Category: SALADS, SALSAS & SLAWS

Garlic Smashed Potato Salad – Cooking The Italian Way

potato salad

You know how celebrities always have to be worried that the non-celebrities that they date are only dating them for their VIP status?  Or their money?  Or their looks?
Well.  That’s how I feel about this potato salad.
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I served it to Sophie, my roommate, last summer.  And when she heard I was bringing it to my parents’ house for father’s day this year.  She insisted on coming too.
“I just think it would be nice to spend time with your family!” she exclaimed when I questioned her about her motives.  
Um, yeah.  Sure.  I’ll bet you do, Soph.
potato salad
I’m kind of scared to think what will happen when I serve it to the next guy I date.
Better serve with caution.
Unless I’m absolutely sure that he’s the one I want to marry.
Then I’ll serve with reckless abandon.
potato salad
Garlic Smashed Potato Salad
Serves 5+, adapted from Sunset Magazine
2 1/2 lb potatoes
2 heads garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp white wine
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chives
1. Preheat oven to 400.  Cut garlic heads in half widthwise and wrap tightly in foil.  Bake until garlic is very soft and golden (45-60 minutes).  When garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze cloves into a small bowl.  Add olive oil, wine, salt, and black pepper.  Mash until mixture is smooth.
2. Cut potatoes into quarters or small chunks.  Put in pot of water.  Bring to a boil and then cook until potatoes are fork-tender.  Drain and return to pot.
3. Add garlic mixture and chives to the potatoes.  Let cool and serve.
Happy 4th of July!
Joanne

Italian Green Bean & Tomato Salad

 GREEN BEAN & TOMATO SALAD
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and washed
3 cups grape tomatoes
1 bunch green onions, sliced
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
salt & pepper taste
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
  • Add green beans and blanch 3-5 minuted until just tender.
  • Drain and rinse with cool water.
  • Whisk together the oil, vinegar and seasonings.
  • Toss together the green beans, tomatoes and onions.
  • Pour marinade over and toss well.
  • Chill 24 hours before serving.

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Spinach Salad with Teriyaki Bowties

A very quick apology… I suddenly got rushed this week.  You will see the reason in a couple days on my own site, but short version is that I am going to have to repeat a recipe today that was on my own site recently.  But, while it has only been a couple months since I posted this, I have made and served this 4 times.  Whenever we have guests come to visit paradise, this is now on our “must make”menu plan.

Easy

Fast

VERY TASTY

Filled with Flavors

A terrific cold salad, substantial enough to be served as a full meal, and great for leftovers…

Adaptable, I have made this with shrimp in place of the chicken, and Caramelized Pineapple added.

A great item to take to a summer picnic.

It is just as good as it looks… 

Enjoy, and I will see you in a week with something special… Promise

It’s another session of what to do with the second half of one of those rotisserie chickens you buy every week.  And there are enough different tastes to satisfy everyone.  Jackie had asked for a salad recently.  So, when I saw Melanie’s post at THE SISTER’s CAFE, I knew I had another use for that rotisserie bird…



And here’s an oddity… no rum, no extra spices, I didn’t change a single ingredient.  I followed Melanie’s recipe as she wrote it.  If you go to her post (click HERE), Melanie listed a few additional ingredients as optional.  But really, if you have a plate of spinach, do you really need to add parsley?  Adding the oranges and water chestnuts was already inching the price up.  So, unless you have them on hand, do as I did and leave out the craizins, parsley, … And here is what she wrote…

Spinach Salad With Teriyaki Bowties 
submitted by Melanie sisterscafe.blogspot.com

16 oz. Bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled
1 – 2 bags of fresh baby Spinach
2 small cans Mandarin Oranges
1 Red Pepper, chopped
1 can Water Chestnuts
1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
1 cup Honey Roasted Peanuts or Cashews
1/4 cup Sesame Seeds, toasted
2 cups torn cooked Chicken

Dressing:
1 cup Vegetable Oil
2/3 cup White Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
2/3 C. Teriyaki Sauce
5 Tbs. Sugar

Cook bowtie pasta according to directions, drain and cool while whisking the dressing together in a large bowl. Marinate cooked bowtie pasta in the dressing for 1 hour or longer in the fridge. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour the teriyaki sauce and pasta over the salad, toss together and serve. If it’s just a few of you, make individual salad servings; keeping the salad and bowtie sauce separate for the rest of the week (no one likes a soggy salad).

