COLORFUL SPIRAL PASTA SALAD

 

Can you already believe it is April? I can't. And Easter, 2024 has come and gone.

Our Easter Sunday started early as we planned to go to our 8:00 A.M. service. We chose that service because we planned to go to church with our younger son Patrick and his family at their church at 10. Then we were going to go to our gkids' godparents for a family lunch.

As it turned out we missed going to church with Patrick and fam because they decided to go to the Sunrise service at 7 at their church but I didn't get his text because my phone had updated a few days ago and I didn't go in to exclude family members from the Do Not Disturb setting after bedtime. So we didn't know they had changed their minds in time to go. 

We enjoyed out service and then came back home until time to go meet them for lunch. I had asked Jamie what I could bring and she told me a pasta salad. That was something I haven't made too often so I had to go hunting for a recipe.

I found this recipe in a new cookbook for me called Taste of Home Half Homemade. I thought it looked so attractive in the picture and seemed to be really easy to make. It actually took me longer to cut up the fresh broccoli than it was to mix the ingredients. I have decided it won't be the last time I make it when we are going to a potluck.

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COLORFUL SPIRAL PASTA  SALAD

1        pkg. (12 oz) tricolor spiral pasta

4        cups fresh broccoli florets

1        dry pint grape tomatoes 

1        can ( 6 oz) pitted ripe olives, drained

1/8     teaspoon salt

1/8     teaspoon pepper

1-1/2  cups Zesty Italian salad dressing  

In a Dutch oven or big soup pot, cook pasta according to package directions,

adding the broccoli during the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Drain and rinse with cold water. 

Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the tomatoes and olives.

Measure the salad dressing and add the salt and pepper to it, stirring with a whisk.

Pour the salad dressing mix over the pasta mixture in the bowl.

Toss to coat. 

Cover and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Store leftovers in a closed storage container in the refrigerator.

If you keep it a day or two, the flavors will be even better.

HAPPY EASTER

FRUIT SALAD

 I am really late in sharing this Fruit Salad recipe to you, but you can enjoy it anytime of the year. I chose to make it to take and share for our traditional 4th of July celebration with Friends Jamie and Martin who are also the godparents of our MO grandkids. 

Martin always cooks hamburgers and hot dogs and then everyone brings a dish to share. I usually make a dessert, but the group on the whole does not eat a lot of sweets and I end up bringing a lot of it home. That's why this year I decided to make this Fruit Salad and most of it was eaten.

I ended up using my "antique" big yellow bowl, filled it about half way with ice and then set the dish in it and it worked perfectly to keep the salad cold since it was a hot evening. I have posted a picture below the recipe.

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FRUIT SALAD

1     4 - oz container vanilla yogurt

1/2   cup whipped topping, thawed

1      cup seedless grapes, cut in half

1      cup miniature marshmallows

1      11 - oz can mandarian orange segments, drained

1       8 - oz can pineapple tidbits in juice, drained

1       cup fresh strawberries, sliced

Mix the yogurt and cool whip together in a large bowl.

Gently stir in the the grapes,

marshmallows, oranges, and pineapple.

Add the strawberries -

toss gently to coat.

Serve immediately or store covered in the refrigerator up to 8 hours.

STRAWBERRYCHICKEN SALAD

 I love sharing recipes with you. Most people you read my blog consider it a recipe or food blog even though I started it for more of a tutorial blog for quilting/sewing/crafts projects. If I were to collect the posts into categories (which by the way, if you view the web version of my blog would could see the index by "Labels" or categories), I do have more recipes than I do tutorials for projects. Tutorials take several hours to write, but I do feel good after I have written them.

AND most of my recipes lean more toward desserts than anything else, but everyone or at least most people like and want a little sweetness in their life. I say "a little" because I do try to reduce the sugar in many of my recipes but not the sweetness.

Saying this, I always enjoy sharing a recipe that isn't a "dessert" and that is what this recipe is. It all started with my cooking a frozen chicken breast in my slow cooker earlier last week to use in something that called for cooked chicken that we might enjoy for a meal. That day I threw together a chicken salad with half of the "pulled" chicken with things I had in my refrigerator. 

Move forward two days and Friend Janice and I were out going to estate sales and enjoying lunch out. We went to an estate sale for a Berry Farm in a nearby town. The house was what I would call an old farmhouse and most of the things were beautiful but I didn't have room or a need for anymore. As we were leaving, Janice stopped at a small bookcase in the kitchen of cookbooks. I told her I hadn't even looked at the cookbooks at the two previous sales we had been to as I proceeded to pick up one that looked interesting. I settled on a smaller one called Berry Lovers Cookbook. The "o" in Lovers was a drawing of a strawberry. It contains recipes using Blueberries, Blackberries, Cranberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, and other Berry Recipes. I actually found more interesting recipes in the cranberry section that I will be making and sharing soon, but this recipe in the strawberry section was the first one I tried.

