Strawberry Pretzel Salad

I first had this salad at a park in Arizona as part of Thanksgiving dinner (lunch).  My sister's husband's cousin made it and it was delicious.  I think she made it with raspberries.  I decided to make this a part of our Easter dinner today and my kids loved it!  (Go figure.)  They would have been happy to eat only this salad and nothing else for dinner.  This recipe originally comes from Paula Deen (Food Network).

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup melted butter
3 Tbsp sugar, plus 3/4 cup sugar
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping (thawed in fridge)
2 (3 oz.) packages strawberry gelatin dessert mix
2 cups boiling water
2 (10 oz.) packages frozen strawberries (Mine were whole so I cut them up into quarters.)
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple
Whipped topping or whipped cream, to garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

For the crust, mix the pretzels, butter and 3 Tbsp of sugar.  Press this mixture into a 9X13 pan and bake for 7 minutes.  Set aside and allow to cool.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar.  Fold in whipped topping, and spread over the cooled crust.  Refrigerate until well chilled.

In a small bowl, dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, and allow to cool slightly.  Add the strawberries and pineapple and pour over the cream cheese mixture.  Refrigerate until serving time.

To serve, cut slices and serve with a dollop of whipped topping.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

My sister made several freezer meals for us when she was in town and this was one of them.  Everyone in the family enjoyed them including my picky eater!  Thanks for the great recipe Janae!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

1 pound ground beef or turkey
1/4 cup sliced green onion 
1 cup cabbage and carrot mix (or shred your own cabbage and carrots, equal parts)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/4 cup soy sauce 
1/4 cup packed brown sugar 
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
Lettuce leaves, for serving

Brown the ground beef, drain. Add the rest of the ingredients except lettuce leaves and cook until cabbage is soft. Wrap some meat mixture in a lettuce leaf and enjoy!

Epicurean Chicken Salad with Creamy Honey Lime Dressing

This is a fun variation on pasta salads, perfect for summer!  The recipe comes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  I will also say that this salad tasted way better fresh than out of the fridge the second day.

Epicurean Chicken Salad with Creamy Honey Lime Dressing 

Salad: 

• 10 ounces rotini pasta
• 2-3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces or shredded
• 1 large sweet-tart apple, cored, diced (I prefer Honey Crisp for this salad)
• 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, diced small (about 1 cup)
• 1 15 ounce can pineapple tidbits, drained very well
• 1/2 cup red grapes, halved
• 2/3 cup sliced almonds

Dressing: 

• 1/2 cup light or regular mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup light or regular sour cream
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 tablespoon poppy seeds

1. In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the pasta until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water.  Drain well.
2. In a large bowl, toss all the salad ingredients together.
3. In another small or medium bowl, whisk all the dressing ingredients together.
4. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir gently to mix so that all the ingredients are evenly coated with the dressing.
5. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to an hour (the salad may dry out a bit if refrigerated for much longer - you can make extra dressing or reserve part of the dressing to stir in right before serving).

Chicken noodle salad

I still got a piece of chicken breast left from the roast chicken the other day. Looking for something quick and easy with noodles.

To follow the same sort of salad like bang bang chicken, I thought of Beijingnese style chicken noodles (ji se pun mien 雞絲拌麵) . This is normally eaten warm or cold.

Recipe will feed two.

Ingredients:

150g dried noodles (I used Shanghai noodles like this picture on the right)
dash of sesame oil

1/3 cucumber
1 small carrot
1 chicken breast (I used roast chicken)


dressing:
4 - 5 tbsp chicken juice from roast chicken (if not use chicken stock)
2 tbsp warm water
0.5 tsp chicken stock powder (optional)
2 - 2.5 tbsp light soy sauce
1 - 2 tbsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
1 - 2 tsp sugar
1 - 3 tsp chilli oil
2 - 3 tsp sesame oil
0.5 tsp ground roasted Sichuan pepper


1 fat clove garlic, finely chopped
1 - 2 stalk spring onion, chopped
2 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 - 3 tsp chopped red chilli
few sprigs of coriander, chopped


Method:
Cook the noodles. Rinse with warm water, drain thoroughly. Mix noodles with a dash of sesame oil to prevent sticking.
Shred chicken. Cut cucumber and carrot into fine shreds.
Prepare the garlic, spring onion, ginger and chilli.
Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together. If chicken juice has solidified in the fridge just warm to dissolve. Add most of the garlic, ginger, spring onion, coriander and chilli to the dressing and leave some for garnish.
Pile noodles on the dish. Scatter on carrot, cucumber and chicken.
Pour the sauce over. Garnish with the rest of ginger, garlic, spring onion, coriander and chilli.

Mashed aubergine salad

Another aubergine (egg plant) recipe? You must think I am mad. Yes, every week when I go shopping if I see aubergines on offer I must bring some home. I bought four yesterday. I wanted to use half straight away because of limited fridge space and the other half later in the week.

