Taco Salad, Onion Rice, Fruit

Taco Salad
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can Ranch style beans, not rinsed
or 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
tortilla chips or Fritos
1 head lettuce, chopped
Ranch dressing
any other taco toppings (cheese, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, etc)

Brown ground beef and drain. Add taco seasoning according to package directions. Add beans. Remove from heat. Build taco salads by layering chips, taco meat, lettuce, and any other toppings as desired. Top with Ranch dressing.


Onion Rice
1 c rice
1 (10 oz) can Campbell's French Onion soup
1 c water
1 T butter

Throw all ingredients in a rice cooker and cook.

Chicken Fiesta Salad, Tortilla Chips

I got this salad recipe from my sister-in-law Robin. I love how it uses all these yummy ingredients from my pantry but feels so much more summery as a salad.

2 chicken breasts
1 (1.27 oz) pkg fajita seasoning, divided
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (11 oz) can Mexican-style corn, drained
3/4 c salsa
1 head lettuce, chopped or 1 (10 oz) bag mixed salad greens
3 green onions, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
shredded cheese, if desired
sour cream, if desired
additional salsa, if desired
tortilla chips


Cut chicken into thin strips. Rub chicken with half the fajita seasoning, then saute in cooking spray until cooked through. Set aside. In medium saucepan, mix beans, corn and salsa. Slowly add the remaining fajita seasoning to taste. Heat over medium heat until warm. Prepare salad by tossing the lettuce, green onions and tomato. Top salad with chicken and dress with bean/corn mixture. Serve with cheese, sour cream and salsa. Serve with tortilla chips

Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing, Good Bread

Nothing says summer to me quite like salads! I love making a good, hearty salad for dinner. If your family would prefer more protein, add some sliced cooked chicken to your salad.

I got this spinach salad recipe from my former neighbor, Vickie McMurray. I think it is divine! The combination of ingredients may sound a little intimidating, but I promise it is always a hit.


Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
Dressing
1/4 c sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t dry mustard
1/4 c white vinegar
1/2 c oil
1 t poppy seeds
1/4 red onion, sliced very thin

Combine sugar, alt, mustard and vinegar in a blender. As blender is going, add oil until well blended. Transfer to a tupperware and add poppy seeds and onion. Let "marinate" for a few hours or overnight before serving. Shake well before serving.

Salad
1 bag baby spinach
8 oz Swiss cheese, grated
3/4 c rinsed cottage cheese
1/4 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled (I'll use bacon bits from my pantry)
8 oz fresh, sliced mushrooms (I'll be honest- I never put quite this many)

Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl. When ready to serve, toss salad and dressing. Do not add dressing too early or the spinach will wilt.

*To make this into a side salad to serve a crowd, double the dressing ingredients and use 2 bags of spinach.

Cafe Rio Salads, Chips and Homemade Salsa

Cafe Rio is a popular restaurant around here. Their pork salad is by FAR my favorite thing on the menu. Although this is not any sort of official recipe, it is a really tasty impersonation! I've gotten variations of this recipe from many friends and acquaintances; this is my adaptation.

Tortillas
4-6 tortillas

Rice
1 c rice
2 c water
4 garlic cloves, minced
zest of 1 - 2 limes
juice of 1 - 2 limes (about 3 T lime juice)
1 T sugar
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro, if desired

Spray rice cooker with cooking spray. Add rice, water, garlic, and lime zest. Cook. In a small bowl, mix lime juice and sugar until sugar dissolves. Once rice is cooked, stir in lime juice mixture. Stir in cilantro just before serving.

Beans
2 t oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 t cumin
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (11 oz) can tomato juice
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro, if desired

In a medium saucepan, heat oil to medium. Add garlic and cumin and cook for a few seconds. Stir in beans and tomato juice. Stir frequently, bringing just to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is somewhat reduced. Stir in cilantro just before serving.

