Marshmallow fruit salad

Aka Hawaiian salad.
aka Rainbow marshmellow fruity floof

My bestie Amy asked me to make marshmellow rainbow salad and this is what I came up with.  It's a combo of a few recipes so im not listing a link to any particular site.

Teenblock said this was gross and Mrblocko refused to try it.  Their loss.

Hawaiian Salad
8 oz cool whip (this is a small container)
1/2 c sour cream (I wanted to use coconut flavored Icelandic yogurt called Skyr but it was sold out)
1 c shredded sweetened coconut
1 11-oz can mandarin oranges, drained
1 8-oz can pineapple chunks, drained (I wished I had used tidbits)
1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained and pat dry with paper towels
3/4 cup chopped pecans (i used unsalted)
2 heaping cups rainbow fruity marshmellows

In a large bowl, fold together cool whip and sour cream. Fold in remaining toppings.  Chill.  Is best if you can make a day ahead.

Apple Poppy Seed Slaw

This dish was our veggie side of choice until the garden started producing stuff for us to eat.  I think it was the first slaw I've made that Mrblocko actually liked.  I got so excited that he liked it that I made it so often we got a bit sick of it.  I'm sure come spring we will be craving it again along side a big fat juice burger right off the grill.

Apple Poppy Seed Slaw adapted from Damn Delicious and Simply Scratch
about 1/2 head green cabbage and 1/2 head red cabbage- sliced to form shreds
2-3 carrots, shredded
1 medium sized Granny Smith apple, julienned
1 medium sized Fuji apple, julienned

dressing
2 T mayo
3 T olive oil
1 T apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T poppy seeds
1-2 T Honey to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

in large bowl combine first 3 ingredients.  In small bowl combine dressing ingredients.  toss slaw mixture with dressing.  Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Notes:  We like our slaw on the dry side.  If you like a more runny slaw, feel free to double the dressing ingredients.  Also, make sure to taste the dressing before putting it on the veggies.  For some reason, each batch I've made requires a different amount of honey.

Deviled Egg Spread

I love deviled eggs.  

Sadly, I'm cursed with the "I can't peel an egg" gene.

They wind up looking like Freddy Kruger or Edward Scissorhands had a go at them.

It's really rather disturbing to look at.  Sort of like this cartoon.

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C'mon.  Admit it.  It made you chuckle.

With this dip, you don't have to worry about how the eggs look when you peel them because you're just going to hack them up anyway.

Oh sure, you could call it egg salad, but Deviled Egg Spread tastes and sounds so much more fancy schmancy.


Deviled Egg Spread from The Cutting Edge
1 dozen large eggs
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
Salt & pepper
Paprika for dusting

In large pan, cover eggs with cold water; make sure water is  an inch above eggs. Add vinegar. Bring to rapid boil. Cover pan and remove from heat. Let stand 15 min. Drain water from eggs and cool under cold running water. Shake pan vigorously to crack shells. Let eggs cool in water.

Shell eggs and halve them lengthwise. Coarsely chop half egg whites and transfer to large bowl. Add remaining white and all yolks to food processor with mayo and mustard. Process til smooth. Scrape mix into bowl and blend with chopped egg whites. Season with salt and pepper and top with paprika.  Can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight.

Avocado Tuna Melt

One of Blockette's least favorite dinners is the tuna melt.  What I normally do is take some ranch dressing, mix it up with tuna, and top it with cheese.  Sometimes I put it over a baked potato instead of a sandwich.  She hates that too.

She must not be part tiger.

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I asked her what she thought of this recipe from The Kitchen Paper, and she said she was willing to try it.  She thought the avocado would make the tuna taste better. 

When I tasted it I was worried she would turn her nose up at it.  My strange child does not like pickles either.  Even though there is not a lot of pickle relish in it, I thought the pickle flavor was quite strong.  Apparently, avocado is magic. 

She even gave a cheer the day I told her we were having it as leftovers.  Actually, her reaction was more like this:

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If you want to take any sandwich to the next level, make this multi-grain bread.  It's totally amazeballs.  It may also have had something to do with Blockette's excitement toward tuna sandwich leftovers.

