Asian Inspired Salad

I am one of those people that loves salad once I am eating it but I rarely go out and choose it. You know what I mean? We had dinner with some friends the other night and she made this awesome asian-esque salad to balance the ribs she made. The tang really cut the fat of the ribs in the perfect way. It was delicious!! So the next day I made my own version. 

Mmmmm, right? So pretty!

Asian Inspired Salad

Salad:

1/2 head Napa cabbage

1/4-1/2 head of red cabbage 

1 yellow pepper 

1 red bell pepper 

2 cups sugar snap peas

1 bunch cilantro

Dressing:

1 tbsp sugar

1 knuckle ginger

3 cloves garlic

1-3 tbsp soy sauce

1/2-1 cup sesame oil

1/2-1 cup rice wine vinegar

Chop all the salad ingredients into bite sized pieces and mix in a large bowl. For dressing put garlic and ginger in food processor and chop until fine. Add all other dressing ingredients and blend until combined. Pour dressing over salad greens and serve immediately. 

*this salad lasts in the fridge without the dressing on it for a couple days. Just throw a moistened paper towel over the top and store. 

*chopped up rotisserie chicken is awesome in this salad

*ingredients in dressing are to taste. I use more like a thumb sized piece of ginger because we love it so much.

Bacon Ranch Potato Salad

YUMMY! This is a tried and true recipe for potato salad. You and yours will love it!

Bacon Ranch Potato Salad

1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix

2 C mayo

3/4 C green onion Sliced

1 lb bacon cooked and cut into bite size pieces (can use 12-16        slices of pre-cooked bacon)

5lbs red potatoes

	stir together the ranch dressing mix, mayonnaise and green onion. Cover, and refrigerate for about 2 hours to blend flavors Bring water to a boil. Add whole potatoes, and cook until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain, run under cold water to cool, and chop into 1 inch cubes and put in a large serving bowl. Stir the mayo mixture into the bowl of potatoes. Add the bacon and stir. Serve and Enjoy!

Greek Quinoa Salad

After Tuesdays DIY debacle I needed a win. And here it is! I know this salad is a winner. It is delicious and healthy. I love that it is a vegetarian but chock full of protein. Quinoa is one of my favorite super foods! 

Greek Quinoa Salad

10 oz. package of spinach

10 oz. package of halved grape tomatoes

1/2 red onion chopped

2 english cucumber chopped 

4 cups cooked red quinoa

8 oz. greek vinaigrette

1 can olives

Feta cheese to taste.

Mix all the ingredients except feta. Top with Feta on individual portions to taste.

This salad is great because it is really easy to customize. I prefer kalamata olives but the kids prefer plain black. That means we do plain black. I would rather them eat it with black olives than to refuse it with kalamata. We like red quinoa but any quinoa would be great. It would be good with yellow or white onion as well. You can use regular cucumber but I prefer the english cucumber because they don't seem to get as bitter.  

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