Avocado Cilantro Pasta

I had several ripe organic avocados that would've been perfect for guacamole but I wasn't in the mood for guac. Weird, because I love guac. Instead of making yummy guac, I poked around for a new avocado recipe and found one for dressing. A dressing for salad or used as a sauce for pasta. Versatile sauce. Good stuff.

The original recipe calls for white balsamic vinegar but I only have traditional balsamic vinegar so I used that instead. Unfortunately, it made my lovely, light green dressing turn dark and muddy looking. The dressing was also on the balsamic-y side but I didn't mind the strong taste. My kids eat everything but I guess vinegar's not their fave as they only ate a few bites of the pasta. :) For my second batch of dressing, I used 2 tbs white wine vinegar because my local store didn't have white balsamic vinegar. The dressing was still pretty vinegary. I'll have to try it with just one type of vinegar and see how it tastes. I served the dressing on Mother's Day and the fam liked it. I like honest feedback so they would've told me if it was horrible. I still want to work on the recipe and tweak the taste just a bit. If you have a suggestion, please send it my way. Thanks! :)

Dark but delicious.

Yummm.

Avocado Cilantro Pasta with Shrimp

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 lb angel hair pasta
• 8-10 sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped
• 1 lb shrimp (chicken, veggies or tofu would be great, too)
• avocado cilantro sauce (see below)
• cilantro, chopped 

Directions:

1. Make avocado cilantro sauce (recipe below)
2. Marinate shrimp about 30 mins in the sauce. Add enough sauce to coat the shrimp.
3. Prepare pasta, drain, place back in pot and add sundried tomatoes. Keep covered till ready for shrimp.
4. Heat large pan over med-high heat. Add shrimp and the sauce and cook approx. 3 mins stirring frequently. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp.
5. Two ways to serve:  1.) Toss pasta in avocado sauce, place in serving bowl and top with shrimp before serving. 2.) Place pasta directly in serving bowl (no extra sauce), top with shrimp and serve. I preferred the plain pasta with the avocado cilantro shrimp. :) Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Avocado Cilantro 
Dressing/Sauce

Yield: 1 c

Ingredients:

dressing/sauce:

• 3 small avocados
• 1 c cilantro, chopped
• 1 lemon, juice
• 1 lime, juice
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbs red wine vinegar
• I've tried 1/8 c balsamic vinegar as well as 2 tbs white wine vinegar.  

Directions:

1. Scoop out flesh of avocados and place in food processor.
2. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth consistency is reached. 
3. Do a taste test. Add more oil, juices or vinegar to taste and to thin out the dressing if needed.
4. Keep in fridge. Enjoy as salad dressing, pasta sauce or marinade. 

Source: Adapted from Guilty Kitchen

Asian Bow Ties

The weather here has been really nice. Sunny, slightly breezy, warm in the sun yet cool in the shade. Perfect, really. San Clemente's motto is "The world's best climate" and I definitely agree. :)

The boys' Taekwondo studio held their annual picnic on May 1st at Rancho San Clemente Park. It couldn't have been a better day for a picnic and the location was great, too. The park had a huge playground, a volleyball court, a large grassy area for the Demo Team to perform their routine and a paved area for the kids to ride bikes, scooters or skateboards. An awesome location for sure.

The Grand Master provided kalbi (similar to Korean BBQ Beef) and everyone else brought a side dish to share. I love enjoying a nice pasta salad at picnics so I made a bow tie pasta salad with an Asian flare to complement the kalbi. It was delicious!

Bow Ties with veggies and sesame dressing.

Asian Bow Ties

Yield: 10+ servings

Ingredients: 

• 17.6 oz Farfalle (Bow Tie pasta)
• 1 c shredded carrots
• 1 c shredded broccoli, red cabbage and carrot mix
• 1/2 c snow peas
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• Oriental flavor Ramen package*
• Sesame dressing, to taste (I used about 1/3 c)

Directions:

1. Bring large pot of water to full boil.
2. Add pasta and stir often to keep pasta from sticking.
3. When pasta is al dente, drain. Run cold water over pasta and add ice cubes to keep pasta from continuing to cook. Remove ice when pasta has cooled off.
4.  Make sure pasta is fully drained before adding to large bowl.
5. Add veggies and toss. 
6. With ramen still in packaging, crumble up the dry ramen noodles. Once the pieces are small enough, add to pasta. *Add dry ramen just before serving so it stays crunchy.
7. Add dressing and toss to coat. 

Sesame Dressing

Yield: ~ 6 oz

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs sesame oil
• 3 tbs sugar
• 6 tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste (or use Top Ramen Flavor seasoning packet)

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients in a container with lid. One with a pour spout works great.
2. Shake well and keep refrigerated. 
3. This dressing keeps well in the fridge. Perfect on salads, pasta, veggies, on rice or as a marinade. ENJOY!

Chinese Chicken Salad

This Chinese Chicken Salad is great! I fell in love with the sweet and crunchy flavors of the salad when a family friend brought it over for a potluck dish to our housewarming party back in 2001. I've changed it up a bit over the years but we love it and it's always a hit with friends and family. The boys love it and they'll eat all their veggies with a little Chinese dressing poured over it. When I add all the fixins, this salad is just as good as any Chinese Chicken Salad from a restaurant. Maybe even better. For reals.

I ate my cabbage salad without the toppings and it was very yummy nonetheless.

I usually add a bunch of ingredients to round out the salad but I was in the mood for a simple salad.

