My weird salad concoction that is surprisingly good.

Last night I had an accidental food success.

You see I made pesto pasta with a side of spinach salad.

Miss Chloe slept through dinner and when she awoke, the pasta was cold.

So I put the pasta and the spinach salad in a bowl, and by nature of bowl behavior, the two things mixed, and I said, by golly! That is a terrific salad!

You know, I had never thought of putting pasta in a spinach salad before. But then my friend (Heather) told me about this Asian salad recipe that had...pasta!...in it.

And whoa. Last night I realized spinach and pasta is a stellar combo. That is a a duh statement (hello spinach ravioli) but I never thought about them being served cold!

I think I might start making this as a side salad for family get togethers.

Anyway.
Make some pasta. I used whole wheat linguine.
And then add some pesto sauce.
You can make your own, but I bought some in a jar at Wal Mart and...that is easier than buying your own basil leaves and pine nuts. In my opinion.
Perhaps you could go search the forest for pine nuts. I am assuming that is where they are.
Perhaps you will run into Little Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks, or Hansel and Gretal.
Sorry, I just had those mental images as I pictured you all with a little basket picking up pine nuts and berries in the forest.
.....
Anyway, let the pasta cool off, cause this is a cold salad.

Then make your spinach salad.
you need:
spinach
dried cranberries
mozzarella cheese
bacon

and dressing (see recipe for basic sweet salad dressing)

Then smash those babies together.
I am telling you, it is good.

Excuse me.
I am calling "Souper Salad."
They might want to trademark this, and I will soon be very, VERY rich.

Potato Salad

I went to a friend's party and had this delicious potato salad. I am normally not a fan of potato salad at all but this one was fantastic. I asked the girl who brought it for the recipe, she said she didn't have the specific measurements as it is a family recipe that has never been written down. So I have yet to play with the measurements, but for those who like to taste test their way to the right flavoring, here are the ingredients:

Potatoes (cooked, cooled and cubed)
eggs, diced
relish
green bell pepper, diced
red bell pepper, diced
red onion, diced
carrots, sliced
mayo
mustard
sugar
salt and pepper


When I figure out the quantities of each, I'll let you know. I am assuming it is mostly a mayo based dressing with a good amount of relish, a smaller amount of mustard, and just a little sugar. The salad had more of a sweet and tangy taste which is what made it different and good to me.

Cracker's Spinach-Apple Salad

There is a popular little breakfast/lunch joint down here called "Crackers."
I had this salad there and it is really easy to copy.

-Chicken, seasoned and cooked, but into strips
-package of fresh spinach
-2-3 Granny Smith Apples cut in small slices, make sure you sprinkle them with lemon juice to keep them from getting brown
-about 3/4 cup of cumbled feta cheese (be careful not to put too much feta in it, feta has a really strong taste and can overpower the salad)
-crumbled bacon
-sliced almonds ( I usually leave the nuts out because I am cheap)

Poppyseed Dressing:
1 C sugar
1/2 C apple cider vinegar
1 C salad oil
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp dry mustard
1 garlic clove

Blend all ingredients together.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

This is not a revolutionary recipe, but I have to say, I make this for company all the time, and most people really like it.

-package of fresh spinach
-about 1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
-about 1 package of sliced fresh strawberries
-cooked bacon (look at my link for a tip on cooking bacon, or just buy it already cooked and shredded for you in the salad isle of the grocery store)

Assemble salad, pour dressing just a couple minutes before serving.

Poppyseed Dressing:
1 C sugar
1/2 C apple cider vinegar
1 C salad oil
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp dry mustard
1 garlic clove

Blend ingredients.

The Salad

I had this salad at a baby shower. My friend Maggie brought it. She is an amazing cook. I have not ever had anything that wasn't delicious if she made it. Wow, there were a lot of double negatives in that last sentence. Check out her food blog-she has a lot of great recipes.

Salad
1 head red leaf lettuce torn in bite sized pieces
1 pkg baby spinach leafs
2 gala apples chopped
2 C red grapes cut in half
1 C grated mozzarella cheese
1 lb bacon cooked crisp drained well and crumbled (look in the salad isle for already cooked, shredded bacon if you don't want to cook bacon)
1/2 C sunflower seeds shelled roasted and salted ( I usually leave this out because I am cheap)

Dressing
1 C sugar
1/2 C apple cider vinegar
1 C salad oil
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp dry mustard
1 garlic clove (I added this, I think garlic makes everything better)

Blend them all together.
I have one of those hand held blenders and it makes it so much easier.
If you don't have one and make salad dressing a lot, I would suggest investing in one. They are not that expensive and very handy.

You will probably have extra salad dressing leftover.