Table Talk: Southwestern Black Bean Salad

 It's my week to host and when I chose this recipe, I wanted to pick something easy.  I haven't really been feeling like spending a ton of time in the kitchen lately.  I think it's because I'm pregnant (with someone else's baby) and nothing really sounds that great.  Then, late last week, we got some devastating news.  My little baby nephew had passed away in his sleep.  It was the most heart-breaking experience but at the same time, there was such an out-pouring of love for my brother and his family, it was lovely to see.  Our weekend was spent crying and driving and then more crying and driving and I don't know that we'll recover anytime soon.  This recipe ended up being about all a person can handle after something like that.  I knew it would be easy and once I got in the kitchen to make it, I found my kitchen to be what it always is-therapeutic.  I know some people won't understand but sometimes I think cooking keeps me sane.  Once I got in there I decided to bake some bread because fresh baked bread makes everything seem a little better.  And also because I knew Calvin wouldn't be too savvy on the dinner plans but he always likes bread. :)

Table Talk: Pasta Salad plus Sun-Dried Tomatoes minus Arugula

 Last time I made something with Arugula in it, my family wasn't impressed.  I decided to leave it out of our pasta salad since I didn't want to watch everyone pick it out and waste it.  I'm wondering though if I should have given it a go.  I'm thinking that the vinegar in the dressing might have been enough to tame the overwhelming flavor that arugula can have.  Next time, I'll have to throw it in and see how it goes.  I threw in some olives and I had deli sliced provolone that I cut it into strips.  The recipe called for whole wheat penne but whole grain works too, right?  I didn't have parsley so I substituted basil.  Next time I would add quite a bit more than 1 T.

My husband and I liked this dish.  It was easy to make and worked perfectly for last night because I made it and then put it in the fridge for an hour while I took Hadlee to swimming and it was ready to eat when we got home, starving.  Calvin didn't love it but his palate is pretty sensitive and things with vinegar usually aren't his cup of tea.  He took a couple bites and then poured himself a bowl of Life cereal.  

I think this would also be great with some cucumbers for crunch and anything else you like with vinegar-like dressing.

If you'd like the recipe you can buy the book or get it at Jen O's blog.  She was our host for the week and chose the recipe.

Berry Cheesecake Salad (Red, White and Blue)

Are you still deciding on your 4th of July menu?  I, personally, like to wait until the last possible minute.  I'm one of those people.  Decisions are hard for me.  Especially really big ones, like menu finalization.  I have to think about it for a few days and weigh all options before committing.  Some people might say it's smart planning to look at every angle.  Others might say I should just make up my mind already and quit being such a procrastinator.  (I tend to fall in with the latter crowd, I don't know what my problem is.)  Well, if you're anything like me and you're still looking for ideas for what to take to a barbecue or what to make for guests, this 'salad' is super easy and a complete crowd pleaser.

Table Talk: Buffalo Chicken (Sticky Finger) Salad

I'm not a huge buffalo wing fan.  Mainly because I'm the biggest sissy ever when it comes to spicy food.  Ever.  There might be something wrong with my taste buds, I don't know.  I knew right off the bat that I wouldn't be making this full-spicy, since I have issues.  When I read through the recipe, and it said to use specifically-'Frank's Hot Sauce'- it reminded me of THIS recipe for Winger's Sticky Fingers that I've been wanting to try.  I thought it might be a nice compromise for my sticky situation.  (See what I did there?  Yeah, I'm also a dork.)

It was perfect for my family and me.  Tyler normally likes buffalo wings but the kids weren't going to eat something too hot and this seemed to be a perfect balance to please everyone.  It had a little bit of heat and just enough for me.  The dressing and the veggies toned it down a bit in the salad and made it perfect.

Here's what I did:

I used chicken tenderloins and cut them in half lengthwise. 

 Michelle mentioned in her post that the cornmeal mixture kind of fell off the chicken after cooking so I decided to experiment and see if I left the chicken in the cornmeal for a while, if it would stay on the chicken better.  I prepared the chicken first and left it coated in the bag for probably 20 minutes, while I got everything else ready for the salad.

 For the sauce- 1/3 cup Frank's Wing Sauce, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup brown sugar (the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups but I didn't think the extra half cup was needed and I was right-it does happen sometimes.)  Mix all together in a sauce pan and bring to boil.  Boil 1 minute and then remove from heat and set aside.  {Next time I would half this mixture, I had quite a bit left over but I've heard it's good mixed with Ranch.  If I do leave these proportions, I would reserve half to mix with Ranch and dump half over the chicken}

Once everything else was ready, and the chicken had become one with the coating, I tested my theory and cooked the chicken.  I used a bit more oil than the recipe stated, maybe 2 T altogether, but probably because I had more coated surface with my smaller pieces of chicken.

 Once the chicken is browned and cooked almost through, add the sauce and stir and turn to coat the chicken.

 I would have liked blue cheese dressing but I know my family would have not appreciated it (mainly Tyler) so I whipped up a simple, light Ranch dressing to go with it. {1/2 cup light sour cream, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, juice 1/2 lime, 3 T cilantro-combine in food processor or blender, add water to thin to desired consistency}  More kid friendly, ya know.  To make myself feel more adult-ish, I added some goat cheese to my salad.  It was a good call.

 I'm happy to report that the coating stayed on the chicken.  I decided I really liked this method of cooking the chicken and pouring the sauce over it.  I will be doing that everyday in the future.

If you'd like to try the recipe, you can visit Michelle's blog for the recipe, she was our host for the week.  Thanks for picking such a fun recipe Michelle!

