Ranch Egg Salad Sandwich

I started making these sandwiches at lunchtime. They fill me up and are good for me. 

 I don't like mayonnaise or salad dressing much (anymore-Andy doesn't like them and I just stopped buying them when we got married and did without), so I use ranch dressing instead. I love ranch (and yes, I know that ranch has most of the same ingredients as mayo and salad dressing.)

Here's the finished product.  

Egg Salad on whole wheat toasted bread with a Kraft Singles American Cheese and carrots.

Start with a boiled egg.  I usually use large eggs, but this one was a medium and was plenty for my sandwich.

After peeling (obviously), I just use a fork to make it into crumbles.  I'm sure I could buy a fancy egg dicer tool, but I'd rather just stick with the fork I already have.

See?  Beautiful egg crumbles.

I add about a Tablespoon of Ranch dressing and some ground black pepper (salt isn't needed for me) and then stir it up.

Toast the bread, add some cheese, and then spread the egg salad on top before topping with the second piece of cheese.

You have to cut it diagonally, right?  My almost eight year old can make this herself.

Easy, filling, and good-for-you lunch. 

I think it'd be great with a slice of tomato, lettuce, bacon, or turkey on top too.  

Maybe all of them, like a fancy BLT.

Fresh Fruit Salad

I was asked to bring a salad to Thanksgiving, so this is what I came up with. It's pink!
I'm more of a dessert kind of girl. (See other posts for verification on that.)

Ingredients:
12 oz Whipped Topping
12 oz Marshmallow Creme (it comes in a jar usually above puffed marshmallows.)
12 oz Fresh Raspberries (frozen will probably be fine too.)
6-7 small Crisp Apples sliced and diced (not too small)
1 pound (or so) sliced Grapes (mine were too big for small kids)
1 Pomegranate (open it and get all the seeds out without the white membrane stuff)
3 cups Colored Marshmallows

Instructions:
Mix whipped topping and marshmallow creme together with raspberries. Toss apples in and coat with whipped topping mix. Toss in grapes and pomegranate. Mix well. Make sure the salad is a good pink color. Add marshmallows to soak up extra juice and fill in corners of salad. Kids love marshmallows (at least most do.) I may add a banana tomorrow when I retaste it. I didn't want it to get brown or too soggy.

My usual salad is fruit cocktail, mandarin oranges, marshmallows, and whipped topping with the occasional cut up apple or banana, so this is a really fresh yummy salad and it's pretty healthy too! Try it.

If you aren't sure about the pomegranate (and I wasn't), then add a spoonful or two of the salad in a small bowl and mix a few pomegranate seeds in to see what you think. They do have small seeds in the center, but with crisp apples you can't tell very much and they are supposedly a "super food".
Sorry I haven't posted lately. I've been in a cooking rut. Maybe I'll come up with some new recipes to try out soon.

Cafe Rio Salad

My friend made this awesome salad (really a main dish) for a baby shower/dinner. It was SO good that I had to request the recipe to share. Most of you have had this before, since I've heard a lot of talk about Cafe Rio, but here is the recipe for the meat, the pico de gallo, and the dressing.


*Total Prep-Time: 18 hours, technically. But most of that is just waiting for the pork to cook. I’d say active cook time for the entire meal was perhaps an hour, maybe 1 hour 15 mins. Lots of this meal (dressing, pico) can be made before-hand and kept in the fridge until it’s time to eat.
* Was the recipe easy to follow: Extremely easy. It’s mostly chop, dump and marinate. Easy-peasy.
* Are the ingredients easy to find: It took me a bit of searching in the Mexican Food section to find Chipotle Chilies in Adobo Sauce, and also a bit of googling to figure out what, exactly, a tomatillo looked like. But I found everything at my grocery store.
* Do you need special equipment: Large-ish crock pot and a blender. A food processor would make quick work of the pico, although I chopped mine by hand.
* Does the end result taste delicious: YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. This was the best meal I have ever made, hands down, no questions. And there were enough leftovers for my neighbors, and my roommate, and a couple of meals for me. This makes a ton of food, but it will be eaten quickly. Try it, taste it, and you’ll understand why.

Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa



5-6 lb. pork roast

21 oz. Dr. Pepper (or Coke, do NOT use diet soda)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
7 oz. can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
6-ish oz. red taco sauce (I used hot)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Place roast in crock-pot, cover half-way with water and cook on low for 12 hours. (I started my Pork Adventure at midnight and everything worked out perfectly for Sunday dinner at 6:00 pm.) After 12 hours, drain pork (retain liquid if you want sauce for burritos, simply mix with a can of verde enchilada sauce and away you go).

Mix remaining ingredients until sugar dissolves. I didn’t keep the actual chilies, I dumped the can into a bowl and added enough Dr. Pepper to get all the sauce off of the chilies, then I tossed them. I also rinsed out the can with Dr. Pepper for more adobo goodness. My version had a fairly good kick to it, but if you LOVE hotness, then blend everything + 2 or 3 chilies in the blender. (Also, the adobo sauce tends to stain plastic, using a glass or metal mixing bowl will make your clean-up of adobo sauce considerably less frustrating).

Add Dr. Pepper mixture to the roast and cook on low an additional 4 hours.

Take out roast and shred, add back into sauce and cook for 2 more hours. At this point the meat was so tender it practically shredded itself.
OR CHICKEN
Café Rio Salad
Chicken:
1 bottle (16. oz) Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 lbs. chicken breasts
Mix ingredients and pour over chicken breasts in a crockpot. Cook on low for 4 hours. Shred
the chicken and cook 1 more hour to soak up the juices. Serve with a slotted spoon.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Easy Pico-de-Gallo


3 tomatoes, diced
1/2 bunch of cilantro, minced
1/2 sweet onion, minced
1 section of green pepper, minced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
about 1/3-1/2 cup vinegar (use your best judgement)
salt and pepper

Mix it up really well and refrigerate. I put my pico in a Tupperware and shook it up really well right before serving to re-mix.



Dressing:


2 tomatillos, peeled and chopped
½ bunch cilantro
1 garlic clove
1 lime, juiced
1 jalepeño , limit seeds to reduce how “spicy” you want it
1 8-oz. pkg buttermilk ranch dressing (regular ranch works too)
Blend in food processor: tomatillos, cilantro, garlic, lime and jalapeno. Make dressing according
to the directions on the package (but use less milk than requested). Then add the blended
ingredients and chill. The longer it sits the better.

Rice:
4 cups water
4 tsp. chicken boullion
4 tsp. garlic, minced
½ bunch cilantro, chopped
1 can green chilis, undrained
¾ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. butter
½ onion, chopped
2 cups rice
While bringing water to a boil, combine in a food processor: cilantro, green chilis & onion. Add
all ingredients to boiling water. Cover and cook for 20 min at a simmer.


Layer:
-tortilla sprinkled with cheese (slightly crisp in a frying pan)
-rice
-shredded chicken
-black beans, rinsed and drained
-romaine lettuce, chopped
-tomatoes, chopped
-avocado, chopped
-dressing
-fresh lime squeezed over top, quartered
-top with Fiesta tortilla strips (optional)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Now, invite some people over and get cooking!

Vegetable Alfredo Salad Recipe

I decided to add in a recipe I just made up tonight. I've been trying to think of a way to use up some salad noodles. Here's the recipe and what I did.
Vegetable Alfredo Salad
Ingredients:
3 cups Water
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Salad Noodles-little cylinder ones that are 1/4 size of macaroni
2 cups Sliced Baby Carrots
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1/4 teaspoon Lemon or Lime Juice
2 cups Cut up Cucumbers (2 small cucumbers)
1 small can Sliced Olives
4 small Cut up Tomatoes
1 Packet Alfredo Sauce-prepare as directed on packet
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, a little more for sprinkling on top

Instructions:
In large saucepan, boil water with salt. Add noodles when boiling. While boiling, prepare vegetables for salad. Place each in small bowls. When noodles are tender, add carrots and boil for three more minutes. Drain noodles and carrots and put into a large mixing bowl. Toss with vegetable oil and lemon or lime juice. Prepare Alfredo sauce in small saucepan. Pour over noodles and carrots. Stir. Add in cucumbers, olives, tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese. Stir. Sprinkle more Parmesan cheese on top and refrigerate. It tastes really good warm too.