Saturday I decided to use the rest of the shredded/pulled chicken making another chicken salad. I have never had a chicken salad using strawberries and admit it was different, but we really enjoyed it. I didn't have all of the ingredients (lime peel and chutney) and a few ingredients I omitted on purpose (curry powder and red onion) because they aren't my favorite, but you probably do the same thing when you make a recipe. I will share the original recipe since I referenced the cookbook, but indicate my changes. Would love to hear from you if you decide to follow the original recipe in the comment section below. I also cut the recipe in half since I only had a cup of cooked chicken. One other personal note: As I said I cut the recipe in half which meant 1/2 teaspoon of salt. This was too much salt for our taste since we don't eat our food with a lot of salt. Since I didn't use the chutney either, I did sprinkle a package of stevia over the salad to help combat the salt taste.

A printable copy of the RECIPE

STRAWBERRY CHICKEN SALAD

1/2       cup mayo or salad dressing

2          tablespoons chopped chutney*

1          teaspoon grated lime peel** 

1          teaspoon salt

1          teaspoon curry powder*

1          tablespoon lime juice**

2          cups diced cooked chicken

1          cup sliced celery

1/4       cup chopped red onion*

1-1/2    pints (2 cups sliced) fresh strawberries

lettuce leaves

In a large bowl, combine the mayo, chutney, lime peel, salt, curry powder, and lime juice.

Add chicken,

celery, and onion.

Toss, cover, and chill. (I omitted this as I was making it for us to eat then.)

Just before serving, slice enough strawberries to make 2 cups; gently toss with chicken mixture.

 

Line platter or individual serving plates with lettuce. Mound chicken salad in center. Garnish with remaining 1 cup whole strawberries. (Since I was making this for our lunch, I omitted the last step, but admit it would be impressive if serving friends for a luncheon.) 

*omitted

**I substituted lemon peel and lemon juice

I also made a sandwich for us which we shared.

The remaining I ate later as a salad with wheat thins. Yum!

CLASSIC MACARONI SALAD

 It feels like Spring has arrived in KCMO. I know it hasn't and we will probably have some more cold days before the month is over, but hopefully they will just be cool instead of cold days or nights. But this week the upper 50s and 60s have been really pleasant. And next week they are forecasting 70 for two days.  

That's why when I was looking for a new recipe this one for Classic Macaroni Salad looked just what the days were calling for. I didn't have any fat-free mayo as the makeover recipe called for in the Taste of Home Light & Tasty magazine from the June/July 2005 issue, but that was okay. I use Miracle Whip anyway and they do have a fat-free option but I think it contains high-fructose corn syrup which we try to avoid.

Wayne was surprised at how good it tasted. He was expecting a hot dish when I told him I had made a macaroni salad so a cold salad he was not expecting. It makes 8 servings so I told him I was glad he liked it because we would be eating it for several days.

CLASSIC MACARONI SALAD

2     cups uncooked elbow macaroni

1     cup fat-free mayonnaise (I used regular Miracle Whip)

2     tablespoons sweet pickle relish

Sugar substitute equivalent to 2 teaspoons sugar

3/4   teaspoon ground mustard

1/4   teaspoon salt

1/8   teaspoon pepper

1/2   cup chopped celery

1/3   cup chopped carrots

1/4   cup chopped onion (optional)

1      hard-cooked egg, sliced

Dash paprika

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and rinse with cold water. Cool completely.

For dressing:

in a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, pickle relish, sugar substitute, mustard, salt, and pepper.

In a large bowl combine the macaroni, celery, carrot, and onion if you are using it.

Add dressing and toss gently to coat. (I did the last two things just the opposite. Worked fine.)

Cover bowl with wrap and refrigerate until serving.

Garnish with egg and paprika.

FRESH FRUIT SALAD

 Saturday I made some absolutely awesome Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal Cookies (to be shared later) and since the recipe made 7-1/2 dozen cookies, I shared them with several of our neighbors. When I took some to Neighbors Sara and Sly, Sara invited us over the next day for a light lunch before the Chiefs' football game.

Sara and Sly moved back to the area a year ago after living in Atlanta for five years. When they were here before, Sara was our handbell choir director at the church. Neither of us knew we were going to be neighbors when they bought the house on our street. Even though we had good intentions, we haven't been able to socialize together. They have a big deck on the back of their house that made keeping our social distance easy.