This sauce is terrific!  Beyond terrific in fact.  The whole thing blended so well.  It was a perfect addition to my new series on what to do with those rotisserie chickens that are so cheap here in paradise.

Jackie loved it!  Thanks Melanie… A GREAT recipe!

Well worth the effort!

Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. Plan ahead, be a cook and you to can say…  

 … I CAN COOK THAT! 

And so can you!…

Simple Saturday – Tabbouleh

Hello foodie friends! Martha here bringing you a simple Mediterranean salad this week. Have you ever had Tabbouleh Salad? It’s definitely a must try and it’s very easy to make. It’s a perfect light, cool, flavorful salad in the warm summer months.

Just combine about 2 cups diced tomatoes, 2 cups seeded and diced cucumber, 1 cup chopped parsley, 1/2 cup cooked bulgar wheat, (chopped onion is common in this salad but optional). Squeeze the juice of 1-2 lemons over veggies, add salt and pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients together, cover and refrigerate for several hours.

This is a great salad to serve with falafel or wonderful served with hummus and pita for a nice light meal. I always feel healthy and refreshed after eating this, it’s one of my favorites. Give it a try!

Don’t forget to visit me at my food blog Seaside Simplicity and every Monday at The Motivation Station.

Have a great weekend, and please don’t forget to observe the real meaning of Memorial Day this weekend!

Veggie Tales by Kris!

Well hello there! My name is Kris, you may know me from Behold the Metatron, Where to Vegan?, AND/OR The Motivation Station. If you don’t, get to know me! I’m just a click away! ;o)

I am a vegetarian flirting with the Vegan lifestyle ever so slightly. But I’m not going to dive deep into a 100% Vegan dish with you lot just yet. For my first post, I’d like to share a sweet and savory salad with you that is absolutely perfect for summer. Enjoy it with a delicious sparkling rose like this one on a steamy Friday afternoon, and you’re starting off the weekend just right!

Asparagus, Grapefruit and Arugula Summer Salad
(serves 2 as a main dish, or 4 as a starter- I could eat the whole thing though! haha)

What you’ll need:
5 cups fresh baby arugula (Organic please)
1 bunch asparagus (each stalk halved lengthwise)
Cooking Spray
1 grapefruit (just the wedges, peeled with no pith)
1/2- 3/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese (remember to slice an extra piece for yourself while you slave over this! hehe)
1 lemon, halved (you’ll use each half’s juice separately)
1/4 cup your favorite Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing (I like Newman’s Lite)
salt and pepper to taste

What you’ll do:
Prep you grapefruit by peeling the skin and pith, and cut into wedges. Prepare your arugula by placing it on a lovely platter or bowl. Heat a skillet on medium with a little cooking spray. Add in the halved asparagus and sautee for about 2 minutes. Add some salt and pepper and the juice of 1/2 the lemon. Let cook until tender, yet crispy for no more than 5 minutes. When the asparagus is done, remove from heat and place it atop the bed of arugula. Top the salad with the other lemon half, the dressing, the grapefuit wedges, and the cheese. Add a little more salt and pepper. Toss right before serving.

et voilà!

SUN DRIED TOMATO PASTA SALAD

I was over visiting Mrs. B this morning when one of her recipes gave me an idea for one of my own.  Her used pesto and for some reason though I love all food, I HATE pesto – sorry guys.  I also thought I’d take it to the potluck going on over at Mommy’s Kitchen. It looks a little bland, but it was quite tasty.

SUN DRIED TOMATO PASTA SALAD

8 ounces rigatoni, cooked al dente
1 large cucumber, skinned and chopped
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
2 large Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup shredded cheese of choice(I used Parmesan)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Classico sun-dried tomato pesto
salt and pepper to taste
  • Whisk together the mayonnaise, sun-dried tomato pesto, salt and pepper.
  • Prepare the pasta per package directions. Drain and cool.
  • Prepare vegetables.
  • Toss vegetables, pasta and sauce together until well blended.
  • Chill & Enjoy!

