Oriental Salad with Ramen Noodles

I love this "salad" and it is a very popular potluck item. I made this several weeks ago for book club and have been craving it every since. Yes I love to read and love my book clubbers! I work nights and don't always feel great and finding foods that settle well with the stomach are very limited. I was working Wednesday night and thought about making this and my mouth started watering. I sent hubby to the grocery store while I slept and when I got up I made this salad for dinner. It is super easy and delicious and it lasted 4 days of eating it two times a day. I love to cook and very rarely follow a recipe. I love to make it my own and add my own preferences. I am posting the original recipe and will tell you how I changed it.

Oriental Salad with Ramen Noodles

1 bag of cole slaw

1 bag of broccoli slaw (I don't like cole slaw so I do two bags of broccoli slaw)

1 pkg. Oriental Ramen noodles (I like 2 packs)

1 small bag of slivered almonds

cashews or peanuts (optional) (NOPE)

Dressing

1/2 cup canola oil (I use lighter flavor olive oil)

1/2 cup sugar *see note at bottom

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 TBS. soy sauce

Season packet from the Ramen noodles

Preheat oven to 300-degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil to save on clean up and spread out the almonds and crushed uncooked Ramen noodles. Bake the noodles and almonds for 12 minutes until they are a golden color. Let them cool.

Place both bags of broccoli slaw into a bowl. I go ahead and add the toasted Ramen and almonds as I don't really care if the noodles get soft. If you are taking this to a potluck don't add them until right before serving. Now to mix up the yummy dressing! 

I put everything into a Ziplock twist top container so it is easy to shake. Add the oil, sugar, cider vinegar, soy sauce, and the season packs. Put lid on tight and shake really well so everything mixes evenly. Pour and toss. I would do the dressing a couple hours before so the dressing can soften the broccoli some. I make a double batch of the dressing. The noodles and broccoli will absorb a lot and I like my salad dripping! I added boiled and chopped chicken into the salad this week so it was a complete meal for me.  

**I try to watch the sugar intake (even though you can't tell by my chocolate cake recipe) so when I made it this week I tried making it with Splenda. Spenda isn't my favorite sweetener but it is the best for cooking/baking. Sweet'N Low is my favorite for drinks. Anyways, I made it with Splenda (about 4 big spoonfuls) and it was okay but was better after adding 2 spoonfuls of sugar. So all in all I cut the sugar down from 1 cup (for the double batch) to 2 spoonfuls! I am happy with that.

*Also..sorry for the dark pictures. I am still working on getting the lighting and camera setting just right! Still needs some work....

BLT Pasta Salad recipe

Time for a healthy recipe! I got this a long time ago and I don't even remember where I got it. It is another good summer recipe that is best with fresh tomatoes, crispy bacon, and perfectly ripe avocados. You can make it with your favorite pasta. I like it with the spiral noodles but have made it elbow noodles too. This is the original recipe and while I haven't made it in a long time I know that I tweaked it a little bit to fit my liking. So taste the dressing before you mix it with your salad and make it your own. This definitely is best fresh and doesn't get better with time. Usually after 2-3 days the lettuce and avocados are turning brown, the noodles get soggy, and the dressing becomes pretty bitter. So make it, share it, and eat it all day!

BLT Pasta Salad
1 small box spiral noodles or the noodles of your liking
4 cups cut-up tomatoes
4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 cups thin sliced lettuce (the easy way is to buy the shredded lettuce in the salad section)
1/2-1 sliced avocado (I love lots of avocado in my salad)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 cup fat free Mayo
1/3 cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook your noodles and then rinse them in cold water. Next you mix the noodles with bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes in a big bowl with room to toss/stir the salad. In another bowl mix the sugar, vinegar, mayo, sour cream, and mustard. This is where you need to make sure that it pleases your taste buds. I usually leave out the mustard and add a little more vinegar and sugar. I like my dressing strong! Poor hubby hates the smell of vinegar and always complains but too bad because this is good! Pour the dressing over the noodle salad, stir really well and put into fridge. I can't wait for it to get fridge cold and will eat a big bowl first. Then later in the day I will eat some more. And then eat some for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the next day. Yes I have a problem...I can eat something every day for a week and then be done with it for several months!

