Whitney's Broccoli Salad with a Tangy Twist

I had this the first time at my friend Whitney's house. For my long time readers, you might remember her from my wine tasting parties last year.

I instantly LOVED it!

She often includes it if we're going to dinner at her house, because she knows we all love it. When we plan a weekend's worth of meals when our families play together at her lake cottages, I always suggest she make that.

It's so yummy!

Recently I attended at potluck meeting at Bob's school. His section of the alphabet had to bring either a side dish or salad. I instantly thought of Whitney's Broccoli Salad.

She'd told me what was in it, but I didn't have the actual recipe.

Being the procrastinator that I am, I waited until the very last minute. So I looked it up online. I've heard people mention how much they love Broccoli Salad, so I figured the recipe would be easy to find. And it was.

But, being Whitney, she always puts her own special twist on everything.

All the recipes I found for this salad called for raisins. But Whitney uses craisins! I don't have the slightest desire to even try it with raisins, because craisins are just perfect in it!



These quantities are approximate.

Whitney's Broccoli Salad
2 bunches of broccoli, florets
1/2 C craisins
1/2 C bacon, cooked & crumbled
1/4 C red onion, diced
1 C cheddar cheese, shredded
1 C cole slaw dressing

Toss all ingredients except dressing until well mixed. The toss with dressing until it's evenly coated.
This filled a 13 x 9 pan.

Chop the broccoli.


What to do with these?


Makes me kinda wish I had a bunny.

They're great for soup.

Or roasted... or sliced in stir fry... or grated in slaw or salad...

LOTS of stuff! Don't let all of those vitamins & fiber end up in your compost pile!

The Broccoli is ready!


Toss in Diced Onions.


Craisins (Whitney's tangy delicious twist!)


Bacon


Cheese


Toss until well mixed.


Add the Cole Slaw Dressing.


I used T. Marzetti Slaw Dressing. It's wicked good and I had to make this right after work, wicked fast, to bring to the pot luck. But you could totally make your own dressing. (and I'm sure it would be almost just as fast... but this was WAY easier for me!)



Toss to coat!


That's it! How easy is that?

Lots of you probably already know, since this is a popular salad.

But I urge you to try it with CRAISINS next time you make it!



You'll never go back to raisins!



Thanks Whitney! This is for you!!

Black Bean Salad

This is a super tasty dip kinda salad. It makes a tasty side, or you can serve it kinda salsa style with tortilla chips.

I definitely prefer with tortilla chips.

The first time I saw this recipe, I was looking for something vegan to add to my menu.

This recipe comes from the side of the Bush's Black Beans can.

A long time ago I heard that recipes on packages are supposed to be really good. I guess the companies hope that if you enjoy the recipe, you'll keep buying their products.

There's also a cool blog dedicated to those recipes.

Cooking on the Side

Every time I see a recipe on a package, her blog pops into my head. She also writes Panini Happy. A whole blog about panini! *drool* Both are very cool and you should definitely take a few minutes (hours) to check them out!

Anyway!



Black Bean Salad
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 can (15.25 ounces)corn, drained
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil
4-5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon lime juice
Freshly ground pepper
Salt
1 can (15 ounces) BUSH's BEST Black Beans, drained

Cut all the bell peppers and red onion into 1/4 inch dice. In a salad bowl, combine bell peppers, onion, corn kernels, garlic and cilantro and toss to mix. Add olive oil, vinegar, lime juice and salt and pepper to taste and toss again. Add BUSH'S BEST Black Beans mixing well. Serve over a bed of lettuce with tortilla chips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I whisk the vinegar, lime juice, olive oil and salt & pepper in a small bowl and set it aside.


I LOVE how colorful this is!




Toss it all together!


That's it!

People who claim not to like the individual ingredients kept coming back for more that last time I served this!

It makes a huge batch.

I've been trying to think of ways to cut it down. But since you use cans of things, you end up with leftovers and half peppers.

Maybe cut the recipe in half and toss all of the leftover ingredients into Tortilla Soup for girlichef's Tortilla Soup Challenge?