I tripled the recipe so we would have leftovers, but below is a recipe for a single serving.

Avocado Tuna Sandwich from The Kitchen Paper serves 1
1 6-oz can of tuna
2 T mayo
1 T prepared yellow mustard
1-2 T dill pickle relish
1 t lemon juice
1 splash hot sauce
2 T minced onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 slice of bread
¼ avocado
1 slice of cheddar cheese

Drain liquid from tuna, and combine with mayo, mustard, relish, lemon juice, hot sauce, and minced onion, adding more mayo if needed.  Season with salt and pepper. Toast bread, then spread on the avocado. Top with tuna mix, then cheese.  Broil 3-5 min til cheese is melted and browned to your liking.

A Jello Salad for Jello Haters Like Me

Yeah.  I'm the weirdo who doesn't like Jello.  Yes we exist.  Freaks of nature. 

So if I hate Jello so much, why make a Jello Salad?  Because, in my book Jello is like tomatoes.  Gross on their own because of the texture, but darn right scrumptious when mixed with something else!

The funny thing is that Mrblocko did not like the texture of the salad.  He said there was too many different things going on and it weird-ed him out.  We'll just chalk that up to the fact that the man will eat a tomato raw right out of the garden. Ew.

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I made this for a big potluck at church, so naturally I forgot to take a picture of it before leaving the house.  It, like many dessert type "salads" is not photogenic.  It was blobby and lumpy.  I wouldn't have had a clue how to make something like that even remotely attractive to eat.  The dish was empty before the night was through so nobody must have cared!

I found the jello salad recipe over at Something Swanky, but I just had to put in some additional goodies!


Jello Salad adapted from Something Swanky
8 oz cottage cheese (low fat is fine) (I used the fatty stuff)
3 oz Jello mix, any flavor (the sugar free mix works fine too) (I used Regular Sugar-y Orange)
8 oz cool whip(lite or sugar free is fine) (I used the extra creamy)
1 c Pecan pieces
8 oz pineapple tidbits, juice drained
8.25 oz mandarin orange slices, drained
1 heaping c mini marshmallows
1 c shredded coconut

In a large bowl, stir cottage cheese with Jell-O powder until mixed well. Fold in Cool Whip.
Gently mix in remaining ingredients.  Chill overnight, or at least 4 hours for flavors to meld.

Chili Maple Crockpot Chicken

This crockpot recipe for chili maple chicken hails from the blog When The Dinner Bell Rings.  It doesn't look like much, but it was amazing.  I loved the spicy and the sweet together!

I didn't have any real maple syrup on hand so I used homemade pancake syrup instead.  I got some chipotle chile powder for my birthday and I thought the smokey element of the chipotle would add another flavor dimension.  Not having used chipotle powder before, I was concerned it might be too spicy for Blockette.  I used half regular chili powder and half chipotle.  The chicken was just spicy enough to prevent the chicken from tasting bland, perfect for tender tastebuds.

The lack of water in this recipe really surprised me.  I'm so used to cooking chicken that is completely submerged in some sort of sauce or broth while baking in the crockpot.  Rest assured, the chicken turns out just fine and is in no way dry!

We ate our chicken in a cold salad.  Since there was no real sauce, I thought it would be too bland or dry served with pasta or rice. The salad turned out to be perfect as we were having unseasonably hot temps when I made it back in late September. We wound up having leftovers.  I'll write about what I did with the remaining chicken later this week!

Chili Maple Glazed Chicken from When the Dinner Bell Rings
2 Tablespoons Water
1 Teaspoon Salt
1.5 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
4 chicken breasts

Toss all ingredients in slow cooker on high. Bake covered 4-6 hrs. 

Chicken Salad with Noodley Goodness

I am so super duper triple quadruple sick of the heat this summer. I've been avoiding the oven as much as I possibly can. We've gotten sick of my go to salad recipes, so I decided to switch things up and make chicken salad from A Well Seasoned Life.

