Asian Wonton Salad with Sweet Sesame Dressing

I love a loaded salad almost as much as I love loaded ice cream. This salad is good enough to be the entire meal. I love it!

Recipe adapted from Our Best Bites

Asian Wonton Salad

1 1/2 heads of romaine lettuce

3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded (I marinated mine in teriyaki first)

cherry tomatoes

1/4 red onion, sliced thinly

1 cucumber sliced

1 can olives, rinsed and drained

3/4 cup cashews

1/2 package wontons

vegetable oil for frying

Heat about 1 inch of oil in a pot on the stove top. Cut wontons into thirds (3 strips). Fry wontons and set on paper towels to dry.

Tear lettuce into chunks and place in a large salad bowl. Top with remaining ingredients. Add Sweet Sesame Dressing. Toss salad together. Add wonton strips and gently toss to combine.

Sweet Sesame Dressing

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Place all ingredients into a quart jar and shake vigorously. Don't skip the sesame oil. It gives it the taste you need to make it taste like an Asian salad. Only pour dressing on salad if you plan on eating it immediately in one meal. I just added the dressing to individual bowls of salad and I only used about half of this dressing recipe.

Fruit Salad with Citrus Sauce

This salad is my favorite way to eat fruit. I mix a variety of fruit with Mom's fresh fruit sauce. It looks so pretty in small clear serving cups.

Fresh Fruit Citrus Sauce

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup water

1 cup orange juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

Any variety of chopped fresh fruit

Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Pour the liquids in a saucepan. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Bring to a boil. Let cool and pour over fresh fruit. Keep extra sauce in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Stir well after refrigerating.

Candied Walnut Feta Salad

I've been looking all over the place for some new spring salads. It is that time of year again, right? I found this recipe and altered it a bit. I love it, but my family didn't really like the dressing. If you're not a fan of raspberry vinaigrette, you can always leave the dressing off and serve it with a side dressing of your choice. The walnuts are so so yummy -- totally worth the extra sugar in the salad.

Ingredients:

1 cup walnut halves

1/2 cup sugar

6 cups mixed greens

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup crumbled Feta cheese

2 tablespoons raspberry vinaigrette

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Place walnuts and sugar in a skillet and stir constantly over medium heat until the sugar turns to a light brown liquid and coats the nuts. Remove skillet from heat. Place nuts on a sheet of aluminum foil to cool. Mix the greens, cranberries and cheese in a large bowl. Whisk together the vinaigrette, vinegar, and olive oil. Pour over greens and toss to coat. Add candied walnuts and toss again. Serve immediately.

Thai Noodle Salad

My friend Stacy cooked this recipe for us and it was fantastic! Hope you enjoy it!

Thai Noodle Salad

6 oz. dried vermicelli
1/4 c. low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 c. vegetable or chicken broth
2 Tbs. peanut butter
1 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 1/2 c. cooked chicken, shredded or chopped
1 red sweet pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
3 green onions, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
lime wedges for garnish

1. Cook vermicelli according to package instructions, drain and set aside.
2. Brown chicken in skillet. Add sweet red pepper and green onions the last few minutes.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine soy sauce, broth, peanut butter, lime juice, ginger and crushed red pepper. Cook over medium-low heat until peanut butter is melted.
4. Add cooked pasta and toss to coat evenly.
5. Stir in chicken, sweet red pepper, green onions, and cilantro.
6. Serve with lime wedges.

The original recipe doesn't cook the red pepper and green onions, but I prefer them a little stir-fried. This recipe can be served either warm or cold. We like it best warm.

Holiday Tossed Salad

This recipe is also from the 2008 Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes magazine. I used almonds in place of walnuts, and red wine vinegar in the dressing because that's what I had on hand.


Holiday Tossed Salad

8 c. torn mixed salad greens
2 medium red apples, diced
1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese
1/3 c. dried cranberries
1/3 c. coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
1/4 c. sliced green onions

2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. cranberry juice concentrate
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
Dash salt and pepper

In a large salad bowl, combine the greens, apples, blue cheese, cranberries, walnuts and onions. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients. Drizzle over salad and toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.

Greek Orzo Salad

I love Greek food, especially olives and feta. This salad was great served with crusty bread.

Once again, this recipe is from allrecipes.com. Greek Orzo Salad.
I followed the original recipe, but only used half an onion. I also added a little salt and pepper. This is perfect for a hot summer evening when it's too hot to turn on the oven.