Asian Salad

This is probably a pretty ridiculous recipe to post, since most stores sell those kits that come with (almost) everything you need for this salad. But it just sounds yummy to me right now, so there you go! Once again, I haven't listed quantities so you can decide how much you like of what.

Ingredients

lettuce (I prefer romaine)
red or orange bell pepper, julienned
sugar snap peas
can(s) of water chestnuts, drained
can(s) of mandarin oranges, drained
slivered almonds or cashew pieces
crunchy chow mein noodles
dressing (I love Girard's Chinese Chicken Salad dressing)

cooked chicken, cubed (if desired)

Directions

Mix everything together and eat it, because it's delicious! You could make it ahead of time, though keep in mind that the crunchier items will get soft, and the softer items (mandarin oranges, I'm looking in your directions) might get mushed up. It would be just as easy to have everything prepped but separate until right before serving. I like chicken in this salad, but it's definitely not essential; I bet diced steak would be good too.

Zucchini Squares

This is an appetizer I took to a Valentine's Day party earlier this year, and am taking to another party tomorrow night. They are yummy, but most importantly: So easy to make! You could serve it as a side dish, too.

Ingredients

3-4 zucchini, thinly sliced
1 cup biscuit mix
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 cup grated cheese*, divided
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, setting aside some of the cheese, and mix well. Pour the mixture into a 9"x13" or 9"x11" baking dish and top with the reserved cheese. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve warm or cold.

Cheese

The original recipe called for parmesan only, which is fine, but I prefer to use a mixture of parmesan and cheddar. Pepper jack cheese would be good too, if you love it like I do.

Kahlua Chocolate Cake

First off, apologies for letting it be so long (almost a week!) since my last post. Time flies when you're not getting much done!

Now, onto... cake! I first had this when hanging out with a couple friends on Valentine's Day two years ago. We were missing one of the ingredients - the sour cream, I think? - and it still came out pretty yummy, but if you get this recipe right, it's perfectly moist and chocolatey.

Ingredients

1 box devil's food cake mix
1 small (4-serving size) box chocolate instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup Kahlua

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine all ingredients except the chips in a large bowl. Blend well and beat either by hand or on medium speed with electric mixer for 4 minutes. Stir in the chips.

Pour cake batter into greased 10" tube or Bundt pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until cake tests done. Let sit in pan until slightly cooled (10-20 minutes) before removing the cake.

Blah blah blah

This cake is so good that it doesn't need frosting, but if you wanted something super-decadent I think a ganache frosting would be a great way to go. And though you do have to let this cool a little bit to get the cake out of the pan without breaking it, eat it warm!

Slow-Cooker Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

Are all scalloped potatoes cheesy? Or are all cheesy potatoes scalloped? I don't know - but I do know that these are the most delicious and easy thing ever to make, if you can stand waiting a few hours to let them cook. The cold weather is definitely making me crave a big ol' plate of these potatoes.

Ingredients

cream of tartar
cold water

8-10 medium potatoes, sliced thinly
1 onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup jack cheese, grated
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve the cream of tartar in the cold water (you can also use just plain cold water). Use about 1/2 teaspoon per cup of water. As soon as you have sliced the potatoes, put them in the water to keep them from discoloring. Drain well.

Layer half of the potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker, and top them with half of the diced onion, salt and pepper, and half of the cheese. Repeat layers, and then top with the undiluted soup. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

Variations

To make this a truly vegetarian dish, use a different cream soup in place of the chicken: cream of potato, cream of mushroom, what have you. Also: Because we have such a ginormous slow-cooker, I often use two cans of soup, pouring one in before starting the second potato layer.

Also: The more cheese, the better! I've yet to try anything other than jack and cheddar with this dish, but I'm getting very tempted to try it with either goat's or blue cheese. Mmm.

French Toast

I am not a fan of breakfast foods by any stretch of the imagination, but French toast is one of those dishes that could change my mind.

Ingredients

3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
cinnamon, if desired

slices of regular white bread or Texas toast

Directions

In a large and shallow bowl, combine the sugar, egg, milk and cinnamon if desired. Dip both sides of the bread slices in mixture before cooking in a non-stick pan or skillet over medium-to-high heat until the toast is golden brown. Serve with your favorite syrup or French toast toppings. (I prefer peanut butter with just a quick dash of maple syrup, mmm.)

Quigley's Cookies

The story of how I invented these cookies is a long, complicated tale that - okay, it isn't; I was bored, craving sweets, and my mom mocked the way I pronounced the name "Quigley" (I said it kinda like, quig-uh-lee. Hey, I think it's cute). Thus, deliciousness was to be had.

