Salads & Soups
Bok Choy Salad
1 Chinese Napa Cabbage
1 Bok Choy
2 - 3 Red Onions ( depends on your taste)
Bean Sprouts, Water Chestnuts and Diced chicken are optional additions
Cut into bite sized pieces.
Crunchies: 2 packages Ramen Noodles
1 flavor packet from the Noodles
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 c. sesame seeds
Melt 1/2 cup butter on a cookie sheet @ 350 degrees in the oven. Add crushed noodles, almonds and sesame seeds. Sprinkle with flavor packet. Toss to coat and bake 15 minutes. Stir after 10 minutes. Cool.
Dressing:
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup vinegar
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
Mix all ingrediants together and simmer for a few minutes to dissolve the sugar. Cool. Mix the crunchies with the salad and add the dressing just before serving. Makes a large amount. Serves 10-12
Recipe submitted by: Patricia Schmidt
Cranberry Salad
1 package cranberries
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 oranges or 1 can mandarin oranges
3-4 apples
Chopped nuts and celery optional
2 Boxes cherry jello -may use large or small boxes
Grind together the night before: cranberries, oranges and apples. Put into a bowl and add 1 1/2 cup sugar and mix well.
Let set over night in fridge. Mix jello like according to box omitting 1/2 cup of the water. Dissolve then mix with ground cranberries, apples and oranges. Chopped nuts and chopped celery can be added. Set in fridge and serve when set.
Fruit Salad
Marinade:
4 tablespoons orange juice *
3 tablespoons lime juice *
3 tablespoons honey
* I use fresh squeezed juices in my marinade, but it's not necessary. When I do this it takes 2 oranges and 4 lemons to get about the same amout of juice.
Fruit:
1 cup cubed fresh pineapple
3 peaches peeled, seeded and cubed
1 mango peeled, seeded and cubed
1 papaya peeled, seeded and cubed
3 kiwi peeled and sliced
3 manderin oranges sectioned
2 cups fresh sliced strawberries
1-1/2 cup fresh blueberries
2 sliced bananas.
Prepare marinade and set aside. Then combine all the fruit in a large bowl; add marinade and refrigerate for an hour before serving. Serves 10-15
Hidden Valley Ranch Tortellini Salad
9 oz cheese tortellini cooked and cooled
1 cup julienned ham
3/4 cup frozen baby peas. Thawed
1/2 cup Swiss cheese cubes
2 tbsp minced green onions
1 tbsp minced parsley
2 cups prepared Hidden Valley Ranch Milk Recipe Original Ranch Salad Dressing
Toss all ingredients together in a bowl. Chill until ready to serve. Serves 4-6
Island Cucumber Salad
1/4 pound lowfat goat cheese, crumbled
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup thin strips of fennel
2 scallions, chopped
8 Greek olives, quartered
6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1. In a serving bowl, combine the cheese, cucumber, red onion, fennel, scallion, and olives. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and sugar; stir until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Pour the dressing over the salad and season with salt and pepper. Toss well until evenly coated. Let the salad sit at room temperature for 1 hour to let the flavors blend. Serves 4
Potato Salad
6 medium potatoes
6 eggs hard boiled
1 green pepper chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
1 large onion chopped
Peel, cube and boil potatoes just till they are soft but still a little firm. Cool and drain. Chop eggs, celery, onion and peppers. Combine all in large bowl and set aside while you make the dressing.
Homemade Mayonaise Dressing:
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
Melt butter in saucepan. Add water, sugar, vinegar egg and flour, gently stirring the entire time. Becareful to combine the egg throughly you do not want it to cook hard. Continue cooking and stirring until it thickens. This should be a nice sauce consistancy (without lumps). Remove from heat and combine immediately with the potatoes and other ingredents.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. Stir before serving. Serves 8-10
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Base:
2 T. Sugar
3/4 c. soft margarine
2/3 c. broken prezels
Spread in bottom of 9 X 13 baking dish. Bake at 325 for 20 in. Cool
Filling:
1 - 8 oz. pkg. softened cream cheese
1 cup cool whip
1 cup sugar
Blend and spread on cooled 1st layer
Topping:
1 - 6 oz pkg. raspberry gelatin or strawberry
2 cups hot water
3 cups raspberries or strawberries
Dissolve gelatin in hot water and add frozen berries and let set until egg white consistency. Pour over cream cheese mix. Chill until set.
