Sugar Snap Pea & Mushroom Salad

Let me just say I LOVE THIS SALAD!!!!
This recipe makes a lot (it serves 12!), which is a good thing, because you're going to need it! Light and refreshing, especially on a hot day, this salad is always a hit at any get-together. Crisp sugar snap peas, tasty mushrooms, and fresh herbs marinated in olive oil and vinegar?

Yes, please!

It goes together in a snap, and then just marinates until you're ready to go. How easy is that?

And let's face it, folks...everyone can always use another veggie dish! How many cookouts, potlucks, and family get-togethers have you been to where the food table is overwhelmed by sweets? I know I've seen more than my share. Give this a try, I know you'll like it!

Sugar Snap Pea & Mushroom Salad

3/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
6 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
9 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
8 c. sugar snap peas (1 lb.)
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

Begin by marinating the mushrooms: whisk the olive oil, vinegar, and salt & pepper together in a medium sized bowl. Add the mushrooms, toss to coat, and marinate for at least 45 minutes or up to overnight, stirring occasionally.

Cook the snap peas: fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside. Bring a large saucepan of water and 1 tbsp salt to a boil. Add snap peas and cook for 2 minutes. Drain peas and immediately submerge in the ice water. Let sit until chilled, approximately 2 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

Drain the mushrooms and discard all but 1 tbsp. of the marinade. Toss the mushrooms, snap peas, reserved marinade and thyme and serve immediately.

Tortellini Pasta Salad

I went to a party for food, fun, and friends and this little number was sitting quietly among the buffet of food, calling out to me in a thin whisper, "Try me, try me...I'm fresh, fun, and delicious."

Well, I heeded the call and served myself some tortellini and tomatoes. It did not sit on my plate alone though, it happily shared space with salads, wraps, and dessert - which all pleased my palate - but none stole my heart like the Tortellini. That is why I must share it with you today.

♫ Tor * Ta * Lee * Nee ♫


Tortellini Pasta Salad

2 Family Size Cheese Tortellini Packages
One Container Quality, Fresh, Pesto
2 Pints Cherry Tomatoes, halved
3-6 Ounces Spinach, Torn in pieces
Red Onion, Chopped
Italian Dressing

Bring large pot of water to a boil. Cook tortellini for 7 minutes - al dente! Drain and place in large bowl. Add pesto, tomatoes, spinach, and red onion. Add Italian dressing as needed. Do NOT use too much Italian dressing because you really want the pesto to shine with this salad.

That's it! I don't know how I could have made it easier for you. You could make it more difficult by making your own pesto sauce, but I'm sure you would agree that the extra effort would be more than worth it!


♫ Tor * Ta * Lee * Nee ♫

Maple Roasted Pumpkin Salad

When's the last time you put pumpkin in your salad?

Yesterday? Really?

Wow! Until we ate it at the Squash Tasting, we never thought about adding pumpkin to our salad before, but that's exactly what makes this salad unique. There are a lot of wonderful flavors in this salad that makes it superb, but pumpkin is definitely the most unusual ingredient of them all!

Even though the pumpkin appears to take the spotlight in this salad, ALL the other flavors blend together beautifully to create the most peculiar, yet spectacular rainbow of flavors.

Not convinced? You don't like pumpkin??! Here's a crazy idea - leave out the pumpkin altogether and substitute apple instead...fresh cut apples. Apples would mingle perfectly with the feta, arugula, toasted pumpkin seeds and toasted garlic and lime dressing. AND... leaving out the whole "roasting the pumpkin" step would make this a quickie in the kitchen. Of course, you may have to rename the salad, but we don't want you missing out on this salad altogether if you have an issue with pumpkins - the dressing is soooo good!

Whichever way you go, go to the kitchen and create this salad for your next dinner - you'll fall in love with the rainbow!


Maple Roasted Pumpkin Salad

1/4 Cup Pumpkins Seeds
One Pumpkin (3-4 pounds) peeled and cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks
5 Tablespoons Olive Oil
6 Garlic Cloves, unpeeled
1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Course Ground Salt and Pepper
2 Tablespoon plus one teaspoon Pure Maple Syrup
3 Tablespoons Fresh Lime Juice
One Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1-1/2 Pounds Arugula
6 Ounces Feta Cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread pumpkin seeds on rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven until fragrant and starting to brown, 5-7 minutes. Set aside.

