Southwestern Cornbread Salad

6 oz. pkg. Mexican cornbread mix (I used Marie Calendar's honey cornbread mix)
1 oz. env. Buttermilk Ranch salad dressing mix (I used Coyote Ranch premade dressing)
1 sm. head romaine lettuce, shredded 
2 lg. tomatoes, chopped 
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained 
15 oz. can whole kernel corn w/ red & green peppers, drained  (I just used a plain can of corn)
8 oz. pkg. shredded Mexican four-cheese blend 
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled 
5 green onions, chopped (I left these off)
1 avacado, chopped

Prepare cornbread according to package directions; cool and crumble. Set aside. Prepare salad dressing according to package directions. Layer a large glass bowl (so you can see how colorful it is) with half each of cornbread, lettuce, and next 6 ingredients; spoon half of dressing evenly over top. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients and dressing. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

Spinach Salad with Lemon Dressing

(From the kitchen of Sharon Mumford)

Candied Pecans:

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

Cook together on the stove about 5-10 minutes, until syrup starts to harden.

Spread out on wax paper. Add to salad just before serving.


1/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup sugar (or substitute)

Zest from whole large lemon (I left this out)

Juice from whole large lemon

1 tsp. poppy seeds (optional)

Mix together and shake well. Add just before serving.


1 large bag baby spinach or mixed greens

¼ cup parmesan cheese (optional)

Cut fresh fruit of your choice: raspberries, strawberries, pears, apples, oranges, blueberries. (It’s best to use at least 2 different types of fruit).  I used apples & strawberries.

Asian Salad

Crisp Lettuce

Chopped BBQ Pork

Almonds

Snow Peas

Carrots

Green Onion

DRESSING:

1/2 C Mayo

3/4 C Sugar

2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Coleman mustard powder

1 C Oil

1/2 C Japanese Rice Vinegar

1 minced clove Garlic

Blend well.

Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

from Ina Garten

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound fusilli (spirals) pasta
• Kosher salt
• Olive oil
• 1 pound ripe tomatoes, medium-diced
• 3/4 cup good black olives, such as kalamata, pitted and diced
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella, medium-diced
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

For the dressing:

• 5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1 teaspoon capers, drained
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 cup packed basil leaves, julienned

Directions

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, mozzarella, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt, and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.

Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with the Parmesan and basil, and toss well.

Milky way apple salad

1 large pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 cup milk
Mix together and let sit 5 minutes

Mix in 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese (softened)
Add 1 small container of cool whip
Cut up 6 granny smith apples and add to mixture
Cut up about 6 milky way bars and mix in (you can use more or less)

Refridgerate for 1 hour and enjoy!

Creamy Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:
Table Salt
1 lb. elbow macaroni (preferably with ridges)
1/2 red onion, minced
1 rib celery, minced
1/4 cup minced parsley leaves
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Pinch cayenne pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream


Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and macaroni and cook until nearly tender, about 5 minutes. Noodles should not be completely done.  Drain in colander and rinse with cold water until cool, then drain briefly so that macaroni remains moist. Transfer to large bowl.


Stir in onion, celery, parsley, lemon juice, mustard, garlic powder, and cayenne, and let sit until flavors are absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add mayonnaise and let sit until salad texture is no longer watery, 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. (The salad can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Check consistency and seasonings before serving.)

Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad

4 c. broccoli, cut into bite size pieces

4 c. cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces

1 can water chestnuts, sliced (I don't like these, so I left them out)

½ c. black olives, sliced

1 lb. bacon, sliced & fried crisp

½ c. grated parmesan cheese

1 c. cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

DRESSING:

2 c. mayo 1 c. sugar

Mix mayo and sugar together and refrigerate.

Right before you are ready to serve combine all ingredients and toss with dressing.

Fruit Salad

1 pkg. strawberries
2 bananas
about 1 lb. grapes
1/4 c. chopped almonds
1 vanilla yoplait yogurt
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1-2 tsp. cinnamon

chop up strawberries and bananas, mix with grapes.
In a small bowl mix together the orange juice, yogurt and cinnamon.
Pour over fruit and stir.
Sprinkle with almonds.

Sorry Angie! I got your note after the weekend - hope you still had a great Easter!

Aunt Carol's Potato Salad

Pressure cook 5-6 large potatoes
Cool potatoes completely and then peel and cube
Hard boil about 10-12 eggs
Cool eggs and peel and cut into small cubes
Chop 5-6 green onions very fine
Mix all ingredients together with about 2 cups Best foods mayo
(She says to use more or less mayo depending on how creamy you like it)
Mix in celery salt to taste.
Chill and serve

Cold Cauliflower Salad

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florettes
Chopped Olives (to taste)
Raisins
Newman's Own Oil & Vinegar Dressing

Blanch cauliflower in boiling water for 1 min.
Put in ice bath (bowl of icy water) for 1 min.
Drain off the water.

1 hour before serving, mix all of the above and let sit in the fridge until ready to serve.

Cookie Salad

2 cups buttermilk
2 small packages instant vanilla pudding
12 oz Cool Whip
1 20oz can chunk pineapple
2-3 cans mandarin oranges
1/2 package fudge striped cookies, crushed

Beat buttermilk and pudding together until creamy. Fold in Cook Whip. Pour over drained fruit. Gently mix in crushed cookies right before serving.