Tomato Salad
3 medium Tomatoes cut into wedges
1 green Pepper diced
1 medium onion sliced
8 oz. jar herbed Feta Cheese
1 bottle Zesty Italian Vinegarette dressing
Combine all in medium bowl; let set for an hour then serve.
Tomato Salad with Feta, Olives and Onions
Easy and a nice change from regular salads. It's really good with grilled chicken.
5 ripe large tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch-thick rounds
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup black olives, pitted
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Arrange tomatoes on platter. Top with onion slices. Drizzle oil and vinegar over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour. Sprinkle cheese, olives and parsley over salad and serve. Serves 6
Tortellini Salad
1 package (about 2 cups) Tri colored Tortellini
1 stick pepperoni cut into bite size pieces
1 medium red sweet pepper diced
1 medium green sweet pepper diced
1 medium yellow sweet pepper diced
1 large onion diced
1-1/2 to 2 cups of 5 different types of cheese. Cut into bite size pieces
I use the following but any will do.
Cheddar cheese
Swiss cheese
Hot pepper cheese
Aged cheese (oude cheese)
Herbed cheese or
Mustard cheese
Just be sure to use a variety of cheeses for more flavor 2 large bottles Italian Vinegarette seasoned salad dressing. Cook Tortellini according to directions. In the meantime prepare cheeses, pepperoni, peppers and onions. Mix all together in large bowl. When tortellini is cooked drain throughtly, add to other ingredents and 1 jar of the Italian salad dressing and mix lightly. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight. (You need an oversize bowl as the tortellini will absorb all the dressing over night.) About an hour before serving add the second bottle of Italian salad dressing. Serves 10-15
Soups
Cheddar Cheese Soup
This soup is quick to prepare, can be made ahead, is easily doubled if you have a large pot, and is open to lots of variations.
3 tablespoons butter
1 large red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 can (13 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 can (13 1/2 ounces) vegetable broth
1 can evaporated milk
4 cups (1 pound) cheddar cheese, cubed
1 cup thinly sliced scallions
1. Melt the butter in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Add the peppers, and cook over medium heat, stirring often until just softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the flour and mustard. Cook, stirring 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the broth, then cook, stirring often, until the soup comes to a boil and thickens slightly. Stir in the milk and return to just boiling.
2. Take the pan off the heat and add the cheese, 1 cup at a time, stirring until each cupful is melted. Stir in the scallions. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or let cool, and refrigerate up to two days before serving.
3. Reheat very gently and do not let the soup boil or the cheese may separate. This recipe makes 4 to 6 main course servings. You can add any type of vegetable, such as broccoli florets or asparagus tips. Herbs such as thyme or sage can also be added. Serving: 6
Cream of Cauliflower and Cheese Soup
3 cups water
1 med onion, chopped fine
2 tsp basil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 to 3 ccups cauliflower florets, cut to uniform size
2 tblsp butter
2 tblsp flour
1 cup hot chicken stock
2 c milk
1/4 lb Cheddar cheese, cut into -small pieces
If you want to cut down in the fats in the recipe, use margarine and skim milk for the butter and the milk. In a heavy 4 qt kettle, cook water, onion, basil, salt, and pepper covered for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add cauliflower. Cover and cook until cauliflower is soft, about 15 minutes. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and mix until none of the flour remains white. Slowly add hot stock. Stir with whisk until smooth. Pour into soup and mix well. In saucepan, heat milk. Add cheese and stir over low heat until melted. Add to soup. Mix well and heat until soup begins to steam. Serves 6 to 8.
