Bleu Cream Pasta with Bacon and Tomatos

Extended Shelf Life for: Tomatoes, Bacon, Onions, and Bleu Cheese Dressing

Ingredients/Directions:

Prepare bacon to your liking. (I like the oven method, as it's efficient and I don't get splattered by hot flying grease).

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil and prepare 1/2 pkg. of Pasta (about 4 oz.).

In a large-deep skillet, saute1 onion in about 2 Tbsp. of Olive Oil until translucent. Add to the pan, 4 Tbsp. of Cream Cheese and 2 Tbsp. of Butter, melt. Add 1/4 cup pasta water to the sauce followed by 3-4 Tbsp. Bleu Cheese Dressing. Heat through, add 6 Strips of Bacon, crumbled and the pasta. Finally add, 3 Roma Tomatoes, diced and heat through. Season with black pepper, serve with shredded Parmesan or Mozzarella.

Black-Eyed Pea Salad

I've always appreciated a hearty salad in the summer, but living in South Korea, I NEED a hearty salad in the summer. I need salad because it's not a hot meal nor a heavy meal and it fits summer perfectly. This Black-Eyed Pea Salad was delicious on it's own and absolutely fantastic served over/mixed with some brown rice.

Ingredients/Directions:

From Love of Cooking: Salads

Prepare 1 lb. of dried black-eyed peas (I soak my beans over night in the slow-cooker, rinse in the morning, cover with water and cook on low all day, 8-10 hours). Drain and Rinse. In a small sauce pan heat up 1/4 cup Sugar, 1/4 cup Olive Oil, 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar, 1 clove of Garlic, minced and a shake of Black Pepper, heat until sugar has melted. Cool this dressing to room temperature. Meanwhile, combine the black-eyed peas with 2 Bell Peppers (Red and Yellow will yeild the most appealing salad), 1 Onion (again, red is preferred) and 1/2 cup chopped Celery if available.  Toss with dressing and chill salad before serving!

Mason Jar Taco Salad

Mason Jar salads are apparently all the rage on the blogging world...or in the Pinterest world...they are not all the rage in South Korea - but that doesn't mean we haven't heard about them nor that we can't bust out a few ourselves ^^

I try to think ahead. We had some obligations coming up, so I opted to throw together some Mason Jar Salads and see how they worked out. They were quite delicious. I may have needed a bit more dressing, and a bit more space at the top for easier shaking, otherwise - it was a nice dinner and seems like a promising picnic option...time to get into our car and enjoy some road trips!

Ingredients/Directions:

The basics of Mason Jar Salads are to layer up starting with dressing, a hearty set of veggies, cheese and finally lettuce.

For this Taco Salad, I started with a yogurt dressing which I threw together - essentially plain, home-made yogurt with chili powder, cayenne powder, salt, pepper and cumin. (Sour Cream and Salsa would work equally well, if not better for a taco salad). Next, I threw in some corn, followed by tomatoes and black beans. Once those items were layered in, I tore some lettuce into the jar and finally placed some tortilla chip crumbs on the very top. When the dinner hour rolled around, the hubs and I got some exercise shaking our jars and enjoyed some salad (except Mike doesn't really like corn, so he didn't enjoy his as much).

SpinachSalad and Home-made Dressing

To accompany the deliciousness that was Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin and fresh bread with home-made Orange Curd, I decided a nice Spinach Salad would suit our Easter dinner just right.

Ingredients/Directions:

From the Cookbook - Love of Cooking: Salads

Toss together washed and relatively dry Spinach with 1 cup of chopped Mushrooms, 8 sliced Green Onions, 8 slices of cooked and crumbled Bacon and 4 chopped hard-boiled Eggs. For dressing, mix together 1/3 cup of Sugar, 1/2 tsp. Dry Mustars, 1/2 tsp. Salt and 1/3 cup Cider Vinegar in a food processor or blender. Slowly add 1 cup of Vegetable Oil, mixing in between additions. Top salad with dressing before serving and enjoy as a light lunch or dinner or side dish!

Menu: Roast Chicken and Pasta Salad

One of my favorite things to eat in South Korea is rotisserie chickens from the chicken truck. That's right, a truck (edit: many trucks), filled with a working rotisserie drive around and park throughout the city, offering freshly roasted chickens - better yet, you can get 3 small chickens for just 10$.

So the other night, the man went and got our three chickens which we ate with chopsticks while I boiled water and prepared some pasta. I then used the leftover dressing from this salad to dress the pasta, threw in some mushrooms and green onions and waited for the chickens to arrive.

Once the meal was finished, I set to work on making chicken broth in the slow-cooker.

Perfection!

Thai Veggie Salad

 

Here's the deal...you need some veggies. Your favorites. And then you need to make this Thai style dressing. Throw them together and chow down. That's all.

I used mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes and green onions for my veg.

The dressing? Easy.

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (or orange juice if lime juice is hard to come by)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or cayenne, or whatever)


Put it in a jar, shake it up, dress the veggies, let set a little bit and enjoy the heck out of this dish! You could probably also use the dressing as a marinade or in a pasta salad and have equally great results ^.^

Original recipe and gorgeous photos can be found here by Andrea Meyers