Spinach Salad with Salmon & Asian Vinaigrette

Well, I didn't lie.....I told you that I was on a salad kick!

The grilled chicken salad with cilantro vinaigrette was just so good, I had to make another salad. Another salad with homemade dressing, interesting ingredients (mango? why not!) and a warm piece of lean, healthy protein.

How did I come up with this one? Well, I went in search of dressings, and found a super easy Asian vinaigrette. This is certainly nothing exotic...this is just rice vinegar, a bit of oil, a drizzle of soy...(ok, and maybe a couple other things.) Also, I simply had to use avocado again - it is just THAT good. I also had some spinach leaves left, so that was the base. For extra crunch, I added broccoli slaw and for a hit of sweet flavor, I used mango slices. I thought this salad would go wonderfully with broiled salmon, so that's what ended up on top.

This is definitely a "will-make-again!"

Spinach Salad with Salmon & Asian Vinaigrette

For the salad:

fresh spinach leaves, rinsed and patted dry

broccoli slaw

avocado, sliced

mango, sliced

slivered almonds

fresh salmon filets (if frozen, thawed)

salt, pepper

For the dressing:

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBS fresh ginger, minced

1/4 - 3/4 C olive oil

1/3 C rice vinegar

1/4 C - 1/2 C soy sauce

3 TBS honey

1/4 C water

1. Before you begin - please understand that the measurements for the dressing are a starting point. Start with less, and add as you like. I like sweet, acidic dressings - this meant more honey, more vinegar, and less soy. Do what you like! But anyway, in a food processor or a jar with lid, make your dressing: just throw it all together and blend/shake well. Set aside.

2. Sprinkle salmon filets with salt and pepper. Place under broiler in oven for several minutes, until flakes easily with fork.

3. Assemble your salad: spinach leaves, slaw, avocado, mango, almonds, salmon...then drizzle the dressing over the salad.

PS - sorry for this totally weird-looking picture. The original photo didn't come out well, so I went a little overboard with the photo editing on iphoto...(this is why I work in finance.)

Its salmon on a salad...you get it, right? :-)

Gnocchi Nicoise

Let's go back to something called "Gnocchi." I've only made gnocchi once in my life - it was last year, and I decided to sort of throw my own recipe together with a cream-based sauce, ham, asparagus, and a package of gnocchi that I found at World Market. It was just ok, but nothing spectacular. Of course, as life as taught me so many times - "try, try again!" So I here I go once again, with these cute little potato dumplings.

Gnocchi is easy to find and relatively inexpensive. One pound of vacuum-sealed gnocchi runs about $3-4. This recipe - "Gnocchi Nicoise" - is actually from Food Network and is very, very good. The flavors are bold, and I think the red wine makes them even more so (something about wine, it brings out the best in everything :) ) I was intrigued by this recipe due to the combination of interesting flavors, like orange peel and shallots. The one thing that should be written into this recipe is that crusty french bread on the side is a must!!! It was the only thing missing when we ate this for dinner last week. With so much wonderful sauce sitting on our plates, it was a shame that we didn't have any good bread around to take care of it!

Gnocchi Nicoise

1 TBS olive oil

4 oz bacon (about 1/4 of a package), diced

4 cloves garlic, smashed

1/2 lb ground beef

2 TBS red wine (I used Pinot Noir)

3 shallots, diced

1 C carrots, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 TBS tomato paste

salt, pepper

15-oz can whole tomatoes

1 C chicken broth

1 bay leaf

2 one-inch strips of orange peel

2/3 C nicoise olives, pitted and chopped*

1 pkg. (1 lb) vacuum-sealed gnocchi**

*As hard as I looked, I could not find nicoise olives. Online, it says that a good substitute is kalamata olives - which I had on hand anyway from making greek pasta a few weeks back.

** My personal preference would have been to double the amount of gnocchi. The potato dumplings are just so good, I wanted more! But, like I said, a good crusty french bread would have satisfied my cravings.

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add bacon; cook 2-3 minutes. Add garlic; cook 2-3 minutes. Add ground beef, and cook several more minutes, until mostly browned. Add wine, shallots, carrots, celery, and tomato paste. Cook until the vegetables soften, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Crush the tomatoes into the pan with your hands, and add any juices from the can. Be very careful! When you crush a whole tomato, the juices go everywhere; I've ruined a few shirts, no joke. Stir in the broth, bay leaf, orange peel and olives. Bring to a simmer and lower the heat; cover and cook 20 minutes.

