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.

Buttermilk Pie

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cups butter or margarine, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 exgra-large eggs
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Dash of salt
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell*

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

In large bowl, combine sugar, butter, and flour. Mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add buttermilk, vanilla, and salt. Mix just until blended. Do not overmix. Pour into pie crust. (I always use my favorite pie crust recipe.)

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Do not overbake.

My note: I love buttermilk pie, but some of them are so sweet they make your teeth ache. And some are kind of bland. It took a lot of searching to find a recipe that suited me. This one is from the Luby's Cafeteria 50th Anniversary Recipe Collection. As Goldilocks says, "This one is just right."

Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups split peas
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery ribs, sliced
1/2 to 1 cup ham pieces (I used ends and bone)
3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth (reduced sodium)
2 cups water
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream

Directions:
In a large pot, heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Add onion, carrots, celery, and ham to pot and saute for a few minutes till onions are translucent. Rinse split peas, and add to pot. Add chicken broth and water, as well as salt and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for an hour and a half stirring occasionally.

At end of cooking time, remove ham bone (if used) and remove any meat from bone. Add meat back to pot. Stir in 1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream. Taste for seasonings, and adjust as needed.

Serve with a crusty bread.

My note: This was my first time to make (or for that matter to even eat) split pea soup. I read several recipes, and none of them seemed to be exactly what I wanted, so I just decided to wing it. Turned out great!