My Tuna Melt Tossed Salad

Notice the "My" here. That was not a mistake. This entire bowl is meant for me. And me only. Its the least I can do for myself to fill my hunger after a nice long day of dieting....

Toasted Whole Wheat Croutons

Dice 4 slices of whole wheat bread into small cubes. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Spray generously with Pam/cooking spray. Sprinkle on salt and garlic powder. Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes, until toasted through, but not burnt. 

Goes with Anything Salad Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup distilled vinegar

1 tbsp. yellow mustard

1/2 cup sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything together, and mix until thoroughly combined. Lasts up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. 

Angel Hair Pasta Salad

Colorful vegetables are really cool. Really. Purple and green? Love it.

Angel Hair Pasta Salad
1 pound angel hair pasta, or extra thin spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 bag shredded red cabbage
1 bunch scallions, sliced


Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup oil or less
slivered almonds and/or sesame seeds (optional)


In a large bowl, combine the pasta, cabbage and scallions. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and toss with the pasta and cabbage. Cover and refrigerate. Sprinkle with almonds and sesame before serving.

Grilled Chicken Salad

This recipe is incredibly deceiving. At first glance it looks basically like a salad. How can you possibly have salad for dinner? Well, check out the list of ingredients and you'll see that it really is much more than that- by the time this salad is finished in our house, I am fuller than after eating a shawarma. Trust me, that says alot. 

Grilled Chicken Salad

1 chicken breast, whole, and flattened

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Salad

1 can chick peas (15 ounces)

1 can baby corn ( 15 ounces)

1/2 red pepper, diced

1 plum tomato diced, or 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes

1 cucumber diced

15-20 sugar snap peas ( I didn't have any, but they are really good if you can get some)

Lettuce of your choice

Dressing

3 cloves garlic, crushed, or 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup sugar

Drizzle chicken breast with soy sauce. Broil at 500° for 4-5 minutes on each side. Let cool, and slice into chunks. Toss salad, dressing and chicken in a (very) large salad bowl. Serve with a fresh roll, or whole wheat bread. (Hey if you're going healthy, you might as well go all the way!) Enjoy!  

Some Salads...

I bought this avocado last week thinking I would just throw this quick salad together. But when I sliced it open, I was taken aback at how perfect and beautiful it was. Being the blogger that I am, I was already picturing the post as I was slicing up the salad. So, for a change of pace, here are some salad recipes for you:

Chunky Avocado Salad

2-3 large avocados, just ripe

1 can hearts of palm

1 purple onion diced

1 plum tomato diced, or 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

 Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Stir gently. The bad news: Since avocados are notorious for turning brown when cut, its best to make this salad as close to serving as possible. The good news:since this salad takes about 6 minutes to make, that shouldn't be too much of a problem!

And here's one more salad for you. I love this recipe because of all the colors that are in it;
 it's literally a rainbow!

Health Salad

4 medium cucumbers, sliced thin

4 carrots,sliced thin or shredded

1 purple onion, sliced thin

1 green pepper, sliced thin

1 yellow pepper, sliced thin

1 red pepper, sliced thin

3/4 cup vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil or less

4 tbsp water

1 tbsp salt

Preview


Mix vinegar, sugar, oil, water and salt; pour over vegetables and mix. Let  marinate for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

BBQ in a snap

 

So yesterday we had an awesome barbecue, and I thought I would share it with you! And the cool part is we threw it together in less than 20 minutes! So here's what we had:

A: Chicken Breast and Hotdogs in Hunts Honey Mustard Barbecue Sauce

B:Yummy fresh corn

C:Crinkle Cut French Fries....Stop and Shop special

D:New Kosher Special Sweet and Sour Sauce

(Incidentally the best Chinese restaurant in the world)

E: Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

F.Three Bean Salad

G: Coleslaw

H: Hamburger Chips Dill Pickles

Recipes

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into french fry shapes

Pam cooking spray

Garlic Powder

Salt

Cumin

Cajun Seasoning

Heat oven to 450. Spread sweet potato slices in a cookie sheet in a single layer. Spray slices with pam. Sprinkle seasonings over. Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are soft.

Three  Bean Salad
1 pound  fresh green beans*

1 can chick peas ( garbanzo beans)

1 can baby corn

1 red onion, diced

4 stalks celery, diced small

3 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Bring 4 inches of water to a boil. Meanwhile, trim green beans. When water is at a strong boil, pour green beans into the water. Let the water return to a boil, and cook uncovered for 6 minutes. Pour green beans into a colander, and rinse with cold water. Put green beans in a bowl and add the rest of ingredients. Mix well.
*If you are in a hurry you can use two cans of canned green beans.

This is a great recipe for coleslaw that I got from my good friend DT. It comes out perfect every time! Thanks DT!

Coleslaw
1 bag Dole coleslaw

1/2 cup mayonaise

1/2 cup sugar

1/4  cup vinegar

splash of lemon juice

Mix everything together.

Enjoy your BBQ!