Instead of lemon pepper rotisserie chicken, I used about 3 large grilled chicken breasts.  I had Mrblocko brush them with Italian salad dressing and lemon pepper.  Had I been thinking, I would have marinaded them first.  As it is, I thought it was pretty swell that I remembered to thaw the chicken out so he could grill them up over the weekend for me to use later in the week.

I also added about a third of a box of noodles.  Obviously, I cooked them before adding them to my salad.  Well, maybe not so obviously.  I've been super spacy and forgetful this summer.  I blame it on the heat and extreme allergy-ness. 

Apparently, my cilantro doesn't like this weather either.  I killed all the cilantro in my garden, so I bought a bunch at the store.  I got around to using it 3 days after I bought it, and nearly all of it was slimy!  Doh!  I was able to salvage a scant 1/4 c, so I added a few ribs of finely chopped celery.  I really liked the crunch this added to the salad.

I ate my chicken salad over a bed of lettuce.

Blockette thought this salad was icky because she could "see" the mayo.  I'm not sure what that had to do with anything.  Probably because she watched me make this salad, and knew that it had mayo in it, she decided it must be gross.

I asked her if she would eat it if she couldn't "see" any of the mayo, and she said, "Of course."

So I wrapped her salad up in lettuce leaves. Blockette thought this was super cool and happily ate her "lettuce burritos" without a fuss. She even went as far as to say she liked them and would I make them again? It's funny how a simple thing, like a leaf of lettuce, made such a big difference.


Chicken Pasta Salad adapted from A Well Seasoned Life
1 rotissarie chicken or 3-4 grilled chicken breasts, shredded
4 green onions, chopped
2 ribs of celery, finely diced
1/4-1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro (I totally think you could use fresh parsley if you are freaky and think cilantro tastes like dirt.)
1/3 lb short cut pasta, (like macaroni) cooked, drained and rinsed in cool water to prevent sticking

special super secret sauce
1 c mayo (I like the kind made with olive oil)
2 T spicy mustard
4-5 drops hot sauce
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t garlic salt
1/2 t smoked paprika

Blend your super secret sauce ingredients together.  Add everything else and mix until combined.  Chill for a few hours so the flavors can mingle and get happy with each other.  Scoop onto a bread like substance for a sandwich, over lettuce, or like Blockette prefers, wrapped in leafy greens!

Skinny Taco Dip

Whoops! No picture for the skinny taco dip. I made this for a cook out at a friend's house and it was a big hit. I actually brought my camera to the party to take pictures, but did I remember to take the camera out of its case and actually take pictures?  No.  Of course not!

The recipe for Skinny taco dip can be found on Skinnytaste.com, along with a nice photo.

I altered the recipe slightly.  Here is what I did:
Mix 1 package (8oz) Neufchatel cheese with half a container of fat free sour cream (8 oz).  Stir in 1-2 cups of salsa.  (I only used 1 cup of medium pace picante because it is a bit more liquidy than regular salsa.)  Add in 1 packet of taco seasoning or 2-3 T of your own taco mix. (I used 2 T.)  Spread this mixture in a 9x13 pan.  Layer with shredded lettuce.  (I used 1/4 head of ice berg lettuce.)  Top with a layer of diced tomatoes. (I used 2 smallish sized tomatoes that I seeded to eliminate excess moisture.  Add more if you actually like tomatoes.)  Next add a layer of shredded cheese.  (I used about 1 cup of longhorn colby and 1 cup of sharp cheddar because I really like cheese.)  Add black olives on top.  (I only used a few olives because Blockette hates olives.  If I was making this just for myself I would have put the entire 2.25 oz can of black olives on top, because I really like black olives.)

Pepperoni Pasta Salad

The Pasta salad from Buns in my Oven was a fun salad to make. Pizza in salad form?  AW yeah!  Pizza flavors and I don't have to heat up the house?  Double yeah!

I saw the recipe, bookmarked it, and the next week they had bags of mini pepperoni on clearance for 50 cents!!! Why? I have no clue.  The expiration date was weeks away.  I'm just kicking myself that I didn't buy more than one bag and freeze them. The following week, they were no where to be seen.  Oh well.  Live and learn.