Meat
2 lbs pork roast
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c salsa

Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Add pork. Cook on high for 6 hours or on low all day. Drain off half the liquid. Shred meat, discarding fat. Mix the sugar, salsa, and shredded meat back in the slow cooker. Cook on low for about an hour, until sugar is melted.

Lettuce
1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped

Dressing
3/4 c sour cream
1/2 packet Ranch dressing mix
1/4 packet Fiesta Ranch dressing mix
4 tomatillos, husked and cut into fourths
1/2 bunch cilantro, stems removed
juice of 1-2 limes
1 clove garlic

Put sour cream in blender, then add the remaining ingredients. Keep refrigerated.

Guacamole
1 avocado
minced onion
salt
garlic powder
lime juice (about 1 T)
cilantro

Mash avocados with a fork. Mix in other ingredients to taste.

Red Salsa
3 tomatoes, cored
1/4 onion
1/2 jalapeno, seeded
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
salt

In a blender, combine tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, garlic, lime juice, and a few shakes of salt. Blend until smooth. Taste with a tortilla chip and add more jalapeno, lime juice, and salt to taste. Store in the fridge until ready to eat.


To assemble salads:
On individual plates, top 1 tortilla with rice, beans, and meat. Cover with lettuce and dressing. Top with guacamole, salsa, and sour cream as desired. Serve with chips and salsa.

Cabbage Chicken Salad, Carrots, Fruit

The cabbage chicken salad recipe is from my Grandma. The longer you refrigerate the salad, the more marinated the cabbage becomes. For more crisp cabbage, only refrigerate for 30 minutes. For marinated cabbage (the way my Grandma made it), prepare the night before.

2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 medium head cabbage, chopped
4 green onions, sliced
1 (5 oz) pkg slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 c sesame seeds, toasted

1/2 c oil
1/2 c vinegar
3 T sugar
1 t salt
1 t pepper
2 flavoring packets from Ramen

2 pkgs Chicken flavored Ramen noodles, broken

1/3 lb baby carrots

fruit of your choice


To cook the chicken, place in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium. Simmer until chicken is cooked through; check after about 15 minutes. Remove to a plate to cool, then cut into small cubes.

To toast almonds and sesame seeds: In a dry frying pan, place almonds and heat to medium heat. Stir often as almonds begin to brown. Once almonds are toasted golden brown, remove to a plate to cool. Repeat the process to toast the sesame seeds. Cool sesame seeds.

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl (chicken through sesame seeds). Whisk together dressing ingredients (oil through Ramen flavoring packets). Pour dressing over salad mixture and refrigerate 30 minutes to overnight. Just before serving, stir in Ramen noodles.

Serve salad with raw carrots and fruit on the side.

Chinese Chicken and Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce, Stirfry or Veggies and Dip

Salad recipe adapted from Relish magazine.
1 lb chicken breasts
1 T vegetable oil
2 pkg Ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded for another use
1/3 c creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 T red wine vinegar
3 T soy sauce
1/4 c water
1 1/2 T sugar
5 oz Romain lettuce
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 c cucumber, peeled and diced
6 green onions, sliced

whatever vegetables you have on hand


Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain in a colander and let cool. Cut chicken breasts into thin slices. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add chicken and saute about 3 minutes or until cooked. Whisk together peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, water, and sugar in a small bowl. Stack Romain lettuce leaves. Roll up into a long cylinder. Slice across the roll to form thin strips. Toss noodles with chicken and peanut butter mixture in a large bowl. Add bell pepper, cucumber, green onion and lettuce; toss to combine well.

Assess the vegetables you have around. Stirfry and drizzle with teriyaki sauce, or just serve raw veggies with a little reserved peanut sauce, depending on what you have available.

*This salad was fun and different, especially with the noodle/lettuce combination. However, I have no idea where they got the idea to call it "Chinese" (I think "Thai" would have been much more appropriate...). I think the peanut sauce could have used some sesame oil and garlic, and I would have preferred to break the noodles up a lot more before cooking them. Adding some edamame would have been a nice touch. Overall, this was a fun recipe to try, but probably won't be repeated at our house without some modifications.