsp salt

Fry onion, garlic and cumin in a small amount of olive oil. Add beans, tomato juice, cilantro and salt and heat through.

Cilantro Lime Rice:

3 c water
3 c rice
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 tsp salt
¼ cup lime juice
1/2 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro, remove large stems
1 small can green chiles

Place water, rice, bouillon, and salt in pot. Bring to boil. Place lime juice, onion, garlic, cilantro and green chilies in a blender and puree. Stir into rice. Simmer, covered, for about 25 minutes.

Homemade Tortillas:
3 cups flour ( I use 11/2 cups wheat and 11/2 cups white)
1/2 Tbsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup oil
1 1/4 cup very hot water
Mix dry ingredients first, then add water and oil. Mix with a spoon as much as you can and knead rest. Divide dough into 10 balls. Set dough on flowered surface and cover with towel let stand 5 minutes then roll each ball as thin as you can with a rolling pin. Place on a greased or non-stick skillet or 350 degrees on an electric skillet. Flip 3 times- takes 2-3 minutes.

Santa Fe Chicken Salad

From Mique

4 breasts of chicken, cooked then sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped

small1 15-ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 ear of corn, cut off kernels (can use frozen or can corn)

1 tomato, chopped

1 avocado, diced

1/2 cup red onion, chopped fine

1/4 cup jack cheese

1/4 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 small jicama, diced

Lemon-pepper

crushed tortilla chips

cucumbers (optional)

Buttermilk Salsa Dressing (see below)

Pound the chicken with a meat tenderizer. In a skillet, heat the oil. Add the chicken and sprinkle generously with lemon-pepper. Cook each side about 7 minutes or until done. Remove from pan to cool. Slice the chicken. Prepare all ingredients and toss the salad. Don’t addthe salad dressing until ready to serve.

Buttermilk Salsa Dressing: In a blender mix one envelope of ranch dressing with the required amount of mayonnaise and milk. Then add FRESH deli salsa to taste. Try and not get too much of the liquid.

Crystal's Chicken Pasta Salad

Chicken Pasta Salad (from Crystal Hanson)

2 8-oz pkgs. shell pasta
1 cup Kraft coleslaw dressing
1 cup mayo
1/4 cup onion, diced very small
4 chicken breasts, boiled & pulled apart
1 16-oz can pineapple tidbits, drained
2 cups green or red grapes
2 cups greed or red apples, diced
cups celery, diced

1 1/2 cups cashews; add just before serving

1. Mix mayo & coleslaw dressing together.
2. Boil pasta; drain well.
3. Combine all ingredients; refrigerate at least 1 hour.