Posted by Ellen Cleary. Courtesy of Fred Peters.
Cream of Anything Soup
Basic Recipe:
2 1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. flour
2 T. butter or margarine
dash salt
dash pepper
Put all 6 ingredients into blender "briefly" til smooth and pour into saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-high heat til it begins to thicken (watch it! can scorch easily!). Take off heat at first bubble of a boil. To this basic mixture you add any of the following optional items: 4-6 servings
CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER:
To basic mixture add 1 box (10 oz.) frozen cauliflower buds cooked per
box directions til tender and well drained, 1/2 t. onion powder, 3 mashed chicken bouillon cubes, pinch dry parsley and a dash of garlic salt. Stir over lowest possible heat til piping hot. Serve at once.
CREAM OF CELERY SOUP:
Do just as cauliflower soup, but substitute 1 c. cooked, drained, diced celery instead of cauliflower. Add a pinch celery seed and a pinch dry, canned parsley flakes.
CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP:
Add 1 box (10 oz.) frozen, chopped broccoli cooked per box directions and drained. Continue as in cauliflower soup.
CREAM OF CABBAGE SOUP:
Add 2 c. packaged supermarket slaw mixture cooked til tender in just enough water to cover. Drain well. Continue as in cauliflower soup.
CREAM OF POTATO SOUP:
Add 3 cans (1 lb. ea.) sliced, drained potatoes, 1/2 bottle (10 oz.) Hormel real bacon pieces and a dash of liquid smoke. Continue as in cauliflower soup.
CLAM CHOWDER:
Prepare the potato soup and add 1 can (10 oz.) undrained minced clams and 2 thin slices of boiled ham snipped into (1/4 inch) bits.
CREAM OF CORN SOUP:
To warm basic recipe, add 1 can (14 oz.) cream style corn, dash nutmeg and 1 t. dry minced onion. Heat through.
CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP:
To warm basic recipe, add 1 can (8 oz.) drained, sliced mushrooms, dash onion salt and black pepper to taste. Heat through.
CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP:
To warm basic recipe, add 1 can (15 oz.) diced, undrained tomatoes and return to blender briefly just to smooth it out. Heat through.
CREAM ONION SOUP:
To warm basic soup, add 1 envelope dry onion soup mix and heat throrghly.
CREAMY CHEDDAR SOUP:
To prepared basic recipe, add 1 small jar (8 oz.) Cheez Whiz, stirring til melted and heated through.
Dutch Mustard Soup ala Chris
50 grams butter (almost 4 T.)
50 grams flour
1 small onion diced
3 or 4 cubes beef or chicken bouillion
300 ml water X 2
3-4 T. spicy mustard
200 ml cream
Milled pepper
Parsley
Saute the diced onion in a pan with butter. When the onion becomes transparent stir in the flour. Add 300 ml water a little at a time and stir in until you have a smooth sauce. Add another 300 ml water until you have a light sauce. Cook sauce a bit and bring it to a boil and add the bouillon cubes and stir continually. Cook for 5 minutes then turn off the heat so as no to continue cooking. Mix together in a separate bowl the mustard and the cream. Add a small amount of the hot mixture a little at a time so not to change the consistency of the cream. Slowly add the cream/mustard mixture into the rest of the hot liquid stirring constantly. Tasting is important to see if you need to add more mustard or cream. Add milled pepper and serve with parsley on top.
Taco Soup
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 envelope taco seasoning
2 cans (15-1/4 ounces each) whole kernel corn, undrained
2 cans (15 ounces each) ranch-style or chili beans, undrained
2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
Crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheddar cheese flour tortillas, warmed
In a Dutch oven or a large saucepan, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning, corn, beans and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
Place tortilla chips in soup bowls; ladle soup over chips. Sprinkle with cheese. Served with warm tortillas. (Makes about 2 quarts). 8-10 servings