Deli-Style Cucumber Salad

I signed up to be a recipe tester for American's Test Kitchen and they sent me this recipe as my first to try out. I decided it would be perfect for a BBQ and to test it on my family. Colton helped me make it and I loved how easy it was to put together. Everyone loved how this tasted! I thought it tasted like I was eating pickles. I will definitely use this recipe again, especially during the summer.

DELI-STYLE CUCUMBER SALAD

3/4 cup distilled white vinegar

3/4 cup cold water

2 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

1 garlic clove, minced

Pinch cayenne pepper

2 cucumbers, sliced thin

1 onion, halved and sliced thin (I used a Vidalia)

Whisk vinegar, water, sugar, salt, dill, garlic, and cayenne together in a large bowl until salt is dissolved. Stir in cucumbers and onion. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. Serve chilled. 

Cobb Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

This salad was so good, I pretty much wanted to eat the entire bowl by myself. Yes, this was another Pinterest recipe and you can find it here. I added a few changes to the salad due to what I had on hand, but mostly stuck with the original. I will definitely be making this often.

COBB SALAD WITH LEMON VINAIGRETTE
Salad

• One large head of romaine (I went with two normal sized heads)
• 2 lbs chicken breasts, grilled or cooked in leftover bacon grease and chopped (I left this out)
• 6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/2 lb bacon, chopped and cooked crisp 
• 2 large avocados, chopped 
• 1/2 red onion, diced (I used green onions)
• 2 large tomatoes, diced 
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup shredded Monterrey and Colby cheese (or crumbled blue cheese) 
• Salt and pepper

Dressing

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest 
• The juice of 1 lemon 
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 
• 2 tablespoons agave syrup 
• 1/4 cup olive oil 
• Salt and pepper

Method
1. Cook bacon until crisp. Reserve bacon fat to cook chicken in if desired. Salt and pepper chicken. Grill chicken or cook in bacon fat for extra flavor.
2. Add lettuce to a large bowl. Top with cooked and chopped chicken, crisp bacon, chopped hard boiled eggs, avocados, onion, tomatoes and cheese.
3. Combine lemon zest, red wine vinegar and agave syrup for salad dressing to a small bowl. Whisk in olive oil. Add salt and pepper.

Nectarine Salad with Mint Vinaigrette

Joe and I planted another big garden this year and while our veggies are fairing so well because of the cool weather we've been having, our herbs are growing like crazy! I planted spearmint and peppermint and they are becoming huge bushes, so I've been looking for recipes that I could use them in. I found this salad, happened to have all the ingredients on hand and we ate it with dinner tonight. It was so delicious! We all loved it and I probably had three helpings of it. I'll for sure be making this throughout the summer.

NECTARINE SALAD WITH MINT VINAIGRETTE

• Dressing:
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Salad:
• 1 cup chopped seeded cucumber
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 2 tablespoons minced red onion
• 3 nectarines, chopped, peeled, and pitted
• Salad mixing of your choice, about 5 cups worth
  

To prepare dressing, place mint and sugar in a food processor; process until finely chopped, scraping sides of bowl. Add vinegar, juice, salt, and pepper, and process 30 seconds to combine.
To prepare salad salad mix of your choice in a medium bowl. Combine cucumber, pecans, onion, and nectarines and top them on the salad. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss well to coat.

Luncheon Chicken Salad

I was in the mood for a chicken salad for dinner tonight and turned to a very reliable source for a recipe - Taste of Home. I loved all the fruit in this recipe so it became the one that I quickly chose! We all really enjoyed this, even Colton. I served it on Romaine and spinach but I think it would be equally good on bread as a sandwich.

LUNCHEON CHICKEN SALAD

• 4 cups of cooked chicken, diced
• 1 20-ounce can of pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 11-ounce can of mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 apple, chopped
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 7 teaspoons mustard
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced

In a large bowl, gently combine the chicken, pineapple, oranges, celery, onions, bell pepper, and apple. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve over lettuce.

Deviled Egg Pasta Salad

My friend Cassie posted this recipe on her blog and it looked too tasty not to try. I love hard-boiled eggs and liked the idea of it being in a pasta salad. Joe, Colton and I all loved it and thought it was the perfect summer meal. Next picnic I go on I'm taking this with me! Oh and I didn't take a picture of it so check out Cassie's cute picture of the salad here.

