Watergate Salad

Is it a Southern thing?

I've always wondered about those dishes that we call 'salad', but taste more like dessert. I'm referring mostly to congealed salads (and Aunt Pat's marshmallow salad), but this one fits the category, too. There's at least one at every picnic or potluck I've ever been to. I personally like to eat these as the course that comes between the main meal and dessert, how about you?

And where did this one get it's name?

WATERGATE SALAD

3 cups miniature marshmallows (about half a bag)
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups whipped topping (like Cool Whip)

Combine first 4 ingredients and mix well. Add whipped topping and mix gently. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Italian Cherry Tomato Salad

Here's another great salad for summer gatherings. It's mayo-free, so it's okay if it sits out in warm weather for a little while.

ITALIAN CHERRY TOMATO SALAD

1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced and cut into one inch pieces
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 (6 ounce) can pitted ripe olives, cut in half
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed
2 pint containers cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered, depending on size
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons prepared commercial pesto
1 teaspoon sugar

Combine first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Toss and set aside. In a small bowl, combine olive oil and next 3 ingredients. Mix well. Pour over salad and toss until coated. Chill at least one hour before serving.

Artichoke Chicken

You know that yummy artichoke dip you usually only get at a party or potluck? Somebody, somewhere, said "Let's put that on top of chicken!".

ARTICHOKE CHICKEN

1 (6 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 pinch garlic pepper
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

In small bowl, mix together artichoke hearts, Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise and garlic pepper. Place chicken in a baking dish, and cover each piece evenly with artichoke mixture. Sprinkle a thin layer of bread crumbs on top.

Bake at 375 degrees, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until chicken is done.

Notes:

- I'm sure it would be fine to use garlic powder if you don't have garlic pepper, but I wouldn't recommend garlic salt, the artichoke hearts are already quite salty.

- I almost always pound the chicken breasts between pieces of plastic wrap, they cook more evenly that way.

Greek Salad

I had a tasty lunch today. As a 'temporary' housewife, I have the luxury of cooking at lunchtime. Not that I would make anything too complicated for lunch. But.... I can make a fish sandwich without all of my co-workers screaming about stinking up the workplace! And my cats didn't even complain when I didn't share.

I had Greek salad with my sandwich. The Real Greek salad, you know, without any lettuce. There's this crazy Greek man that I know.... this is how he makes it.

REAL GREEK SALAD

2 cups coarsely chopped tomato
2 cups thinly sliced cucumber
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; cover. Allow to marinate in refrigerator for at least two hours, stirring once or twice, before serving.

Chicken Stir-Fry

We had a nice Chinese chicken stir-fry for dinner tonight.

I saute the chicken pieces in oil first. When that is done, remove from the pan. Add some more oil and add vegetables (I use a packaged mix of vegetables [broccoli slaw, snow peas, broccoli] from the produce department). I add onions and carrots to that. Once the vegetables are done to your liking, add the chicken back to the pan. I use a mix of about 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1/4 cup General Tso's sauce, stir that in until all is heated. Serve over rice. Yum!

That's my 17 year old cat, Ashley, watching me cook. For about the last 6 months, she comes to the kitchen to watch me cook, stares at us while we eat, often begging for 'people' food. After 17 years of eating hard, dry cat food, I guess she thinks it's time for something better. I understand.

Just Peachy

Peaches are in season!

This is based on a recipe by Paula Deen, so naturally, there's an entire stick of butter in it. I've added more peaches to the recipe this time, just seemed like it needed more. Next time, I'll try half of a stick of butter, I just can't see that the entire stick is doing that much to improve the recipe.

PEACH COBBLER

6 - 8 cups peeled, sliced peaches (about 10 medium peaches)
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk
ground cinnamon

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in 350 degree oven to melt. Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in a little of the syrup, not all of it. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon. Don't worry if it looks really soupy. The batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Serve with a scoop of French Vanilla ice cream.

Hoisin Chicken Salad

With local temperatures in the 90's this week, I thought it would be nice to share a recipe that doesn't require the stove or oven.

Try this when you have some leftover grilled chicken or buy pre-cooked chicken for convenience (and to avoid the stove or oven).

Find the Hoisin sauce in the Asian section of any grocery store. For those who haven't had Hoisin before, I wish I could describe the taste. It's a little like sweet, thick, sticky soy sauce??!! It's tasty!

HOISIN CHICKEN SALAD

1 cup chopped cooked chicken
1 cup packaged coleslaw mix (cabbage and carrots)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
2 tablespoons bottled Hoisin sauce
few dashes of hot sauce or dash of crushed red pepper (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. (How easy is that?)

In the original recipe, the salad was to be served cold. I like to microwave the mixture for 2 or 3 minutes and fill large flour tortillas for Hoisin Chicken Wraps (reminds me of Moo Shu chicken, also known as Chinese burritos). Spread a little extra Hoisin sauce on the tortillas first. This amount of chicken salad can fill 2 - 4 tortillas depending how you stuff them. The one in the picture was one of four lunch-size wraps.

Enjoy!