3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add gnocchi and cook 2-3 minutes. When they start floating to the top, remove them immediately, or they will get soggy. Drain. Remove the orange peel and bay leaf from sauce, and toss the gnocchi with the sauce.

4. Serve with crusty french bread :) :) :) and a glass of that same Pinot Noir!

PW's Meatballs

Last month, I went to a wine tasting with two good friends, Heather and Kristin. While there, they started talking about someone called "Pioneer Woman." At first, I didn't even tune into this conversation, as anything about "pioneers" is pretty low on my list of interests (though in grade school, I was fascinated by pioneer stories and of course, Oregon Trail!) But as these two friends were talking, one of them turned to me and said "wait - Sarah, have you heard of Pioneer Woman?" After hearing my reply, and knowing that I am such an avid cook, they were shocked - "what?! You have to google her! She's amazing...!"

A few days later, I decide to google this lady. Her website has quite a few things going on - information about home schooling, her love story...and of course, her cooking blog. And Pioneer Woman knows how to cook! Living on a ranch with 4 kids and a cowboy husband, she's learned how to make the richest stews and the most buttery rolls and the creamiest sauces and the crispiest pie crusts. I have become completely obsessed with her cooking blog, checking it multiple times per day.

And finally, last Sunday, I made one of her awesome recipes: "BBQ Meatballs." They aren't really barbecue as we know it here in Kansas, but they are certainly delicious, filling, and easy.

Now we're talkin'!

Pioneer Woman's BBQ Meatballs

1.5 lb ground beef

3/4 C oats

1 C milk

1/2 C onion, minced

salt, pepper

1 C all-purpose flour

canola oil

1 C ketchup

2 TBS sugar

3 TBS white vinegar

2 TBS worcestershire

1 dash red tabasco

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In bowl, combine beef, oats, milk, 1/4 C onion, and a pinch of salt + pepper. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place in freezer for 5 minutes (this makes them much easier to handle.)

3. In large skillet, heat some canola oil over medium-high heat. While oil is heating, dredge meatballs in flour. Brown meatballs in oil for several minutes, until just brown.

4. In small bowl, mix ketchup, sugar, vinegar, worcestershire, remaining 1/4 C onion, and tabasco. Place meatballs in baking dish, and pour sauce over meatballs.

5. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Note - PW suggests serving these along something starch-y, like egg noodles, potatoes, or bread. I served them with mashed red potatoes and mixed vegetables.

Southwest Chicken Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing

One thing I hardly ever make at home is salad. I don't consider it all that satisfying, even though I love salads for lunch. My salads never taste like Panera's salads. They never taste like the salad bar at work. My salads at home are always so....bland.

Bottled dressings, eh. Random ingredients in the fridge, eh.

Just....eh.

Then I made this salad. Officially declared by The Fiance to be "the best salad [he's] ever had."

Now I'm on to something.

Maybe its the fact that I grilled the chicken on our electric panini press. Or maybe its the fact that I loaded each salad with half an avocado. Yes, and yes. But truthfully....I think its the dressing. The homemade dressing. The homemade cilantro-lime dressing that has so many awesome flavors going on, you don't even know what to say about it! You just keep eating!!

Now I'm on a salad kick. This week it will be grilled salmon salad with asian vinaigrette.

One more cooking "hurdle" that I have successfully overcome. Lesson learned = get creative!! And don't use bottled dressings :)

Southwest Chicken Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing

For the salad:

fresh spinach leaves, rinsed and patted dry

avocado, sliced*

canned corn

canned black beans

shredded colby jack cheese

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

poultry seasoning, salt, pepper

For the dressing:

1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

salt, pepper (small pinch of each)

3/4 tsp minced fresh ginger root

juice of 1 lime

1/4 C honey

1/4-1/2 C packed cilantro leaves

1/4 C olive oil

*Every time that I've bought avocado, it takes about 2-3 days to ripen. There is nothing worse than unripened avocado. It tastes like grass. The texture is stringy. Please let it ripen! It will be soft to the touch and a deep dark green. If you need to speed things up, stick it in a paper sack or wrap it in newspaper.

1. To make dressing: place the jalepeno pepper, garlic, and ginger in a small food processor or blender. Pulse until finely chopped. Add lime juice, honey, vinegar, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Pulse a few times to blend. Slowly drizzle in olive oil until desired thickness. Do a quick taste test and make adjustments as needed. Set aside.