DEVILED EGG PASTA SALAD

• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 3 cups of Miracle Whip or mayo
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup pickle relish - depending on your liking (I just chopped a few dill pickles up)
• Paprika

Cook pasta al dente; drain and rinse in cold water. Drain again.

Mix together the Miracle Whip (or mayo), mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Gently fold the pasta, eggs, and pickle relish into the Miracle Whip mixture. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover and refrigerate until served.

Sweet Grape Salad

My friend Cassie posted this recipe on her blog and I just had to try it! We're big fans of grapes around here....plus all the other ingredients in this salad. I served it to my family last night and it was a hit with everyone. My sister told me that it's her new favorite side dish that I make! Definitely try it this summer!!

SWEET GRAPE SALAD

• 2 pounds red seedless grapes
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese
• 1 8-ounce container sour cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons pecans

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, white sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Gently fold in the grapes. Sprinkle the brown sugar and pecans on top. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled. YUM!

Caribbean Chicken Caesar Salad

I wanted to make a new salad for Easter dinner and saw that I had saved this recipe from Taste of Home back in January. I didn't add the chicken with it this time but definitely will in the future. This was a wonderful salad! The whole family loved it plus it was easy to put together, so it's a keeper. I would highly recommend making this for a tasty summer dish this year!

CARIBBEAN CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup thawed non-alcoholic pina colada mix, divided
• 1 cup tangerine or mandarin orange segments
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 2 tablespoons crushed pineapple
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 4 pitted ripe olives, sliced
  
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 4 teaspoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 4 cups torn romaine or iceberg lettuce

Combine chicken and 1/4 cup pina colada mix. In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, cook and stir chicken mixture over medium heat until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from the heat; set aside.

Combine the tangerines, celery, pineapple, onion and olives in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, mayonnaise, cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and the remaining pina colada mix.

Add chicken and romaine to the tangerine mixture; drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Creamy Berry Salad

This is a delicious berry salad that we all loved....especially Colton. I'm pretty sure it will be a staple this summer at our house.

CREAMY BERRY SALAD

• 3 cups boiling water
• 1 small package of raspberry Jell-o (I used the sugar free kind)
• 1 small package of tapioca pudding
• 1 large package of vanilla pudding (I used sugar free again)
• 1 tub of Cool Whip (try and get the kind that doesn't have hydrogenated oils and other yucky stuff in it. I think it's called Tru Whip.)
• 1 package of frozen berries

Bring water to a boil. Add the Jell-o and puddings and bring to a boil. Remove from heat once it's boiling and pour it into a heat-safe bowl. Cool until thick; chill for 90 minutes. Add the Cool Whip and berries and chill for 2 hours.

Creamy Carrot Gelatin Salad

Ok, so the the title of this sounds a little gross, but don't judge this recipe by its name! I have a lot of carrots that are going to go bad soon so I searched the internet for some new dishes that I could experiment with. Colton LOVES Jell-o with fruit in it, so I wanted to make a Jell-o dish with carrots in it and see if he likes that too. This dish is so delicious, you can't even tell there's carrot in it! I served it to my family and they all asked if coconut was in it. Ha! Here's the link for the salad.

CREAMY CARROT GELATIN SALAD

• 1 can (8 ounce) of crushed pineapple
• 24 marshmallows (I used the small kind)
• 1 jar (5 ounces) cream cheese with pineapple (I just used regular cream cheese)
• 1 package lemon Jell-o (I used Jell-O's Tropical flavor - it has pineapple, orange, and cherry flavors)
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 3/4 cup grated carrots

Drain pineapple; reserve juice. Heat reserved pineapple juice in a small saucepan over low heat; add marshmallows, stirring until melted. Add cream cheese, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Dissolve Jello in boiling water; cool. combine marshmallow mixture with gelatin; chill until jelled to the consistency of unbeaten egg white. Stir in crushed pineapple and grated carrot; pour into an 8-inch square pan; cut carrot salad in squares to serve.