I did change the proportions of the ingredients from the original recipe to suit our tastes.  Here is how I made the salad.

*about 9-10 oz pasta, (slightly more than half a box) cooked and cooled (I used a mixture of gemelli and medium shells because it was what we had in the pantry.)
*half a jar of whole green olives with pimentos (I used the whole olives because I told Blockette she wouldn't have to eat any olives and I thought they would be easier to pick out.  I just dumped in olives until it looked like enough green throughout the salad.)
*A small can sliced black olives (I would have used whole olives, but I already had the sliced ones in the pantry.)
*About 1 c shredded sharp cheddar
*1/3 c zesty itallian dressing
*whole bag of mini pepperoni
*1/4 of a softball sized red onion, thinly chopped  (They only had the freaky mutant ones at the store.  Use whatever you can find.)

Dump all the ingredients into a bowl and combine.  Let the salad chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving if possible to let the flavors combine.

Moroccan Tuna Casserole

Summer is salad weather in our house. Well, it is also grilling weather. It's actually, Mrsblocko doesn't want to use the oven and heat up the house weather, but they are all essentially the same thing. So when I came across Moroccan pasta salad over at Food.com I thought it might be something interesting to try.

As I was assembling the recipe, I found that it needed to be tweaked quite a bit. The original recipe says to use an 8 oz can of corn and 2-3 Tablespoons of olives. I used an entire 15 oz can of corn and one of those short stumpy cans of sliced black olives. This made the salad seem much more substantial.As you can tell from the photo above, I used regular corkscrew noodles instead of the tri-colored. I had oodles of noodles in my pantry and couldn't justify buying another box just to be fancy. I also served this salad over a bed of lettuce. Mrblocko and I agreed that this made the salad seem more like a complete meal. I served it with some fruit on the side and viola, a one dish meal.

Finally, I used tuna in vegetable oil, not olive oil. This was my error at the grocery store. I simply grabbed the wrong can off the shelf. I didn't think it made any difference. I did drain off some of the oil in the can. There just seemed like a lot in there and while dressing on a salad is nice, oily salad is not. I also did not add any extra olive oil. If I was trying to eliminate oil, why would I add more oil?

The salad was simple to prepare and everything, but it didn't knock my socks off. The tuna wasn't overly fishy tasting, but it was lacking something. Maybe it needed more spices? I don't know. Everyone ate the salad without complaint, but we were all glad when the leftovers were gone.

Moroccan Pasta Salad with Tuna from Food.com
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2-1 teaspoon cumin
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
8 ounces tri-colored rotini pasta, cooked
1 (3 ounce) can tuna in olive oil, flaked apart
1 (8 ounce) can corn, drained
2 -3 tablespoons sliced black olives

Mix olive oil, mayo, and spices together in a small bowl. Mix other ingredients in a large bowl. Then stir mayo mix in with pasta. Serve cold.

Fennel, Apple and Radicchio Slaw

This is the salad I made for Thanksgiving. I am so behind that maybe I will have Thanksgiving stuff posted before Christmas....then again...maybe not. Anyhow The recipe comes from a blog called What Would Cathy Eat.

Mrblocko agreed that this is more slaw like than a salad. Maybe because when you slice up the radicchio it looks like shredded red cabbage. Radicchio tastes nothing like red cabbage. Radicchio is very bitter. I always forget this.

The salad was almost too bitter for us. All three of us were very unsure whether or not we actually liked the salad. Then, I had a brilliant idea. Raisins. Raisins totally saved this salad. Their sweetness really offset the bitterness of the radicchio. I don't have an exact amount for the raisins. I just sprinkled a few on top of our individual portions.

Because it was only three of us eating this huge salad, we were sick of it by the time it was gone. (In fact, I distinctly recall both Mrblocko and Blockette cheering when I dished out the last bowl for myself.) I did poll the family and they agreed that they would eat it as a side dish again. Next time I will add about a teaspoon of sugar to the dressing , and saute the shallots. I think this will also help cut the bitterness. Besides raisins, I think dried pineapple or mango flavored pineapple would also be tasty. I might give those dried fruits a try next time as well.


