Dorrito Salad

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Momzoo

Today’s Salad is a little different.

When I first saw this salad at a baby shower I thought it looked really sick. I wouldn’t have even tried it, but the lady that made it was right beside me in the food line so I felt I needed to take some. When I did try it I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy it was. This salad has become one of my families favorite summer meals.

Doritos Salad:

Lettuce

1 pound Ground beef, browned

Large can of chopped tomatoes, drained

1 can pinto beans, drained

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can of corn, drained

sliced Olives

1 1/2 cup shredded cheese

crushed Doritos Chips

Catalina Dressing

(instead of canned beans I used these)

While compiling all your ingredients into a big bowl, find an obliging child to crush the Doritos, they will love doing it.

Mix everything together except the chips, dressing and lettuce.

Right before serving add the chips…

and dressing

Mix well.

Serve on top of lettuce.

Spinach Salad

Posted on April 9, 2009 by Momzoo

This recipe comes from my Mother-in-law, I was one of the first recipes that I got a hold of once we were married. It is simple and oh, so good. I regularly get requests for this salad.

To start out we need to make the dressing, either the morning before it is to be served, or the night before, I needs time to sit.

This is what we need for the dressing:

1 cup oil

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp dry mustard

1 Tbsp Poppy seeds

1 package sliced mushrooms

Mix all the ingredients, except the mushrooms in a container with a tight fitting lid, this dressing is shaken, not stirred.

I usually use this, a little over kill I know, but it works!

Then add the mushrooms to the shaken dressing, the ones I bought were HUGE! I broke them into smaller pieces.

Put the lid on and give it a good shake, then find some counter top that it can sit on all day. Everytime you pass it, give it a good shake.

The mushrooms soak up the dressing….it is so good!

The Salad itself consists of very few ingredients:

Spinach

cooked Bacon

Swiss cheese

marinated mushrooms

right before serving spoon the mushroom out of the dressing into the salad with a slotted spoon.

Add the bacon and cheese, and toss. Add more dressing as needed, usually you don’t need to add much more the mushrooms carry a lot of dressing with them.

I served this salad with grilled hamburgers.

Everybody in my family loves this salad, there was very little left over and even the littlest in the bunch ate some.

This is a favorite at my house.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Momzoo

This Salad come from a good friend and neighbor of mine. She served it at a little gals night out get together at her house, and it had become a favorite of mine.

Here is our list of ingredients:

Spinach leaves, washed and trimmed (or a bag)

Strawberries, washed and sliced

Feta Cheese, crumbled

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

Sugared Walnuts (I will show you how)

Brianna’s Blush Wine Vinaigrette

To sugar walnuts, melt equal parts brown sugar and butter in a small sauce pan (I did 2 Tbsp of each), when it is all melted add the walnuts and stir to coat.

Then lay them out and let them cool, and you have sugared walnuts.

I am not a walnut fan, but I love these.

Crumble the feta, I am not a real lover of feta, but there is something about the mix of strawberry and Vinaigrette that makes the feta so yummy.

Make sure to slice the onion really thin. Usually I don’t love raw onion, but like the feta, there is something about the mix of all the ingredients in this salad that makes it so yummy.

Add all your ingredients and toss with the Blush Wine Vinaigrette.

I served this with homemade french bread (thanks Casey) and home made pizza. I thought it made a yummy meal. I will have to be totally honest and say that my family doesn’t really share my love of this salad, Dadzoo mumbles something about hating feta, it has to do with being forced to eat it as a child. All my kids hate the dressing and the onions. So from a feeding the family/kids stand point this salad didn’t go over so well, but I love it, so it will just have to be saved for special occasions (like when I crave it really badly, there are some advantages to being the cook!)

Salad #2 (because I don’t have a name!)

Posted on April 7, 2009 by Momzoo

I got this yummy salad from my Grandma, she made it for a family get together last Sunday and I just jumped on it. I love a good green salad and this one it really good. I don’t really have a name for it, so if any of you have suggestions please speak up and you can have bragging rights if I pick your name.

Here are the ingredients:

2 apples, chopped but not peeled

1 cup cashews

1 cup crasions

1 cup swiss cheese, shredded

2 chicken breasts, chopped

1 head of read lettuce, washed and shredded

For this salad we are going to make our own dressing

Dressing Ingredients:

2/3 cup Olive Oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp Deli Mustard

1/4 tsp onion salt
1 Tbsp Poppy seeds

Put all the ingredients in a blender or bowl, and whisk (or blend) until everything is mixed well and the sugar is dissolved.

(sorry blurry picture)

Add all the ingredients to lettuce and toss, then add the dressing and toss again.

This beautiful salad makes a great side dish (omit the chicken) or a wonderful main dish with some french bread.

First Things First

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Momzoo

In the majority of my salads I add grilled chicken. I don’t really know why I call it grilled, because it isn’t really grilled, more like baked, but grilled sounds so much better so that is what I will call it. Anyway, in most of my salads I add chicken, I am serving them as the main meal and I think it helps to fill up tummies when there is a little meat. It also helps Dadzoo wrap his brain around the idea that, seriously, dinner is a salad. Not that he complains, but I swear I can see visions of steak and potatoes dancing around his head while he eats my “chick” food!

I figured I would show you how I bake my chicken.

First I place the chicken breast in a plastic, zip lock bag.

Then I pound it like a crazy woman, it is fabulous therapy! It needs to be pounded out evenly so it will cook evenly.

When it is nice and flat, place it on a baking sheet and season, I add salt and pepper, very simple, but good.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until done, turning the chicken at least once in the cooking process.

When the are all cooked I let them cool, then place them in a bag in the freezer, then when I need them they get pulled out and thawed all day in the refrigerator.

Later today I will post the first salad recipe in my series!