Lynn's Kitchen Adventures » Salads

Quinoa Tabouli And A Few Facts

Lynn — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:18:07 +0000

Quinoa (pronounces keen-wa), is an ancient plant that is native to South American and is often used in South American cooking. It is one of the healthiest “grains” that you can eat. And although many refer to quinoa as a grain, it actually not a grain at all, but a seed.

Quinoa is common in gluten free cooking because it is naturally gluten free, but quinoa is also enjoyed by many outside the gluten free world because of its health benefits.

Today in my allergy section I shared my recipe for quinoa tabouli. If you love quinoa you should check it out. It is very good.

And if you have not tried my Mexican Quinoa you should give it a try. My family loves it.

How many of you have tried Quinoa? Did you like it?

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Taco Salad With Creamy Green Dressing

Lynn — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:58:13 +0000

My family loves taco salad. It is a nice change from tacos and everyone loves to build their own. I love it because it is so quick and easy to make, especially if I have taco meat in the freezer ready to use.

This is just a basic taco salad, but I gave the dressing a bit of a different twist with a green dressing.

Taco Salad

Salad

seasoned taco meat or freezer taco meat
beans
shredded cheese
tortilla chips
shredded lettuce
salsa

Creamy Green Dressing

¾ cup green taco sauce
½ cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the dressing ingredients. Pour over individual taco salads. Enjoy!

Add this recipe to ZipList

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Tuna Pasta Salad

Lynn — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:23:45 +0000

Light meals like pasta salad are perfect for hot summer days. And this pasta salad works well for the pantry challenge that I am doing this month because it contains pantry staples. There is nothing fancy or gourmet in this, but it is really good.

Tuna Pasta Salad

1 lb of macaroni noodles, cooked according to directions on the package
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
chopped pickles or relish ( I used about 3 tablespoons)
sliced olives ( about 1/2 cup)
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1-5 ounce can tuna drained (you can add more tuna if you want more of a tuna taste)
salt to taste

In a large bowl mix together cooked macaroni and remaining ingredients. Salt to taste.

You can either eat this right away or keep in the refrigerator for a few hours until you are ready to serve it.

Enjoy!

Add this recipe to ZipList

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Chipotle Pepper Salad Dressing

Lynn — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:39:15 +0000

I don’t know about you, but we eat a lot of salad this time of year. They are not only healthy, they are quick and easy to make. But having salad so often can become boring.

We tend to make them the same way over and over. One easy way to change up a salad though is the dressing. And when it comes to homemade salad dressings the options are endless.

I was recently trying to come up with homemade salad dressing to go with a spicy chicken main dish that I was making and decided to tweak a homemade salad dressing by adding chipotle peppers. My family loves the flavor of chipotle peppers. They add a nice layer of spice and a depth of flavor that is really unique.

I added just a little chipotle to it and it turned out just as I was hoping it would. The chipotle pepper made a perfect addition to the creamy dressing. It gave it just a little extra flavor and spice without being overly spicy. If you like your food a little spicier though, you could easily add some extra chipotle pepper to it.

One other tip is to be sure that you puree this really well. You want the pepper throughout the dressing and you want it really nice and smooth.

Olive Garden Style Salad Dressing

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 of a chipotle chili pepper, more if you like it really spicy(this is half of one pepper not half a can)
1-2 tablespoon water

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor or blender.Puree until smooth. Refrigerate for several hours to combine flavors well. Serve with salad.

Add this recipe to ZipList

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Broccoli Bacon Salad

Lynn — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:35:31 +0000

I cannot believe that I have not shared my Broccoli Bacon Salad recipe with all of you.

I have been making this salad for years and my family loves it. When I went to make this salad recently I searched my site for the recipe and realized that I have never shared this recipe with you.

Today I am going to fix that, because you all need to try my Broccoli Bacon Salad. It is perfect for a summer picnic or cookout, but we enjoy this anytime. It is really good.

Now, I will say that a lot of people make versions of broccoli salad, but these salads often contain crasins or raisins, at least that is how people in Oklahoma often serve it.

Well guess what, I am not a fan of fruit mixed with my vegetables. I never have been and I never will be. I like fruit and I like vegetables, I just don’t like them mixed together.

Remember that carrot salad that was so popular years ago. I grew up seeing that at almost every picnic, church dinner, or family gathering that I went to and I dreaded being served it.

I apologize to all my aunts and friends that used to make that salad. I am sure it was really good, I am just not a fan of carrots and raisins served together in the same salad.

The same goes for my broccoli salad. I love broccoli and I love craisins and raisins, but please don’t mix them together.

Is anyone else with me on this one? Please tell me I am not alone.

And for those of you that love fruit mixed in with your broccoli salad go ahead and put some in here, just don’t tell me about it.

Broccoli Bacon Salad

6 sliced of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 heads of fresh broccoli, washed and cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice

In a large bowl combine bacon, broccoli, and cheese. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine remaining ingredients. Add to broccoli mixture.
Stir to combine well. Cover and refrigerate for several hours.
Serve and enjoy!

Add this recipe to ZipList

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Chipotle Bacon Potato Salad

Lynn — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:00:12 +0000

It is summertime. This means that it is the time of year many of us will be attending picnics, barbecues, and family get togethers. And one of the foods that you often see at these gatherings is potato salad.

