Got this straight from RecipeGirl.

HONEY- LIME DRESSING:

• 1/4 cup lime juice (I used bottled)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2 Tbs honey
• 2 Tbs fresh cilantro (or more to taste)
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 a jalapeño pepper

I mixed it all up in my small Magic Bullet Express blender. My girls love it for making smoothies and my youngest likes to whip various home spa conconctions in it, but I do like it for quick salad dressings and marinades.

If you don’t have a blender or food processor, I would mince it all up as fine as possible and whisk together.

Put this on a salad of chopped romaine lettuce, sliced olives, halved grape tomatoes and sliced carrots.  Perfect light compliment to the carne asada burritos I made.  And I think tomorrow my lunch will be a nice steak salad with the rest of the dressing!

This is from Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother’s Tokyo Kitchen. She says salads are not traditional Japanese food but “sometimes modern is good”.  I didn’t follow her directions for the salad ingredients, but did for the dressing and it was really nice. I’ve been tempted to buy the Asian salad dressings I see on the grocery shelves before because I almost always like the salads in Japanese restaurants even though I know they’re not traditional, but this is so simple and good, why get stuck with a whole bottle when you just want one salad with the flavor?

• 3 Tbs rice vinegar
• 2 Tbs red onion (I had none so left this out)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbs sesame oil
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix it all together and pour over 6 cups of greens and diced veggies. I did add some chopped cilantro as she suggested to my red leaf lettuce and baby spinach, which I thought added a nice touch. I also included some diced red pepper, diced celery and 1 green onion (scallion) diced.

Really quite nice and a nice counterpoint to the recipe for teriyaki salmon I made.

Chicken,Rice and Artichoke Salad

My mom gave me this recipe. Things always taste better when she makes them but this still came out good!   I was missing one ingredient so did a substitution but I don’t think that was the critical piece. Not sure what she did different but I will try to figure it out!  For the record, I was missing barbecue sauce so used some Catalina dressing instead. Perhaps ketchup would have been a better choice. And it was still good–just not quite like it tasted when my mom made it!

The Dressing:

• 2 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 2 scallions, minced
• 1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup olive oil or canola oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and set aside.

The Salad

• 1 15 oz can artichoke bottoms, drained and chopped
• 2 cups cooked rice, cooled or cold
• 3/4 pound chicken breast, cooked and shredded
• 2 Tbs barbecue sauce
• 1 small red pepper, diced
• 1 scallion, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Mix everything but the parsley together. Pour the salad dressing over it and toss, then garish with the parsley.

This is great for a hot summer night, especially if you plan ahead and don’t have to cook the rice or chicken! It also works well for entertaining, which is how I used it. I cooked the rice and chicken the night before, then let them heat up to room temperature while I chopped the vegetables and mixed up the dressing. I was serving with a cream of broccoli soup and some fresh sliced tomatoes.

I got the soup ready to the point of adding the cream, then turned it down to way low and covered. I had the salad all mixed up ready to dress and let it sit while my friend and I visited. When it was time to eat, I tossed the salad with the dressing, stirred the cream into the soup, and sliced the tomatoes with some fresh basil, olive oil, and salt.   Very good and very easy!  And moderately healthy.  A winning combination.

I like cucumbers and find that a just a few plants climbing up a cage can keep us well supplied in cucumbers for the summer. I’m growing a different variety than last year and they are much better, fewer seeds and not all prickly on the outside.   The girls like them just plain, sliced in circles on a plate.  I like them dress them up a bit.

Last night I made one with red onions that pretty much follows the recipe in The Everything Thai Cookbook: From Pad Thai to Lemongrass Chicken Skewers, except I left out the 2 Thai chilies, seeded and minced so add those in if you want it spicy! I saw a very similar recipe in a magazine recently that had thinly sliced radishes in it, which also sounds good. I also added some bean sprouts to a cucumber salad once and loved the double crunchiness.

• 1 cup boiling water
• 5 Tbs sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 -3 small cucumbers, seeded and sliced
• 1 small red onion, sliced

Mix together the hot water, sugar, salt and vinegar, then let cool to room temperature so you don’t cook the cucumbers! If you don’t have rice vinegar, you can use white vinegar.

Last night I actually got out the mandoline to make the slices really thin just for fun but you can just slice the cucumber in half lengthwise, use a small teaspoon to scrape out the seeds, then slice into half moons.

