Candied Pecan Salad

Ingredients:

Salad:

2 heads of leafy greens (Either romaine or bags of baby spinach)

3/4 c. Craisins

2 crisp apples (Granny Smith are best, but anything will work)

1 orange or orange juice (enough to toss apples in to prevent browning and add a little flavor)

2 oz. Gorgonzola crumbles (You can use blue cheese but I prefer Gorgonzola-- it's milder!)

3/4 c. chopped pecans (or walnuts if you prefer them)

1/3 c. sugar

Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette:

1/2 c. red wine vinegar

1/2 c. honey

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 c. vegetable or canola oil

Recipe:

For vinaigrette:

1. In a blender, combine vinegar, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place lid on blender and blend on high. While blender is running, add oil in a steady stream. Store in refrigerator for up to 2-3 weeks. Shake well before serving.

For Salad:

1. Wash and chop lettuce. Set aside to dry.

2. To candy the nuts, combine walnuts and sugar in a small skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly. After a few minutes, the sugar will start to liquefy. Be very careful to stir constantly at this point so the sugar doesn’t burn. The syrup will begin to darken and will coat the nuts. As soon as they start to reach a golden brown color, remove from heat. Careful not to burn them! Stir occasionally as the nuts begin to cool. After a few minutes, spread candied nuts onto a greased piece of parchment or wax paper and allow to cool completely. Set aside.

3. If your cheese didn’t come crumbled, chop it very finely. You want small crumbles, not chunks. (On a side note, I am really not a fan of super strong cheeses, but this is a KEY ingredient in this salad. Since the crumbles are so tiny, you never bite into a huge chunk of cheese.)

4. Slice apples very thinly and toss in orange juice to prevent browning (I LOVE using OJ for this—It adds tons of great flavor).

5. When you’re ready to serve, toss lettuce, cranberries, walnuts, apples, and Gorgonzola in a large bowl. Add dressing if desired. It really is better all mixed together rather than on top, but the dressing will wilt any leftovers.

Rating: TBD

Once again, this is a recipe I didn't try. But, I looked delicious and I will be trying this one.

Source: Mary Baldwin

Mango Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

2 c. cooked quinoa at room temperature, or chilled*

1 14-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 medium mango, peeled and diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

6 green onions, thinly sliced

1 handful chopped cilantro (about 1/2 cup)

4 T. red wine vinegar

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

1-2 T. fresh lime juice

kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

*Quinoa can be cooked in water or broth. I suggest using vegetable or chicken broth for enhanced flavor, but plain water works great too.

Recipe:

1. Place cooked quinoa in a large bowl. Add mango, red pepper, green onion, black beans, and cilantro.

2. In a small bowl combine vinegar, olive oil, and lime juice. Whisk until smooth and pour on top of salad. Toss to combine and add salt and pepper to taste. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

Rating: TBD

I don't know why I didn't see this one at salad night! I really like mango and now that I know I like quinoa type pasta, I'm sure I would have liked it! Almost all of my most favorite ingredients are in this recipe! Definitely going to be trying this one....maybe when LaDon is out of town though.

Source: Shayla Taylor, From Our Best Bites

Balsamic Marinated Vegetables

Ingredients:

Vegetables:

1 1/2 c. uncooked broccoli, seperated into florets

1 1/2 c. uncooked cauliflower, seperated into florets

1 medium zucchini, sliced

12 baby carrots, sliced

1/2 sweet onion, sliced thin and seperated into rings

Balsamic Dressing:

1/2 c. water

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar, plus

2 T. balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. finely snipped fresh parsley

2 T. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 t. black pepper

salt

Recipe:

1. Combine the vegetables in a large glass or ceramic bowl.

2. Mix dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables.

3. Stir well, cover and refrigerate for 6 to 24 hours, stirring occasionally.

4. Cooking time reflects time to marinate vegetables.

Notes:

I used purple onion, broccoli, baby carrots, red peppers, and cucumber instead of the veggies they suggested. I also ended up making more sauce/marinade than they called for. I had more veggies than they asked when I was done chopping, and the marinade seems pretty skimpy when you just do the amount they call for, so i doubled the water and tripled the vinegar and oil and garlic, and just shook in a bunch of pepper. i didn't have any parsley so i left it out. I think it's pretty flexible so do what you want!

Rating: TBD

This one looked really good, however, I didn't try it because I've learned, through the recipes on this blog, that I really don't like the balsamic flavor. I'm sure it was delicious for those who like that flavor though!