Fennel, Radicchio and Apple Salad from What Would Cathy Eat
1 medium head radicchio, cored and thinly sliced
1 large or two small fennel bulbs, sliced paper thin with a mandoline, fronds reserved
1 large crisp, sweet apple (such as Cortland or Gala), unpeeled, thinly sliced with a mandoline
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (use a gluten-free variety if you are gluten sensitive)
1 small shallot, finely minced
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Combine the radicchio, fennel and apple in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, shallot, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Pour half of dressing over veg and stir to combine. Taste, and gradually add more dressing until it’s to your liking. Garnish with fennel fronds and pecans.  Serves 4-6

Baked Potato-Potato Salad

My mom makes the best potato salad on the planet as far as I'm concerned. It has mustard, mayo, cucumbers and radishes in it. I have never been able to replicate it. That is probably because she just eyeballs the amounts and it miraculously turns out perfectly every time. My version, hmmm...not so much. I just make sure that I convince her to make it when we come to visit her, or she comes to visit us.

My mother's potato salad aside, a few years ago we went to Mrblocko's best friend's house for a BBQ. They had bought a potato salad from a local store that was very much like a loaded baked potato, only in potato salad form. This was almost as good as my mom's version even though its only similarities were that it contained mayo and potatoes.

This Baked potato salad has stuck in my mind and I have wanted to attempt it, but potatoes never want to cook properly for me. Since I have discovered the blessings of the crockpot baked potato, I have finally been willing to give making potato salad another try.

A few months ago I came across two very similar potato salad recipes that sounded like what I had eaten all those years ago. The first was from Buns in my oven and the other was from craving comfort with the homesteading housewife. I smashed the 2 recipes together and I think I recreated the baked potato salad I tasted so long ago.

Mrblocko, after consuming the first bite, declared it to be the best potato salad he ever ate. I asked if it was even better than my mom's. He gave a resounding yes. I was sceptical, and debated that they were so different I don't know that the two salads could be compared. He replied, "Honey, I love your mom's potato salad, but this one has bacon. Everything is better with bacon." Here's my version of the recipe:

Loaded Baked potato salad
1.5 lbs baking/russet potatoes
1/2 c real mayo (I used low fat)
1/2 c low fat sour cream
3/4 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 lb bacon
3 gr onions, white and green parts, sliced
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp seasoning salt(I used Bacon flavored Salt)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp smoked paprika

Wash potatoes, brush with olive oil, and stab the bejeezus out of them. Place them in a crock pot on high for around 2 hours until they are cooked through. Set the potatoes aside to cool. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, dice them into bite size pieces. Let them cool completely in the fridge. In the meantime, cook the bacon until it is crispy. Crumble or cut into small pieces. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl, making sure to set aside some bacon, gr onions and cheese for a decorative topping. Add cooled potatoes. Stir very carefully until the potatoes are coated with the mayo mixture. Top with reserved, cheese, bacon and gr onions. This dish is best after it sits in the fridge for a few hours and the flavors get a chance to marry.

Faux Sweet Tomatoes Broccoli Salad

I love me some Sweet Tomatoes. No, not the actual tomatoes, the restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes. In some areas it's called Souplantation. Why do I love this restaurant? It's a soup and salad buffet, and you can't go wrong with that combo in my book. Mrblocko and Blockette enjoy going there. I usually dine there when I'm out on a girl's night though. My friend's husbands are pure carnivores and would squeal like a stuck pig if someone suggested that a vegetable pass their lips.

