Pasta Salads are so delicious and simple to make on hot summer days. This Caprese Pasta Salad will be a great addition to your picnics and potluck dinners. Best of all, it is fast, so simple, and has a great eye appeal with the red, purple, and green! Add grilled chicken or shrimp and you have a complete meal!
Quinoa is an ancient South American “grain” that just recently has been hailed as a superfood due to its high nutritional content. You can enjoy this tasty grain in this salad with black beans, corn, vinaigrette dressing, and other veggies. Jalapenos add just a bit of heat to make this salad so tasty and refreshing.
A simple classic Broccoli Salad is always a hit with our family and when taken to community dinners I usually bring an empty bowl home. This salad combines the best of home-cured, smoked bacon, tart cranberries, and fresh broccoli in a creamy dressing. If you would like, you can even add some cauliflower to this salad.
Summer brings with it a bumper crop of tomatoes from gardens and produce stands. Heirloom tomatoes are all all time favorite at our house. They are not the perfectly shaped orbs you will find at the grocery stores. Heirlooms have a shorter shelf life so they are not found in all stores. These tomatoes have a superior taste though they may be very odd shaped.
Summertime gardens will soon be producing bountifully. Salads are an important part of our meals and fresh produce is always a blessing. Cucumbers and cabbage are combined to make this salad. You will find an interesting ingredient in the dressing that adds to the flavor…Kosher Dill pickle brine!
Fellowship and good times with family and friends often center around food. Many times we need a quick, easy dish to take along to various events. Here is my favorite pasta salad that uses bottled dressing and feeds a crowd. This has been a family favorite for years.
Hot humid summer days are here and our family enjoys lighter meals on these days. Salads are always a favorite. This recipe was inspired by our family’s love for spicy food. Grilling the onions and jalapenos add a wonderful flavor. You can add more or less jalapenos to adjust the spiciness to your preference. My husband smokes all of the bacon we use in his smokehouse. This has me spoiled with wonderful bacon for my cooking.
Spring—what a wonderful time of the year when everything turns green and begins to grow. One of the first seeds to be planted in my garden are spinach and radish seeds. Spinach is very easy to grow, loves cool weather, and is so tasty in garden salads. This easy to make salad uses just a few ingredients but is big in flavor. I can’t wait to plant my garden but since our new place is further north I haven’t planted yet. Maybe this weekend I can get my early crop out.
Pasta Salads are always delightful at picnics and carry in dinners. Our family loves any type of salad and seafood, so why not combine the two! Most Seafood Pasta Salads use imitation crab meat but I have chosen to use canned shrimp and crab meat because of all the additives in imitation crab. This salad also reminds me of warm sun, sandy beaches, and ocean waves.