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CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD

Dave over at My Year on the Grill has been running several posts about those grocery rotisserie chickens. I too use them endlessly! Especially in salads and casseroles. I buy them of an evening just after they’ mark them half price, bring them home, strip them and freeze them in usable recipe proportions. It makes life so easy!
CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD

SALAD
1 head NAPA cabbage
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1 cup snow peas, halved
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 can mandarin oranges, drained well*
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1/4 cup crushed cashews
Crispy Wonton strips
DRESSING
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
few sprinkles white pepper

  • Toss salad ingredients together except the crispy wonton noodles.
  • Pour on dressing and toss again.
  • Top with wonton noodles.

*I often use fresh cutie tangerines and when I do, I peel them and soak them in the dressing before I prepare the salad.
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CRAB LOUIE with OOMPH!


I bolded the OOMPH ingredients that are
different from my day to day recipe.

CRAB SALAD & HOMEMADE 1000 ISLAND DRESSING
CRAB SALAD
8 ounces Louis Kemp Crab, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/3 cup minced green onion
salt and pepper
mayo (about 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon Frank’s Red Hot Pepper Sauce
Romaine lettuce
Roma tomatoes, sliced
Snap peas, halved
pickled beets, sliced
hard boiled eggs, sliced

  • Wash lettuce, peas and tomatoes. Arrange on plate. Salt and pepper.
  • Mix crab, celery, onion, hot sauce, salt and pepper together until well blended using enough mayonnaise for desired consistency.
  • Place a large scoop of crab salad over the romaine mix.
  • Serve over chopped romaine lettuce, sliced tomatoes and snap peas.
  • Top with dressing.

1000 ISLAND DRESSING
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
1 heaping tablespoon minced red onion
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

  • In a mini blender blend all ingredients to desired consistency.
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Company is Coming – Tried and True or a New recipe??? Maybe just a simple SALAD



OUR FIRST VISITORS!!!


A fun time IS INDEED being had by all, and why not… Jackie’s favorite Aunt, her cousin, his wife and a teenage daughter (teenagers, god help me) have come to our little condo in paradise and we are having the time of our lives!

!Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. As always, I am so surprised when I CAN COOK THAT!


But today, I want to be a little less surprised.  Meaning… When company is coming and you want to make a good “foodie” impression on them… Do you try an exciting new sounding recipe, create something from the top of your head, do your best tried and true recipe…  Or work a new interpretation of a tried and true…


Somehow, I have decided that making the same thing in exactly the same way is not very appealing to me.  So, I decided to make one of my better recipes, but add a bit of island flair…


Last week on my “normal” site, I posted a recipe for Terriyaki Bowtie Spinach Salad.  I had gotten the recipe from a fellow blogger, Melanie from THE SISTER’s CAFE.  I did a very unusual thing for me…  I followed Melanie’s recipe as she wrote it.  If you go to her post (click HERE), Melanie listed a few additional ingredients as optional.  But really, if you have a plate of spinach, do you need to add parsley?  Adding the oranges and water chestnuts was already inching the price up.  So, unless you have them on hand, do as I did and leave out the craizins and parsley, … Here is what she wrote…

Spinach Salad With Teriyaki Bowties 
submitted by Melanie sisterscafe.blogspot.com

16 oz. Bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled
1 – 2 bags of fresh baby Spinach
2 small cans Mandarin Oranges
1 Red Pepper, chopped
1 can Water Chestnuts
1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
1 cup Honey Roasted Peanuts or Cashews
1/4 cup Sesame Seeds, toasted
2 cups torn cooked Chicken

Dressing:
1 cup Vegetable Oil
2/3 cup White Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
2/3 C. Teriyaki Sauce
5 Tbs. Sugar

Cook bowtie pasta according to directions, drain and cool while whisking the dressing together in a large bowl. Marinate cooked bowtie pasta in the dressing for 1 hour or longer in the fridge. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour the teriyaki sauce and pasta over the salad, toss together and serve. If it’s just a few of you, make individual salad servings; keeping the salad and bowtie sauce separate for the rest of the week (no one likes a soggy salad).