Or maybe cook up the leftovers and fold them into a cheesy quesadilla? Or wrap them with some cilantro lime brown rice for a tasty veggie burrito?

Or just have LOTS of people over to enjoy!

Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad with Honey Dijon Vinaigrette

I'm not sure how I stumbled across this recipe. I had some brussels sprouts and had planned to roast them for dinner. Then I found this recipe at Poor Girl Eats Well.

Right away I changed my mind! I had to try this!



Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad with Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
1-2 lbs Brussels sprouts (about 30 sprouts or so)
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/3 c chopped almonds
1 T olive oil
1-2 cloves finely minced garlic
Salt & pepper to taste
1-2 oz. crumbled goat cheese (optional)

Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
2 T light olive oil
1 1/2 T white wine vinegar
1 T honey
1 T Dijon mustard
1/4 t granulated garlic
Pinch of salt
Dash of black pepper

Start by making the dressing. Combine all dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until well combined. Set aside.

Clean and trim the brussels sprouts; then cut them into quarters. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the minced garlic; cook until just slightly fragrant. Add the brussels sprouts and cook over medium high heat for about 4-5 minutes or until tender crisp, season with salt & pepper about halfway through. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, toss together the brussels sprouts, cranberries, chopped almonds and Honey Dijon Vinaigrette. Let the salad sit for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with extra chopped almonds, goat cheese if desired and freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy!

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Ok.... so whisk up the delicious Honey Dijon Viniagrette!


I use the bowl I'm going to toss the salad in. Then set it aside.

Clean up the brussels sprouts and cut them into quarters.


Saute the minced garlic; then add the brussels sprouts.


Cook until tender crisp. But sometimes I like to cook them until they're a little caramelized. It's up to you!


Then toss them with cranberries, almonds and dressing.


Let it rest for a few minutes for the flavors to mingle.


It's is an awesome lunch by itself! Or you can serve it as a side.

I've served it with some turkey kielbasa.


This is SO good!! When Jon came into the kitchen the first time I was making it, I told him what it was. He said, but there's bacon in it right? I said no, but assured him he'd like it anyway. He never really like brussels sprouts until he tried my Balsamic Bacon Brussels Sprouts. He thought bacon was the key to tasty Brussels Sprouts.

He LOVED this! He requests it all the time. Come to think of it, he hasn't requested the Balsamic Bacon Brussels Sprouts at all!

And the Honey Dijon Vinaigrette is to die for!! Not only do I use it for this salad, but I make it regularly just to use on a tossed garden salad!

Kimberly, thanks so much for sharing your recipes!

This is for you!


Everyone be sure to browse around Poor Girl Eats Well for more of Kimberly's fabulous & frugal recipes! I think I'll be trying her Caramel Macchiato Cheesecake Shots in the near future!

I'm also submitting this recipe to girlichef for Two for Tuesdays!

Shredded Thai Chicken Salad

And another oldie, from the Pillsbury Best Ever Chicken July 2009 magazine.

A quickie with Rotisserie Chicken.



Shredded Thai Chicken Salad
Salad
2 C shredded rotisserie chicken
1 C julienne carrots (match-stick cut)
1 C broccoli slaw mix
1 large green onion chopped
Dressing
2 TBLS creamy peanut butter
2 TBLS rice vinegar
1 TBLS vegetable oil
1 TBLS honey
4 tsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp red pepper sauce
Garnish
fresh cilantro
peanuts

In a large bowl, toss all of the salad ingredients together.

In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Just before serving, drizzle over salad and toss until evenly coated.

Garnish with cilantro and peanuts.

How easy is that??

So... a quick stop at the store for a rotisserie chicken.


Yup... I bought two... it was an exceptionally easy dinner week for me!

Shred that beautiful meat.


Toss the salad ingredients together.


Whisk together dressing ingredients.


Toss the salad with the dressing.




Garnish with cilantro (and peanuts, but I just thought of them while typing this out... maybe while we were eating it too... the original recipe didn't call for them but I thought they'd be really nice!)


It probably took me longer to type this than it did to actually make it!



Wicked fast and easy... Wicked Tasty!

