Spinach Apple Salad

Pork chops and apples go together like ying and yang.  Growing up my mom always served pork chops with applesauce. It always tasted great. Tonight I planned to have grilled pork chops for dinner and at first I thought about serving it with applesauce, but honestly I didn't want to go to the trouble of making it and I didn't have any on hand. So, I decided to make a salad using crisp, Granny Smith apples.  The mustard dressing, crisp apples, walnuts and blue cheese were the perfect compliment to the pork chop.

Here's what you'll need:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1 pinch salt
1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced
1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
5 ounces spinach leaves (1 container)

Makes about 4 servings.

Two apples are shown, but you'll only need one apple!

Here's what to do:
Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, honey and salt.

Add in apples and onions.  Let them marinate for about 20 minutes in dressing.

Add in spinach leaves, blue cheese crumbles, and walnuts.  Toss together.

This salad was so good!  The dressing was perfect and just the right amount.  It would be great with grilled chicken too.  You could substitute pecans for walnuts.  I loved it and so did my husband.  Enjoy!

Creamy Coleslaw

Going to a cookout and need a quick side dish?  Here's my go to dish- Creamy Coleslaw!  It's easy to make and has only a few ingredients.  To make it even quicker, I use bags of pre-shredded Confetti Slaw mix that includes shredded cabbage and carrots.

Here's what you'll need:
2 packages pre-shredded coleslaw mix
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon dry ground mustard
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar (I used 4 packets Splenda)
salt and pepper to taste

Here's what to do:

Whisk mayo, sour cream, mustard, white vinegar, and salt & pepper together in a mixing bowl.

Combine sauce with bags of pre-shredded slaw mix.  Make sure all veggie mix is evenly coated.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.  This tastes great using broccoli slaw mix too.  I like using this same mix with BBQ pork tacos- just fill a tortilla with BBQ pork and a little bit of this creamy coleslaw.  It's delish, trust me!

Happy summer!  Enjoy your back yard BBQ parties and cook outs with your friends and family!

Cheater Chicken Caesar Salad

I'll admit it.  I am a cheater.  I cheat whenever I can.  I wish I could say that I slow roast my chicken all day long, shave my own Parmesan cheese, and that I whisk up my own Caesar salad dressing, but I can't.  I cheat. 

This Cheater Chicken Caesar Salad is the best recipe cheat on a busy weeknight and the best part is you can have dinner ready in minutes.  My husband and I love to eat salads for dinner.  We make them entree size and add a protein of some kind to the greens.  For this salad, I use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from Sam's Club. It saves time and I can use the leftover chicken for another meal.  

Some other cheats include Ken's Caesar Salad Dressing (it's creamy and tastes great) and pre-shaved Parmesan cheese.   I also buy pre-made croutons, but omit them from my husband's salad since he eats gluten free. My husband says this reminds him of a restaurant salad.  

Cheater Chicken Caesar Salad
1 rotisserie chicken, cut slices from the chicken breast
(I used slices from 1 chicken breast)
1 bag hearts of Romaine lettuce
Caesar salad dressing, 4 tablespoons
Shaved Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup
Croutons

Toss ingredients together with salad dressing.  Make sure lettuce is well coated with dressing.  Makes two hearty entree size salads. It tastes great when served with crusty bread or a dinner roll.

Here's a great gluten-free find at the grocery store.  Udi's French Baguettes. The package contains two baguettes.  One-half of a baguette is a serving. Bake it in the oven at 400 degrees for 8 minutes and it comes out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  Delicious!

Use the leftover rotisserie chicken for another meal. Just bag it up and save it for the next meal. I plan to make Taco Soup with the leftovers.

  

Look for my Taco Soup recipe, and other easy recipes, at The Teacher Dish.

-Karen

Asian Chopped Chicken Salad

On a busy weeknight, Asian Chicken Salad is one of my go-to meals.  Half of it is already prepared, so that makes it easy and quick.  I love using pre-mixed salads. At my grocery store, there are several varieties to choose from. The mix I use for this recipe is the Asian Chopped Salad by Taylor Farms. It's packed with savory cabbage, green cabbage, carrots, celery, green onions, and cilantro.  It comes with a Sesame Ginger Salad Dressing, a packet of wonton noodles, and sliced toasted almonds.  The salad can be eaten as a side dish, or you can add chicken or steak to make an entree salad.  One bag of the salad mix makes a nice portion as an entree salad for two people.

Add marinated chicken or beef to a pre-made salad for a complete meal.

For the Asian Chicken Salad, I add my own sliced Teriyaki Chicken (see marinade recipe below). Marinated flank steak would also taste great.  I marinate the chicken for about 2 hours.  Then, using a grill pan on high heat, I sear the chicken on both sides.  After searing the chicken, I place it on a baking sheet covered with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until it is cooked all the way through.

Asian Chopped Chicken Salad. 

Since my husband eats gluten-free, I omit the wontons from his salad. 

To save time and money, I sometimes buy chicken breasts or chicken cutlets in a big bag at a wholesale club like Sam's and cook all the chicken breasts all at once. Then, I use my Food Saver to package them up to store in the freezer and save for future meals.  I just pull out a freezer bag of chicken, thaw, heat, and use for a meal.  This is such a time-saver on busy nights! 

Ingredients for Teriyaki Marinade

Teriyaki Marinade
1 cup Soy Sauce (I Use Tamari gluten-free Soy Sauce)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
3 tablespoons white vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ginger (or 1 cube if you use the frozen kind - see below)

Whisk the above ingredients together. Combine thoroughly.  Use to marinate chicken, beef, or pork.  

           This is the best stuff!  It's frozen crushed ginger.  
When you need a little bit of ginger for a recipe, you just pull
 it out of the freezer and pop out a cube of ginger.

Keep checking The Teacher Dish for more easy recipes.

-Karen