Anyhow, Sweet Tomatoes carries this awesome broccoli salad. Last spring I came across a recipe for Mock Sweet Tomatoes Broccoli Salad from The Homesteading Housewife. Somehow it migrated to the back of my recipe binder. It resurfaced and I am so sad that I didn't try it sooner! The combo from the crunch of the broccoli and cashews, paired with the sweetness of the raisins and red onion and the saltiness of the bacon was just what I was craving!
As I was making this salad I wondered if there was an actual recipe for this salad put out by Sweet Tomatoes itself. I did a search and found Joan's Broccoli Madness Salad on Sweet tomatoes blog. The recipes are nearly identical. The "Real" recipe contains more sugar. I think I like the fake one better. The next time I make this I'm going to tweak the recipe and use a bit less mayo. There was just a tad bit too much. Oh, I also used more bacon. You can never have too much bacon.

I'm wondering how this salad would taste with pecans and craisins in place of the cashews and raisins. The craisins might be just a bit too tart for the combination. Maybe the next time I get a wild hair I'll test that idea out. Right now I'm content with the current ingredients.

There is one caveat to this salad, after day 2, the cashews loose their crunch. This is a sad sad thing. There are 2 solutions to this problem:
1. Gobble the salad up before this happens.
2. Put the cashews on your individual portion before consumption.


Dana's Best Broccoli Salad (inspired by Sweet Tomato) from the Homesteading Housewife
Salad
3-4 heads worth of broccoli florets , cut into bite-sized pieces
1 medium red onion, diced finely
3/4 cup salted cashew halves, broken
3/4 cup raisins
6 slices bacon, crisp-cooked & crumbled

Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise (or 1/2 cup mayo & 1/2 cup plain yogurt)
5 Tablespoons vinegar (I like salad vinegar)
3 Tablespoons sugar
Dash of freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over salad, mix to coat. Refrigerate for a few hours to develop flavors. It's best when made the day before!

Fresh Broccoli Salad, Part 2: Electric Bugaloo

I wrote about Alton Brown's Fresh Broccoli Salad in August of last year. I'm just only now getting around to making it again. Who knows why. We really liked it the first time. I guess I must have just forgotten about it. Now that the weather is getting nicer, we've moved from soups to salads as a big part of our dinners.

This time I used toasted hazelnuts instead of pecans. I liked the hazelnuts better than the pecans. Of course that is probably because aside from my husband and daughter, hazelnuts are my favorite nut!

I still thought the dressing was overly acidic, even though I used a heaping Tablespoon of Dijon mustard instead of 2 teaspoons. Maybe I need to use a different vinegar, balsamic or red wine perhaps? I may also try honey mustard instead of Dijon mustard. It could be that the dressing needs more sweetness to balance the acid from the vinegar and lemon.

While eating the leftovers, I got to thinking about the sweetness of this dish. I wondered if adding craisins would do the trick. I still think the dressing needs to be sweeter because the acidity seemed to increase the tartness of the dried cranberries. While craisins are tart, they are mostly sweet, but in this dish I could barely taste their sweetness.

Don't get me wrong, the salad is good, delicious in fact, but it still needs a slight tweaking in my opinion. I must add that my mom and husband both thought this dish was fine as is. That was most likely due to the fact that they actually ate the tomatoes in the dish. The grape/cherry tomatoes do their job in providing the necessary sweetness. Since I'd rather not eat raw tomatoes, I need to find something else to balance the flavor of the salad.

Lemon Infused Chicken and Couscous Salad

I found this recipe sometime before the fall of 2008. I was having one of my many cold induced sleepless mornings. Usually parking in front of the TV listening to the repetitive nature of the morning news lulls me back into some sort of sleep state. (For some reason it has to be the Chicago NBC station.) This particular morning I was somewhere between awake and asleep. I was awake enough to hear what the news segment was about, but too asleep to open my eyes.

What they were making sure sounded delicious. The dish was supposed to be something simple yet impressive for the non-cook. When I was more than semi-conscious, I went to the NBC5 website and found the recipe. Good thing I printed the recipe out vs. bookmarking it because I searched the NBC5 website and the recipe was no where to be found.

Why on earth did they take it down? This is a stellar recipe. It is perfect for the summer because you don't need to turn the oven on. I toasted the coconut and almonds right on the stove top, although you could use your oven if you wanted to. I'm excited about this salad because it would be perfect to take to a church picnic or family reunion. Most of the salad recipes I have are mayo based, not exactly something conducive to sitting outside in the hot heat for an extended period of time.

