Olive Garden Style Salad Dressing

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

I'm not a real big fan of vinaigrette salad dressings, but I do like the dressing that comes with an Olive Garden Salad. It turns out to be very simple to make, with just 5 ingredients. It takes no time to make this to go with Ravioli de Portabello or Chicken Murphy.  up whenever you have an intense craving in no time flat. This Olive Garden's not-so-secret dressing has a slight zing too it with a subtle creaminess that goes with simple salads. The amounts are to your taste. Expect to do a lot of licking of your fingertips while preparing this.

Ingredients: 

• Italian dressing mix: Make your own for the best results. Just toss together 2 tablespoons dried oregano, 2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon dried parsley, 1 tablespoon garlic salt, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 tablespoon white sugar, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon dried basil, ¼ teaspoon dried thyme, 1/4 teaspoon celery seed. Store in sealed container to maintain freshness
• Olive Oil: Any kind. You don't need extra virgin oil. Use however much you want to make up or enough to the mostly fill up the cruet or container you're using for storing it.
  
• White vinegar: This doesn't add color to the dressing, just that tangy sour flavor of a good dressing. If you'd like to vary the recipe and the color, try red wine vinegar instead. I like it that way too. Add enough to give it that zing you like without making it being too vinegary. The light touch with the vinegar is part of what makes OG's dressing light and tasty.
  
• Water: Use water to thin out the dressing to your desired consistency. Don't overdo it.
  
• Mayonnaise: Creates a bit of creaminess and mellows the vinegar. Add last to bring it to the flavor you like.
  

Directions:

With just a few ingredients (if you prepare your dry seasoning mix ahead of time), it’s simple to mix up this delicious dressing! In a medium sized bowl whisk together the dry dressing mix, olive oil, red or white vinegar, water and mayonnaise. It is the perfect combination! 

• Mix: You can use a simple whisk to mix this or a blender to really emulsify it.
• Let it rest: Let the flavors marinate in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.
• Store it: Store dressing, preferably in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Peak flavor lasts for up to three weeks. Shake well before each use.

 

 

Vegan Cole Slaw

Vegan Cole Slaw

I came into possession of some vegan mayonnaise. I was skeptical at first but the stuff turned out to be really really good. Made with all the usual ingredients, the only thing different is the vegan mayo. It makes up to a huge bowl of Cole slaw for potluck. As with fresh made Cole Slaw, if you set it in the fridge overnight you may get some settling of the thinner parts of the dressing in the bottom of the bowl. Just toss it all again or pour off any water that settles and it’ll be great.

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cup Vegannaise (vegan mayonnaise)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cider or red wine vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon celery seed
• ½ teaspoon season salt or Creole seasoning
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Slaw Ingredients:

- ½ head of green cabbage
- ½ head of purple cabbage
- 3 cups grated carrots.

Directions:

1. Chop both cabbages
2. Grate the carrots
3. Toss with dressing in a large sealable bowl
4. Refrigerate in a sealed bowl until ready to use.

Oriental Cole Slaw

Once again it's so good we ate half of it before I thought,
"Hey, I need to write this one up for TPV!" The recipe makes
better than twice that much Cole slaw.

This my Sweet Baboo's favorite Cole slaw recipe from our box o' old recipes under the kitchen cabinet. It's easy to make and it's a huge bowl of Cole slaw when you're done - perfect for potluck. It's not that hard to do.

INGREDIENTS:

Slaw -

• 2 pkgs. Chicken flavor Ramen Noodles
• 1 bag Cole Slaw mix
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds 
• Butter/margarine

Dressing -

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup oil
• Seasoning packets from Ramen noodles

DIRECTIONS:

1. Crush the Ramen Noodles in a large bowl. Store in a Ziplock bag.
2. Put Cole Slaw mix in a large bowl or Tupperware container.
3. In small frying pan melt butter and brown the slivered almonds.
4. Mix almonds into slaw and noodle mix.
5. In a small bowl, Mix sugar, vinegar, oil, and Ramen noodle seasoning packets
6. Pour dressing over slaw mix and toss till everything is evenly coated. Keep the crushed Ramen noodles separate and don't add them until just before you serve it up.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

Put the Cole slaw in a big Tupperware bowl, seal and store in the fridge overnight so it's nice and cold for potluck on Sabbath. Just before you serve it, pour the Ramen noodles into the slaw and give it a good toss.