Greek Salad and Dressing

1/2 c. Oil
1 tsp. Sugar
1/2 c. Vinegar
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Dry Mustard

Mix all together and serve over a variety of greens and goodies.

I used a head of lettuce, some cabbage, a tomato, black olives and cucumber and threw some feta cheese on top. Simple, easy but it's a different dressing.....i seem to get in a rut and don't try new things enough.

LaVon - November 2010 - Maria's house

Orange Goo - October at Marlana's house

1 large or 2 small containers of Cottage Cheese
1 large or 2 small boxes of Orange Jell-O powder
1 can crushed pineapple
1 large or 2 small cans of Mandarin Oranges
8-12 oz. Cool Whip

Mix cottage cheese, Jell-o powder, drained pineapple, and drained mandarin oranges together. Fold in Cool Whip. (Note: I usually mix everything except the Cool Whip together early in the day, but I don't fold in the Cool Whip until the last minute.)

Corn and Black Bean Salad

2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
1/4 balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili pepper
3 Tbsp. chopped cilanto or 1 tsp. dried cilantro

Combine all vegetables in a medium sized bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix dressing ingredients.  Pour over vegetables and toss until well coated.

Strawberry Jell-O Salad

1 sm. box strawberry jell-o
1 sm. box cook n serve vanilla pudding
1 sm. box cook n serve tapioca pudding

Mix with 2 2/3 cups water, bring to boil, stirring, boil for 1 minute.
Pour into container, let cool room temp 1-2 hours, then refridgerate overnight. (I have done it in the morning, and just let it cool in the fridge all day).

Before serving, stir in

1 8 oz. cool whip
1 pint strawberries

You can mix it up too: orange jello with mandarin oranges, raspberry jello with frozen raspberries, and even double the recipe and mix jellos.

Caramel Apple Salad

4-5 Granny Smith Apples (cored and cubed)
1 pint heavy wipping cream (with 1/2 to 3/4 cup powdered sugar & 1 tsp vanilla if you like that)
1 package bite size snickers

Whip the cream until it is thick. Fold in sugar and vanilla to desired taste. Add cubed apples and bite size snickers.

Oriental Chicken Salad

1 cabbage (or 2 if they are small)
4 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
4-5 green onions (when i can i just use the chives out of my garden)
2 pkgs top ramen, crushed (or 3, my family likes a lot of crunch)
4 TBS sunflower seeds (or more)
4 TBS slivered or sliced almonds (or more)
3 TBS sesame seeds
4 TBS brown sugar
4 TBS soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
3 TBS white vinegar
1/2 C vegetable oil

Cook Chicken chunks in butter, garlic salt and basil (to taste). Put in strainer and let cool. Combine; top ramen noodles, sunflower seeds, almonds and sesame seeds on cookie sheet. Bake at 350* for 5-7 minutes; stir after 3-4 minutes, when browned, set aside to cool. Chop up cabbage and green onions and put in large bowl. Mix well the brown sugar, soy sauce, pepper, white vinegar and oil for the dressing. I put the cooled chick in with the cabbage but keep the rest separate so that each person can add the amount they want plus it keeps the noodle stuff from getting soggy! YUM!

LaVon - June 2010 - Jessica's house

My dad's favorite "salad" - May at Ariane's house

1 can crushed pineapple, drain and reserve juice
Enough water added to the pineapple juice to equal 2 cups
1/2 c. lemon juice
1 c. sugar
2 3-oz. packages of lemon jello

Bring water/pineapple juice, pineapple, sugar, and lemon juice just to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in jello mix until it dissolves. Pour into a 9x13 pan and let set.

After it has set, cut it into small squares (these do not have to be perfect), then fold in 1 c. shredded cheese and 1 c. whipping cream, whipped (unsweetened; NOT Cool Whip). I just mix it in the 9x13 pan and then transfer it to a pretty bowl.

Broccoli Slaw (March at Jenna's house)

1 pkg broccoli slaw, rinsed and drained
1 pkg ramen noodles (any flavor but I used Oriental flavor)
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
3 T. chopped green onions

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar (red or white wine vinegar is also good)
1/4 cup sugar
Ramen seasoning packet

Remove seasoning packet and break up ramen noodles into small pieces. Toast noodles and nuts (if raw) until golden brown and fragrant. Chop onions and mix in with broccoli slaw. Mix dressing ingredients and pour over broccoli mixture. Add nuts and ramen noodles just before serving to maintain crunchiness.

SUMMER SALAD

Romaine lettuce
sliced strawberries
1/2 apple, cubed
1 small can Mondrian oranges
1/4- 1/2 cup almonds (depending on how big your salad is)
2-3 tbsp. sugar

Mix everything together in large salad bowl. To make the candied almonds: melt sugar in saucepan, stirring continuously. When sugar is melted, immediately remove from heat and add almonds until all are coated.

Poppy Seed dressing:

3/4 C sugar
1 T dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c cider vinegar
1 C vegetable oil
1 T poppy seeds

In medium sized bowl, combine sugar, mustard, salt, vinegar. Using portable mixer, beat in oil gradually until mixture is think and smooth. Stir in poppy seeds and refrigerate.

NOTE: In the salad you can also use avocados, craisins, blueberries if you would like. Also you can use the store brand Brianna's poppy seed dressing if you don't have time to make it. I do that a lot.

made by Jessica- Julie's house, February