First, Make the Dip Really, pasta salad is just cooked pasta and cut up vegetables and cheese (and maybe meat) folded together with a thick dressing. So, the dressing for this particular pasta salad is a spin on Moe's Chipotle Ranch Dressing. But I make it thick as a dip rather than thin like a dressing. The base of a ranch dip is basically half mayonnaise and half sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. To that, add some salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder, and that's a basic ranch ... continue reading...
Search Results for: pasta salad
Mexican Pasta Salad with Mexican Green Goddess Dressing
The Herbs Have It! When I found out that this month's Progressive Eats theme was Herbs, I immediately thought of Green Goddess dressing. And then I thought some more and came up with a dish I'm calling Mexican Pasta Salad with Green Goddess dressing. Once I came up with the name, I had to figure out how to make it, and figure it out I did. It is most delicious--herbaceous, tangy, crunchy, creamy, a little spicy, and easily veganized as well. It all sounds pretty great, right? ... continue reading...
Pasta Salad with Lentils and Chick Peas
Let's Party A few weeks ago, we were invited to our friend-and-neighbor's 40th birthday celebration. Said Celebration occurred this past Sunday. Our hosts were providing burgers, dogs and Veggie Burgers (bless you, Overstreets)! They asked everyone to please bring a Side Dish. I emailed back something Rather Vague about making pasta salad or potato salad. Probably like many other Invitees. [And yes, there were a ton of different pasta and potato salads at the party. Most of the ... continue reading...
Tuna Macaroni Salad Like Mom Made
Watch my "mom's best tuna macaroni salad web story" here. This is my favorite kind of macaroni salad; it's sweet, but not too-sweet, tangy, crunchy, savory, and filling, but still light. It's truly a lovely and delicious salad with everything in great proportion. I made it for Memorial Day weekend and it's just perfect to go with grilled meats. I skipped the tuna this time, but would use it unhesitatingly another time for a main dish meal with bread/rolls and other veggies.Reader Kate The ... continue reading...
Easy Lemon Garlic Pasta Recipe
Watch my easy lemon garlic pasta recipe web story here. This is a wonderful weeknight recipe which comes together very quickly, with ingredients you likely have on hand. Delicious on its own, it also makes a versatile "base" to add shrimp, chicken or veggies...Do not leave out the fish sauce! It elevates the flavors and does not add a fishy flavor at all. Make it tonight!Reader and Pasta Lemon Pasta Lover Niko How I Developed This Recipe Pasta is kind of my downfall. I find it hard to resist, ... continue reading...
Easy Creamy Pasta Sauce for Two
Watch my easy chicken fettuccine alfredo web story here. This was sooo good, and very easy to make! We have made it twice. The first time, we ate it plain (delicious!!). The second time, I added andouille sausage in with the chicken and a little cajun seasoning. It was very good as well. I have more ideas for things to add when I make this again. I love how versatile it is!Reader and Pasta Lover Rachael Comfort Food Can Totally Be Romantic I direct your attention to Lady and the Tramp, ... continue reading...
No Mayo Potato Salad (Salt Potatoes Salad)
I don't know how I learned about salt potatoes, a Syracuse, NY specialty, but I'm glad I did. Boil potatoes (any size, but smaller is better) in super salty water, drain, and serve with melted butter for dipping. Simple. Perfect. Is This a Low-Calorie Potato Salad No, it isn't. Rather than mayonnaise, I use ghee. I believe ghee is a healthier fat than the oil in mayonnaise, but it certainly packs a serious caloric punch, as do all fats. Is This Potato Salad Whole 30 Compliant Yes, it ... continue reading...
Southern Mac and Cheese Recipe | Pimento Cheese Pasta
Pimento cheese is one of my favorite things ever. While I would (probably) never eat an entire one-pound block of cheese in one sitting, I'd have no problem downing a pound or more of pimento cheese. When it comes to this Southern classic, I have no off button. For today's episode of Fun with Pimento Cheese, I've taken some premium house-made pimento cheese and turned it into this pretty darn amazing one-pot pimento cheese pasta. How to Make This Southern Macaroni and Cheese ... continue reading...