Mmmmm good!

Tom King

Wilted Spinach Salad

Here's an old fashioned recipe with fresh spinach, boiled eggs and a vegetarian substitute for bacon drippings. Worthington Stripples or Morning Star Veggie-Breakfast Bacon Strips and the oil you cook them in make an excellent substitute for bacon drippings such as our grandmothers used in their "salad".  It can be partially prepared the previous day and all you need is to heat up the dressing just before serving. It's actually quite good and an unusual salad for potluck.  

Ingredients:

• 6 cups spinach, washed, drained very well and torn into bite-size pieces
• 1⁄4 cup sliced green onion
• 3 hardboiled egg, coarsely chopped
• 5 slices Stripples, cooked and chopped
• 1⁄4 cup red vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Combine spinach, onions and eggs in a large salad bowl.
2. Cook Stripples/Breakfast Strips in skillet until crispy; remove and drain on paper towels.
3. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of oil you cooked the Stripples in.
4. Add vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper to the oil and heat to boiling, while stirring to blend evenly.
5. When ready to serve, pour over spinach mixture and toss gently.
6. Sprinkle salad with Stripple/breakfast strip crumbles. 

Serving Suggestions:

Put the eggs, fresh spinach and green onions in a large Tupperware bowl and seal it up.  Set aside the cooked vege-bacon and go ahead and boil the sauce. Set it aside in a small sealed container. When you get to potluck, open up the greens, heat the sauce in the microwave until warm and pour it over the greens, onions and eggs mix. Crumble the crisp vegebacon over top of the salad and serve.

It's actually quite good and worth the effort of doing the last minute prep work.

© 2017 by Tom King

Custom Cole Slaw Dressing

Here's something you can make up ahead of time to create an instant Cole slaw for potluck. Kraft® makes a similar Cole slaw dressing in a bottle, but if you're making slaw in the industrial sizes, here's a recipe that's easy to double and is really really good. Also, if you're like me and can't do the sugar, you can add Stevia or Splenda to it ans since it's not cooked, you get a nice sweet taste to your dressing without shoot your blood glucose out of the park. You can chop up your own cabbage, carrots and such or you can buy a bag of Cole slaw already shredded, just add dressing. Here's how to make your own so that it tastes just like you want it to:

Ingredients:

•  1-1/4 cup mayonnaise. (I like to split it half and half between mayo and Miracle Whip Salad Dressing®, but that's just me)
• 1/3 cup sugar or 1/3 to 1/2 cup Stevia, Truvia, Splenda, etc.
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp celery seed (every well-equipped potlucker's kitchen should stock this stuff)
• 1/2 teaspoon season salt or creole seasoning (I like Tony's® but that's just me)
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice 
• Salt to taste

Directions: 

1. Mix all ingredients together into a bowl and stir with a wire whisk.

Serving Suggestions:

This dressing has a lovely sweet taste minus the whang some Cole slaw dressings seem to have. And if you sub something for the sugar, you don't have to feel guilty about the lightly sweet taste. You don't want to waste it though. Walmart up here sells fruit in jars by an outfit called Polar® (see the jar in picture to the right).  I hang on to the big ones because they are the perfect size to hold a can of olives after you open them or to put leftover BBQ beans or to store my homemade ranch dressing in.  It also works great for this stuff too. If you double the mix and make a family-sized Cole Slaw, you should have just enough left to fill up a jar and store in the fridge for later in case you need to make an emergency Cole Slaw.  If you've got a big group for potluck coming, you can get a bag of Cole slaw mix at the store and carry that, a bowl and your jar of Cole slaw dressing to church and mix it up fresh on the spot a few minutes before serving. It's best that way instead of storing the mixed up slaw overnight in the fridge so that it goes all soupy. The slaw is crispier that way.  Cole slaw mix usually includes cabbage, purple cabbage and carrots. There are some things you can add to vary your slaw, to wit...