Source: Julia Axtell, adapted from food.com

Acini Di Pepe Salad aka: Frog Eye Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb. Acini Di Pepe or Quinoa

1 c. Sugar

2 T. flour

1/2 t. salt

2 eggs, beaten

2 c. marshmallows (optional)

1 3/4 c. pineapple juice (from drained pineapple chunks, tidbits and crushed)

1 20-oz. can crushed pineapple

1 20-oz. can pineapple chunks

1 20-oz can pineapple tidbits

3 cans mandarin oranges

1 9- or 12-oz container of whipped topping

any additional fruit you wish to add (I could see strawberry slices being delicious...)

Recipe:

1. Cook macaroni (aka: acini di pepe) in boiling, salted water until tender. Rinse in cold water, drain and cool.

2. In saucepan combine sugar, flour, salt, beaten eggs, pineapple juice and marshmallows. Cook, stirring until thick and smooth. Cool.

3. Add the sauce to the noodles with the fruit. Chill in refrigerator. When ready to serve, add whipped topping and stir.

Rating: 3 of 5

So, growing up in the Mormon culture, I feel like Frog Eye Salad was at every ward activity. And honestly, I never tried it because the name grossed me out.....I mean, seriously...frog eyes? Anyway, one of the girls in our ward made this salad for our salad recipe night and I finally got up the nerve to try it. And guess what!? I actually liked it. The texture of the pasta took me a few bits to adjust to, but I really like whipped cream and mandarin oranges. I like it, but I don't think I will ever make this recipe because LaDon would HATE the texture of the salad. Sad:(

Source: Robyn Shelton

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

Dressing:

3/4 c. strawberry jam

1 t. salt

1/3 c. sugar

1/2 t. dry mustard

3/4 c. canola oil

1/2 c. red wine vinegar

Salad:

Spinach

green onions, sliced

fried wontons (you can buy uncooked wontons at the store and then just fry them in canola oil)

chopped mushrooms (optional)

sliced strawberries

chopped nuts (I like to use macadamia nuts or almonds)

Recipe:

1. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a blender, food processor, or with a whisk.

2. Place spinach in a bowl. Layer the remaining ingredients.

3. If serving the whole salad with the dressing, put on just before serving.

Rating: TBD

We do a cooking group in our ward twice a month, and honestly, I can't remember the specifics about all the salads I had that night. They were all oh-so-good! I'll have to make this one and then rate it.

Source: Stephanie Hansen

Crumb Peach Pie

Ingredients:

1 pie shell, baked at 400-degrees for 5 minutes (like Easy Oil Pastry or Pie Crust)

1 large can peaches, sliced *

2 T. cornstarch **

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. white sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. butter

* I just used two 15-oz cans, dumped all of the one can into a sauce pan, and then drained all the juice from the second can and tossed it.

** I actually didn't have cornstarch on hand, so I substituted it with Minute Tapioca. You can also substitute corn starch with flour, but have to double the amount, i.e. 1 T. cornstarch = 2 T. flour.

Recipe:

1. Heat the peaches in a pot and add cornstarch to thicken juices. Pour into prepared shell (only baked for 5 minutes previously).

2. Make crumb mixture by adding brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, flour, and butter. Use a pastry cutter or fork to combine and make into crumbs.

3. Sprinkle the top of the pie with the crumb mixture.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Rating: 4 of 5

I love this recipe. But, for whatever reason I can never get the crumb part on top to come out the way it should! It's probably because it's my Grandma's recipe and no matter how hard I try I never can cook as well as Grandma. I think there might be a secret cooking school that all grandmas go to once they "retire." Love the taste of the somewhat sweetened peaches with the topping together. And I love how easy this recipe it. No peeling or slicing peaches? All right! I can open a tin can and pour everything out. Piece of cake....or maybe I should say, piece of pie!

Source: Grandma Norton

Mom's Pie Crust

Ingredients:

3 c. flour

1 1/2 t. salt

1 c. oil

1/2 c. milk

Recipe:

1. Mix together the flour and salt. Form a well.

2. Add oil and milk into the flour well. Stir with a fork.

3. Press into bottom and sides of a pie plate, or roll out between two pieces of wax paper and transfer to pie plate. With a fork, poke a few holes in the bottom.

4. Bake according to pie recipe. Or bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes.

Rating:3 of 5

I always liked this recipe. Probably because it's what I grew up on and it reminds me of better cooking than mine. It's not a super light and flaky recipe. It's more dense. But, I like it.

Source: my mom