Sara contributed a green salad, curry chicken salad, and bread and I made a fresh fruit salad. I needed something to especially keep the bananas and apple wedges fresh and didn't really want to use yogurt or sour cream. This recipe turned out great.

I didn't really measure the amount of fruit I used, but I did measure the "dressing". It really isn't a dressing but I don't know what to call it. You can also use whatever fruit you wish to use. I used what I had on hand. If you feel you have more fruit than the dressing can coat, just make another batch of it.

FRESH FRUIT SALAD

Your choice of fresh fruit. I used:

Strawberries

Red grapes

Cantaloupe

Apples (unpeeled)

Bananas

Water/lemon juice solution for apple wedges and banana slices

DRESSING

2     tablespoons lemon juice

2     tablespoons lime juice

2     teaspoons pure maple syrup

1/2  teaspoon ground ginger

pinch of salt

I prepared the fruit: hulled the strawberries and cut them in wedges, and washed 2 small apples and cut in wedges and sliced the bananas

(I put each of these fruits in a bowl of cold water and lemon juice - I didn't measure just poured about a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice in the bowl with the iced water - to keep them from turning brown until I could combine all of the fruit together with the dressing.) I had already cut up a cantaloupe the day before. The grapes I just separated apart.

I combined the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl  until blended.

I layered the fruit in a large bowl and

poured about half of the dressing over the fruit. I gently tossed the fruit in the bowl mixing the fruit with the dressing.

Then I poured the rest of the dressing over the fruit and tossed some more.

I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator until we were ready to leave (about 15 minutes)

The leftovers I kept in the bowl, stirred the fruit to keep it coated with the dressing, and covered with plastic wrap. We finished eating the fruit the next day and Wayne enjoyed drinking the dressing.

It was a fun afternoon socially distanced and all, and we all look forward to more get-togethers in the future.

FROZEN FRUIT SALAD

This is another one of the treats we were treated to when the Mexican Train group met at Friend Carol's. It was quite a feast. I have already shared the dessert, Carrot Cake Bread Pudding and the Honey Date Spread and still have one more Million Dollar Dip yet to share. This recipe makes twelve cute little individual fruit salads. Carol always substitutes stevia for sugar so I feel like she did in this also. I forgot to ask her. (When I do remember to ask her if she substituted for the sugar, she always says, "Of course.")

FROZEN FRUIT SALAD

2     cups sour cream
2     tablespoons lemon juice
3/4  cup sugar
1/8  teaspoon salt
1     9 - oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1/4  cup pecans, chopped
1     banana, sliced

Blend together the sour cream, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. 

Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Pour into 12 regular muffin/cupcake liners.

Freeze.

COLESLAW

On Father's Day we were able to spend the day with at least one of our sons, Patrick. Too bad that our older son Jeffrey wasn't there but it's not easy for them to make the nine hour trip from CO to come here. Patrick decided to BBQ for our dinner and asked me to bring the coleslaw.

My mother always made such good coleslaw but I could't find a recipe in her recipe box. I was thinking about making a 24-Hr Coleslaw but changed my mind when I saw it was a vinegar based coleslaw. (We prefer the salad dressing based coleslaw.) I was going to take the easy way out and buy a bag of the coleslaw mix, but Aldi didn't have any. They did have a head of cabbage so I decided I would just cut it up. When Mother eventually started buying the bagged mix, she would still chop it up finer. She didn't like coleslaw with big pieces of cabbage and so neither do I. It's been a long time since I last made some coleslaw, but this one turned out pretty good. Patrick made sure he got at least half of what was left to enjoy for leftovers.

COLESLAW

1       head of cabbage
1       cup grated carrots
2/3    cup salad dressing (Miracle Whip)
2       tablespoons of lemon juice
2 - 3  teaspoons sugar
1       teaspoon salt
1       teaspoon celery seed

Finely chop the head of cabbage.

I filled my large batter bowl to the top.

Combine the cabbage and the carrots in a really large bowl.

Combine the salad dressing, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and celery seed in a smaller mixing bowl and

stir til well combined. (I made half as much the first time and then made another mixture when it wasn't enough.)

Add the "dressing" to the cabbage/carrots mixture (remember I started out with a smaller amount and then ended up making a second helping - don't worry the recipe I gave above is the doubled amount of ingredients) and

stir til it's thoroughly coated. 














Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Granddaughter Madison requested that her daddy make his peach cobbler and I seconded the motion. He learned how to make it when he was in the Boy Scouts. It has been quite a while since I have had any to enjoy, so it was a special treat for us all. You can read about his Dutch Oven Cobbler here.