I accidentally forgot to buy the tomatoes for this dish. I had an extra Roma tomato, which was the perfect amount of tomato to salad ratio for me. However, it lacked something visually without the red of the tomatoes. Next time I'll make sure they wind up on the shopping list.

I was uncertain about the amount of mint in the recipe so I used a big handful of mint, about half a bunch. A whole bunch of mint leaves seemed like it would be very overpowering. I think half a bunch of mint was the perfect amount for our tastes.

Since the goat cheese was optional, I left that out too. The dish seemed fine without it. The salt in the cheese would probably bring out the tangy and sweet flavors in the salad along with adding another dimension of texture. Blockette is fussy about cheese, especially white crumbly cheeses. I figured it would be best to keep it out of the mix.

The last change that was made was the vinegar. For some reason I can never find sherry vinegar. I'm not sure what sherry vinegar tastes like. I don't even know what regular sherry tastes like. Whenever a recipe calls for sherry vinegar I just substitute red wine vinegar. It always seems to work great for me.

Lemon Infused Chicken and Couscous Salad
1 whole rotisserie chicken (meat removed and shredded)
1 box roasted garlic couscous
1 bunch fresh mint leaves (I used half a bunch)
2 lemons, zested
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes halved
1 bunch of scallions. green parts only, cut on bias
4 T olive oil
1 heaping cup sliced or shaved almonds, toasted
1 bag orange flavored dried cranberries
1 cup toasted coconut
4oz goat cheese (optional)
1/4 c sherry vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

Prepare couscous per package. Chop mint leaves. Combine mint, lemon zest, and oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken. Toss to coat. Then add couscous, tomatoes, almonds, cranberries, coconut and scallions. (Add crumbled goat cheese now if desired.) Thoroughly mix. Sprinkle with vinegar. Toss again. Chill at least 30 minutes. Serve with lettuce to garnish.

Fresh Broccoli Salad

Many moons ago Mrblocko and I were winding down for the night in front of the TV. Correction, Mrblocko was playing a computer game on the couch and I was watching "Good Eats" on the Food Network. Apparently, Mrblocko was paying more attention than I thought he was, because he nudged me and said, "That sounds really good. Can you make that sometime?"

I was shocked because the dish in question was Fresh Broccoli Salad from the episode, "If it ain't broccoli don't fix it." Anytime my husband expresses interest in a salad or veggie, I'm all over it. So, the next day, I went online and printed out the recipe. I stuck it in my recipe binder and promptly forgot about it.

Then, the recipe magically resurfaced and it was a big success. Even Blockette enjoyed it, but she is an unusual kid who begs me to buy broccoli and cauliflower at the grocery store. (Yet another reason why I think she might be someone else's kid. When I was her age, you couldn't get me to touch that stuff with a ten foot pole.)

Mrblocko liked the lemony-ness of the dish. I like lemons, but I thought it was too much of a good thing. Next time I'll increase the mustard. I think that will help to balance the lemon flavor.

I used pecans because they were in the freezer begging to be used. On the episode of "Good Eats" in question, Alton Brown used hazelnuts. For some reason they don't keep hazelnuts with the rest of the nuts at Meijer's. You can only find them in the baking section in teeny tiny bags. Next time I'll splurge and use hazelnuts. I'm interested to see if the flavor of the salad is changed drastically with a different type of nut.

Fresh Broccoli Salad from Alton Brown's Good Eats on The Food Network
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 lemon, zested
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound broccoli, rinsed, trimmed and sliced thinly on a mandolin
6 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
3 ounces coarsely chopped, toasted pecans or hazelnuts
2 tablespoons chiffonade fresh basil leaves

Whisk vinegar, zest, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper in med bowl. While whisking constantly, gradually add oil. Add broccoli and toss to coat. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Stir in tomatoes, hazelnuts and basil. Cover and allow to sit, at room temp or in the refrigerator, for another 15 min before serving.

