Asian Chicken Salad

Salads are great anytime, but especially in the summer.  This is a great one.  Grilled chicken, Asian flavors, nice and fresh and delicious!

Asian Chicken Salad

Marinade adapted from allrecipes.com

Dressing adapted from Sunset

Ingredients:

Marinade -

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp canola oil (can sub vegetable or sesame)

2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp grated ginger

4 boneless, skinless chicken half-breasts, pounded to an even thickness

Dressing -

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp sweet chile sauce

3 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp grated ginger

5-10 wonton wrappers

Oil for frying

About 8 cups of salad greens (such as Romaine and/or Spring Mix)

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

2 green onions, sliced thin

About 1 cup of mandarin orange segments, drained

Makes about 4 dinner salads

Directions:

1.  For the Marinade: mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Add the chicken pieces.  Thoroughly coat.  Cover and chill for 1-2 hours.

2.  Meanwhile for the Dressing: mix all of the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.  Cover and chill until ready to use.

3.  Meanwhile: lay out a couple of layers of paper towels.  Heat about 1" of oil in a small skillet.  Cut the wonton wrappers into thin strips.  When the oil is hot (about 350°), fry the wrapper strips in small batches.  They cook fast, so don't step away!  Remove the strips from the oil when they are light golden and drain on the paper towels.

4.  Clean and oil your grill grate.  Preheat the grill to high.  Grill the chicken, flipping halfway, until cooked through.  Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool.  Once cool, slice the chicken into thin strips.

5.  To assemble: place about 2 cups of salad greens on each plate.  Sprinkle the greens evenly with the bell peppers, green onions, and orange segments.  Arrange the chicken slices atop each salad. Spoon dressing over the salads.  Top with the fried wonton strips.  Serve!

*Sliced almonds would be a great addition!

Strawberry Banana Salad

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for new fruit and veggie side dishes to serve with lunches and dinners.  This salad (which could double as a light dessert) is a lovely blend of strawberries and bananas, topped with a sweetened cream cheese dressing.  It is the perfect accompaniment!

Strawberry Banana Salad

Katie Christy

Ingredients:

Strawberry Gelee -

2 tbsp water

1 tsp unflavored gelatin

16 oz strawberries (about 2 cups/1 pint), chopped (frozen, defrosted work perfectly)

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp water or liqueur (I used creme de cacao)

Dressing:

3 oz cream cheese, softened

7 oz marshmallow creme

2-3 bananas (aprx)

Directions:

1.  For the Strawberry Gelee: get ready 6 small bowls.

2.  Stir the water and gelatin together in a small bowl.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  

3.  Microwave the gelatin mixture for 20 seconds and stir until completely dissolved.

4.  Meanwhile: stir the strawberries together with the sugar and 1 tsp liquid in a medium bowl.

5. Stir the gelatin mixture into the strawberries until thoroughly mixed.

6.  Evenly distribute the mixture into the bottom of the bowls (about 1/4 cup per bowl).  Cover and chill until set and ready to serve (mixture will not be firm).

7.  Meanwhile - For the dressing: in a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and the marshmallow creme.  Cover and chill until ready to use.

8.  To Serve: slice the bananas.  Evenly distribute the slices on top of the gelee in the bowls.  Spoon or pipe equal amounts of the dressing into the bowls (about 2 tbsp ea).  Serve!

Frozen Bananaberry Salad

It is a common occurrence that I find myself with extra bananas and I'm always looking for new recipes to use them in.  Some of my favorites are banana bread (of course), banana jam (a recipe I'll be posting), and banana ice cream.  Yummy!
This contest-winning recipe is one I found at Taste of Home.  It is quick and easy to put together (though you do need to allow freezing time) and it's tasty.  
The only changes I made were: to reduce the Cool Whip to 8 oz and to quarter the bananas lengthwise before cutting instead of halving them (for smaller pieces).  I also omitted the nuts (due to the family's allergies).  The cranberries are just right in this salad, but if you have some aversion, you could substitute pie filling (though you'd probably want to reduce the sugar).
I served this salad alongside burgers on a hot day and it was just right.  Fruity, cool, and creamy.

Frozen Bananaberry Salad

Taste of Home

Ingredients:

1 20 oz can pineapple tidbits
5 medium firm bananas, quartered lengthwise and sliced
1 14 oz can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 8 oz (or 12 oz) package Cool Whip, thawed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional).

Directions:

1.  Strain the pineapple juice into a medium bowl.  Gently toss the bananas in the juice.

2.  In a large bowl, mix the drained pineapple, sugar, and cranberry sauce.

3.  Fold the Cool Whip into the pineapple mixture.

4.  Strain the bananas, discard the juice (or drink it), and fold them into the mixture.

5.  Pour the mixture into a 9" X 13" baking dish.  Smooth the top.  Cover and freeze until solid.

Frozen Pink Velvet Salad

This summer in Washington State has been truly lovely. Lots of blue skies and sunshine, but still with fairly mild temperatures. This is the weather for me! But, the sweet is never as sweet without the sour.
It is hot hot hot today. The dragonflies are humming, the kids are in the sprinklers, and BBQs are fired up all over the neighborhood. It's the kind of day made for frozen treats.
I found a recipe, credited to The Nashville Cookbook, on Ezra Poundcake. Pink Velvet Salad - A Cool Whip salad with a twist. It's frozen. When I first read this, I thought it might freeze hard. I thought it might be overrun with ice crystals. Not so! The sweetened condensed milk, along with the Whip, keep this soft and creamy.
It is a fast and easy recipe that requires only a few ingredients: Cool Whip, Pineapple, Pie Filling, Sweetened Condensed Milk, and Mini Marshmallows. It is my husband's humble opinion that the marshmallows should be omitted (conflicting texture and too sweet, he says). I personally love marshmallows and think them right at home here, but let no one's voice go unheard!
I really wanted to follow the original recipe, but the ingredients available at the stores just didn't come in the right sizes. The recipe below shows the measurements I used. Also, the recipe calls for cherry pie filling. Because one of the people I'd be serving this to is allergic to cherries, I substituted with strawberry pie filling (and saw online that people also make it with blueberry). The result was quite pleasing. It may not be a fancy gourmet ice cream, but it's good!

Frozen Pink Velvet Salad
Adapted from The Nashville Cookbook

Ingredients:
1 21 oz can pie filling (cherry, strawberry, or blueberry)
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple, any extra liquid drained
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 8 oz packages of Cool Whip
1 - 2 cups mini marshmallows

Directions:

1. Mix the pie filling, pineapple, and sc milk together in a large bowl.

2. Gently stir the Cool Whip into the fruit mixture.

3. Gently stir the marshmallows into the mixture.

4. Cover and freeze.