Top Ramen Salad

This is a recipe that is seen at many potluck dinners (we call them covered dish dinners down this way, but I know that is a term that not used everywhere). When I looked on Wikipedia I saw many different variations of the term, some quite interesting. In any case, this recipe has as many variations as the occasions it is served. It's a good salad for a hot summer day.

TOP RAMEN SALAD

1 package coleslaw mix
5 green onion sliced thin (tops included)
1 cup sliced almonds
2 packages ramen noodles, broken up (I used oriental flavor and poured hot water over them to hydrate them)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Dressing:
1/2 cup oil (I used a little less than 1/2 -- not quite to the top)
1/3 cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons
1/4 cup vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar) + 2 tablespoons
1 packet flavoring mix from the noodles

Mix oil, sugar, vinegar, and flavoring packet. In large bowl, mix together coleslaw mix, onions, almonds, and broken ramen noodles. Add dressing and toss. Let stand for a few hours.

Thousand Island Dressing

When I was growing up we never had bottled salad dressings. Usually our salads were just a chop salad of iceberg lettuce and tomatoes dressed with just mayonnaise. Special occasions would mean the glass oil and vinegar set would be on the table. My mom was a waitress all her life and in one of the restaurants she worked they had the best thousand island dressing. My mom would make this on rare occasions, but how we loved it. It has an odd addition of a boiled egg in it, which might put some people off, but it makes it taste just like I remember.

THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup cocktail sauce
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 hard boiled egg

Put all ingredients into a mini-chopper or blender. If mixture is too thick, add a little milk or cream to it to make it just the right consistency.

Potato Salad

After a rainy start to the 4th it cleared off and we were able to celebrate. A good time to make some potato salad to go along with some grilled burgers. Strawberry shortcake and watermelon for later and then some fireworks -- a great 4th of July.

POTATO SALAD

4 very large Idaho baking potatoes
4 green onions
4 boiled eggs
1/2 cup chopped Spanish olives with pimento
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard

Boil potatoes in skins until a knife goes through them. Set aside and cool. Boil eggs according to your own method. Set aside. In a large bowl, when cooled, peel potatoes and cut into chunks. Season liberally with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and stir. Add chopped eggs. Add green onions and olives. Mix mustard and mayonnaise together and add just a little olive juice to thin it out. Pour over potato mixture and mix well. Refrigerate.

Hot Sweet Garlic Pickles

We had a 'retirement' party this week at work. One of our best employees has decided to take a new job after 20 years. We were all pretty down all week because she is a big asset to our organization and will be greatly missed, although we are happy for her new opportunity. I made several goodies to take and we had a really nice spread. These pickles are a good accompaniment to just about anything and so easy to make but taste so good.

HOT SWEET GARLIC PICKLES

1 jar of sliced dill pickles
Granulated sugar
Peeled and sliced garlic
Tabasco sauce

You can use any size jar of pickles you like. Drain them well. Then start layering with pickles first, then some sliced garlic, then sprinkle 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar (depending on the size of your jar to just cover that layer. Sprinkle Tabasco sauce (about 10-12 shakes on each layer will do). Repeat until you have used up all the pickles. Turn jar over and it will start to melt the sugar and make it's own juice. Throughout the day keep turning the jar over. It takes about 3 days to get the full flavor, but you can really eat them once all the sugar has dissolved. Refrigerate.

Healthy Pot Luck

At the beginning of the year we began a wellness initiative at work. Each facility is doing their own thing with a wellness coordinator to help us along. We are lucky to have our wellness coordinator be a young lady who has lost 30 pounds recently. She puts out a wellness newsletter each week. We started bringing healthy snacks and fruit in order to stay away from the vending machine. Also, when our schedules allow we have been doing a 7 minute workout in the mornings and afternoons. It doesn't sound like much but it really is quite a focused muscle on muscle toning DVD we do. Once a month we are going to have a pot luck of healthy foods and sit at lunch time and discuss different options of staying healthy. This week was our first pot luck and brought this salad. I also brought a recipe for a pineapple angel food cake that is an old Weight Watchers recipe.



BROCCOLI SALAD

There are many, many recipes for this salad with variations being sunflower seeds, raisins, green onions, bacon, and even cheese. In an effort to make it healthy, this is my version.


2 heads broccoli cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 of a small purple onion sliced thinly
1 cup thawed frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3/4 to 1 cup Craisins


Dressing:
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup Ken's Steakhouse Light Raspberry/Walnut Vinaigrette



Mix broccoli with peas and onions. Blend dressing together. Pour over and mix. Add Craisins and almonds.

Rooty-Tooty -- Fresh and Fruity

I took a vacation last week and went to Canada. I have friends who live in New Westminster, B.C. which is near Vancouver. My friends took me to an area called the Okanagan which is apparently notable for its abundance of fruit. There are lots and lots of fruit stands along the way. We stopped at this one and it was decorated so nice. If you look in the trees behind the cars you can see some orange gourds in the trees. My friend's husband pointed them out to me and said 'see how they grow them in the trees?' I have to admit to being gullible for just a minute until I realized they are just hanging in the trees for decoration. The drive was absolutely beautiful. I loved seeing the lakes and mountains and feeling some COOL temperatures.

Another birthday at work today and so I decided to make a fruit salad. I took an angel food cake also with some Cool Whip.

FRUIT SALAD

Fruit glaze:

3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup pineapple juice (drained from an 8 ounce can of pineapple tidbits)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch

Mix all ingredients and bring to a boil until thickened. Cool and pour over fruit of your choice and chill. For this bowl I used grapes, nectarines, strawberries, pineapple tidbits, apple. and banana.

Tuna Does Vegas

For my birthday I went to the Grand Opera House in Galveston to see 'Tuna Does Vegas'. This is the fourth in a series of plays that Joe Sears and Jaston Williams play a variety of characters - both male and female. It is based in the fictional town of Tuna, Texas. The characters in these plays are so darn funny. I believe they are taking this play to the Golden Nugget in Vegas next. Very enjoyable. So, in keeping with the theme -- here is my recipe for tuna salad.

TUNA SALAD

2 small packages water packed Star-Kist tuna (I like the pouches as you don't have to mess with draining them).

3 hard boiled eggs chopped

3 green onions chopped with tops

About 10 green Spanish olives chopped

Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

Enough mayonnaise to bind together.

Mix all ingredients together. Chill for about half an hour. Serve on nice bread with chips and cold iced tea.

Roasted Garlic Pasta Salad

ROASTED GARLIC PASTA SALAD

8 ounces farfalle pasta (bowtie) cooked and drained
1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
1 small can sliced black olives
3 green onions sliced
Garnish with 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Dressing:
1/2 cup Italian dressing (I used Ken's Light Caesar)
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (I used light)
2 heads garlic roasted with 1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and cool. Add onions, tomatoes, olives. To roast garlic, slice ends off two heads of garlic. Drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. When done scrape garlic out of cloves and whisk into dressing ingredients. Add dressing to pasta and toss. Sprinkle cheese on top.