French dressing

Far from your typical french dressing, this is my all time favorite vinaigrette!

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp pepper

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp paprika

dash cayenne

2 c extra virgin olive oil

2/3 c red wine vinegar

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tbsp sugar

***I like my dressings more tangy than usual so I put about equal parts oil/vinegar

Old School Taco salad

Mmmm, my family loves our taco salad!  My mom made it all the time for us as kids and there were never any leftovers!  Ours always had:

Crunchy iceberg (still good for a few-very few-things in life)

Dark red kidney beans

Carrots

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Grated cheddar cheese

Tortilla chips

Taco meat

Now we were weird and always ate our with Wishbone Russian Dressing.  Like, none of us would even touch a "taco salad" unless there was Russian Dressing to go with it.  And every time we would use an entire bottle, and my mom would bark "THAT'S ENOUGH, look I don't even HAVE any on my salad, the flavor of the meat is good enough!!!" and we would all ignore her and pour another 1/4 cup on our "salad"

Now that having been said, my friend Emily introduced me to taco salad with Catalina dressing.  Gasp!!! But I have to say, it adds a tanginess that the Russian doesn't have.  Russian is more sweet, but it has the bitterness of the celery seed in it that balances it out.  (Yes, I have issues, I can taste the freaking celery seed in a salad dressing full of high fructose corn syrup).  That having been said, they are both delicious, and take me right back to the good ole days around the Blickenstaff family dinner table!

Santa Rosa Rice Salad

I had this gem at a baby shower a couple weeks ago.  It was the perfect Mom's dish: healthy and delicious and light!  I couldn't stop eating it and went straight home, begged for the recipe, and made it and ate the entire thing by myself, it was THAT good!  The dressing is light but tangy, not heavy at all. The snow peas give it the perfect crunch and round it out with a little bitterness.  The chicken gives it body and fills you up and the avocado gives it the perfect cool creaminess.  As you can tell, I am extremely particular about my tastes and textures, and this salad won me over!

SANTA ROSA VALLEY SALAD

 Serves 8

2 boxes Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice, cooked with seasonings

   Juice of 1 lemon

6 chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into pieces

4 - 6 green onions, chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced

3 - 6 ounces Chinese pea pods, ends removed

2 medium avocados, diced

1 cup chopped pecans (can be toasted)

   Lettuce leaves for garnish

 DRESSING:

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Combine dressing ingredients in a blender.  Cover and refrigerate.

Mix all salad ingredients except avocados and pecans.  Combine with dressing and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours.  Before serving, add avocados and pecans and garnish with lettuce leaves.

Note:  May be made the day before.

White trash macaroni salad

I have never liked macaroni salad.  Mostly because they generally have egg in them which is a no no fo me.  But usually they are gloppy messes with weird jiggly things added to them.  

One time, years ago, I had a very simple macaroni salad that I fell in love with.  It has 5 ingredients and couldn't be simpler.  It's also kind of ghetto.  I've never seen it anywhere else, but it's the only kind I've ever eaten and probably ever will eat!  It's not the kind of thing I would ever serve guests because it's silly, but I have a little place in my heart for the only macaroni salad that ever won it.

Cooked salad macaroni

Tiny cubes of sharp cheddar and baby kosher pickles

A big ole scoop of mayo

A super big squirt of yellow mustard

A drizzle of pickle juice

Mix and eat in the secrecy of your own home :)