2. Grill chicken on an indoor electric grill or outdoor grill. If you don't have a grill, you could sautee in a pan or even bake in the oven. Either way, season however you like. I used poultry seasoning with salt + pepper, but a mexican spice combo, or lime juice, would be yummy too.

3. Assemble salad: add avocado, small spoonful of corn and beans, cheese and chicken to a pile of spinach leaves. At this point, you could add/change anything you like - next time, I may try pico de gallo, or chopped cherry tomatoes, or red onion, whatever. Before serving, drizzle the dressing over the salad.

Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

My Valentine's Day...it was simply wonderful!

Take a cold, quiet Sunday in February.

+ a wonderful guy by the name of Brett

+ a pretty vase of flowers on my coffee table, thanks to the same wonderful guy (who sent them to my work on Friday)

+ a bottle of Chianti for drinking and a bottle of Chardonnay for my mushrooms

+ warm focaccia bread dipped in olive oil and sweet balsamic vinegar

+ a big bowl of Greek Pasta drenched in crumbled feta cheese

+ a couple comedies on the television

+ peanut butter no-bake cookies drizzled in chocolate

Yum. But there's one thing I'm forgetting.

Insert crab-stuffed mushrooms baked in a butter chardonnay sauce.

Yes please.

Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

3 TBS butter + 2 TBS butter + 1 TBS butter

1/4 C chardonnay

18-20 large button mushrooms

3 green onions, minced

2 tsp lemon juice

4 oz cream cheese, softened

4 oz can crab meat, drained well

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 C bread crumbs

salt, pepper, cayenne

1. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Pop stems out of mushrooms. Cut off the tough ends of the stems and discard. Finely chop stems. Set mushroom caps aside for now.

2. In a small skillet, sautee the mushroom stems in 2 TBS butter for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and sautee another minute or two. Remove from heat and put in a medium bowl.

3. To bowl, add green onions, lemon juice, cream cheese, crab meat and a sprinkle of salt + pepper and cayenne pepper.

4. Melt 3 TBS butter in a small bowl. Mix in 1/4 C chardonnay. Pour into the bottom of a baking pan.

5. Preheat oven to 350. Stuff the mushroom caps with the crab mixture. Heat 1 TBS butter in the microwave. Stir in 1/4 C bread crumbs. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the mushrooms. Place mushrooms over melted butter/wine in pan.

6. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until mushrooms look juicy and bread crumbs are toasted.

Chicken Noodle Soup

This soup was meant to be. Here's how it went down.

Last Sunday, while planning meals for the week, I had a strong craving for chicken noodle soup. Not Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup (which, I'm ashamed to admit, I actually do like) but real chicken noodle soup. With chunks of carrot, and hearty noodles, and somewhat-greasy chicken :) Without telling Brett that this was one of my meals for the week (he isn't a soup kinda guy...) I went to the store and got everything I needed. The plan was to make it the next day, on a Monday.

Late on Sunday night, Brett started to feel strange. Icky. Upset stomach, headache. The next morning, he considered not going to work, but decided to tough it out. Needless to say, he spent his lunch break napping in his car and ate nothing but peanuts all day. Now, when a grown man eats nothing but peanuts, something is wrong.

Voile! How lucky is it that when he came home from work on Monday, I was able to say...."dinner is an enormous pot of chicken noodle soup!" He was thrilled, to say the least. He took three ibuprofen and a 2-hour nap. Upon waking, he was starrrrrving, and chowed down three big mugs of this soup. It must have done the trick, as he felt near-perfect the next morning.

And that's my saga of Brett getting sick and my delicious soup curing him. Try some before winter runs up!!

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 TBS butter

1 small onion, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

2 large celery stalks, chopped

5 cans broth (chicken or vegetable - I used a combo)

1 cooked rotisserie chicken (this is what makes it good! don't substitute :) )

2 small packages frozen yolk-free egg noodles

basil, oregano, salt, pepper

1. Spend about 15 minutes pulling all the meat off the rotisserie chicken and set aside. Make sure you don't get any little bones, and pull the big pieces apart. Go to town on it.

2. In large stockpot or dutch oven, cook onion, celery and carrots in butter until slightly tender.

3. Add broth and chicken to stockpot. Bring to a boil, and add egg noodles. Bring back to a low boil for approximately 20 minutes, before reducing to a simmer for another 30-45 minutes. Add seasonings as desired.

