Strawberry-Orange Pasta Salad

This is a beautifully simple salad, that is easy to put together when you don’t have a lot of time.

And, it is good
really good.

Everyone liked this salad.

 Here is a list of our ingredients,
there are only five
five is nice on a busy day!

2 cups uncooked bow tie pasta
1/3 cup Creamy Poppy seed dressing
1/4 cup Mayo
1 can mandarin oranges
1 cup sliced strawberries

 

First, cook the pasta.
While the pasta is cooling mix the salad dressing and mayo and cut the strawberries.
Add the dressing and mayo mixture to the warm pasta and refrigerate.
Right before serving stir in the oranges and strawberries.

Simple.

Pina Colada Salad

 This salad was a hit with the “zoo” everyone loved it.  Which is really no surprise because it is very, very sweet, so sweet in fact it would do nicely as a summertime dessert or snack on a hot afternoon.  It is very different from anything I have served or eaten before, I am excited to make it again.

First we will start with the dressing
Our ingredients are:

1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup pina colada drink mix
1 1/2 cup sour cream

add all ingredients together and whisk, then chill in the refrigerator while preparing the body of the salad.

For the rest of the salad we will need:

1 cup cashews
2 cups craisins
1 cup diced celery
2 cups diced, fresh, pineapple

Toss the ingredients together in a large bowl, then add the dressing and serve cold.

 

Vinaigrette Salad

This salad is a lot like other salad recipes I have posted.  I love a good vinaigrette salad and I am always looking for different combinations of ingredients.  In this salad I especially loved the combination of bacon and feta cheese, very good!  I really liked this salad, Dadzoo liked this salad and about half of my little punks liked this salad (my children with the more mature palates).  It is defiantly a keeper!

Starting with the dressing we are going to need:

1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 olive oil (use the good stuff!)
1 tsp poppy seeds

Throw it all in a blender and mix well

 

For the body of the salad we will need:

2-3 Romain hearts shredded
(I was lazy and used a spring mix)
1-2 apples, chopped
1 pkg bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 pkg walnuts or pecans, chopped
1 pkg feta cheese

Toss all ingredients together with the dressing right before serving and enjoy!

Cabbage Apple Salad

  I am not a huge raw cabbage fan, I don’t like Cole Slaws, and never make them.  However, I thought I would give this salad a try, since cabbage is so good for you and I tend to plant a lot of it in my garden (I do love cooked cabbage).  This turned out really good, and really simple, everyone, with the exception of my pickiest eater like this salad and when it comes to food the majority rules!  This one was  a winner.

First we will start with the dressing, here are our ingredients:

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

The method is pretty straight forward, put everything in a bowl and whisk together until smooth, then refrigerate until cool.

While the dressing is cooling it is time to chop the ingredients for the body of the salad.
There are only four ingredients:

Cabbage
Apples
Craisins
Pecans

Chopping up a cabbage is pretty simple.  This is how I do it and it only takes a few minutes.  Cut the cabbage into four wedges.  Cut out the core, but not completely, it makes things much easier if the leaves stay attached while chopping.  Then with a sharp knife cut the wedges into small strips.

For this recipe I used about three fourths of the cabbage, the rest I stored in a plastic bag in the fridge.  Cabbage will keep in the fridge for a few months.

Toss the ingredients together and add the dressing.
Serve cold.

Orange Strawberry Salad

 The first salad in the series is Orange Strawberry Salad.  It is a perfect spring time salad, the colors are amazing and the taste is incredible.  So, without further adieu, we will get started.

First we are going to make our dressing.
Our ingredients are:

 1/2 tsp, orange zest
1/3 cup orange juice
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
2 TBSP sugar
1/2 olive oil
and
(the secret, surprise ingredient)
1 TBSP “Good Seasons Dry Italian” dressing mix.

 Mix everything together, and let sit a couple of hours so all the flavors can blend well.

 Now to assemble the body of the salad, there is a little prep work involved, not much, but you will need to plan for it.

Our ingredient are:

 1 package spring mix greens
1 pint (or more) strawberries, sliced
1 large orange cut into small pieces
3 green onion, sliced thin
1 cup candied almonds
(for a how-to on making candied nuts go here)

 

Toss all ingredients together
add dressing right before serving and enjoy!

 This is a really good salad, and so pretty!  The Italian Dressing mixed with orange is a surprisingly wonderful combination.  I am excited to try this salad out on more than just my family.

 (I found this recipe on pinterest a while ago, copied it down and can’t find it on my boards, so I am sorry I can’t credit the original chef)

(and if you are a “pinner” I am going to shamelessly ask that if you like this recipe please “pin it”)