Carrot Orange Salad

One of my favorite things to do at thrift stores is to look at their cookbooks. I recently got quite a few great ones for $1 each, one being the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. This recipe looked like a great summer salad so I made it for Colton's birthday party and everyone loved it! It's very light and flavorful. The cinnamon adds a surprisingly great dimension to it.

CARROT ORANGE SALAD

• 4 cups shredded carrot (I bought mine pre-shredded)
• 3 cans mandarin orange slices, drained
• 6 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a medium bowl, combine the carrots and oranges. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, honey, and cinnamon; mix until combined. Add the dressing to the salad and allow to marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Fresh Berries with a Mint Vinaigrette

I am in love with this salad. I have been making it every single week for the past month and can't imagine ever being sick of it. It is so fresh, healthy, and flavorful....what's not to love? A girl in my neighborhood is going to culinary art school and she taught a cooking class about cooking with herbs. Best class I ever took!!

FRESH BERRIES WITH A MINT VINAIGRETTE

• 3 cups mix of strawberries, blueberries, raspberried, and/or blackberries - hulled and quartered (it tastes great with only strawberries too)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup simple syrup (recipe follows)
• About 10 mint leaves

In a large bowl, toss together the berries. In a blender, combine the mint, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Blend until smooth. Pour the mint mixture over the berries, stir together. Top with a light sprinkle of lemon zest and mint leaves.

Simple Syrup:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup sugar

In a saucepan, combine the water and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Take pan off heat and cool the syrup. (Any extra syrup can be saved in an airtight container in the fridge).

Raspberry Vinaigrette

This recipe came from another red binder that can be found in every kitchen - Betty Crocker's Cookbook! There are lots of great basics in there, including this recipe. I had never made my own fruit vinaigrette and this was a wonderful recipe!!

RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE

• 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam (I had a homemade strawberry raspberry jam that I used)
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat all ingredients with wire whisk until well blended. Store covered in refrigerator.

Lentil and Sweet Potato Salad

I receive the newsletter GOOP written by Gwyneth Paltrow every week. She has a lot of great tips and last week she included 5 easy recipes that her family likes to eat. I had just recently bought a big bag of lentils so I could make some baby food for Colton with it and thought I'd try this recipe. It was so delicious and because lentils are packed with protein and fiber, it made us full really fast! This is a very healthy recipe and wasn't hard to make at all.

LENTIL AND SWEET POTATO SALAD

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 1/2 tablespoons real maple syrup
• 2 pinches red chili powder
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme
• 2 cups of lentils, washed and picked through
• 2 tablespoons torn parsley leaves

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Toss the sweet potatoes with 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil, the maple syrup and one pinch of chili. Roast, stirring, until caramelized and a paring knife slips easily through a piece, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the additional two tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the remaining pinch of chili, onion, carrot, garlic, oregano, pepper and thyme. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are a bit softened and just beginning to brown. Add the lentils and four cups of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, turn down to low, cover, and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the lentils are soft.

Let the lentils cool to room temperature. Fold the lentils together with the sweet potatoes. Drizzle with your good olive oil, sprinkle with salt and parsley, and serve.

Mexican Macaroni Salad

This is a really great cookbook! There are some really creative recipes and all of them use common ingredients that everyone has on hand. I wanted to try this macaroni salad because I'm always looking for alternatives to common dishes. This is a very good salad and I plan on making it for BBQs and picnics this summer! I added some more things to this salad that I'll list and bold.

MEXICAN MACARONI SALAD

• 1 cup Hellmann's Best Foods Real Mayonnaise (I used Miracle Whip)
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 2 teaspoons instant chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 6 drops hot pepper sauce
• 1 8-ounce package elbow macaroni, cooked, drained
• 1 16-ounce red kidney beans, well drained
• 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 cup of pepperoni, cooked and crumbled

In a large bowl stir together first 8 ingredients. Add remaining ingredients; toss to coat well. Cover; chill at least 2 hours.

Cold Curried Chicken Salad

This cookbook is the sequel to my other Texas cookbook and I think I like this one more than the other one. I have a bunch of recipes marked off in here to try!

Joe and I really liked this chicken salad. It's very filling because of all the protein in the salad. This would be a great salad to make ahead of time and take somewhere. We had it the next day as a sandwich and it was really good that way too.