On that same baking sheet (lined with foil - trust us!) toss the pumpkin with 2 tablespoons olive oil, unpeeled garlic, red pepper, salt, and pepper. Roast, tossing occasionally, until tender - about 30-40 minutes.

Remove garlic cloves from sheet pan. Set aside. Drizzle pumpkin with 2 tablespoons Maple Syrup; toss to coat. Return to oven and roast, tossing occasionally until glazed, about 5-10 minutes more. Let cool.

Squeeze out roasted garlic and mash to a paste. Transfer to large bowl. Add lime juice, mustard, and remaining one teaspoon maple syrup. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk constantly as you add remaining oil. Set dressing aside.

Add arugula and pumpkin and toss to combine to combine. Serve salad sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds and crumbled feta.

Serve it up and eat it up and be prepared to be impressed!

Radicchio Wraps with Turkey and Swiss

Do you ever get tired of eating the traditional salad?

Seriously! Between trying to spear a few measly lettuce leaves while snagging a couple miscellaneous vegetables in the same jab, there's always that concern that maybe you've gotten too much on the fork! That's not good and we've all been there! You stab and stab and stab, and just when you think you've landed yourself a well-rounded bite, you start to raise it to your mouth, only to hear that little etiquette voice inside your head that's sounding the alarm,"Whoa! Too much...tooooo much! You're not going to get that whole load in your mouth without breaking a wing."

You know what wing we're talking about, right...that wild wing of lettuce, the one drenched in salad dressing that doesn't quite fit in your open mouth so it slams upside your cheek and leaves a nice goopy trail of French dressing? Yeah, that's attractive.

What's worse, before you've polished off your salad, chances are, you'll make this error in judgment at least one more time. Sad, but true.

So, we ask you again, "Are you tired of eating traditional salads?"



YES?!?!

Well lucky for you, we have the perfect substitute.

If you consider this radicchio recipe a salad, then large lettuce leaves smearing your cheeks with dressing could be a problem of the past, BUT you could also view this as a wrap, where the radicchio plays the perfect substitute for the flour tortilla you would normally use in a sandwich wrap. Each one of those little, refined, white floured tortillas weighs a hefty 100 calories each - and they are so not worth that!

SO! Is it a salad or is it a sandwich?


Sandwich or Salad?
Salad or Sandwich?


YOU decide.

YOU enjoy!



Radicchio Wraps with Turkey and Swiss

1-1/2 Oz. Swiss Cheese (Gruyere or Jarlsberg-yum!) cut into matchsticks
One Granny Smith Apple, cut into matchsticks
6 Ounces Jicama, peeled and cut into matchsticks
One Small Celery Stalk, cut into matchsticks
8 Ounces Cooked Sliced Smoked Turkey
2 Radicchio Leaves from one small head
One Tablespoon Mayonnaise
One Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Teaspoons Dijon Mustard
Fresh Chives for garnish

Stir together the mayo, vinegar, and mustard. Set aside. Fill radicchio leaves evenly with remaining ingredients. Drizzle "dressing" sparingly over top. Garnish with chives if desired and then "Wrrrrap her up!"

As always, the possibilities here are endddddddddless! This suggested blend of ingredients make up a sensational salad, but you could do whatever you want with this idea, which is why we love it!

Calico Corn & Bean Salad

Summer is definitely here, and being Memorial Day weekend, it's the start of all the summer cookouts! We don't know about you, but we're always looking for something new to bring...something to really knock everyone's socks off, if you know what we mean! While there's definitely something comforting about seeing all of the same foods every year, we really have the need to shake things up a bit...get crazy, go wild, and take a chance on a new dish!

