Salad and Breadsticks

Made this for dinner tonight. Gotta love salad weather!

I was first introduced to this Taste of Home recipe when my sister-in-law Lisa made it for a family function last year. Found the recipe online and had to pass it along.

The version I made was nearly identical and found on Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog (where I see a lot of other fun dishes I want to try). I just made a third of the recipe and served with toast. It was the perfect amount for Mike and I. (Maggie had a little, but was more interested in some leftover spaghetti.) I also lessened the amount of oil a tad, left out the water chesnuts (as I had none) and pepper (didn't seem necessary), and replaced honey-roasted peanuts with toasted almonds. Alternately, you could leave out the chicken for a nice side salad. (I think that may have been how Lisa served it.) Anyway, I have some leftover dressing and can't wait to use it on a salad for lunch tomorrow!

I love cooking fresh and from scratch. "I'll take good food over bad food any old day of the week"...anyone else ever watch The Ghost and Mr. Chicken starring Don Knotts? It was a childhood favorite. (Mike always teases me that I was in some sort of time warp in my tastes in movies and music as a kid, because I know all these oldies and don't remember the stuff that was popular. I've always blamed it on having no older siblings, but maybe I was just oblivious, because my younger sisters are the ones that have to introduce me to new stuff.) Anyway, I thought every once in a while I'll post a recipe that's worth sharing. I had several soup recipes I meant to post this winter for my sister and mom, but I guess I'll get to that next winter.

Spinach Chicken & Pasta Salad with Teriyaki Vinaigrette from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/

Dressing:
1 cup canola oil [I liked less]
1/3 – 2/3 cup bottled teriyaki sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Salad:
16 oz. bow tie pasta, cooked al dente, drained and cooled
1 bag fresh spinach (9 – 10 oz)
6 oz. craisins
2 (11 oz.) cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained and slivered
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 green onions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
6 oz. honey roasted peanuts [I liked the almond substitution]
2 cups cooked chicken, tossed with 2-3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

In a blender, combine all the dressing ingredients and blend until well combined and smooth [I just whisked mine in a measuring cup with a mixer]. Mix about 1 cup of the dressing with the cooked pasta in a large bowl and marinate for at least one hour. Combine the remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl. Just before serving, add pasta and toss. Add dressing to taste and toss. Serve immediately.

Also, I found this breadstick recipe this winter. I think it's terribly fun and easy and make it all the time now. If we hadn't had leftover artisan bread we'd been needing to use up, I would have served these with the salad.

Easy-Peasy Breadsticks from http://www.makeitdo.wordpress.com/

•1 1/2 cups warm water
•1 Tbsp. sugar
•1 tsp. salt
•1 Tbsp. dry active yeast
•3 1/2 cups flour
•1/2 cup melted butter
•1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
•lemon pepper (or seasoning of choice)

Mix together warm water, sugar, salt and yeast. Allow yeast to activate (about 10 minutes). Add flour and stir in with a fork until dough holds together. Turn out onto floured board. Knead lightly into a ball. Divide into 32 equal portions [I don't usually get quite this many]. On floured board, roll out into bread sticks. Dip into melted butter and then into Parmesan cheese. Place onto greased cookie sheet (16 per bakers half sheet.) Sprinkle with lemon pepper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. This gives the bread sticks about 10 minutes to begin to rise. Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

May be made in the morning and kept in the refrigerator unbaked. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 – 45 minutes (depending on how warm your house is) before baking.

They can also be reheated on a cookie sheet then next day at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes.

[I've also used leftover homemade pizza dough for my breadsticks (I use a recipe that came with my kitchenaid stand mixer), then shaped and baked as intructed in this recipe.]