Jazz your Cole slaw up a bit by adding some combination of these things:

• Slivered almonds and crushed Ramen noodles for an oriental version
• Chow mein noodles
• With raisins like our grandmothers used to make.
• Cashews or peanuts
• Dill weed or parsley
• Finely chopped celery
• Red onions
• Toasted sesame seeds

There are other variations that involve different dressing mixes and ingredients. The ones here are just a few things that work with this particular dressing. And it's never failed to be a hit for me. The dressing is everything for a good slaw and this one is my very favorite.

© 2017 by Tom King

Sheila’s Texas Style Potato Salad

All the potato salad that was left after a "light" lunch

Mama’s tater salad is epic and best of all – no mustard. I suppose you could add some, but you’d ruin it in my not-so-humble opinion as a noted gastronome.  This recipe serves a platoon of Marines and likely will be scraped clean at potluck.  It’s best made on Friday and served cold on Sabbath. It only improves the longer it sits in the fridge. It won’t spoil. It will be eaten within 2 days in most cases. Just don’t let the family get at it before potluck or you could be carrying an empty bowl to church.

Ingredients:

• 4-6 well-scrubbed potatoes
• 1 - 1½ cups Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
• 1 – 1½ cups Hellman’s or Kraft Mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon pickle relish
• ¼ cup finely chopped celery
• ¼ cup finely chopped onion
• ¼ cup finely chopped Bell peppers
• ½ teaspoon celery seed
• Small jar of pimento
• Salt, onion and garlic powder to taste
• 2 small cans sliced olives
• 6 hard-boiled and chilled eggs
• Paprika

Directions:

1. Boil eggs and chill
2. Boil unpeeled potatoes till tender but slightly firm. Allow to cool.
3. Peel and dice potatoes into half-inch cubes and place in serving bowl
4. Peel boiled eggs and grate into serving bowl.
5. Add mayo, salad dressing – adjust by adding more or less to taste
6. Add relish, pimento, celery, peppers, onion, and black olives. (Reserve a few black olives to garnish finished salad).
7. Stir in garlic and onion powder to taste. Go easy. You can’t back up.
8. Sprinkle paprika and olive slices on top to garnish.
9. You can add a few sprigs of fresh parsley to give the whole thing color.

Serving Suggestions:

Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight in the refrigerator. Take to potluck, but get toward the front of the line. Either that or make two bowls and hide one till you get to the front of the line.  Just a suggestion.

 © 2017 by Tom King

Pea Salad

Pea Salad

This is one of my favorite side dishes, especially with Barbecue Tender-bits and almost any other vegetarian main dish. Lots of good stuff in this and it is a nice flexible recipe to boot.  You can add all sorts of fun stuff to it.  Double it for

Ingredients

• 1 can of LeSeur Peas or a package of frozen peas, partially thawed
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 or 2 hard-boiled eggs chopped
• ¼ cup chopped onion (you can also use chopped green onions)
• 1 ½  cup cheddar cheese cubed (you can also use Velveeta)
• ½ cup Kraft mayonnaise
• ½ cup Miracle Whip salad dressing
• 3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish or 3 sweet gherkins choped
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon celery seed
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 avocado cubed (optional)
• ¼ cup sweet bell pepper – chopped (optional)
• 2 firm Roma Tomatoes diced (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
2. That’s pretty much it.  Transfer it to a pretty serving bowl and you’re done. I like to sprinkle a little Paprika on top to give it color.
3. Chill until served.

Note:  Works even better if you make it on Friday for Sabbath potluck. Just keep it in the fridge till you leave for church, then put it in the fridge there. It’s really good cold.

© 2017 by Tom King

The South Of the Border Salad

This salad recipe is likely a variant of the venerable Adventist haystack. It was apparently invented by a restauranteur who owned a little cafe in an antique mall in downtown Cleburne, Texas, five miles from Keene, my hometown. Now Keene is an Adventist college town and notable SDA ghetto.  It is little wonder the basic haystack idea drifted into the Tex-Mex cuisine in the nearby Johnson County Seat.  They had a Pappa and Mama version, probably in deference to all the Adventist vegetarians that came into the place.  The Papa version used hamburger and was more expensive. The Mama salad used ranch-style or chili beans, but otherwise, both were basically the same