I served this with some excellent curry, similar to this  Thai red chicken curry. I used a mix of peppers, bamboo shoots and peas for the vegetables.

I grew up with my mom making a quick pickled cucumber salad, similar to this quick cucumber salad recipe (and my mom’s old recipe is on that page as well.)  I’ve also played around with cucumbers and sour cream.  And then there’s this one with an Asian flare to it.   (And if you’re looking for a different salsa, this cucumber and grape salsa is fantastic!)

My youngest requested pulled pork sandwiches and pork shoulder was on sale! I like it when requests line up with sales!  I’ve done a few pulled pork variations in the past, including this pulled pork in the slow cooker where you basically make your own barbecue sauce with onions, garlic, chili powder, black pepper, chili sauce, brown sugar, cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. But the other day I had some barbecue sauce in the pantry I’d bought on sale and wanted to use up, so I “cheated” and used it up.

Cut whatever fat you can off the pork shoulder or pork roast. You won’t get it all for sure, but you can eliminate the big pieces of it.  If yours is tied together with twine, as mine was, just cut the twine away. You WANT the pork to fall apart!  Pour about a cup of barbecue sauce on it, your favorite bottled variety or your own homemade, and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for much longer. You want to be able to pull it apart with two forks, so you want it really well done and soft and falling apart.

To serve, I usually add more barbecue sauce as the sauce in the slow cooker has been thinned down so much. Stir in the sauce and heat through, then serve on buns. Goes great with coleslaw on the side or in the sandwich.

I’ve got this recipe for coleslaw without the mayonnaise or you can mix up some dressing along the lines of:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbs cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs celery seeds

Adjust the sugar/salt/vinegar ratio to suit your tastebuds.

I cooked up a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts to make chicken tacos tonight. I started with the recipe here despite the mix of reviews. I was intrigued by the idea of lemonade somehow…but I would definitely classify the chicken as bland.  When I tasted some partway through the simmering to reduce the sauce I knew I had to do something. I added a splash of tequila, some ground cumin, and a good dose of taco seasoning.  Then suddenly they were great!  So next time I do this, I think I’ll just marinade some chicken in a bit of lemon and or lime juice and tequila and cumin, then cook with some taco seasoning and water, letting most of the liquid evaporate.

I served this with grated cheese,chopped lettuce, chopped tomatoes,  sour cream, chopped avocados, and salsa plus refried beans and corn tortillas.

For lunch tomorrow, my youngest has a salad packed up with some of this on top. A handful of tortilla chips will round out a great lunch I think!  This is one of those Fit and Fresh containers that includes an ice pack. Very cool.

I bought two different Fit & Fresh containers the other day and am quite impressed so far. If you’re trying to pack some healthy lunches and minimize landfill waste, they are affordable and well made. Note: clicking the picture below takes you to Cooking.com’s store and I make a small commission if you buy it.

You really don’t need a recipe for this. What you need is really good tomatoes and basil and fresh mozzarella. And olive oil.

I grew the tomatoes and basil and bought the mozzarella and olive oil.

Layer slices of fresh tomatoes and mozarella, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sliced slivers of fresh basils (or whole leaves of basil if you really like basil!).

The cucumbers this year are fantastic! I need to make sure I note which variety I used because they are really good, long and thin, not a lot of seeds and not all prickly on the outside. Some sort of Japanese cucumber I think.

I have a few cucumber salad recipes I repeat a lot, including this cucumber salad with sour cream recipe and this one from many years ago, cucumber salad with onions and green peppers. Oh, I also have this great Grape and Cucumber Salsa recipe. I like cucumbers.

Tonight I saw a recipe in an old Cooking Light magazine that added an Asian twist with some sesame oil and using rice vinegar for a milder version of the basic marinade, but then kicking it up a notch with the crushed red pepper. Very nice variation!

• 2 cups peeled and thinly sliced cucumbers
• 3 Tbs rice vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Mix it all up and chill an hour or two before serving.

I never make taco meat just to have a taco salad but it sure is a great way to use up the leftovers a day or so after having tacos.  I like to use a little Catalina salad dressing on mine for a Catalina Taco Salad. It just adds a nice sweet touch. My kids leave theirs plain, without dressing. Much healthier, I’m sure.

