Antipasto Pasta Salad

I made this for a Christmas luncheon we had at work and it turned out really good. I've been looking for a go-to pasta salad recipe and this is it. I made the salad and dressing the night before and mixed in the dressing about an hour before serving after reading some reviews. It kept the salad moist.

Antipasta Pasta Salad

Source: Allrecipes.com

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound seashell pasta
1/4 pound Genoa salami, chopped
1/4 pound pepperoni sausage, chopped
1/2 pound Asiago cheese, diced
1 (6 ounce) can black olives, drained and chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, and cool under cold water.

2. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, salami, pepperoni, Asiago cheese, black olives, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and tomatoes. Stir in the envelope of dressing mix. Cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

3. To prepare the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Just before serving, pour dressing over the salad, and mix well.

Scalloped Tomatoes

I was digging through all my Mother-in-Law's old church cookbooks this past weekend and came across this recipe. The books were so old that the advertisements that local businesses could buy up were written out in pen. This particular recipe came from the 1958 edition! I changed a few things up but it came out really good and super easy!

Scalloped Tomatoes
Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups diced tomatoes (I used fresh and removed all seeds)

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

3 pieces of wheat bread (crumbled)

1/4 cup butter (melted)

1 T sugar (or splenda)

1 T basil

1/4 t pepper

1/4 t salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together diced and sundried tomatoes and mix in salt, pepper, and basil. Place in a casserole dish.

2. In a separate dish, mix together bread crumbs, sugar, and butter. Place on top of the tomato mixture. Bake for 1 hour.

Wanna Salsa?

Once you make your own salsa you can never go back to those store bought cans of salsa. You will always compare it and those poor cans will always come up short. So beware.

Mi Madre's Homemade Salsa

Ingredients:
7 plum or roma tomatoes
1 green bell pepper
1/2 a red onion
1 T. olive oil
1 lime
cilantro (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)
jalapeno pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Half the tomatoes and remove all seeds using your thumb to scrape them out. Chop the tomatoes, green pepper, and onion. You may throw in a food processor but I like my salsa chunky. Add olive oil and sqeeze the juice of the lime over the mixture. Season with salt, pepper, and cilantro to taste. I usually forget to get cilantro at the store and have subsituted with basil.

2. If you like your salsa spicy chop the jalapeno and add to the mixture. Remove seeds to cut back on the spiciness. Mix everything together and chill/sit for at least an hour.

Broccoli, Chickpea, and Tomato Salad

I was getting sick of taking the plain ole salad to work for lunch everyday so I was excited to try this recipe out of my new cookbook. It's both tasty and healthy! Score!

Broccoli, Chickpea, and Tomato Salad
Source- Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

Ingredients:

1 pound broccoli
1 T dijon mustard
2 T red-wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
1/2 small red onion, minced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Directions:

1. Cut the florets from the broccoli. In a large pot fitted with a steamer basket, bring 1 inch of water to a boil. Add the broccoli in a single layer. Cover; steam until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, and onion; season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, and broccoli; toss to coat. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Mashed Cauliflower

If you've never had mashed cauliflower, you are totally missing out. If you close your eye, you'd swear you were eating mashed potatoes. Minus all the carbs! I'm not even a huge cauliflower fan, but I'm definitely a fan of this recipe.

Mashed Cauliflower

Source: Unknown

Ingredients-

1 medium head cauliflower
1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon straight chicken base or bullion (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon salt)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh or dry chives, for garnish
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions-

1. Set a stockpot of water to boil over high heat. Clean and cut cauliflower into small pieces. Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until well done. Drain well; do not let cool and pat cooked cauliflower very dry between several layers of paper towels.

2. In a bowl with an immersion blender, or in a food processor, (I used my Kitchenaid mixer on medium high speed) puree the hot cauliflower with the cream cheese, Parmesan, garlic, chicken base, and pepper until almost smooth.

3. Garnish with chives, and serve hot with pats of butter.

**I did copy this off someone's blog so if it was yours, let me know!

The best cornbread you will ever eat.

It could be the two full sticks of butter that makes the cornbread so good. This recipe won't be found on Cooking Light anytime soon but it is worth the calories.

Cornbread

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

Mix:

2 sticks melted butter (you can go with less, but I tend to stay with 1 ½ to 2 sticks)

2 eggs slightly beaten

1 ¼ cup of milk

Mix:

2 cups Bisquick

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup cornmeal

½ teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Combine everything and mix for a couple minutes. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Red Lobster Biscuits

These biscuits taste just like Red Lobster's!

Red Lobster Biscuits

Source: Good Eats-n-Sweet Treats

2 cups Bisquick mix

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2/3 cup milk1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon parsley1/4 cup butter - melted

Preheat oven to 450 F.
Combine first 3 ingredients until moist. Drop onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden.
While the biscuits are baking, mix melted butter, parsley and garlic.
Pour over hot biscuits and serve.