Serving Up {Salad}: Crunchy Broccoli Salad

This recipe is kind of a fusion between broccoli salad (yum!) and my favorite oriental salad recipe.  I didn't fuse the two together, but when I saw this recipe I knew that I had to try it and it did not disappoint!  In fact, after making it the first time I ended up making it again like two days later, with no leftovers either time.  I also took it with me just two weeks ago to our 4th of July neighborhood potluck and there was nothing left of it then either, so I am not the only one that has fallen hard for the flavor of this salad.

You can prepare this salad in advance, but to maintain the "crunchy" you don't want to dress the salad with the dressing until just before you plan to serve it.  I found that the amount of dressing that the recipe makes is more dressing than I have needed any of the times that I have made it.  I find that about 1/2 (maybe just a touch more) of the dressing is the right amount of dressing for my taste.  You may want to play with it for your own tastes.  The size of your "head of broccoli" would also make a difference in how much dressing you ultimately use.

One Year Ago: Frito Mess
Two Years Ago: Oriental Chicken Salad
                          Frosted Banana Bars

CRUNCHY BROCCOLI SALAD     
(recipe from Your Homebased Mom)
printable version

4 Tbs. butter, melted
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 pkgs. Ramen noodles, crushed (discard seasoning packet)

1 large head broccoli, cut into small pieces

4-6 green onions, sliced
1 lb. bacon, cooked crisp and broken into small pieces

Dressing
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. soy sauce

Mix melted butter, nuts and crushed noodles together. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until lightly brown; stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.
Mix together chopped broccoli, onions, bacon and cooled noodle/nut mixture.
Mix together the dressing ingredients.
Toss salad with dressing right before serving.  **I find that I don't need the entire dressing.  It largely depends on the amount of broccoli but I find that 1/2 to 3/4 of the dressing is plenty for my taste**

Serving Up {Salad}: BBQ Potato, Bacon & Corn Salad

I love the 4th of July...the parades, the fireworks, the flags, the family, the BBQ!  I know it is July 3rd, but should you still be undetermined on what you are taking to your potluck tomorrow, may I suggest this BBQ twist to the all american potato salad.  The flavors are amazing - I mean it has ranch, BBQ and dijon!  It's like someone was reading my mind...okay, I never actually thought to combine those flavors before reading this recipe, but I knew a good thing when I saw it.  This is one of my favorite summer potluck dishes because  it is totally unique, and the fact that it is delicious is just an added bonus!

Happy 4th of July to all!

One Year Ago: Root Beer Float Homemade Ice Cream
                        Welsh Cakes

BBQ POTATO, BACON & CORN SALAD     
(recipe from Kraft Food & Family, Summer 2006)
printable version

1/3 cup ranch dressing
1/3 cup favorite BBQ sauce
2 Tbsp. grey poupon Dijon mustard
3 lb. small red potatoes, cooked, quartered
1 can (11 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
½ cup sliced celery
½ cup chopped red peppers
½ cup chopped red onions
8 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled

Mix dressing, BBQ sauce and mustard in large bowl. Add all remaining ingredients except for the bacon; mix lightly. Sprinkle top of salad with bacon.  Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serving Up {Breakfast}: Fried Egg Sandwich with Bacon and Gorgonzola

I have been enjoying egg sandwiches quite regularly as of late - some for breakfast, others for dinner, last night it was eggs and avocado at 9:45 p.m. in hopes of getting the tummy to stop grumbling.  I get the most beautiful free range eggs from a local farmer and the yolks are literally ORANGE.  Gorgeous!  With eggs kind of on my mind, I saw this recipe posted at Smitten Kitchen and I knew that I had to make it!  And I did make it - the very next night (and again the next day)!  I mean, you use the bacon fat to make a dressing for the greens!  Are you kidding me?  All salads would benefit from a couple of tablespoons of good ole' bacon grease, but that is just my personal opinion...

I wrote the recipe as I made it which included a couple of tweaks - not necessarily because it needed tweaks, but because I made it with what I had on hand.  So the frisee became spinach and the blue cheese became gorgonzola.  While I can't speak for the sandwich with the original ingredient list, I can speak of the sandwich made with the substitutions and I can't imagine anything better.  Yum!

FRIED EGG SANDWICH with BACON AND GORGONZOLA
(recipe from Smitten Kitchen)
printable version

2 ciabatta rolls

1 ½ cups favorite mixed greens
2 slices bacon, thick cut
1 Tbs. minced shallot
1 ½ Tbs. red wine vinegar
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper
¼ cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese

2 Tbs. butter
2 eggs
Salt and Pepper

Place mixed greens in a small bowl. Cut bacon crosswise into ½ inch pieces. Heat skillet over medium heat and cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside, reserving half of the bacon grease. Add shallot to bacon fat and cook for one minute, stirring. Add red wine vinegar, stirring for 30 seconds, then remove from heat and whisk in Dijon mustard. Pour hot dressing over mixed greens, add cooked bacon and toss with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Split rolls in half and toast. Divide salad between each roll. Top each salad with 2 Tbs. crumbled gorgonzola.

Reheat skillet over medium heat. Add butter and coat the pan. Crack each egg ino the pan, season with salt and pepper and cover the skillet with a small lid. Cook for one minute for a perfect sunny-side-up egg, although flipping the egg for 30 seconds more will keep the yolk from comepletely running off your sandwich. Remove the eggs from the pan and place on top of the gorgonzola. Replace top bun.

Serving Up {Pasta}: Garlic Chicken Farfalle

As I am sorting through all of my recipes (the purpose of this blog, lest I forget) I am a bit shocked at how many of our frequently made recipes are pasta dishes.  I guess we really like us some pasta!  I hope what they say about pasta being bad for our diets isn't really true or else I am in big trouble.  Maybe I have some Italian in me deep down and that accounts for my affinity for all things al dente.

This recipe is delicious!  Pasta, chicken, bacon, cream - how can you possible go wrong?  I frequently will double the chicken as I cook it in the crock pot so that I end up with twice as much chicken as I need and I will then freeze half of it for later use.  Because the chicken cooks all day in the crock pot (easy!), putting dinner together only requires the boiling of the pasta and about 10 minutes to make the cream sauce.  Toss it all together and viola!

GARLIC CHICKEN FARFALLE     

(recipe from Becky Higgins)

printable version

3-4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
1 (12 oz) Lawry’s mesquite marinade with lime juice
16 oz. Farfalle pasta 

1 c. heavy whipping cream 

2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed 

1 Tbsp. pepper

1/2 c. butter 

1 lb. bacon, cooked & crumpled 

1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese 

Place chicken in a crock pot and pour bottle of marinade over it.  Cook on low for 6 hours. When cooked, remove from crock pot and shred it.  Set this aside. 

Prepare the pasta by boiling it until al dente.  Drain.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter; add the garlic, whipping cream, pepper, parmesan cheese, and crumpled bacon. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. 

Place pasta in a large bowl.  Pour butter/whipped cream mixture over the pasta and add the shredded chicken; gently toss.  Prior to serving sprinkle a bit more shredded parmesan cheese on top.