Turkey Slaw Burgers

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey

1 apple (I used a gala), finely chopped

1/4 onion, finely chopped

4 Tablespoons bottled chutney

1/4 cup crumbled Feta cheese

salt & pepper

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and form into patties. Brown in a non-stick skillet. These don't have any bread crumbs or egg to help hold together, so don't crowd the pan and risk them falling apart while turning. They browned really quickly, so after the second batch was brown, I added the first batch back to the pan with them, covered, reduced the heat, and cooked for a few minutes to make sure they were done all the way through.

I served on sourdough bread with coleslaw topping. I also served the slaw on the side.

Slaw was just bagged slaw mix with bottled coleslaw dressing, then I tossed in some dried cranberries. Sometimes I add a chopped apple to it too.

Pasta Salad with Grilled Chicken

Ingredients: (approximate measurements in parentheses, adjust to your liking)
bowtie pasta (8 ounces)
carrots (1 large or 8 to 10 baby carrots)
celery (2 to 3 ribs)
zuchini (1...cut in half lengthwise before slicing)
mushrooms (10)
red onion (I use 1/4 to 1/3 of the onion)
cherry tomatoes (8 ounces)
black olives (8 ounces)
green olives (8 ounces)
grilled chicken breasts
mayonnaise
Italian salad dressing (I use bottled)

Directions:
Cook the pasta as per the package directions to an al dente texture. Drain and set aside to cool in a large bowl.

Wash and dry the vegetables. Slice the carrots, celery, zuchini, mushrooms and red onion. Add these to the pasta. Add the whole cherry tomatoes along with the black and green olives.

Slice the chicken breast, and add it to the bowl (or keep separate and add to individual servings of the salad)

In a smaller bowl whisk together equal amounts of mayonnaise and Italian salad dressing till smooth. I make quite a lot of this salad at a time, so I used about 1/3 cup of each, but you may need more or less depending on the size of salad you're making. Add to the salad, and toss till well incorporated.

My note: This is a favorite of Jared's. It keeps very well in the refrigerator, and it's easy and tasty to take to work for lunch.

Hot Potato Salad...

this recipe is from Pamela at http://frenchknots.blogspot.com/2009/05/hot-potato-salad.html

5 to 7 medium sized red potatoes

Wash potatoes and cut into large cubes leaving skin on.

Boil till just tender and drain.

8 to 10 links of sausage or slices of bacon, cooked

Sauce:

4 green onions chopped (green and white parts)

3/4 cups real mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dry mix

2 Tablespoons grease from sausage or bacon

Directions:

In a large bowl combine green onions, ranch mix, mayonnaise, sour cream, and grease. After mixing sauce, add potatoes and sausage/bacon to the bowl. Pour into a 9 x 13 inch pan, and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 to 45 minutes until hot through and beginning to brown on top.

Spinach Salad with Salmon

Salad Ingredients:
use the following in amounts to your taste or for size of salad you need...
baby spinach
mushrooms (sliced)
orange (sectioned)
avocado (sliced)
red onion (thinly sliced)
dried cranberries
pecan halves

Mix ingredients in a large bowl.

Oven Grilled Salmon:
salmon fillet
juice of half an orange
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line broiler pan with foil. Place salmon fillet in pan, skin side down. Squeeze juice from half an orange over top of fillet. Salt and pepper to your taste. Place in top third of oven for ten minutes per inch of fillet's thickness. Remove from oven. Cut into serving-size pieces and remove skin.

Orange/Mustard Dressing:
juice of half an orange
1 Tablespoon of grainy mustard
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place orange juice, mustard, and rice vinegar in a small bowl and whisk together. While still whisking, drizzle in olive oil, mixing continuously. Use immediately or mix well again before using.

To serve salad:
Place individual salad serving on a plate, drizzle with dressing, and top with a serving portion of a grilled salmon fillet. Drizzle a little of the dressing on top of the salmon fillet.

Tex-Mex Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 zucchini, unpeeled and roughly chopped

2 cups corn kernels

1/8 cup sliced pickled jalepeno peppers, chopped

1 1/2 cup cooked chicken breast, diced

2 14 ounce cans chicken broth

1 12 ounce can evaporated milk

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

In a large saucepan, melt butter and sauté the onion until it is tender. Stir in the zucchini, corn, jalapeno, and diced chicken. Add chicken broth, and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook the soup until the zucchini is tender (5 to 10 minutes). Stir in the evaporated milk, and heat just until it is hot...do not boil. Remove the soup from the heat, and stir in the cheese.

Garnish each bowl with a little more shredded cheese and/or crisp tortilla strips.

Grilled Vegetables and Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki

(my apologies for the substandard photo)

Grilled Vegetables

cherry tomatoes

mushrooms

zucchini

onion

eggplant

bell pepper

Leave cherry tomatoes and mushrooms whole. Cut other vegetables into large chunks so that all are about the same size. Place all in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with your favorite seasoning blend. Mix to coat all vegetables. Pour into a foil lined broiler pan and place under broiler. Watch closely, and when vegetables begin to char, stir and place back under broiler. Continue until they are done to your taste.

Tonight I served the vegetables in pitas with left over shredded chicken and a fabulous Tzatziki (Greek yogurt and cucumber sauce) found here. YUM!

Not back in the kitchen yet...

I had a little setback, but hopefully will be back in the kitchen soon.

But in the meantime, I wanted to apologize. I just noticed that there are several comments that were left on different posts quite awhile back without my noticing or replying. I'm not an unfriendly sort...really! So thank you all for your nice comments. Glad you could visit, and hope you'll come again.

Sent my hubby to the grocery yesterday...I hope to make something yummy tomorrow.

I have been cooking...really...

I have some surgery scheduled at the end of this week, so I've been cooking and freezing casseroles and soups so that my non-cooking husband doesn't starve or poison me while I recuperate. :) I may be off the computer for a short while.