Scalloped Potatoes & Onions

I think this is the first time I've ever posted two blog posts in a period of 36 hours. But you see, I have this problem!! I keep a mental checklist of all the recipes I want to post. And, I keep the photos on a little SD card that quickly fills up. So when I cook quite a bit (which is lately....) both my mental list and photo card get just a bit bogged down. Its somewhat overwhelming, but in a good way!

I actually made these deeeeeelicious potatoes about 3-4 months ago, and then again a few weeks back. There is no way - I repeat, no way - that I can just "skip" and move on to another recipe. These potatoes do take awhile to bake, but its so worth it. Both times, I've done this recipe on a weekend, so I can let it bake while I make the rest of dinner or read a book.

This is a great side dish for just about anything, but both times, we've had it alongside pork chops. Something about pork and potatoes...I just can't explain it!

Without further ado...a side dish that I will be making for the next 60 years!

Scalloped Potatoes and Onions

5 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced*

1 medium onion, sliced**

3 TBS butter

1/4 C flour

1 + 3/4 C chicken broth

2 TBS mayonnaise

salt, pepper, paprika

1. In a large, greased, glass baking dish, layer potatoes and onions.

2. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and stir with a whisk until clumps disappear. Gradually add broth, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper. Cook for approx. 2 minutes, or until thick, stirring with a whisk. Pour over potatoes, and sprinkle with paprika.

3. Bake, covered with foil, at 325 for 2 hours. When you lift the foil off before serving, be very careful...the steam is hot and will burn you!!

*if you have a mandoline, this would be a no-brainer. I don't. I like to be very hands on with my food, so much so that I chose not to add one to my bridal registry

**not diced, not minced, not chopped. Sliced, like half-circles. But you know, it will probably taste the same no matter what :)

Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

If its possible to have a love affair with a muffin, I've done it. I have found THE muffin: the muffin that tastes more delicious, has more texture, is more colorful, and is more healthy....than any other muffin, ever.

Meet these Carrot Oatmeal Muffins. What's not to love? I'm talkin' pineapple bits, coconut, cream cheese!!!! For added nutrients and fiber, let's not ignore the whole wheat flour, rolled oats, and 2 cups of shredded carrots.

These muffins are so good, my cats tore into the plastic bag looking for them.

The bar has been set. Until another muffin scores more points...eat up!

Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

1 C all-purpose flour

1 C whole wheat flour*

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 C white sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

3/4 C unsweetened natural applesauce

1/4 C canola oil

2 large or jumbo eggs, beaten (3 if medium/small)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 C uncooked, rolled oats

1/2 C flaked coconut (sweetened is ok)

1/2 C golden raisins (more plump and delicious than purple raisins, I think)

2 C shredded carrot

8-oz can crushed pineapple, drained with juice reserved

4 oz cream cheese (half of one block)

*this is my second time baking with whole wheat flour, and I love it. You can't tell a difference in flavor, but knowing that you're eating whole grains which aren't refined and bleached...that's a good feeling.

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 muffin pans with Pam.

2. In a large bowl, mix both flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add white and brown sugar, applesauce, oil, eggs and vanilla. Mix until just moist (I decided to forego the mixer and use a large spoon.) Fold in the oats, coconut, raisins, carrots and pineapple.

3. In a small bowl, soften the cream cheese by microwaving for 15-20 seconds. Stir until smooth by adding a tiny bit of the reserved pineapple juice. You want the mixture to be fairly thick, like yogurt.

4. In each muffin cup, pour a large spoonful of the batter, and a small spoonful of the cream cheese mixture, followed by another large spoonful of batter. Muffin cups should be about 3/4 full.

5. Bake 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

(see the little layer of cream cheese in there?!)

Pork with Pomegranate Pan Sauce

Flipping through my December 2009 issue of Cooking Light a few months back, something about this recipe drew me in. Imagining a deliciously juicy pork chop alongside a sweet and tangy sauce...it just sounded so appealing! Even better, Cooking Light made note that it can be made in 30 minutes or less: perfect for my crazy weeknight schedule.