Tortellini Caprese Salad with Sabra Basil Pesto Hummus| National Hummus Day
Pasta salad is just the best. Make it like mom did and call it macaroni salad. Fancy it up and call it farfalle salad. Or combine a well-known Italian salad (Caprese) into your pasta salad and make Tortellini Caprese Salad. The point is, pasta is so versatile that salad options truly are limited only by your imagination. Today, the Tastemakers are helping Sabra® celebrate National Hummus Day by sharing light, easy recipes using hummus, either for a snack or for your Unofficial Meal. ... continue reading...
Summer Salad with Roasted Envy Apple Vinaigrette #loveNZfruit
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Envy Apples and the #loveNZfruit promotion. Please make sure to scroll to the bottom to enter the giveaway for a crate of Envy Apples (probably about 100!) and a $150 gift card. Plus, you'll get an automatic entry for the grand prize of a Vitamix blender and a $100 gift card (awarded at the end of July at the end of the promotion)! I am not a salad girl. I eat them at restaurants so people won't know that I'm not a salad girl and get judge-y, but short of ... continue reading...
Easy Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce | Hearty, Versatile, Delicious
Why Make a Sauce with Italian Sausage? Many slow-cooked Italian pasta sauces start with ground beef or pork, and then you add seasoning to them. Italian sausage already packs a ton of bold flavor. A quick look at the ingredient list of a recipe for hot Italian sausage includes: pork shoulderkosher salttoasted fennel seedblack peppercayenne pepperpaprikasmoked paprikacrushed red pepper flakesgarlicred wine As you can see, that's a ton of flavor. So by starting with sausage rather than ... continue reading...
Lemon Posset with Blueberry Gelee
Watch my best lemon posset web story here. How I Found Out About Possets My introduction to lemon posset was in 2012 (which is when I originally wrote this post), and I found it in the Food 52 Cookbook and on their website. I was intrigued by such a simple dessert, and it reminded me a bit of making a lemon meringue or key lime pie filling by mixing lemon or lime juice and sweetened condensed milk together with some egg yolks. This recipe was one of 140 chosen for the Food 52 ... continue reading...
The Ultimate Gordita Burger Recipe
The flavors of this burger were amazing! Worth all the effort to make the individual components. Love the gordita/pupusa/arepa "bun"!Reader Beth Gorditas, Arepas, Pupusas: What's the Difference? I watched a lot of videos and did a lot of reading on Mexican and other Latin American blogs to try to decipher the differences among these little masa and hot water stuffed pillows of goodness. After lots of research, I believe the main differences are in where you live. An arepa in Venezuela ... continue reading...
Cowboy Pinto Beans: Instant Pot Charros Beans with Country Ham Hocks
Cowboy pinto beans This recipe is AMAZING!!! I’ve probably made it 8 times in the past year, and my family wishes I would make it more often. The flavor is amazing! Reader Lindsey Y'all. I'm from the south, but I came late to the world of pinto beans. I feel like a bad southerner! A friend and I met at a little Mexican taqueria for lunch last week, and they served charro pinto beans. And I fell in love with them. So much flavor! I didn't ask how they made theirs, but I know ... continue reading...
Epic Breakfast Burger for #BurgerMonth
This epic burger is part of a burgertastic month-long event hosted by Girl Carnivore. All opinions and this burger are my own (but I hope you make one, too!) Why This is the Best Breakfast Burger I love to pull out all the stops for Burger Month, and this year is no exception. Here's why this burger Rules: Homemade buns made with cooked grits. That recipe is coming soon, I promise.Pepper jelly. Pepper jelly makes everything better, and I'm using some from a local jam maker, Mrs. ... continue reading...
Double Bacon BBQ Burger | Smashed Burger Awesomeness
Hooray for Burger Month! I think this is the 4th or 5th time I've participated in Burger Month, and it is always a Most Excellent Time. In previous years, I've made my Got to Be NC Burger, a Bloody Mary Meatloaf Burger, and a Reuben Smashed Burger. I even make burgers when it isn't burger month, like my first ever smashed burger, The Smashed Bacon Double Cheeseburger. May is National Burger Month anyway, so the burger loving Kita of Girl Carnivore put this blogging event together a few ... continue reading...
Sweet Tea Roasted Corn on the Cob | Southern Grilled Corn
Adding Flavor with Reductions A "reduction" is one of those cooking terms that can seem a little intimidating. I know I used to be intimidated before I learned how easy they were to make. A reduction is a sauce or glaze whose volume has been reduced through boiling or simmering. As you boil the liquid, flavor concentrates, sugars caramelize, and water evaporates. This leaves you with an intense sauce with lots of body and flavor at the cost of just a few minutes of watching a pot ... continue reading...
