Famous Chopped Chicken Salad

This is a salad they serve at an Italian restaurant at the Mall of America called Tucci Benucch. It has been one of Quenton's and my favorite restaurants since we were dating...17 years ago! We've gone for Valentine's Day in recent years. Q always orders this salad. I usually order a pasta dish and then we share both. It's so good, I've been making it at home for years. I'm always trying to perfect the dressing or find one at the store that tastes like the mustard vinaigrette that they use. I'm sure I will keep tweaking it and editing this post accordingly until it's perfect! For now, this is as close to the real deal as I've gotten at home just a little less romantic.
Ingredients:
Salad:
mixture of hearty lettuces such as: Iceberg, radiccio, romaine, and/or leaf lettuces
diced tomatoes
chopped scallions
crumbled crispy cooked bacon
gorgonzola or blue cheese crumbled
1/4 lb. tubetti pasta (optional)
cooked chicken chopped

Dressing:
MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE
1 1/2 teaspoons Colman's dry mustard
1/4 cup sugar
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons red wine and
1/3 cup champagne vinegar
1/2-1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
dash crushed red chilies
black pepper to taste
1/2 cup corn oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil


Directions:
1. For the chicken you can use leftover roasted chicken or you can grill up chicken breasts or cook them in the oven or on the stove top. whatever your preference.
2. cook the bacon set aside to cool.
3. cook the pasta according to package instructions (if using) and set aside to cool. on the menu at Tucci it's called Tubetti but I found the pasta at Super Target and it is called "Ditalini"
4. Assemble the salad ingredients
5. for the dressing: put all of the ingredients in the blender except the oils. blend first then add the oil in a steady stream while the blender is running.
6. Pour over the salad and toss.

Serve with crusty Italian bread or a vegetarian soup such as Parmesan Corn Chowder

Mandarin Orange and Crunchy Onion Salad

When I was in Jr. High, I used to go with my bff [Dawnie] to her grandpa and grandma's farm in Michigan. We took a ferry from Wisconsin accross Lake Michigan...oh the stories that come to mind...we would stay for a week. Her grandma is a great cook, and this is one of her yummy salad recipes that I've been making for years and years.

Ingredients:

Salad:

• romaine hearts or leaf lettuce or some combination of hearty greens, torn or chopped
• mandarin oranges, drained
• French's french fried onions

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons dry minced onions
• 1/2 cup oil

Directions:

Assemble salad ingredients as pictured.
For the dressing: In a blender, mix vinegar, sugar and minced onions first. Then add oil slowly in a steady stream while blending.  If the dressing is made ahead of time, it should be mixed well again right before dressing the salad. Pour over salad and toss.

Serve immediately.

Fluffy Cranberry Salad

This salad looks so pretty on the side of any Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner not to mention it tastes so good. It is the perfect combination of sweet and tart. Don't limit yourself to just holidays though...it's so good anytime! The leftovers make a great breakfast or lunch or in-between-meals-snack or all of the above...did I just type that? I love this salad.
This recipe is from my friend Sue

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ground raw cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 pint cream whipped
• 1/2 bag (3 cups) mini marshmallows
• 1 20 oz can crushed pineapple -drained

Directions:

1. Process cranberries in a food processor. In a small bowl, combine sugar and ground cranberries. set aside for at least 3 hours.
2. Then whip the cream. Fold in the whipped cream, marshmallows and pineapple.
3. Chill 8 hours to overnight before serving.

Angel Hair Cole Slaw

When we were living in Ukraine...and then Poland...it didn't take long to recognize the fact that cabbage is abundant and cheap in that part of the world. That reminds me of the day I got off the subway in Ukraine and there was a little vegetable stand at our stop that we frequented. This particular day I needed cabbage so I bought a head. By the way, in Russian it's called 'kapoosta'. That right there is reason enough to buy cabbage... Just so I can say "mozhna kapoosta pazhalusta" [cabbage please, may I?]. So anyway, as I was walking home with a head of cabbage [no bag] under my arm, it hit me that the only person who thought it the least bit strange that I was walking down the sidewalk, carrying a head of cabbage, under my arm...was me. And then I couldn't stop thinking about how strange it was that no one else thought it was strange, but by then I was already home making cole slaw. Pardon my massive digression! It was actually in Poland that I was inspired to perfect my cole slaw. I feel kinda bad for cole slaw. It's so much better than it's reputation. It's so often the forgotten tiny portion in a plastic cup on the side of the plate and rarely better than mediocre. Let's be honest. It's usually either not sweet enough or too sweet but not tangy enough or just a creamy pile of blandness. I suppose by now you are thinking "I've never put this much thought into cole slaw". Well, I'm here to tell you that I have. and I do. What is it with me and cole slaw? Cole slaw and me? Really. Long. Story. Short. Here's what I came up with. The perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and creamy with the just-right touch of celery salt...not to be confused with celery seed which in my opinion is too overpowering.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head of cabbage sliced very thin to make angel hair cole slaw (or 2 bags of fine shred cabbage such as Fresh Express Angel Hair Cole Slaw)
• 1-2 carrots peeled and finely shredded (optional)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• lots of fresh ground black pepper (optional) 

Directions:

Put cabbage into a large bowl. In a small bowl mix the carrots (if using), mayo, sugar, vinegar and celery salt. whisk until smooth. Pour over cabbage and toss to coat well. Add about 20 cranks of fresh pepper or to taste...or not at all...it's up to you. Refrigerate several hours and toss occasionally. Toss to coat well and move salad to another bowl before serving. The cabbage shrinks quite a bit as it sits and as a result there's a lot of excess dressing. You can discard the excess  or add more cabbage.

Cole slaw is such a great easy salad/side because it's good all year round. I always make this when I make sloppy joes or barbequed pulled pork sliders and in the summer when we grill out so much.

Salmon Salad

This is a Marty family recipe. Quenton and I used to have this salad all the time before we had kids. It's perfect for a light dinner or lunch.

Ingredients and Directions:

• 2 hearts of romaine lettuce chopped
• 3-4 hard boiled eggs chopped
• 1/2 - 1lb. bacon cooked crispy and crumbled
• 1 large tomato diced (or grape tomatoes cut in half)
• 1 avacado diced
• 1 7.1 oz. package salmon (Chicken of the Sea pink salmon skinless boneless in the pouch)

Dressing:

• juice of 1-2 lemons
• 1/4 c. oil
• salt and pepper to taste

wisk together, toss with salad and serve immediately

Serve with a warm loaf of hearty multi-grain bread and butter. This is also the perfect complement to any vegetarian soup. 

this recipe serves 2-4

Autumn Salad

Ingredients for Salad:

• lettuce (a tender leafy mix)...or whatever's in the fridge
• glazed pecans
• dried cranberries
• finely chopped (or very thin rings) red onion to taste
• granny smith apples diced with skins on

Directions:

To glaze the pecans: Heat a skillet over med-hi heat and put about ¾ cup sugar in the pan. When the sugar liquefies add the pecans and stir quickly to coat them. As soon as they are coated work quickly and remove to wax paper on a plate. Be sure to soak the pan immediately or the sugar will harden and be so much more work to clean off. Allow them to cool completely and then break apart or chop and put into the bowl with the other salad ingredients. I like to assemble this salad on individual plates for special dinner parties to make sure the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Ingredients for Dressing:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 heaping teaspoons prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• small yellow or red onion coarsely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup oil

Directions: 

combine first 7 ingredients in blender, then slowly add oil. Pour over salad and toss immediately before serving. Or pass the dressing in a pretty bottle or small pitcher to serve to individual plates.