My experience with pomegranate is, well, nil. I've had a few pomegranate martinis on the KC plaza, but thats about it! I do know that pomegranates are very, very good for you. In some studies, it has been said to reduce heart disease, lower blood pressure, inhibit viral infections and even prevent dental plaque. But hey, even if all of that is false...the juice from this sweet fruit tastes GOOD! This recipe is my baby step into cooking with pomegranates, since it doesn't actually call for a real pomegranate, but rather the juice - which is a-ok with me from a time and convenience standpoint.

So how did this recipe turn out? Very, very awesome. The sauce is tangy and has a different flavor than anything I've tried before. And the editors of Cooking Light didn't lie - this dish did take only 30 minutes!

Enjoy!

Pork with Pomegranate Pan Sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp black pepper

4 boneless pork chops

2 TBS olive oil

1/3 C shallots, chopped

3/4 C pomegranate juice

1 TBS sugar

1 TBS balsamic vinegar

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; rub on pork chops.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops; cook 3-5 minutes on each side. Remove and keep warm in low oven. Add shallots to pan and cook for one minute. Add juice, sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes or until slightly thick.

3. Serve warm pork chops alongside sauce.

Roast Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers

About an hour ago, I finished watching the movie, Julie & Julia - and I must admit, I'm a little bit intimidated! You see, Julie & Julia is the story of an average blogger (like me), who loves to cook (like me), is still very much a beginner (like me), and decides to take on a year's worth of recipes by Julia Child in order to find herself in a deeper, more meaningful way.

Now, when I started this blog in December 2008, I didn't really set out with any specific "goals" such as, attempting every single recipe in a book called "Mastering the Art of the French Cooking," within the span of one year. I did, however, start this blog with the intention of encouraging myself to try new and challenging recipes, to find unique and uber-fresh ingredients, and to record the many recipes that I try for future use. I have printed almost all of my recipes and put them in a binder, and I refer back to them frequently. So in every way possible, this blog is for me. I do love that some family members and friends read my blog and try my recipes - but that's not why I keep writing. I keep writing and cooking because it is truly fulfilling - it has become and will remain an inherent part of who I am and what I love.

I highly doubt that I will ever receive phone calls from the Food & Wine editors, or the producers of Food Network, as Julie did at the end of the movie. But, that is okay with me. Whether your kitchen is a private sanctuary or a place for millions to know and enjoy, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you are having an absolute blast with just a few things in front of you - fresh ingredients and a hot pan to cook them in.

And with that, here is the latest from my small, yet perfectly functional and enjoyable, kitchen:

Roast Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers

salt + pepper

garlic powder + dried oregano

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

olive oil

2 large bell peppers, cut into thin strips (3 if they're small)

1 large shallot, thinly sliced (I omitted)

couple sprigs of fresh rosemary (leaves only, trash the stems)

1 C chicken broth (or 1 C water + 1 cube chicken bouillon)

2 TBS balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 450.

2. Using a meat pounder, pound chicken until 1/2-inch thick. Brush chicken with a bit of olive oil on each side and sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano onto chicken. Heat a large skillet over med-high heat and add a bit of oil. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes or until browned. Turn chicken over and cook for a couple more minutes. Place chicken in a baking dish and bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until cooked through.

3. Add a bit more olive oil to pan, if needed. Add rosemary, peppers and shallots. Sautee 3 minutes. Add broth, scraping pan to loosen brown bits. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is done. Before serving, stir vinegar into broth (add a bit of salt and pepper if you like.) Serve bell pepper sauce over chicken.

Hummus

If there's one snack that I can't get enough of, its hummus on pita. I recently went looking for an easy, basic hummus recipe. By "basic," I mean something that can serve, literally, as "base" for any type of hummus - roasted red pepper, chipotle, jalepeno, etc. This recipe definitely serves my purpose: its awesome on its own, and could easily be played with to add any ingredient you may like. The texture is identical to what you find in a restaurant, and the flavor is great, too - pretty garlicky, but if you don't like that, just reduce the number of garlic cloves.

Now, normally when I try a new recipe, I set out to find inexpensive ingredients (trying to save for a house, you see....) However, there is one ingredient in hummus, called Tahini, that is somewhat expensive. Some people say that you can either eliminate the Tahini or replace with a few drops of sesame seed oil (Tahini is, after all, essentially sesame seed butter.) But at the store, as I held the jar of Tahini in my hand with a pricetag of $10.99, I had to give in. Cooking is like candy to me. And sometimes, its ok to indulge in the things you love. The jar will last me for years, its imported from Greece, and when I try a new recipe, I want it to be the real thing.