Spicy Chicken Guacamole Sandwich or Sliders
Made this for a beach picnic and we all loved it!Reader Cheryl The Original Spicy Chicken Guacamole Sandwich I wish I could take credit for the original idea for this Sandwich, but alas I cannot. The Beloved and I ate at Mimi's Cafe, and along with a mimosa, I ordered their spicy chicken guacamole sandwich. It came on baguette, and it was perfect. The more I ate, the more I kept saying to The Beloved, "Dang, this is a good sandwich," and "Seriously, this thing is ... continue reading...
Blueberry Lemongrass Ice Cream | #ProgressiveEats
Blueberry lemongrass ice cream is lemony and herbaceous and refreshing. You're going to love it. Don't miss the round up of all my ice cream recipes. An entire year has rolled around since Barb of Creative Culinary launched Progressive Eats, and since then, we have had some really fantastic meals! Too bad it's a virtual progressive dinner and not an actual one, but at least we have everyone's recipes if we want to recreate the meals at home. In North Carolina, July is the height of summer. ... continue reading...
Veggie Oat Taco Mince |OATrageous Oatmeals Review
Disclosure: I was given a copy of OATrageous Oatmeals: Delicious & Surprising Plant-Based Dishes From This Humble, Heart-Healthy Grain by the lovely folks at Page Street Publishing. Thanks, guys! All links to the book on Amazon are affiliate links. I also am friends with the author and we hang out frequently. Plus one of my very own recipes is in the book. Keen! Another great plant based recipe to try is my Mexican pasta salad with green goddess dressing. For ease of browsing, ... continue reading...
Rich and Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese
What Makes a Good Baked Mac and Cheese? I grew up thinking I did not like macaroni and cheese, and specifically baked mac and cheese. Once I left home, I tried a lot of different macaroni and cheese recipes, and I realized that I really like it. I just didn't like my mom's version. Sorry, Mom. For me, perfect baked macaroni and cheese needs to be sharp and rich with a lot of cheesecreamy on the insidecrunchy on the outside. Pro Tip How to Keep Baked Mac and Cheese ... continue reading...
Passion for Coffee Cookbook Review | Cafe Bomba
For ease of browsing, here all of my individual dessert recipes. Another great dessert is my Coffee Panna Cotta. I think Patricia McCausland-Gallo must be a genius. She's the author of this cookbook, Passion for Coffee: Sweet and Savory Recipes with Coffee, by the way. So you'll know who I'm talking about. When I think of coffee and using coffee in my baking and cooking, I stick to some basics. Apart from drinking Chemex-brewed coffee almost every morning, I have added espresso powder or ... continue reading...
Hamburger Macaroni Casserole: My Mom’s Casserole Supreme
My Introduction to Casserole Supreme I don't know when my mother found the Better Homes & Gardens Casserole Cookbook, but it was published in 1968. As far as I'm concerned, it was a very good year. Just as it says about my beloved Angel Slices in older copies of Joy of Cooking, "many a copy of Joy has been sold on the strength of this recipe alone," the same should be said of the Casserole Supreme recipe in the BH&G Casserole Cookbook. Several years ago I called my mom because ... continue reading...
Hot Italian Sausage Lasagna Recipe
Why Make Lasagna with Sausage? Sausage is, by nature, a heavily-spiced ground meat product. It also generally has a fair amount of fat in it. Those two Things are great for making lasagna. You can make a very flavorful sauce with a relatively short ingredient list since all the seasonings in the sausage give you a headstart. And, as we all know, fat carries flavor. A lasagna made with sausage is going to carry all that delicious flavor right into your mouth and make you very, very ... continue reading...
Easy Penne alla Vodka Recipe (with Jarred Sauce)
I originally developed this recipe for Barilla in 2016. Thanks, Barilla, for partnering with me! See my easy vodka sauce recipe web story here. I am NOT a skilled cook, and this is one of the most delicious things I’ve made! Thank you for clear instructions and making it simple! There were NO leftovers!Reader Jenn Why Make Penne alla Vodka with Jarred Sauce You are less than thirty minutes away from dinner! One of my favorite quick meals is cooking up some pasta and finishing it ... continue reading...
