Thai Ground-Chicken Salad

From The Biggest Loser Cookbook



Ingredients:
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp honey
1/8 tsp chili garlic sauce
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp EVOO
1/4 pound ground chicken
2 cups shredded romaine leaves
1/2 cup shedded carrot
1/4 cup red onion slivers
2 tbsp chopped mint leaves
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1-2 tbsp chopped dry-roasted cashews

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, ginger, honey, chili sauce, and salt. Whisk, gradually adding the oil, until blended.

Set a small nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan. Cook, breaking up the meat into chunks with a spatula, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until no longer pink. Remove from the heat. Stir in 1 tbsp of the reserved dressing.

In a large serving bowl, combine the lettuce, carrot, onion, mint, and cilantro. Drizzle with the remaining dressing and toss. Top with the reserved chicken and sprinkle with the nuts.

Comments:
This recipe is for one serving so you might need to double it like I did. But it makes HUGE portions - two cups of lettuce is a lot! Overall, this was good. Neither Adam nor I are big lime enthusiasts so I think that might have been the main reason I wasn't too much into it. The nuts on top is a stroke of genius though. I might try it again, but I'd rejigger the dressing so it's less...limey.

Tortellini (or Ravioli)-Shrimp Caesar Salad

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
2 cups frozen breaded popcorn shrimp
1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
8 cups torn romaine
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 cup creamy Caesar salad dressing

Directions:
Prepare shrimp and tortellini according to package directions. In a large salad bowl, combine romaine and tomato; drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. Drain tortellini; toss with salad. Top with shrimp.

Comments:
I swapped out the popcorn shrimp for some plain old regular shrimp that I cooked in a skillet. I thought I had tortellini, but it was actually ravioli. Same thing, right? I omitted the tomato since Adam doesn't like them and I made some Caesar dressing instead of using the store-bought stuff I had because, say it with me, "Adam doesn't like it." He liked the shrimp, wasn't crazy about the dressing. I had plain romaine with the dressing. And some tortilla chips. I know, I'm weird.

Thanksgiving Wraps

From The Everything Glycemic Index Cookbook by Nancy Maar



Ingredients:
2 cups cooked turkey, diced
1 stalk celery, minced
1/2 cup red seedless grapes, halved
2 tbsp red onion, minced
1/4 dried cranberries
6 tbsp mayo
1 tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper
12 large romaine lettuce leaves

Directions:
1. Toss all but the lettuce together in a large bowl.

2. Lay out the lettuce leaves, add turkey filling, and roll up.

Comments:
Adam wasn't digging the eating from lettuce leaves thing so he wanted to add a burrito shell to it. Fine, whatever works. I also left out the thyme and onion. Well, I forgot I had to pitch the onion I had so I didn't really leave it out on purpose. I also left out the cranberries on Adam's. He doesn't love them too much.

Anyway, this calls for way too much mayo. Don't use 6 tbsp. It will be gross. Other than that, these are good. Didn't really remind me of Thanksgiving, necessarily, but still a good, light, quick and easy dinner.

BLT Stuffed Tomatoes

From Everyday with Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
2 pints cherry tomatoes (about 32)
6 slices bacon
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped romaine lettuce leaves from the heart
Salt

Directions:
1. Cut off the stem ends of the tomatoes and discard. Using a paring knife, remove the seeds and discard; place the tomatoes cut side down on paper towels to drain.

2. Meanwhile, in a heavy skillet, over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate, then finely chop.

3. Stir together the mayonnaise and chipotle and spoon into a resealable bag. Cut off the tip of one corner.

4. Place the tomatoes cut side up on a platter and press some romaine inside each tomato; sprinkle with salt. Pipe some chipotle mayo over the romaine and top with bacon.

Comments:
I left out the chile since I'm a big baby. I also only made 10 since there are only two of us here to eat them. These were great. Relatively easy to make, one easy bite to eat. A great flavor combo, and something I might consider adding to our party food list.

Turkey Club Salad

From The Everything Glycemic Index Cookbook by Nancy Maar



Ingredients:
1 pound deli turkey breast
4 strips bacon
1 box cherry tomatoes, halved
1 head Boston lettuce, shredded
1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup French dressing
2 cups lettuce, shredded

Directions:
Thickly slice turkey breast. Fry bacon until crisp and crumble into a large serving bowl. Mix all ingredients except the lettuce in the bowl. Serve over lettuce.

Comments:
Kind of didn't follow the recipe too well. I used it more as an idea. I omitted the Boston lettuce and avocado, used just French dressing. I mixed Romaine and the dressing and then put the turkey, tomatoes, and bacon on the top. I think it turned out well. Adam liked it too.

Bacon Cheeseburger Salad

From Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious October 2008 (subscriber only)



Ingredients:
ground beef
onion (I used minced onion flakes. I was being lazy)
ketchup
mustard
pepper
lettuce (used romaine, because that's what I had)
tomato
cheese (recipe says processed cheese, but I used shredded cheddar)
bacon
pickle slices (left these out. too weird)
(I also forgot to make the crutons out of hamburger buns. My bad.)

Comments:
Neat how they make this look like either a really healthy burger substitute or a not-so-healthy salad. Eh. The concept is interesting and the execution is easy. I'm not saying it tastes like a bacon cheeseburger, but it's better than just plain lettuce. I think we'd add this to our rotation with chicken caesar salad.

Black Bean Pita Pockets

From Taste of Home's Cooking for 2 Summer 2008



Ingredients:
black beans
corn
bacon
red pepper (left out)
mayo
celery
sugar
onion
cider vinegar
olive oil
pita bread
romaine (left out)
tomato

Comments:
Adam chose this recipe out of one of the magazines I got him to look through. Then when I made it he said, "I don't like black beans." Uhm. Ok then. He ate it anyway. The filling was very tasty and while we ate it for dinner with warm pita and corn, it's just as good cold. I did forget to pick up romaine so I had to leave it out. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would have made. Perhaps it would have been less runny with some lettuce to soak up some of the juices.

Slider Caesar Salad

From Everyday with Rachael Ray September 2008. I don't see a link but I'll check back later.



Ingredients:
kaiser rolls
EVOO
salt & pepper
mayo
lemon juice
parmesan cheese
mustard
ground beef
romaine

Comments:
Or not. Didn't really follow this recipe either. I ran out of ground beef so I subbed the remaining grilled chicken from last week's party. I did make my own croutons, but I used bottled Caesar dressing. It was still tasty. We like us some chicken Caesar salad from time to time. Mmm. Romaine.