This year I wanted to serve a potato salad that was something a little different. I was looking for something a little more unique and unusual.

When I was planning the menu for a recent barbecue that I was hosting, I decided to go with a spicy theme and a spicy potato salad sounded really good to me. I knew it would be pretty easy to add a little kick to my basic potato salad.

I decided to do this with a little chipotle pepper, but I did not just add the chipotle pepper, I made it into a chipotle mayonnaise first and then used that mayonnaise as the base for the salad.

But I still needed to add a little something else to it to make it different. Chipotle peppers have a smoky taste to them, so bacon seemed like the perfect choice to add to the salad.

When I first tasted this potato salad, I knew that I had created a recipe that was really good. I loved it. And so did everyone else at the barbecue.

I made this potato salad so that everyone would enjoy it and I kept the spiciness to a minimal, but you could easily add more chipotle to this if you like it really spicy.

Chipotle Bacon Potato salad

¾ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
1 chipotle pepper in adobe sauce ( 1 pepper not 1 can)
2 tablespoons lime juice
5 lbs of potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
6 sliced of bacon, cooked and chopped
salt to taste

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover in water. Bring to a boil and turn down to a medium heat. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Drain and set aside.
In a food processor or blender combine mayonnaise, sour cream, chipotle pepper, and lime juice. Puree until smooth.
Add chipotle mayonnaise to potatoes and stir gently until combined. Add boiled eggs, and bacon. Add salt to taste.
Refrigerate several hours before serving to blend the flavors together well.
Serve and enjoy!

Add this recipe to ZipList

This post linked to Tasty Tuesday.

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Salad, Salad, Salad {A Few Of My Favorite Summertime Salads}

Lynn — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:02:44 +0000

I recently asked on my facebook page if there would be any interest in a couple of new features here on Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures. And one of the features that you all said you would like to see was for me to highlight some of the posts from my archives.

So, I have decided to start doing from the archives type posts a few times a month. My goal is to keep them themed and relevant to what is in season or season appropriate.

Last week I highlighted strawberries and today I thought we would talk about salads.

This time of year is perfect for green salads and homemade salad dressings to go along with them. Here are a few of our favorites.

Buttermilk Grilled Chicken Salad is one of my favorite salads to make.

Teriyaki Steak Salad is a great way to use up leftover steak.

Julia Child’s Vinaigrette is a classic and easy homemade salad dressing.

I love anything lemon and this lemon dijon salad dressing is no exception.

And this copycat Olive Garden salad dressing is one of my kid’s favorites.

What is your favorite way to serve salad this time of year?

This post linked to Tasty Tuesday.

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Lemon Dijon Salad Dressing

Lynn — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:56:25 +0000

Salad dressing is one of those things that is so easy to make at home, and yet most people have never made it.

Some of you may be asking, why would I want or need to make my salad dressing at home when I can buy a bottle of it inexpensively at the store.

Well, my answer is part taste and part control.

First of all I love the taste of homemade salad dressing. It has such a fresh flavor that you can not get in a bottled salad dressing.

Second, is the control part. I get to control the ingredients if I make it at home. Have you ever read the ingredients in a bottle of salad dressing? Most of them are things that I cannot pronounce, not only that bottled dressings often contain a lot of salt and sugar. One of the best things about homemade salad dressing is that I can make it to my family’s taste and control things like salt and sugar.

If you like a little more sweetness to a dressing add a little more sugar. If you like a little more spice you can add a little extra mustard. Start with a basic salad dressing recipe and adjust as needed.

Now I will admit one of my children is a die hard ranch dressing fan and according to them bottled is best. So, I am not so anti bottled salad dressing that I do not buy it. There is almost always a bottle of ranch dressing in my fridge, but overall I prefer homemade salad dressing.

This Lemon Dijon Salad Dressing in one of my favorites. The mustard gives it a little kick and the lemon compliments the mustard nicely.

Lemon Dijon Salad Dressing

1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 cup olive oil

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients but the oil. Pulse a few times to combine. Slowly add the oil through the top while the blender is going. This will help the dressing combine well. Once combined well serve over salad.

Add this recipe to ZipList

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Summertime Salads

Lynn — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:20:29 +0000

Summertime is the perfect time for salads. We eat them as main dishes and side dishes. We enjoy vegetable salads and pasta salads.

Here are a few of our favorites.

Here is a dessert salad for you. Snickers Apple Salad

( My kids are going to miss this one. I may have to find a nut free candy bar to use)

What is your favorite kind of salad?

This post linked to Tasty Tuesday and Ultimate Recipe Swap.

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Teriyaki Steak Salad

Lynn — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:36:18 +0000

Since we love salad in the summertime, I am always thinking of new ways to serve it.

I recently served some leftover teriyaki steak with lettuce and other vegetables, and it was so good. An Asian style dressing works perfectly with this salad.

I like to make steak salad because it is an inexpensive way to serve steak. When you serve it over salad, one steak can serve several people. Finding ways to stretch meat like this really helps with the grocery budget.

Steak salad is a simple, easy, and healthy summertime meal.

Do you ever serve steak or even leftover steak this way? I would love to hear how you make yours.

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here