Bummer of a slaw

This recipe for Spicy Radicchio Slaw with Pecans comes from an article about Cole slaw written by Deb Pearlman of Smitten Kitchen. (It's the second recipe from the bottom.)

I had really high hopes for this salad, and I did enjoy it...the first day I ate it. I think the radicchio and cabbage got too soggy after a few days. It wouldn't have lasted so long, but Mrblocko hated it and wouldn't eat anything past the first bite. My mom who was visiting wound up eating most of it. I'm still not sure if she liked it, or was eating it to be nice. She is tricky like that sometimes.

I think the radicchio was the main culprit. It was very very bitter. I don't remember ever having radicchio that tasted quite so acrid. Perhaps it was a dud radicchio? Either way it overpowered the salad. Purple cabbage would be a good replacement. It would eliminate the bitterness, but keep some of the beautiful color within the salad.

The produce at the grocery store must be off right now, because the Granny Smith apple I used was very tart. I nibbled on a few of the slices before I popped them into the mixing bowl. I like a tart apple but, zowie! The tartness of the apple was not complimentary to the bitter radicchio. Next time, (sorry Mrblocko, I gotta give this recipe another go. Bear with me!) I will use a mix of Granny Smith and a sweeter apple like a Honeycrisp.

I attempted to cut the bitter and tart elements of this salad by adding something sweet. I had originally wanted to use raisins, but I only had currents. The currents were too small to give the needed burst of sweetness. Next time I'll use raisins. I noticed that the grocery store now carries three colors: green, red and the regular dark purple. If I use purple cabbage, I'd eliminate the green cabbage so I didn't have a bunch of leftover cabbage that went to waste. With all that purple in the salad, I'd use green raisins to help balance the color of the salad.

One carrot seemed a bit sparse for my liking. Two or three would add to the color and sweetness. I usually add more carrot than a recipe calls for. I don't know why I didn't do it this time.

I don't know if using regular paprika had a big effect on the taste of the salad. I need to get some smoked paprika and find out. I keep forgetting that I don't have to go to a specialty store to purchase some. They sell smoked paprika in the spice section of the grocery store now. Must be my recent onset of age. Memory is the first thing to go. Where am I!? What am I doing? Who's blog is this! Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Spicy Radiccio Slaw with Pecans from NPR Makes 6 to 8 servings
Slaw:
1 head radicchio, halved, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 medium head of Savoy cabbage, halved, cored, halved again and thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1 Granny Smith apple, cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

Dressing:
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon smoked spicy paprika
3/4 cup mayonnaise
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine radicchio, cabbage, carrot, apple, onion and pecans in a large bowl. Mix well with hands and set aside. In a small bowl, stir mustard, sugar, paprika, mayonnaise and lemon juice until blended. Season with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over cabbage mix and toss well to coat. Taste again for seasoning, then mound onto a platter.

Cheater Bacon-y Ranch Slaw

Thank you Kraft for this super easy cheater cheater Ranch slaw with bacon. The hardest part of making this coleslaw was cooking up the bacon. It was so hard that I had to reward myself with several pieces of crispity crunchy bacon.

Mrblocko was not jazzed when I told him I was going to make coleslaw as a side to grilled savory wings. How quickly his tune changed when I told him it was made with ranch dressing and bacon. Everything's better with bacon.

Blockette ate this under great duress, at least she did until I had the idea of cracking some fresh ground black pepper over my portion. Of course, then she wanted some pepper on hers too. That pepper made the delicious even more divine. The pepper enhanced the flavors of both the bacon and the ranch. MORE bacon-y ranch goodness??? YUM I say!!! Blockette gobbled hers up lickety split.

I do feel I owe Kraft an apology. They provided this uber easy scrumptious recipe and I had the nerve to use Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing. I'll go hang my head in shame now.

Kraft's Ranch Bacon Coleslaw
1 pkg. (16 oz.) coleslaw blend (cabbage slaw mix)
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cooked, crumbled
1/2 cup KRAFT Ranch Dressing

Combine ingredients. Chill to let flavors combine