Sources:

Sauce:  Adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff

Dressing:  Girlplusfood Original

Salad:  The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

Kale, Strawberry and Avocado Salad with Light Poppy Seed Dressing

 I really liked this salad.  Like, really liked it.  Tyler, on the other hand, wasn't as in love as I was. He has a block when it comes to fruit in a savory (at all) salad or dish.  The bacon and strawberries together totally threw him off.  And he didn't think strawberries belonged in a salad with lettuce.  I don't know, man.  I"m slowly breaking him down but we're just not to the strawberry/bacon/lettuce point yet.  He ate it though.  I took his strawberries and he seemed to be content with the remainder of the ingredients together.  I didn't complain.  This salad had a bit of everything to tantalize taste buds and it was pretty healthy.  I will make it again (because I loved it and every once in a while I make something I love and tell the rest of them to deal with it) and just leave the strawberries off his salad.  This was a perfect light evening meal but I wouldn't say no to it at lunch.  I can see us making many more salads like this for summer.  And I'm hoping to have avocados coming out of my ears because we have a lot of trees in our yard.  I'm getting excited!

Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Candied Walnuts (and how I lost my mind)

When I was about 5 or so, my mom made me eat a beet.  I had the kind of parents who made you clean your plate and we were having beets that night.  I am pretty sure they were the canned variety and I sat there with a beet in my mouth, refusing to swallow it, for at least a half an hour.  I thought they were so disgusting, I couldn't imagine letting it go down the hatch.  If I would have been thinking less like a 5 year old, maybe I would've just hurried and swallowed it and not savored the horrible taste for quite as long.  Instead, I turned it into a traumatic moment and have steered clear of beets, in any form, since that day.  

Honey-Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Look at this!  Yesterday I promised a blog post on Facebook and here it is!  (I was sharing tips for storing cilantro)  I am not sure what my problem is, but I am all about the salad and veggies lately.  ??  Yeah, I don't know if my body knows it's Fall and I am supposed to be craving all things apple, cinnamon, pumpkin and cranberry.  I will try to break it to myself.  We've had this twice now because I bought some shrimp on sale. When shrimp is on sale, I am there.  I wish crab was on sale more often.....Anyway, we really liked this salad, like enough to have it twice in 2 weeks, so I thought I'd share.  It's fresh and pretty and healthy and delicious.  Are there anymore positive words I can use?  Oh yeah, it's fast too.  Enjoy!  And now that my internet is fixed, (WHOOOOHOOOO!!) I will, hopefully, be around more often!

Fresh Corn Salad

If you like corn at all, you need to make this.  ASAP.  I took one bite at dinner about a week ago and said, "Is it just me or is this salad freaking delicious?"  Yeah, it's freaking delicious.  And I don't often say the 'f' (freaking, never the other one) word.  I reserve it for special occasions such as this.  Tyler doesn't care for fresh parsley so he would have been fine if that was left out but I liked it.  To make the salad extra delicious, make sure you wait and cut the corn from the cob after preparing all the other ingredients so it stays as fresh as possible.  

Tortellini, Artichoke and Sun Dried Tomato Salad

Summer is here!  I can't decide if I am super excited about it or dreading it.  I prefer temperatures in the 80s.  Around here, is isn't unusual to see temps in the 100s and I don't look forward to those days.  But the pool is warmer and we hang out there a lot.  I just like the idea of summer, you know?  Barbecues, lemonade, lazy pool days.   This is perfect for a summer barbecue and one of my favorite summer salads.  It's delicious and a little different than what everyone is used to.

Steak Taco Salad with Black Bean-Corn Relish

We don't eat red meat all that often these days but I knew I wanted to make this when I saw the photo and read the recipe title.  We all know I love black beans and corn (It's pretty obvious around here).  I completely expected to love this and I wasn't disappointed.  This was another cooking magazine situation where I had to buy it.  (I really need to get a hold of myself.)  The book was a 5 ingredient and 15 minute recipe special edition by Cooking Light.  Although I think the title of the book is misleading a bit, there are more than 5 ingredients in this dish, and it took me more than 15 minutes (because I made it harder on myself than I had to), I would still make this again and again.  The recipe called for light Ranch dressing, but I wanted to make the dressing and the pico de gallo.  You can use your judgment on whether those things are completely necessary for you or not. :)

Southwest Fiesta Salad

I guess the trend in the food blogging world is to post sweet things on Friday.  I haven't caught on to that yet.  Unless we are saying sweet-as in awesome, because then this is pretty sweet.  

We have this salad quite often and have had a few different variations so it's pretty versatile.  You can add pretty much

Coleslaw

 I promised the other day to give you a recipe for the salad with the carrot heart.  Remember?  When I posted about the mayo?  Anyway, this is the salad I referred to.  

Tyler came home the other day wanting to go to Famous Dave's for ribs.  When he gets and idea in his head like that, I can scarcely convince him otherwise.  But really, we don't need to be spending money on Famous Dave's.  I tried to compromise with getting the fixin's and making them ourselves, (or myself, who am I kidding including him?) and it was a battle, but I won.  I was more excited about making the sides than the ribs, personally.  I had never made coleslaw from scratch before (that I know of) but I was excited to make it.

Apple Bacon Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

This is by far one of my favorite salads.  Ever.  I know it's because of the dressing.  I think it would taste good on just about anything.  

I tease Tyler about it constantly because the first time I made this dressing he refused to eat it.  I think I had to force it down his throat.  He has evolved quite a bit during our marriage but he used to think salad started and ended with Ranch dressing.  Nothing else.  Now, he asks me to make this salad often and admits that it is also his favorite salad.  I love that I