Couscous Salad

Need a quick and easy lunch? Couscous is our favorite side dish that we usually eat with some variety of chicken. It is super easy to make: Boil water, put couscous in pan, stir, turn off heat, let sit for 5-8 minutes, and fluff with fork. That's it! You can find it in the rice section even though it is a pasta made from wheat. We buy a big container of RiceSelect Original Couscous and spice it up the way we (I) like it--usually boil it with a chicken bullion cube and once done add parmesan cheese, ranch powder, and garlic salt. Lots of parmesan....we go through it real fast. This is a light but filling meal that is great for summer time when you can get fresh ingredients to go in it. I need to go raid my parents garden soon for some fresh tomatoes! Here is how this recipe goes:

The amount of broth/water depends on how much couscous you want to make. It is a 1:1 ratio. Usually one cup of couscous is enough for hubby and me with a little left over. We will go with 2 cups for the recipe.

Place 2 cups chicken broth/ or water with a bullion cube on the stove and bring to a boil.

Once water is boiling add in your 2 cups of couscous, stir, cover, turn off heat, and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Once the 5 minutes is over get a fork and fluff up your couscous. It looks very dense but once you start fluffing you will be amazed how light and how much it bulk up. I also always add a little butter when fluffing up the couscous to keep it from getting too dry.



Cut up and add: 12 grape tomatoes, 2 green onion sliced, 1/2 cup feta cheese, 1/4 cup red onion minced, and 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese. Toss with a fork and Enjoy--see super easy

Now the fun comes in when you start adding and taking away ingredients to make it  the perfect meal for you. I like to add shrimp in my salad for a little protein. I have done many different varieties and loved most of them. There were a few that were placed on the do not repeat list!

Let me know if you try this and what your perfect recipe combo has in it.

--R

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

 Nothing is better than fresh strawberries straight from the fields. The only problem is that fresh strawberries can turn bad very fast so you have to eat them fast or freeze them to use later. This is a great recipe to use up your strawberries and very tasty. The combination of the salty pretzels, smooth cream cheese layer, and the sweet strawberries are very close to perfection. I have found that it is best eaten after a day of sitting but still good anytime. After a couple days the pretzel crust gets a little soggy but still is very good. This has become a stable at most of our family events and hardly ever is there any left. That is the only negative--no leftovers. So if you are planning to take it to an event and want to have some left for desserts during your week--MAKE 2!


What you need:
CRUST:
2 cups crushed pretzels (not too fine) (Rold Gold is our favorite)
3/4 cup melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar

CREAM CHEESE LAYER:
8oz. cream cheese block
1 cup sugar
2 cups cool whip

JELL-O LAYER:
1 large package strawberry or other red jello
2 cups boiling water
2- 10 oz. packages of frozen strawberries or 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries (or your self frozen berries)

Crush your pretzel into little pieces--not too fine, not too large. I use a gallon zip-lock bag and a rolling pin to crush my pretzels. Mix together the crushed pretzels, melted butter, and sugar. Press the pretzel mix into a 9x13 inch dish and bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes-don't over bake. Let it cool. With a mixer beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold the cool whip into it. Spread the mix over the cooled pretzel crust. Now mix the Jell-O and boiling water and stir until Jell-O is completely dissolved. Add your berries. If using frozen berries immediately pour mixture on top of cream cheese layer. If using fresh strawberries then place Jell-O/Strawberry mix in the refrigerator for 30 minutes until slightly thickened and then pour on top. Refrigerate and let set at least 4 hours before serving.


**I am not a patient person so the first time I made this I didn't wait long enough for the Jell-O to thicken. The result was still good but the Jell-O seeped through all the layers and made the pretzel crust soggy a lot faster. From experience waiting on this one is the best so your layers stay defined and delicious!