The South Of the Border Salad was advertised and listed on the menu by it's three primary initials. The South Of the Border Salad was named what it was named I figure, both for its Tex-Mex flavor and because it gave the local heathens a giggle whenever some very proper Adventist customer or little old Baptist lady, when ordering, would nervously point to the menu or describe the salad by its ingredients or call it a Mama Salad, rather than say the name listed on the menu.  It's an easy-to-make potluck dish and can be added to a haystack potluck setup by baking a bag of potatoes or two ahead of time.  It's versatile for a potluck because you just set out the ingredients and let everyone make their own version. Way better than pizza too!  This is pretty much a whole meal by itself, so while it's listed as a salad, it's a lot more than just an appetizer.

Ingredients:

• Baked Potato, Large

  

  Start off your South Of the Border Salad with a baked potato.

• Butter/margarine
• Salt
• Chopped lettuce
• Diced tomatoes
• Chopped salad veggies like peppers, onions, cucumber carrots or whatever you've got.
• 1/2 cup Avocado or make up a big bowl of guacamole
• Jar or two of Picante Sauce
• Shredded cheddar cheese (for potlucks just buy a big bag of it already shredded)
• Bit carton of sour cream
• Bottles of Ranch and Catalina Salad Dressing
• Black olives
• Pot of Ranch Style Beans or you can use Loma Linda Five-Bean Chili, Chili Man or barbecue beans of some kind.
• Loma Linda Vegeburger, Worthington Vegeburger or Morningstar Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles (you can even brown up some Loma Linda Taco Filling)
• Tortilla chips and Fritos
• Chopped Jalepenos
• Monster jar of Picante' Sauce (Pace or San Antonio Riverwalk is great)

Directions:

Add tortilla chips and beans or chili

1. Bake up a bag of potatoes in the skins before the event. You can take them already baked and heat them up in the church's warming ovens.  Most Adventist churches have these. By the time potluck is on, they should be nice and fluffy inside. 
2. Cook up a big pot of Ranch-Style beans or Vege-chile.  
3. Chop up your veggies, grate your cheese and set out the sour cream, tortilla chips and what not all out in a row in order of how you build your South Of the Border Salad.

Constructing the South Of the Border Salad: 

Next add all the salad stuff and voila!  You're done.

1. Break open the potato and spread it out over the bottom of the plate. You can leave the skin on or peel it off.  It's up to you, but I like all the vitamins to come with my potato.
2. Butter and salt is optional.
3. Add a layer of tortilla chips
4. Spoon on a layer of chili, barbecue or Ranch Style Beans
5. Make a a bed of lettuce and start adding all your chopped veggies. Get what you want. Make it with onions or without. There are no rules. 
6. Sprinkle a bunch of shredded Cheddar over the top.
7. Decorate the whole beautiful pile of stuff with dollops of avocado or guacamole, salad dressing, Picante sauce, olives, crouton, vege-bacon bits (TVP) and chives or whatever else you like.  Add a little peak of sour cream and you have created a magnificent meal - run for the table

This salad is best consumed quickly which is never a problem for me. That way, the salad stays cool and crisp while the potato and chili give you a nice warm base. It's great!  I've seen teenage boys consume two or three of these in a row. Sadly, this feat of gastronomy is no longer permitted me by either my physician or (more importantly), by my Sweet Baboo who does not wish me to explode and die.

Bon' appetite!*

(c) 2015 by Tom King

*And, yes I spelled it "appetite" on purpose - the American way not "appetit" like the French. This is, after all, an American Tex-Mex dish and we don't pronounce words all French and sissified.  Just sayin'.

Haystacks

Photo borrowed from "It's Gotta be Gluten Free" website

First off, we’re not talking about cattle feed here, though if you’ve got a whole lotta people corralled, this traditional Adventist potluck favorite is one of the best ways to feed them all, fill them up and send them on their way in no time.  It’s suitable for feeding visiting choirs, Pathfinder clubs, youth groups of all sizes and any group that shows up needing to be fed on short notice. 

