.strawberry salad.

Do you ever feel like you make the same types of dishes over and over? I always feel like when I make salads to go with a meal, it's the same ol' lettuce, red onion, red bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, and croutons.



This recipe is one my sister, Ronda makes. Whenever we have family get togethers she always has these delicious salads to share. LOVE THEM!



I used items I had on hand here at the house. She mixes them up. She knew I would mix it up the way I wanted. You can mix up the way you want to. That's what I love about it. There are no rules! Sorry for all you rule breakers out there. ;)



I love these fresh salad packs you can get. This is the spring mix. It has endive, radicchio, and other baby lettuces. It's visually prettier than your basic run-of-the-mill iceberg or romaine.



Put some in a large bowl.

Grate a carrot. Put that in the bowl.

Unless I say otherwise, dump it in the bowl. :)

Slice up a little red onion.



If you don't like onion, leave it out. You can use green onion too if you want a more mild flavor.

Slice up some mushrooms.

Slice up some fresh strawberries. My sister will sometimes add blueberries, or fresh pineapple to this salad. I bet this would be tasty with some mango too.

Cut up a few strips of bacon and fry.

Once fried, let drain on paper towels. Once cooled, add to the salad bowl.

I love that these almonds come pre-toasted. This brand from Sunkist is original oven roasted. They have honey roasted too! That would be yummy but I'm trying to watch my sugars. Add a handful or two of these to the bowl.

I thought about what kind of cheese to use. My first instinct was to use feta, which would be fabulous in the salad, but I didn't have any here at the house. I did have monterey jack or this goat cheese. I opted for the goat cheese. Yummy. Toss a little cheese into the salad.

Here's my salad with everything in it. Toss with some salad tongs to mix everything up. If you want to add tomato, go right on and do it. I have a problem with tomato slime getting all over my salad so I leave them out of the bowl.

This is the dressing I used. My sister gave me the recipe she uses, which I will share at a later time. It rocks the house.



This was a very nice, light substitute. You can either add the dressing on your own salad, or pre-toss/coat the salad before you eat.

Plate up and enjoy! A wonderful springy/summery type salad that everyone is sure to enjoy!

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_67fq9mh8dd

.roast chicken and goat cheese cups.

Sometimes it's "test kitchen" day at my house. Today was one of those days. The recipe was one someone mentioned at The Pod (Thanks Ashley!) and it sounded pretty good. I changed the recipe up a little but for the most part, I think it's spot on.



The ingredients you need:
Crescent rolls
Roasted chicken
Mushrooms
Parmesan cheese
Green onion/chives
Basil
Herbed goat cheese
Basil



Let's prep. Chop up 1 bunch green onion. Set aside.

Slice up mushrooms (1 cup). Set aside.

Put some butter in a saute skillet and saute the mushrooms. Set aside.

Pull apart chicken. I used half of the chicken here. Set aside.

Grate some parmesan cheese (1 cup). Set aside.

Slice the goat cheese into equal parts. Set aside.

Open the crescent roll packages. Use two crescent rolls per muffin cup. Smoosh in there to form a shell.

Completed shells in one pan.











Put a pat of goat cheese in each cup.

















Put some sauteed mushrooms in each cup.

Now put some of the chicken on top.

And then the green onion.

Put a few shakes of basil on top.














The last step. Put the grated parmesan cheese on top.



Put in a preheated 350* oven and bake for 20 minutes. If the tops start getting too brown, put a piece of foil on top.

Serve with veggies and/or salad.




[Chef's notes: This was the first time I had ever made this. It was tasty, but the goat cheese was a little too much. If I were to make this again, I would smoosh together all the ingredients (except the parmesan) and add some spinach to the mix. I'd also season with salt and pepper. ]

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_45knjrfbfg