COLD CURRIED CHICKEN SALAD

• 2 cups cooked, diced chicken
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/2 cup peanuts, crushed (cashews would be a good substitute)
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 3 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used Miracle Whip Light)
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine the first 6 ingredients. Mix remaining ingredients and fold into chicken mixture. Chill and serve on lettuce leaves. Garnish with avocado slices or mandarin orange sections.

Maple Glazed Pecans

Every other week I go to the library and I always make sure to check out some cookbooks. This is a great cookbook that I recently checked out that is made for vegans and vegetarians, or people who just want to eat healthier!

These sweetened pecans are so good served as a dessert - on top of ice cream, for example - or on a salad. We first served these on a salad with strawberries and avocado....it was perfect!!

MAPLE GLAZED PECANS

• 2 cups pecans
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast until lightly browned and fragrant, 8-10 minutes. Remove them from the oven and set aside.

Heat the maple syrup and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until boiling. Boil the mixture for 2 minutes, and then add the toasted pecans. Continue cooking, stirring to coat the pecans, about 30 seconds more. Spread the pecans onto a baking sheet to cool. Sprinkle with salt.

Pomegranate Salad

Once a month us leaders at church teach the Young Women (ages 12-15) how to cook/bake and we call it Betty Crocker Night. It's been a big hit so far and next month the girls are going to make us dinner using the recipes they've been taught. One of the families that attends our church is on a macrobiotic due to the health of one of their children. We asked them for a recipe for their favorite dish and this is what they gave us!

This salad is very refreshing, healthy, and delicious! Joe loves it because he likes pomegranates so much. I love it because it tastes so good and very healthy for me.

POMEGRANATE SALAD

• 4 pomegranates, seeded
• 1 cup of raisins or currants
• 2/3 cup chopped almonds
• 2 apples, chopped
• 8 chestnuts, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients. To make the dressing, whisk together the curry powder, oil, vinegar, and salt. Pour over the salad and serve.

Roasted Vegetables and Couscous

This is another one of those cookbooks that was given to me when I left for college. It's a cool cookbook become because all the recipes come from Home Economics teachers from around the US. So you know if the recipes are easy enough for highschoolers to make, you can do it too.

Joe and I enjoyed this side dish. Next time I would add the garlic in towards the end because they burned from roasting the whole time. But overall, it was easy to make and is very healthy!

ROASTED VEGETABLES AND COUSCOUS

• Vegetables of your choice (I used a red pepper, mushrooms, and two small zucchini)
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 cup couscous
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
• Zest of lime

Chop garlic and place in bottom of the pan. Slice vegetables in long strips and place on top of garlic. Coat vegetables with olive oil. Place in a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes, stirring veggies every 10 minutes. Prepare couscous while vegetables are roasting. Stir veggies, grated ginger, and lime zest into prepared couscous.

Vitamin C Salad

I had quite a bit of produce that was going to go bad soon so I made this salad and it was so great! I love finding new salads.

VITAMIN C SALAD

• 1 can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 4 cups baby spinach
  
• 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
  
• Italian salad dressing

In a bowl, combine all the fruit and veggies together. Drizzle with Italian dressing. That's all!

Wonderful, Fruity-Nutty, Cheesy Salad With Poppy Seed Dressing

Remember how the Margarita Salad was my 2007 Salad of the Year? Well, this one is my 2008 Salad of the Year. It's absolutely delicious!! In fact, since I was introduced to it by a family friend of my in-laws, I've made it every weekend.

WONDERFUL, FRUITY-NUTTY, CHEESY SALAD WITH POPPY SEED DRESSING

Dressing:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup mayo (I use Miracle Whip)
• 4 tablespoon sour cream
• 2 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 4 tablespoon vinegar

Mix all these ingredients together in a blender for 30 seconds. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Salad:

• Romaine lettuce
• Baby spinach
• Chopped green onions
• Sliced strawberries
• Sliced pears
• Chopped avocado
• Crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Candied slivered almonds (see below)
• Toasted pine nuts

Put this in a bowl in the order listed, starting with the Romaine on the bottom and pine nuts on top. Serve with dressing and let people pour their own amount on individual plates.

Candied Almonds: Heat equal parts sugar and almonds in a skillet on the stove. Stir with a wooden spoon CONSTANTLY until golden brown.