Grilled Romaine

I am constantly on the look out to find new ways to incorporate more veggies into our diet and for them to taste good and be interesting. Here is one of the latest.

Heads of romaine thrown on the grill. Brilliantly simple.

Wash and dry lettuce (leaving heads whole)

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt, and pepper.

Throw on the barbie rotating every few minutes until you get nice grill marks and the leaves just begin to wilt. Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper before serving.

The result: lettuce that actually tastes good!

Taco Salad

This is a Grandma Goldsberry classic. Every Sunday night was dinner at Grandma's house while we lived in Provo. We always looked forward to taco salad night!
The dressing for the salad is tomato sauce and Ranch, when these two things mix together on the salad....mmmmmmm!

1 pound ground beef or turkey, cooked with taco seasoning
chopped lettuce
diced tomatoes
1 avocado, diced
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can sliced olives
green onions, sliced
shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend
Frito corn chips
1 can tomato sauce with a few drops of Tabasco sauce added, warmed up
Ranch dressing

Place each ingredient in its own bowl and let everyone build their own salad. You could also build the salad in a tostada shell and omit the Fritos. You can substitute salsa for the tomato sauce, if desired.

Print this recipe!

Spinach-Apple Salad

Courtesy of Cooking Light

Spinach-Apple Salad with Maple-Bacon Vinaigrette

For the vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon maple syrup (come on, use the real stuff people!)

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Combine first three ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Gradually add oil, stirring with whisk until well blended. Add chives, salt and pepper, and bacon; stir with a whisk until well blended.

For the salad:
1 large Granny Smith apple, julienne-cut

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 6-ounce package fresh baby spinach

Combine apple, onion, and spinach in a large bowl. Drizzle with vinaigrette; toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Yield 6 servings.

Don't knock it 'til you try it!

Caution: Not a low calorie food.

Strawberry-Pretzel Salad
2 2/3 cups broken up pretzel pieces
3/4 cup melted butter
Mix together and press into bottom of 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes. Let cool.
12 ounces cream cheese, brought to room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
Mix together and spread over pretzel layer.
8 ounces whipped topping
Spread over chilled cream cheese layer.
6-ounces strawberry jell-o dissolved in 2 cups boiling water
Stir in 20 ounces frozen strawberries or about 3 cups of fresh sliced strawberries. Allow to cool and start to jelly, then pour over the chilled whipped cream layer.

Let set up completely in the fridge before serving.

Don't be fooled by the word "salad" in the title, this is a dessert! Thanks Grammare for the yummy recipe.

This recipe is from Everyday with Racheal Ray magazine.Ryan kept saying "this has such a great flavor" over and over so I thought it worthy of my blog. My nectarines went bad before I used them so I substituted white peaches and I also didn't have whole wheat penne so I used regular rigatoni, I am all about making a recipe work with things I have on hand.

1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 ribs celery, chopped
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 nectarines, 3 coarsely chopped and 1 sliced
1 bunch chives, cut into 1/2-inch lengths
3/4 cup coarsely chopped salted, roasted pecans

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, cumin and 1/4 cup water. Add the pasta nd toss to coat; let sit for 10 minutes. Stir in the celery, bacon, chopped nectarines, half of the chives and half of the pecans.
To serve, top the pasta with the remaining chives, pecans and the sliced nectarine.

Tip: Substitute pears for the nectarines in the fall.

Psst, I forgot to add the 1/4 cup of water so mine is probably a little creamier than the recipe intended.