• leftover taco meat
• homemade salsa if it’s summer or bottled if not
• chopped lettuce
• grated Cheddar cheese or a Mexican blend
• refried beans or black beans or whole pinto beans
• sliced olives if you’d like
• chopped avocado if you have some
• chopped fresh tomato
• chopped green onions or yellow onions
• tortilla chips or broke up leftover taco shells

If you’ve got a vegetarian in the family, this is a great dish because you can serve everything in small bowls and let everyone build their own taco salad, with or without meat.  You could also substitute leftover cooked chicken for the ground beef. It’s very flexible.

I saw a review of this book, Freshman in the Kitchen: From Clueless Cook to Creative Chef, and since I have a daughter about to leave for college I actually wrote and asked for a review copy, a first for me.  Max and Eli Sussman were kind enough to hook me up with their publisher and soon enough a copy arrived in the mail.

First, the binding and the book production itself is fantatsic!  The cookbook is bound a bit differently than I’ve seen before, with spiral binding along the top third and the bottom third. There are pictures for at least half, and probably more, of the finished dishes and they are inspiring. The ingredients are called out clearly, the directions are clear and just detailed enough. Most recipes fit on a single page or are at least on facing pages (I hate having to turn a page in the middle of cooking!). Aside from all that, they “read” great (I’m pretty good at interpreting recipes by reading them through at this point) and the three I’ve tried have been fantastic.

If all you’re looking for is Ramen noodle recipes, tuna melts, and grilled cheese sandwiches, pick up a different book. But if you’re looking for creative recipes that will be fun to cook and don’t require much special equipment, buy this book or send it to your budding college cook.  I had hoped to have my daughter try out a few recipes but somehow summer job and a social life has gotten in the way. I will send her off to college with this book (after photocopying a few recipes!) since she has a kitchen in her dorm and is looking forward to cooking.

I’ve made a few Chinese Chicken Salad recipes before and this one takes the least effort and tastes fantastic. (If you like breaded chicken and are only cooking for one, try this recipe. )  The only change I made to this was to use peanut oil to cook the chicken breast in. Oh, and I had some sate seasoning from Pensy’s, courtesy of a client, so sprinkled some of that on the chicken, but I know it would be good, just different, without.  Oh, I also didn’t have any chow mein crunchy noodles. If you like those on your Asian Chicken Salad, use about 1 cup of them. I also added a cucumber.

• 1 Tbs peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup soy sauce, divided
• 1 head iceberg lettuce
• 1 carrot, peeled and grated
• 1/2 a large cucumber or 1 medium one
• 1 4 oz can water chestnuts, drained
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 Tbs sesame oil
• 2 Tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tsp chili paste
• 1 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 Tbs olive oil

Heat a nonstick skillet ove rmedium heat and add the peanut oil.  Add the chicken breasts and cook 2-3 minutes on each side, sprinkling with salt and pepper (and I added sate seasoning, but totally not necessary). Cook until lightly browned.

Add 1 Tbs soy sauce and cook another 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Cut one in half to check–you’re going to slice them up later anyway.   If the pan gets to dry, add some water.  Let the chicken cool a bit while you make up the salad.

Wash, dry and chop the lettuce and add to a large salad bowl.

Peel and grate the carrot (or use the peeler to cut into thin strips). Peel the cucumber and dice. Drain the water chestnuts. Chop the green onions.

Make the dressing: Mix together the remaining soy sauce (3 Tbs), sesame oil, rice vinegar, chili paste, brown sugar, and olive oil.

Cut the chicken into strips. Toss together the vegetables, chicken strips and salad dressing. Garnish with chow mein noodles if you’d like.

Oh  yum!  And you could leave out the chile paste if you don’t have any.

I made this along with Sesame Peanut Noodles. The other recipe I tried from here was for chicken breasts marinaded in an Asian bbq sauce. (Really, the recipes are not all Asian influenced. Just what my taste has been for the last few days! )

Other recipes in the book include Rosemary Roasted Potatoes, Guacamole, Michigan Chicken Salad (with dried cherries, very intriguing!), homemade hummus, Omelets, Turkey Chili, a nice selection of vegetarian dishes, some grill based dishes, and some themed menus (Meditteranean, Italian, and Japanese) plus some nice desserts.