So, whether you skip the Tahini for the sake of your checkbook, or indulge in it for the sake of living life to its fullest.... serve this hummus on warm pita with a sprinkle of paprika, and I promise that you'll have yourself a very healthy and delicious snack :)

Basic Hummus

2 (15-oz) cans of garbanzo beans, drained (set the juice aside, don't trash it)

3 TBS Tahini*

2 TBS lemon juice

sprinkle of salt

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 TBS olive oil

pinch of paprika and cumin

*can be found at health food stores, or at the grocery store in specialty goods, or near peanut butter

1. Place all ingredients in blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Adjust seasonings as you prefer. Add reserved juice from the beans as you try to achieve a good consistency. I added about 1/3 C of the juice throughout the blending process.

2. Before serving, drizzle a bit of olive oil over hummus and sprinkle with paprika.

Ham & Beans

Brett and I decided to spend last Halloween at my sister Kellie's house, so we could be with my nieces and nephews as they ran from house to house trick-or-treating. We had such a great time! My brother-in-law Ryan recently bought a tractor, so he was able to hook up a trailer for the adults to ride along in (beer in hand, of course...) Of course, at the end of October, the weather was a bit cold so by the end of a couple hours trick-or-treating, we were ready to get inside and eat something warm and filling. Ryan and Kellie had the perfect thing waiting in the crockpot for us - ham n' beans!!!

While this isn't the exact recipe, c'mon, its ham n' beans! Its impossible to screw up and has such a classic flavor. This recipe calls for brown sugar which I love, since I tend to like things a little sweet.

I'm trying to get all these winter recipes posted before springtime arrives. Before we know it, I'll be cooking all sorts of fresh tomatoes and basil-based sauces. I love cooking in sync with the season. Ingredients taste better and more than anything, its fun! This may or may not be my last "soup/stew" post of the season. I'm sort of a spontaneous cook, and never know what's next!

Thanks to my sister Kellie for this inspiration on this one! Love you!

Ham and Beans!

1 lb dry Great Northern beans

1/2 lb cooked ham, diced

1 small onion, diced

1/2 C brown sugar

salt, pepper, cayenne, parsely

1. Rinse dry beans in a large pot; discard shells or broken pieces. Add 8 cups of cold water and let stand overnight.

2. Drain beans and pour into slow cooker. Add ham, onion, brown sugar and seasonings. Add enough water that beans are just barely covered. Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours. Adjust seasoning as necessary.

Taco Salad

After our New Years Eve party with our friends, we found ourselves with 4 large, unopened bags of tortilla chips. Now, Brett and I love chips and salsa, or chips and cheese dip, or chips and guacamole. But four bags of chips....that calls for something bigger. As I sat there wondering about the best way to get rid of the chips, I decided on two things - first, to give two bags of chips away to our friends. Second - TACO SALAD! I've never even made taco salad, so this idea was a winner. Even better, I was able to find other necessary ingredients already in my pantry: taco seasoning, enchilada sauce, Rotel. I sort of "invented" this taco salad on my own, based on things I already had.

This meal will take you about 20 minutes to throw together, and you end up with a heaping plate of yummy finger food! The first night, we ate the taco salad out of bowls because I was worried it would end up all over the floor.

Brett's suggestion for this near-perfect taco salad: jalepenos. I really don't know I overlooked this the first time but I totally agree, jalepenos would be the perfect addition!

Taco Salad

1 bag of Santitas corn tortilla chips

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 TBS olive oil

1 package taco seasoning

1 can chili beans

1 can spicy Rotel

1-2 C shredded cheddar cheese

shredded lettuce

canned jalepeno pepper slices

sour cream

2 TBS ranch dressing

3 TBS enchilada sauce

1. Cut chicken breasts into thin, small strips. Heat olive oil over medium heat, and add chicken. Cook until no longer pink inside (shouldn't be long since the chicken pieces are small.) Add taco seasoning and water according to taco seasoning package.

2. Assemble the rest of your taco salad. Take a couple handfuls of chips and place on a plate. Sprinkle some shredded cheese and add a few spoonfuls of beans. Zap in the microwave for 30 seconds. Remove, and top with warm chicken, a couple spoonfuls of Rotel, a small handful of lettuce and a few jalepeno slices. Add a dollop of sour cream on top.

3. Mix ranch dressing and enchilada sauce in a small bowl. Drizzle dressing over salad.