Thai Chicken and Noodle Salad

This salad was so delicious!  This past summer on our visit home to Idaho we went and saw some friends who live in Utah who we had met when we were stationed at Fort Knox.  We kind of sprung our visit on them with real short notice but they were gracious enough to welcome us in their home and feed us a scrumptious dinner.  Daniel LOVED this salad.  Daniel has suddenly become our picky eater so when he asked me to please call my friend Dee to get the recipe, I figured I better do it and QUICK.  All the boys helped me put this together tonight and it was as good as we remembered. 

Thai Chicken and Noodle Salad

8 oz. linguine
1/2 medium cucumber, halved and sliced
4 cups shredded greens; any combo of Napa cabbage, romaine lettuce, or spinach
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 cups thinly sliced purple cabbage
3 cups diced grilled chiken
1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts (more if you like)
1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, julienned
1 recipe Thai Peanut Salad dressing

Thai Peanut Salad Dressing

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 lime, juiced and zested
2 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1/2 c roughly chopped cilantro (stems and all)
2-3 teaspoons Sriracha chili sauce (start with 2 tsp. and add more to taste)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2-4 tablespoons water

1.  Prepare dressing by combining all ingredients except oil and water in a blender.  Blend for 20-30 seconds.  Turn to low and slowly drizzle oil until combined  Add water to thin dressing to desired consistency.

2.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add pasta.  While the pasta is cooking chop the vegetables.

3.  Drain pasta and run some cold water over it until it's cool.  If not using it right away, add a drizzle of the salad dressing and stir to coat the noodles to prevent them from getting clumpy.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

4.  When you're ready to assemble the salad, place noodles, veggies, and chicken in a large bowl.  Pour the Thai Peanut Dressing over everything, stirring as you go, until all ingredients are coated.

Broccoli Salad

This is one of those dishes I don't make often and when I do I wonder why I don't.  It's super easy to make and really yummy.  Ruby Tuesday has a salad like this and it's something I enjoy when I go there.

Broccoli Salad

1/3 cup hot water
4 tlbs. sugar
4 tlb. vinegar
1 cup mayo
2 heads broccoli cut into small pieces
16oz sharp cheddar cheese cut up (mild cheddar works just as well, that's all I had yesterday when I made it and it was still yummy!)
2 lbs bacon cooked crisp and crumbled  (I cheat and use the real bacon bits from the salad dressing aisle, one 3 oz package was sufficient)
1 medium red onion minced (I usually leave the red onion out, it's all about personal preference)

Put broccoli in a bowl.
Dissolve sugar in hot water.
Pour over broccoli
Add remaining ingredients mix well, refrigerate for a couple hours

Cucumber, Onion & Tomato Salad

We love our local Farmer's Market here. It's not huge but it gives us most of what we need. The owner of the market here has started weekly Harvest Boxes that will include various items that she either gets from her own garden or purchases from other local gardeners/farmers. You can check out her facebook page if you are in our area. My goal is to share recipes using the items I get in my various boxes throughout the weeks.

This week I am using the cucumbers, onion and tomatoes from my box and making this simple salad for my husband. He's already tried it and enjoys it!

Cucumber, Onion, Tomato Salad

3-4 medium tomatoes diced or sliced the way you want them

2 medium cucumbers, peeled & sliced

1 onion, sliced and separated into rings

2 Tbsp. white vinegar (if you want your salad a bit tangier, use apple cider vinegar)

1/4 c. olive oil (or you can use whatever kind of oil you would like)

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. minced fresh parsley. (dry parsley is fine too)

Set aside your cut up tomatoes, cucumbers & onions.

In a bowl or mason jar (at least a gallon size for this recipe), pour in the remaining ingredients and mix or shake.

Add your tomatoes, cumbers, and onions and toss until everything is combined.

Marinate for a while. This tastes good once it’s done but the longer it marinates, the more the flavors blend. Enjoy!

Salad Olvia

A friend of mine shared this recipe with me when I was stationed in Korea. I had just had Neil and was on maternity leave when she called and asked if she could come visit me and bring me lunch. I said sure. She came over with this very yummy cold potato/chicken type salad. Shirin was originally from Iran and she told me that this was a dish they would make to bless new friendships. She served it on a fresh baguette with tomatoes. It was so good and over a decade later it is still one of our favorite dishes (I say that a lot...what can I say we love food in this house). My boys love this, I make a huge bowl (I mean HUGE) and it never sticks around for long. I try to carry on the tradition and make it when I meet someone new.

I already had the recipe on a recipe card, so just click the image to make it bigger and you can actually just print it if you want.

Spinach Strawberry Salad

I am addicted to this salad lately. My mom called me yesterday and told me that her friend had seen my picture of this salad in my album on Facebook and wanted the recipe.

There are two ways to make this salad, both are yummy. One is the easy peasy way and the other requires a little more time though not much more effort.

The first is a recipe I've had for a while that I printed from Allrecipes.com (my friend Matt reminded me of it not too long ago).

Strawberry Spinach Salad (oh, and I always switch it around, I never say it the same way)

• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
• 1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced
• 1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for one hour.
2. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

The easy peasy way of doing it and the way I've been eating it lately and it's so yummy is as follows.

• 2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 4 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• Brianna's Homestyle Poppyseed Dressing (you can purchase at any grocery store)

Mix spinach, strawberries, almonds together. Pour as much dressing as you would like (it's sweet so start off slow).

One of the things I love about this is that if we don't eat it all (haha, rarely are there leftovers, but IF there are) it holds well and it just as yummy the next day!