Lobster Rolls... OK really just Lobster Salad in Rolls

Lobster Rolls!! One of the foods I miss most from Boston. I haven't found ANYPLACE at all that makes them in Pittsburgh.

And I didn't really make Lobster Rolls, because they aren't in the proper bread to be a Lobster Roll.

Of course everyone knows that Lobster Rolls MUST be served in a New England Style Hot Dog Bun!

Top split and toasted on both sides.

I had to use soft dinner rolls... because you can't find New England Style Hot Dog Buns here either!

So I got it in my head that I wanted to make Lobster (in) Rolls.

Being land locked in Pittsburgh, means fresh seafood options are often expensive. But at this point, I didn't care. I wanted to make Lobsters Rolls and I didn't really care how much it was going to cost.

First stop Wholey's website. YIKES!! 1 - 1 1/2 pound lobsters $22.00 EACH!!! Maybe I'll check at the nicer Giant Eagle locations to see what they have. YAY! They just happened to be having a Live Lobster Sale!! $9.99/pound! PLUS they would steam them for free!!! Can't beat that!!

I was prepared to steam them myself. I've only done that one other time and to be honest, all the thrashing about makes me squinchy! I was wicked happy they steamed them for me!

Here they are!


Oh yeah... they will be salad!!

There aren't many ingredients in Lobster Salad.

Lobster
Mayo
Celery (diced)
Salt & Pepper

That's it!

Since I wanted this to be special, I also decided to make Shane's Homemade Mayonnaise. See his recipe over on Culinary Alchemy.

If you've never made Homemade Mayonnaise, I HIGHLY recommend it!

Ok... back to the Lobster Salad!

First, you need to shell the lobsters.

I have almost no experience with this. I've never ordered a whole lobster. I always eat lobster IN stuff. Stuff that someone else usually makes.

This took me quite a while. And lobsters have wicked hard pokey parts. So it was a little hurty at times!

Ok... so I have one of the lobster carry-out boxes to toss shells in, a lobster cracker, some scissors (someday I'll get some actual kitchen scissors), and a bowl for lobster meat.



Knuckle meat...


Mmmm.... my favorite!! I showed it to Jon, but he really was NOT interested. He only wants his lobster hot...

Like Homer...

Mmmmm..... lobster...

Oh, God, that's tasty! I wish Pinchy were here to enjoy this.

Oops... sorry...

Then pull off the tails...


Cut down the underside with scissors


Open it up...


Yank Slide the meat out...




The red stuff is Coral or Lobster Roe.


It's only red after it's cooked.

It's totally edible and really good.

I pulled it all out...


But I ended up not doing anything with it. Only for lack of having a timely plan.

Mmmm... more meat...


On to the claws!


YUM!!

Look at that bowl FILLED with lobster!!


So while I was picking those apart. I was totally sucking the meat out of lobster legs and little flappy tail pieces. YUM!

When I finally got all the meat out, I could make the Lobster Salad.

Chop the lobster into bite-sized pieces...


Finely chop a stalk or two of celery (depending on how much lobster you have)


Toss them together...


Add a dollop of Homemade Mayo...


You want to add enough to just coat the pieces. It shouldn't be too wet.

Plus a little salt & pepper to taste...


Now it's ready!

I stuffed it into soft dinner rolls...


But you could put it on top of a nice bed of lettuce too. Or into a big sub roll for a giant Lobster Sub!

I have to say, I was wicked happy with these!!


Darnit now I want another one!!!

I wonder if Giant Eagle is having a sale...

UPDATE!

Hey there! It's almost a year later and guess what?!

I do have actual kitchen scissors now!

That's not the main reason for pulling up this post. Heather over at girlichef invited me to participate in Two for Tuesdays! Blog Hop Carnival! So I decided to channel my inner carnie and look for a post that features REAL FOOD! I didn't make the rolls for this... but I did make the mayo! For me, that's as real as it gets! Although, everytime I see another post for Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, I get closer and closer to making my own bread!!

Anyway! This is my first submission (hopefully of many!) to Two for Tuesdays! Blog Hop Carnival!



Feel like channeling your inner carnie? Come play along!!