Every city, state, country and continent has its own version of the venerable haystack.  In Hawaii, they put pineapple and macadamia nuts and stuff in it.  Up north I saw a version made with baked beans.  I’m going to describe the way it’s done in parts of Texas.  If you have a local version, you are welcome to post it here for all of us to share.  A Seventh-day Adventist named Ella May Hartlein is sometimes credited with coming up with the recipe in the early 1950s, when she and her family craved tostadas and could not find a Mexican restaurant close to their home according to Wikipedia.  References to similar versions of the now signature SDA dish can be found prior to the appearance and spread of Mrs Hartlein's creation. Apparently the Amish and Mennonites even have their own versions of the haystack as well.  Here's the version I grew up with in the 60s.

Here’s what you need for Texas-Style Haystacks:     

1. Lots of lettuce (chopped or shredded)
2. Bags of Tortilla Chips (or Fritos Corn Chips)
3. Tomatoes - diced
4. Onions
5. Mounds of Grated Cheddar Cheese
6. Sour Cream
7. Black Olives
8. Jalepenos
9. Ranch Dressing
10. Avocados or Guacamole
11. Pace™ Picante Sauce (accept no substitutes)
12. Ranch Style Beans
13. Loma Linda Redi-Burger, Loma Linda Vege-Burger, Worthington Vege-Burger or Morningstar Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles

Here’s How to Set the Serving Line:

1. Place two long folding tables end to end
2. Chop up the vegetables, put everything in bowls with the proper sized spoons.  The only thing that needs to be heated is the beans and fry the vegeburger.
3.  Set out the serving bowls in this order on the table.

a.      First stack the paper plates at the start of the serving line.  Use the heavy Chinette ones because a haystack can get pretty heavy.

b.      Second place a huge bowl of chips right after the plates.  Tortilla chips are traditional in Texas, but I’ve seen it done (more expensively) with Fritos Corn Chips – regular sized.

c.      Third, heat up a huge pot of Ranch Style™ Beans with a couple of big soup ladles in them.
d.   Fourth, put a small amount of oil in a skillet and brown the vege-burger. You can make haystacks without the burger, but it makes a nice addition to traditional haystacks.

d.      Fifth, chop up a big bowl of diced tomatoes, and a big bowl of chopped lettuce

f.       Sixth, cut up smaller bowls of chopped onions, sliced black olives and sliced jalapenos

g.      Seventh, grate up a big bowl of grated cheddar cheese. I like the sharp kind myself.

h.      Eighth, prepare a big bowl of guacamole or chopped avocados

i.       Ninth, dish up bowls of sour cream and picante sauces and set out bottles of Ranch Dressing, and Catalina French Dressing for visiting Yankees and Californians.

j.       Flatware, napkins, drinks

Construction Techniques:

You build your haystack according to your own tastes, but for newbies, here’s the basic order of battle.  You can pretty much follow the order of setup, but everyone has their preferences.  Here are the directions for constructing the basic haystack:

1. Lay down a bed of chips covering the bottom of your plate. Everything else is built on top of the chips.
2. Scoop hot beans and/or vege-burger on top of the chips
3. Lay down a bed of lettuce on top of the beans
4. Spoon tomatoes generously over the lettuce
5. Sprinkle onions, olives and/or jalapenos to taste over the salad ingredients
6. Cover with grated cheese.
7.  Add picante sauce to taste
8. Decorate with spoonfuls of avocado/guacamole, and ranch dressing (or Catalina French if you must). 
9. Top with a spoonful of sour cream.  Always save one olive to put on top of your little snowcap of sour cream to complete your mountain of deliciousness.

 Warning:

A haystack is not a “Taco Salad”.  It is a breach of etiquette to call it that or to put the chips on top of the beans.  Everything else can be laid down according to your own personal preference.  Take it easy on the jalapenos if you’re not used to them. 

Haystacks are pretty cheap to make and very filling.  Young people love them and because you make them yourself, little kids can even make their own versions which leave out anything “yucky”.  Haystacks are perfect if you need to feed a lot of people fast and you can leave extra unopened bags of chips and beans in the kitchen and add more to the feast if things start running low.  We always keep extra unopened jars of Pace, blocks of cheese, bottles of salad dressing, lettuce and tomatoes to chop up.  If you don’t need them, you can take them home or store the unopened jars for the next time you need to serve this imminently useful dish for your church potluck.

© 2013 By Tom King