So what tickle my tastebuds this time? I want something guilt free (reasonably low fat), easy to make and tasty. Thought of baba ghanoush but I was reluctant to turn on the oven to roast the aubergine it's too warm. So back to oriental recipe. Then I thought of mashing it then dress it with oriental sauce. Quite yummy, soft and easy to eat.

So here is what I did. It's simply called mashed aubergine salad 'bun chair nee 拌茄泥'. Once the aubergine is mashed it's not a lot so I cooked two at once.




Ingredients:

2 aubergines (egg plant) about 700+ g

Sauce (dressing):

1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
1.5 tbsp oyster sauce (vegetarian version* or original)
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic, about 2 cloves
1.5 - 2 tsp sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 - 3 tsp chilli oil best with a bit of the chilli solid at the bottom of the jar

* other names for vegetarian oyster sauce is stir fry sauce or mushroom (oyster) sauce.


Garnish:

1 stalk of spring onion (scallion)
a little coriander (cilantro)
1 small longish piece of ginger


Method:

Using a pointed sharp small knife score the aubergine skin lengthwise into very fine thin strips. The reason why I score the skin is when the aubergine is cooked and then mashed the skin will form into long thin shreds. If you do not score the skin it will leave as big pieces. Remove the stalk and cut the aubergine lengthwise into halves. Straight onto a steamer rack. Steam for about 20 - 25min or till very soft and tender. Remove and leave to rest for few minutes, there may be some juice running out remove this juice. Then using a fork or a pair of chopsticks lightly tease/ mash/ fork through the aubergines into shredded mash. Do not mash it too fine.

Here is a picture when the aubergines just been cooked.



While steaming the aubergines, make the sauce. Mix everything together and leave aside.

Finely shred (about 2" long) the spring onion and ginger. Cut coriander into 2" long. Tip: Soak the finely shredded spring onion in cold water the fine shreds will curl up prettier as garnish.

To assemble the dish. Pile the mashed aubergine onto a plate. Pour on the sauce/dressing. Either scattered the garnish all over the aubergine or pile it up high at the centre like the picture shown.

Serve warm or cold.

Japanese style potato salad

I haven't posted any Japanese recipes. This recipe today isn't traditional Japanese it's western influenced potato salad. I love this, it has so many bits added giving it interesting texture and colourful. It's a meal on its own. Great for a hungry munchy anytime of the day or night. Lovely as filling for crunchy baguette or serve with BBQ.

Here is how I make this tasty potato salad.




Ingredients: Makes about 5 - 6 cups of salad

500 - 600g potato (I like to use waxy new potatoes, you can use any type you like)
2 medium carrot
1/2 large or 1 whole small red bell pepper
1/2 cucumber
2 large hardboiled eggs
100g ham, whole piece or sliced
1 cup mayonnaise (Japanese mayo if you have some if not use std mayo)
3 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar (if not use any plain colourless rice vinegar or lemon juice)
1/2 tsp salt (more if you preferred)
1 - 2 tsp sugar
good pinch of ground pepper
some milk or water


Method:
Boil or steam potatoes with skin. When cooled peel and crush. Better lumpy than smoothly mashed.
Dice carrot. Steam (or simmer with few tbsp of water for about 10 minutes till water has evaporated) till carrot softened. Leave aside to cool.
Dice red pepper.
Dice cucumber. Remove centre soft core
Chop or dice ham.
Chop eggs
Put crushed potato into large mixing bowl, mix with mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, sugar, ground pepper.
Then add remaining ingredients. Mix. If the salad looks dry add enough milk or water to soften the texture. I normally add up to 1/3 - 1/2 cup milk or water.
Can eat right away or chill. Ok to keep in the fridge for couple of days.

Low Fat Light Spaghetti Salad Recipe

Ingredients :

•    2 (12 ounce) packages spaghetti
•    1 small red onion, finely chopped
•    1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
•    1 cucumber, chopped
•    1 tomato, chopped
•    1 (16 ounce) bottle fat-free Italian salad dressing
•    1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian salad dressing
 •   1 teaspoon salt


How To Prepare : 

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.
2. Place spaghetti into a large salad bowl and toss with red onion, red bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, Italian salad dressing, salad dressing mix, and salt. Chill before serving; salad is better the longer it chills.

Servings : 12

See Also:Chicken Nuggets With Honey Mustard Dip Recipe

Potato Salad Recipe

Ingredients :
• 2 pounds russet potatoes
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 4 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
• 4 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons chopped white onion
• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced celery
• 1 teaspoon minced pimento
• 1/2 teaspoon shredded carrot
• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• salt to taste

How To Prepare 
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop.
2. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, sugar, onion, mustard, vinegar, celery, pimentos, carrot, parsley, pepper and salt. Mix well, chill and serve.


Servings : 08