If you make a cabbage salad, it will keep well even after it's been tossed in dressing.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 bag coleslaw mix of cabbage and carrots (green leaf lettuce tastes great, too)
• 1 small can mandarin orange slices, drained (or diced apples)
• 3-4 green onions, chopped
• 1-2 cooked chicken breasts, sliced or shredded (or cubed firm tofu)
• 2.25 oz package almonds, sliced/slivered and toasted (I omit due to Son #2's allergies)
• 1-2 tbs sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 package Top Ramen (I use chicken flavor), crumble DRY noodles and toast (use seasoning packet for dressing, optional...salad dressing recipe below)

Directions:

1. Make Chinese dressing (see recipe below) and refrigerate. Dressing tastes great if made a day in advance.
2. Toast almonds, sesame seeds and crumbled DRY noodles until slightly browned. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, add all salad ingredients but reserve a little bit of the ingredients for garnish. Makes for a nice presentation when you add remaining ingredients after the salad's been tossed. :)
4. Add 1/8 c dressing (more or less to taste) and toss well. If unsure of dressing amount, always start with a little to avoid drowning your salad.
5. Transfer to serving bowl, garnish with remaining ingredients and ENJOY!

~~~~~~~~~

Then, there's the dressing. It's SO darn delicious!

This dressing is great on salad, veggies and as a marinade, too.

This is TASTY dressing! It's so easy to make and tastes just as good as store-bought. Actually, I think it tastes better! I've made the dressing with and without the Top Ramen seasoning packet and both versions taste great. To cut down on the amount of sodium, I've been omitting the seasonings lately and nobody's called me out on it yet. This is your typical Chinese salad dressing from the restaurants. At least I think so. ;)

This dressing is great on veggies, too. We invited our friends over for dinner and I made a side of asparagus and tossed it with Chinese dressing. It was the perfect side dish to serve with grilled General Tso's chicken thighs. Just cook the asparagus and toss in dressing. Easy and delicious! YUM.

Chinese Dressing

Yield: ~ 6 oz

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs sesame oil
• 2 tbs sugar
• 6 tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste (or use Top Ramen Chicken Flavor seasoning packet)

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients in a container with lid. One with a pour spout works great.
2. Shake well and keep refrigerated. ENJOY!

Source: Adapted from family friend, M.V.. 

Greek Salad with Chicken

I had quite a bit of leftovers from our Greek chicken dinner. Since Hubby's out of town, we barely put a dent in the bird. My sis came over and I put together a wonderful Greek salad for us. It was light yet hearty enough that it felt like a "real" meal. :) The boys ate it up...every last bite! I'm so lucky that my kids will eat everything I serve them. That definitely makes meal planning and cooking very easy. YAY!

FRESH!

Greek Salad with Chicken

Yield: 4-6 servings

Salad:

• 1 head Romaine lettuce- washed, dried and chopped into bite-sized pieces (I used spinach)
• 1-2 c shredded, cooked chicken
• 1 c grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 4-5 mini cucumbers, chopped
• 1/2 c Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half (what a bummer...I didn't have any)
• 1 c Feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. Measure dressing ingredients in a jar with tight fitting lid. Shake well and refrigerate.
2. If making a stunning salad for a party, spread out salad ingredients in a "line." It gives the salad a nice layered look. I made salad for the fam so I skipped the fancy schmancy look and threw everything in individual bowls. It was colorful and still had a restaurant look to it. 
3. For a pretty party salad, in large salad bowl, place chopped lettuce on bottom. Use a LARGE bowl that gives you plenty of room to toss the salad. Spread chicken over top of lettuce.
4. Carefully line sliced tomatoes down center of salad.
5. Line chopped cucumbers down both sides of tomatoes.
6. Then Feta goes on outside of cucumbers creating line again.
7. Last, fill in edge of salad bowl on both sides of Feta with Kalamata olives.
8. Leave salad as is until ready to eat. The layered look is quite impressive. :)
9. Right before serving, shake salad dressing well. Pour half the dressing on salad and toss well. Don't overdo the dressing.

Shallot Vinaigrette Dressing

• 1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 c red wine vinegar
• 3 tbs shallots, minced
• 1 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper to taste- go easy on the salt as greek olives and Feta are salty.

Source: Adapted from Week of Menus

Mexican Salad

My neighbor, Julie, made Mexican Salad for our neighborhood Bunco appetizer several months ago. It was soooo good that I had to get the recipe. It saves well since it's a cabbage salad but the pepitas and chips do get soggy. Just add more freshies when eating the second time around...IF you have leftovers.

This is delicious!

Mexican Salad

Salad:

• 1 bag coleslaw
• 1 can mexicorn 
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-2 c shredded cheddar cheese 
• 2 c chicken, shredded
• cilantro, chopped
• 1 c jicama, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1 bag pepita seeds 
• 1/2 bag tortilla chips, crunched

Mexican Ranch Dressing*
 *Tastes better if made a day in advance.

• 1 c ranch
• 1 tbs cumin (more or less to taste)
• 1 lime (amount is up to you)

Directions:

1. Put salad ingredients in a very large bowl. 
2. Toss with dressing just before serving. 
3. Transfer to nice serving bowl. 
4. Enjoy!

Notes: Toss all ingredients in a BIG bowl. Use a bigger one than you think you'll need and then transfer final product into a smaller serving bowl. Trust me.

Source: My neighbor, Julie