Salads and Thanksgiving Recipes

 Cindy Dixon loves to have many salads for Thanksgiving. 
She inspires me. So I want incorporate these salads into Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Cauliflower And Broccoli Salad- Valentina's Corner

1/2 pack bacon, chopped & cooked (8 oz)
3 cups raw cauliflower, small florets
3 cups raw broccoli, small florets
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 cup mild cheddar, grated
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup craisins (dried cranberries)

Dressing-
1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar

Instructions
Cook bacon pieces, set onto a paper towel to cool. 
Cut broccoli and cauliflower into small florets. Finely chop onion

Prepare the homemade salad dressing. Combine the mayo, sugar, and vinegar.
In a bowl add the broccoli, cauliflower, cheese, sunflower seeds, cranberries, bacon and red onion. Add dressing. Combine well and enjoy!

Cabbage Salad

A bag of cabbage salad (or shred cabbage, carrots, kale)

1 Bag of dry Ramen Crushed up (uncooked)

Slivered almonds

Dressing-

2 T vinegar

1/4c oil

2 T sugar

1 packet of Ramen Seasoning (oriental)

ASIAN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Doctor Yum

1 tablespoon oil (Coconut prefered)
1 tablespooon sesame oil1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger (peeled and cut into thin slices)
2 dashes cayenne pepper (add more to taste)
⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
48 ounces chicken broth
1 cup crushed tomatoes, with juices
1¼ pounds chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch or smaller cubes (boneless, skinless)
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped (plus extra for garnish)
½ pounds udon noodles (can substitute spaghetti, gluten-free or egg-free thin noodles)
salt (to taste)
3 cups baby bok choy (or spinach, bok choy, kale)1 lime, cut into wedges for garnish
sriracha (to taste)
METHOD
In a large soup pot, heat both oils at medium heat. Add onion, celery, garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flakes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the broth, crushed tomatoes, chicken, and fish sauce, cilantro. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add noodles and cook for an additional 4 minutes, or for the cooking time recommended on the package of noodles you are using. Add salt to taste. Add bok choy and cook another 1-2 minutes until soft. Serve with chopped cilantro, lime wedge, and Sriracha for extra heat.

Pasta with Kale Pesto and butternut squash

NY Times Cooking

1 ½ pounds butternut squash

½ cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling

¾ teaspoon kosher salt, more for squash

 Freshly ground black pepper

1 small bunch (about 1/2 pound) lacinato kale, center ribs removed

8 ounces pasta (penne rigate works well)

⅓ cup toasted pine nuts

2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped

 Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

 Freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste

 Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a vegetable peeler to peel squash, then halve it lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Dice squash flesh into 1-inch pieces, place on a baking sheet, and toss with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread pieces into an even layer, making sure there is space between them. Roast, stirring squash pieces once or twice, until golden brown and tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; have ready a bowl of ice water. Drop kale into boiling water and cook for 45 seconds. Use tongs or slotted spoon to transfer kale to ice water. Bring water in pot back to a boil, adding more if necessary so there is enough to cook pasta.

Drain kale well, then wrap tightly in a dry kitchen towel and squeeze thoroughly to remove any excess moisture. Roughly chop leaves. When water in pot comes back to a boil, cook pasta according to package directions.

In a food processor, pulse together kale, nuts, garlic, salt and lemon zest until mixture is smooth and salt has dissolved. With motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil until fully incorporated. Taste and add more salt dissolved in a little lemon juice, if necessary.
Drain pasta, reserving a little cooking water. Toss pasta with kale pesto and some pasta cooking water if necessary to help it coat pasta. Add cheese, lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve topped with squash and more cheese.

Thai Curry

1 Sliced onion
2 celery stalks sliced
1 can of coconut milk
2T Thai Kitchen Curry Paste
1/2-1t garlic powder
1/2-1t ground ginger
1t sugar
salt and pepper
chicken
Optional- match stick carrots, cabbage, red/yellow peppers, sliced kale
bean sprouts
Rice

Line baking pan with aluminum foil, add 1-2T oil, add chicken and sprinkle with chicken seasoning, Cook chicken 450 in oven for 20min. Cooked enough chicken to add to the Pad Thai

On stove top- Saute onion till crisp tender, add celery, coconut milk, paste, garlic, ginger, and sugar. Let cook for 15 min. Add any of the vegetables and cook for a few minutes till crisp tender and add chicken and Serve with rice and bean sprouts.



Also Serve with Pad Thai

Sausage, Kale, and Noodle Soup

Saute
1 lb sausage (after cook, then put in pot of water)
1 sauted chopped onion

Boil
1 pot of water
1lb finely diced mushrooms
5 garlic cloves (1T minced garlic)
3 bay leaves
Optional (potatoes or noodles) Bought Home style Noodles or wide egg noodles (or can put diced potatoes instead)
1-2T chicken bouillon

Put in last 10min
1 1/2c chopped kale (or could use spinach)



Put everything in a pot.

Delicious!!!  So much so that when we went camping a racoon opened up our cooler and grabbed this soup container and downed it all!!!! Stinker.  True story.

Salads

1.  Leafy Greens as a base- romaine, spinach, finely chopped kale, cabbage, any type of leafy veggie (even the finely chopped up leftover celery tops) and Grated carrots
Prepare this above for the next 3-4 days. I add the sliced/chopped greens and grated carrots in a large bowl. See note A

2.  Then in separate individual containers for each veggie- I slice and chop red/yellow/green peppers, cucumbers, finely chopped broccoli or cauliflower, tomatoes, chopped celery, peas, etc... If they aren't separated they get mushy and gross. See note B

3.  Fruit- mandarin oranges, strawberries,blueberries, apples... sometimes I don't add any fruit to the salad and leave it for dessert after dinner is over

4.  Crunch-  I like some sort of crunch (choose one of the following)- croutons, toasted nuts, Snapea Crisps, crunchy Chow mein noodles, tortilla chips, etc....

5.  Add beans of your choice- black beans, white great northern beans or garbonzo, etc...

When I serve the salad I usually assemble the salads individually on each plate and then follow with steps 2-5.

Notes-
A. When it is day 5 or later I add the wilted greens to a smoothie.
B. Another option for storing cut veggies. I have a large rectangular tupperware container with no sections for separating veggies, so I use tin foil to form smaller compartments/sections inside for rectangulat container. Works great!!!

Serve with:
Sesame Ginger dressing
Poppy seed dressing