This sauce is terrific!  Beyond terrific in fact.  The whole thing blended so well.  It was a perfect addition to my new series on what to do with those rotisserie chickens that are so cheap here in paradise… a raw whole chicken is $10… A precooked rotisserie chicken is $6… If I can get a good explanation for the price difference, I would be very interested…  But in the mean time, I am buying one a week, and posting a series of recipes on what to do with the leftovers… but I digress…




They are company, so I wanted to show off a little.  Instead of the rotisserie chicken, I made an island inspired Blackened Chicken.  I recently covered a how to post on my “normal” site for blackening.  I am sure 😉 that you all read that piece (click HERE if you did not).  So I don’t need to remind you that blackening is not BURNT , and it is NOT a spice, it is a cooking process with butter and spices charred to the outside of the meat, and then the meat is baked to a proper internal temperature.  In this case, I melted 1 tablespoon of butter for each breast (in this case, 4), added 1 TBS of Cajun spices per breast (4). Got that very hot (just barely starting to smoke).  Put the breast into the butter/spice mixture for 2 minutes.  Listened to it sizzle and watched it smoke just a little.  Turned the breast over and charred the spices and infused the butter into the breast for another 2 minutes.  Then I popped em in a 350 degree pre-heated oven until my remote temperature prob read 165 degrees (about 30 minutes).


I have already bragged about this salad once on my own site.  The addition of the blackened chicken really set this apart as something special.

The sweet terriyake sauce was excellent the first time I made the recipe.  Adding a Cajun spiced blackened chicken to the sweet made for an even better tasting combination… Even the teenage daughter (teenagers, god help me) had a second helping…

Please, if you should try this… Goof around as much as you like with the salad… Peppers, mushrooms, pine nuts, scotch… go ahead, add what ever you like… Why not.  BUT, the dressing for this is the real star of the recipe.  Give this dressing a try as listed.  you will not be sorry!


So,  I return to the question I originally asked…

Company is coming…

Something new
Something tried and true
Something tried and true, but with a new twist???

I need to know, More guests are coming to visit.  There is a lot of pressure to cook for someone’s vacation.

But also, who knows when the ladies (and Chris) will accept my invitation for the first annual OUR KRAZY KITCHEN summit meeting… Cooking for that group of culinary stars… Now that would be pressure!

KICKING POTATO SALAD

We are in that moving mode again and I’m developing recipes based on the ingredients on hand. On the flip side our niece & hubby are coming for a BBQ this weekend and we really wanted some potato salad so I threw together what we had and voile’ we have a new recipe!

NOT YOUR MOTHER’S POTATO SALAD
2-3 pounds potatoes, washed well
6 eggs, hard boiled
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 +/- cup Bob’s Bleu Cheese dressing
1 1/2 teaspoon Frank’s red pepper sauce
1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
2 tablespoons orange champagne vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for garnish








  • Hard boil eggs. Cool and set aside.
  • Boil potatoes in salted water until tender. Cool and set aside.
  • Drain pickle relish in sieve for 10 minutes to remove excess juice.
  • Mix together the bleu cheese dressing, hot sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper, onions and garlic until well blended. You may or may not need to add more dressing to reach the desired consistency.
  • Grate the hard boil eggs into the bowl and toss well.
  • Grate 1/2 of the potatoes into the bowl and toss until well blended.
  • Chop remaining potatoes into bite size pieces and fold into mixture.
  • Chill well.
  • Top with paprika garnish before serving.

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TUNA PASTA SALAD

Remember that less than stellar dinner I told you about the other day? Well I had about 4 ounces of pasta left and wasn’t sure what to do with it. So I coated it in about a tablespoon of safflower oil and 2 tablespoons of champagne vinegar overnight. Then the next day I added a can of drained tuna, chopped onions and a handful of aged white cheddar cheese. Let me just say YUM!

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