Strawberry Spinach Salad

Another Tasty Tuesday recipe for Angie's challenge

This is the recipe exactly as it was given to me. I haven't made it, but I did taste it and it was yummy! The hostess substituted roasted pine nuts for the almonds and it was delish!

a bunch torn spinach (or one bag of baby spinach)
1 basket strawberries - large slices
1/3 C toasted, slivered almonds

Dressing:
1/2 C sugar
2 T sesame seeds
1 T poppy seeds
1 1/2 t minced onion
1/4 t Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t paprika
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/4 C apple cider vinegar

Combine spinach, strawberries & almonds. Mix dressing together and toss with salad. Yummy!!!

Swiss chard

There was a request for swiss chard recipes and I was planning on posting one for Angie's Tasty Tuesdays, but I misplaced the recipe, sorry. So instead, I'll just tell you how we've been cooking it at home.

We always separate the stems and leaves since the stems take longer to cook. Sometimes we just stir fry them with lots of garlic (start with the stems, then add the leaves).
The last time I make chicken soup, I chopped the stems like I would celery and added it to the soup. A fried up the leaves with a bit of oil and lots of garlic. We were going to have it as a side dish, but ended up adding it as a topping to the soup. Oh, so yummy!
Since I have a million cookbooks (I love cookbooks), I'll have to look up some recipes later.

Here's A's mom's version. Very tasty, but not too healthy.

Ingredients
Swiss chard (we've always used the white stemmed version)
egg
bread crumbs (I like Panko flakes, A likes Italian seasoned bread crumbs)
oil

Directions
1. Separate leaves from stems.
2. Parboil stems.
3. Dip stems into egg, then bread crumbs.
4. Pan fry in oil till golden brown.
5. Cook leaves as you would any leafy vegetable (we usually stir fry). A's mom would cook the leaves with tomatoes, kinda like stewing them.

Say goodbye to the crockpot

It lived a long, productive life. But the last time I set it up, I didn't notice that it wasn't getting hot (I usually set it up right before I leave for work). Luckily, A came home for an early lunch and noticed. For all you food safety experts, yes, it was probably a bit outside the safe zone, but A said that everything was still really cold and he brought everything to a boil on the stove when he cooked it. Plus this was several days ago and we're still alive with no ill after effects.

I have no idea when we're going to get another one. I'd like one with a timer, 6 qts, glass top, compact, easy to clean, and not too expensive. Guess I better start looking. Or maybe I should get a smaller one so we don't have so many leftovers.

Oven Hash Browns

Another Tasty Tuesday (even though I'm posting on Monday, lol)

Ingredients
7-8 potatoes
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp paprika (optional)
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions
1. Peel and cube potatoes. Pieces should not be any larger than 1x1x2 (okay, that's not exactly a cube, but you get the idea). If potato pieces are larger, increase baking time.
2. Combine all the ingredients, except potatoes, in a large bowl.
3. Add the potatoes and coat evenly.
4. Place potatoes in an even layer in a large Pampered Chef bar pan.
5. Bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees or until the potatoes are done.

Cook's notes:
This is a great way to use up extra potatoes. I like this better without the paprika, but A likes it with.

Also, I do wish these would get a little crispier, since that's how I like my hash browns. But still, this is pretty darn easy and frees up a pan on the stove. Any suggestions for making these crispier would be welcome.

Celery casserole

In honor of Angie's Tasty Tuesday recipes, here a new one.

I had way too much celery in the vegetable bin (somehow I bought two) so I made up this variation of the classic green bean casserole.

Ingredients
4 cups sliced celery
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 small can sliced mushrooms
1/4 red pepper, finely chopped
1 can French's onions

Directions
1. Saute the celery in the butter for five minutes or so (longer if you don't want the celery to be crunchy after baking).
2. Remove the celery and add the flour all at once (or, if you're lazy like me, move the celery off to the side of the pan and add the flour). Stir to incorporate flour.
3. Gradually stir in the milk. Make sure the roux (flour-butter mixture) dissolves.
4. Add the mushrooms and bell pepper, then remove from heat.
5. Add 1/3 of the French's onions.
6. Pour into a medium sized baking dish. I used a 1 quart oval Corningware baking dish. An 9x9 dish would probably also work.
7. Sprinkle 1/3 of the French's onions on top (you could probably use half in step 6 and half here, but I wanted to save some to top tomorrow night's salad).
8. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
If the top starts to brown too quickly, loosely cover with foil.