Some credit should go to Jif and to Tollhouse; this recipe is basically a mash-up of their respective peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies recipe. Because of the cinnamon-sugar coating, these are also part snickerdoodle.

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 2/3 cups chocolate chips

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp white (granulated) sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla until well-blended. Add the egg and beat just until blended.

In another medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Add to the peanut butter mixture (by hand, or on low speed if using a mixer) just until blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips (I find using a large spatula the easiest for mixing in the chips).

On a plate or in a shallow bowl, combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon until thoroughly mixed. Roll tablespoonfuls of cookie dough into balls, then roll them in the cinnamon-sugar until coated on all sides. Bake on ungreased baking sheets for 12-14 minutes or until browned.

Waldorf Salad

Though I'd heard of it frequently, I had never tried - much less made - Waldorf salad until I started my job as a cook almost two months ago. Ours is not the traditional recipe, but I think I like the sound (and certainly taste) of ours better. Make sure to read the "Variations" section after the recipe for some of my ever-helpful suggestions.

Ingredients

chicken, cooked and diced (no skin)
celery, diced
dried cranberries

red apples, diced
fresh lemon juice
mayonnaise

walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions

Combine equal parts chicken, celery and cranberries.

In a separate bowl, sprinkle the apple with lemon juice to keep from discoloring. Mix the apples into the rest of the salad.

Mix one or two teaspoonfuls into desired amount of mayonnaise, and coat salad with this "dressing." Dressing should be very light. When serving, sprinkle the salad with walnuts. Serve atop lettuce if desired.

Variations

The traditional, and I suppose vegetarian, version does not include chicken, so don't include it if you don't want to. At the restaurant, we use candied walnuts, which add a nice sweet touch - I keep intending to make this at home using some of those flavored Almond Accents. If for some reason you'd prefer raisins instead of cranberries, you could do that.

I have also seen versions of this recipe where mini-marshmallows are used. That's a little bit weird for me, but whatever turns your taste buds on!

Apple Pie Cake

This is a no-fail recipe... unless you do something really freakish. Simple and fantastic on a cold autumn or winter night!

Ingredients

2 cans apple pie filling
ground cinnamon, if desired
1 box yellow cake mix

2 sticks butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spread the apple pie filling in a 9"x13" baking pan and sprinkle with the ground cinnamon if desired. Evenly sprinkle the dry cake mix over the pie filling. Pour the melted butter on top of the cake mix. Do not stir!

Bake 35-45 minutes or until the cake/butter mixture has formed a crust and has turned a golden to dark-golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or Cool whip if you're into that kind of thing.

Variations

I've tried this with a couple of other pie fillings, but apple really is the best. Cake mix flavors other than yellow wouldn't be as good, either, although I intend to try it with spice cake someday - yum!

Calabazas

Calabazas is (according to my dad) the Spanish word for zucchini squash. Not knowing Spanish, I guess I'll have to take is word for it - and if you don't know any better, you'll have to take mine. Whatever you call it, this is definitely one of my favorite things to make and eat.

Ingredients

extra-virgin olive oil (plain or garlic)

1 white onion, cut into 1/4" rings
5-6 zucchini, cut into 1/4" slices
2 tomatoes, cut into large chunks

jack cheese, grated

Directions

In a large saucepan, saute the onion in the oil until the onion is translucent. Mix in the zucchini. (Depending on the amount you put in, you may need to add more oil as this cooks.) When the zucchinis are fork-tender, gently fold in the tomatoes and then let sit, covered, for five minutes. Stir the vegetable mixture again and top with the jack cheese. When the cheese has melted, stir together and serve.

Variation

I once made a brilliant variation of this recipe by substituting a red onion for the white, mixing in canned corn and using cheddar cheese instead of jack. As Snoopy would say: scarf city!

BLT Salad

Salads are healthy, right? Not this one, but it's delicious and very customizable. Please note that I haven't included any amounts for the ingredients; you can make as much or little as you like. And you could serve this either cold, or warm if the bacon is freshly cooked. Since I have a fear of getting splattered by bacon grease, I've used that pre-cooked, microwaveable bacon in this recipe, but I know the "real thing" would be so much better!

Ingredients

salad greens (I prefer a mixture of iceberg and Romaine)

cooked, crumbled bacon
tomato, diced
ranch dressing
croutons

cheddar cheese, grated (if desired)

Directions

Combine all ingredients and eat it!