Summer Tomato Jam Recipe | Sweet & Tangy
Summer Tomato Jam Tomato jam tastes like concentrated summer. This one is made with a neighbor's perfectly ripe, home-grown tomatoes. She gifted us with 2 1/2 pounds, and rather than eat them on sandwiches, which is obviously a viable option, I wanted to concentrate that goodness so we could have full-on tomato flavor with just a tablespoon at a time. Summer is only a season, so bring some summer with you into fall this year with this sweet, slightly spicy tomato jam recipe. Why ... continue reading...
Comforting Noodles: An Easy Take on Cacio e Pepe
Why This Recipe? For one, it's easy to make. And if you're like me, you already have everything you need to make it. It's also ready in almost no time at all. It takes longer to boil the water than it does to actually make the dish. This recipe relies on the emulsification of the water and oil with the help of the starch in the cooking water. The creaminess is what makes these truly comforting noodles. The flavoring is what I like, but you are welcome to use any combination of ... continue reading...
The Best Creamy Mac and Cheese Recipe. Seriously.
Watch my creamy mac and cheese web story here. I found this Mac and cheese recipe is probably the best I ever made. My 8 year old grandson loved it and surprisingly my son and daughter in law liked it as well My husband also likes it. As I do too. Although I have to control how much I eat....I guess u have figured it out this recipe is a family delight……Reader Dottie Not Diet Food. Comfort Food. Friends, if you've come here today looking for salads or even low fat desserts, I suggest ... continue reading...
Lemon Asparagus Soup from The Perfect Diabetes Comfort Food Collection
The Perfect Diabetes Comfort Food Collection Cookbook author, culinary instructor, and food editor for Diabetes Forecast Magazine Robyn Webb has long been helping people with diabetes eat more healthfully and deliciously. In her latest, (affiliate link) The Perfect Diabetes Comfort Food Collection, Robyn continues the trend of making deliciousness accessible to people on a restricted diet. How does it work? Robyn considers 9 categories of comfort food--Burgers, Chicken, ... continue reading...
The Best Spaghetti Pie is Bucatini Pie!
Spaghetti Pie: Love at First Sight I first encountered spaghetti pie on Martha Stewart's cooking show years ago. It was a recipe ostensibly developed by Martha's friend Eleanora. Martha told us Eleanora came up with it as a way to use up leftovers, but I don't know anyone who calls 12 oz of sopressata "leftovers." Regardless, I dreamed about making this pie for years. I have no idea what took me so long to finally get around to making it. It's not hard to make. In fact, it's ... continue reading...
Grilled Vegetable Gazpacho (Greek Style) for Progressive Eats
I am so excited that it's #ProgressiveEats time again! Hooray for Barb of Creative Culinary for dreaming up this wonderful group and for inviting me to be a part of it! Last month's theme, chosen by the fantastic Lana of Never Enough Thyme, Summer in the South Extravaganza was truly spectacular. This month, Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake chose the theme Summer Barbecue, and it will be every bit as delicious as last month's! With everything from shrimp as an appetizer to two glorious ... continue reading...
How Do I Choose The Right Kind of Flour for #Fundamental Friday
How Do I Choose the Right Kind of Flour? Susan of Olives and Figs Chronicles asked me this question the other day on the fan page. I gave her a brief answer and said I would go into more detail for Fundamental Friday. So here I am. First, let me share the short answer I gave Susan on Wednesday: In short...the finer and more tender you want your end product to be, the "softer" (less gluten) and the finer mill you want in your flour. From highest protein bread flour for hearty and/or chewy breads ... continue reading...
Church Supper Cherry Yum Yum for Throwback Thursday #tbtfood
I grew up going to church every Sunday morning for Sunday School and "big church," every Sunday evening for youth group and every Wednesday evening for Wednesday night suppers and youth choir or bell choir practice. Even back then, Wednesdays were the highlight for me. Not because of bell practice, where we would annoy our director, Jim, to the point of apoplexy (although that was fulfilling in its own way), but because of the supper. Talk about a groaning board. Foods were jumbled together on ... continue reading...
How to Make Creme Fraiche At Home
What Is Creme Fraiche? Creme fraiche is basically the French version of sour cream, made by introducing beneficial and tangy cultures into heavy cream. Unlike American sour cream, creme fraiche contains no gums or other thickeners. It's just thickened naturally. Advantages of Using Creme Fraiche Over Sour Cream Aside from the flavor, which is lovely, there are other advantages to using creme fraiche over sour cream: How to Make Creme Fraiche You can use real crème fraîche ... continue reading...