A few years ago, I needed something new for Noah's birthday cookout, and I had nothing earth-shattering in mind. NOTHING! All of my recipes looked boring and overused to me, so I went on a quest...and found this little gem in a magazine that was only published for a year (and what a shame, it was a great magazine!). Full of veggies and tons of flavor, it was a definite hit! We've made it many times since with rarely any left-overs, but on the off chance there is... it's still wonderful the next day! So get crazy and shake things up a bit at your next cookout! Your guests will thank you!

Calico Corn and Bean Salad

2 cloves garlic, pressed
1-2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. oregano
2 tbsp. oil
3 c. frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 c. water
1 1/2 c. frozen peas
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz. can white beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. chopped red onion
1/2 c. snipped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. salt
1/3 c. oil
1/4 c. lime juice
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 med tomatoes, chopped

I always start by chopping my jalapenos. I know most people will tell you to wear gloves, but I never do, mainly because I never seem to have any. I just try to be really careful about touching the seeds. Cut those peppers in half and scoop the seeds out before dicing the pepper. In a large skillet, cook garlic, jalapenos, cumin, and oregano in 2 tbsp. hot oil for 2 minutes. Add corn and stir to coat. Add water; cover and cook for 2 minutes more. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in peas, beans, onions, cilantro and salt. Cool slightly.

In a screw-top jar, combine the 1/3 c. oil, lime juice, dijon mustard, and black pepper. Cover and shake well to mix. Pour over vegetable mixture; toss gently to coat. Cover and chill 4-24 hours. Stir in tomatoes just before serving, and watch everyone smile with delight!

A Spinach Salad Popeye Would Love

It's a little known secret that Popeye really didn't like eating spinach out of a can, but rather he preferred to eat his spinach, salad-style with eggs and protein to help build his muscles. But realistically, they couldn't have Popeye sitting down for a big bowl of salad every time there was an emergency, so they went with the spinach-out-of-the-can scenario.

As interesting as that little story is, it's completely made up. BUT, it sounds reasonable doesn't it? Who wouldn't prefer a fresh, tasty spinach salad over spinach in a can?

Luckily, you can walk into any store at any time and buy fresh spinach, but its true growing season runs from March through May and from September through October, so right now is when its freshest. So RIGHT NOW is when we’re going to make Spinach Salad.

Most salads include lots of vegetables like carrots and tomatoes, while other swanky salads candy their pecans, dry their cranberries, roast their pine nuts, and flavor themselves up with some gorgonzola cheese. Today, we’re not going to do any of that. Today’s salad is all about spinach and protein.

We always recommend buying the pre-washed spinach, because nobody but June Cleaver has the time to wash the sand and dirt from each and every leaf. So, you can start by moving the spinach from the bag to the salad bowl and pat yourself on the back, because you’re halfway done. ( feel free to wash the spinach yourself, just to be safe..)

Hard boil 4 eggs.
Cook up 6 slices of bacon (turkey or pork – it’s your salad).
Open a can of water chestnuts.
Cut up the eggs and drop in the salad.
Crumble the bacon and do the same.
Cut the chestnuts into at least half and you guessed it, add it to the salad.
You could add some thinly sliced red onions too. In fact, we highly recommend it!

Just imagine for a moment, if you had the eggs boiled and bacon cooked ahead of time, this salad would go together in a flash! Just something to think about....

Our families have always made their own dressing for this salad, which is super easy and super fast – just like the rest of the recipe. I suppose you could always buy your salad dressing from the store and if that is the route you choose, French would probably be the closest thing to what we are going to create ourselves.

For the homemade dressing you’re going to need:

1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 cup Oil
1/3 Cup Vinegar
1/3 Cup Ketchup
One Tablespoon Worcestershire

Mix together and shake, shake, shake.
___________________________

Two Quarts Fresh Spinach
4 eggs
6 Bacon Strips (Turkey Bacon works too)
One Can Water Chestnuts, sliced
Some Very Thinly Sliced Red Onion (optional)
Some Fresh Bean Sprouts (optional)

This has been taste tested on children and adults alike, so if your child likes spinach, then you’ve got yourself a winner here!

Coming Soon... Sloppy Joe....Slop..Sloppy Joe... AND Our Greatest and Most Exciting Discovery Ever! (seriously!)