Tortellini Salad

So even though the title of this blog is "Best Served Hot" here is another salad! This is perfect for summer bbq's and to add a fun change to your run of the mill pasta dinner. Thanks to Aunt Cindy for this one, it's so delish!!!

What you'll need:

• One finely chopped medium sized red onion
• Three or four  chopped carrots
• Three or four chopped stalks of celery
• One finely chopped red pepper
• One finely chopped green pepper
• One finely chopped yellow onion
• Two pounds of tortellini cooked al dente.

Chop and mix all veggies with lite Italian dressing while tortellini cools. Mix in tortellini cover and refrigerate 2-3 hours before serving

Steak and Potatoes

Make yourself look like a fancy little chef with this simple steak and potatoes without the grill. It's a small effort with BIG flavor.

What you'll need:

• 2 Shell Steaks
• 2 Medium Sized Sweet Potatoes
• 3 Garlic Cloves
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 tsp Black Pepper
• Butter

Optional:

• Romaine Lettuce
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 3 Grape Tomatoes
• Crumbled Goat Cheese

Make it:

Make sure to trim all the excess fat off the steaks. If they are shell steaks, there shouldn't be much.

Mince the garlic as finely as you can. Then, spread it on both sides of the steaks and rub it into the meat. Do the same with a few and healthy shakes of pepper (enough to actually see the pepper covering the meat) and lightly salt. Let sit for about an hour to let those flavors melt in.

Skin the sweet potatoes and dice into medium sized cubes.

Heat one pan on med-high with your choice of cooking spray, or some light butter. Once the pan gets nice and hot add your steaks. Cook for about 7 minutes on each side or until it reaches the desired level of done-ness. There is no need to poke and prod and move it all around unless the pan gets dry. 

In another pan, add your choice of cooking spray, or light butter and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, add your potatoes. Put a lid on your pan and let it cook on med heat. After approximately 5 minutes, stir the potatoes around and place the lid back on. Let it sit for another 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes pass, take the lid off the sweet potatoes and turn the heat up to high. Continue to cook until they crisp and brown. The potatoes usually take longer than the steaks do, so I always start them beforehand. 

The optional:

Although the steak and potatoes are dee-lish on their own, it might be a good idea to add a small salad to the plate. Not only will it add some color and take up that extra space, but its just never a bad idea to have a salad. 

California Chicken Salad

Can I just say that I LOVE this chicken salad, and so does everyone who puts it in their mouths. I was in San Diego and ordered it as a side dish...for breakfast...don't judge me...and tried to replicate it as soon as I got home. I turned mine into a SAMMICH!

My preferred way to enjoy is by making it on a whole wheat bun with sliced tomato and fresh romaine lettuce.

What you'll need:

• Chicken tenderloins
• 1/2 cup Light Sour Cream
• 1 tblsp Light Mayo
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Dried Dill
• Salt 
• Pepper
• 2 Garlic cloves

Make it:

Boil a medium size pot of water. Add salt, pepper, and the two sliced cloves of garlic. Bring it to a boil and add the chicken. Let this cook until done, approximately 10-15 minutes. Boiling the chicken will keep it juicy and the salt, pepper, and garlic will inject flavor.

In the mixing bowl:

We will use 1/2 of the cucumber. Peel it and then de-seed it. To de-seed: cut it long ways and then take a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Dice up the peeled and de-seeded cucumber into tiny cubes. 

Chop up 1 stalk of celery into fine cubes as well

Add 1/2 cup of light sour cream along with the light mayo

Add a large pinch of dried dill seasoning. I tried this recipe with fresh dill and actually liked it less than I did when using dried dill seasoning. 

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix this all up and let it chill in the refrigerator while we work on cutting up all this chicken.

Once the chicken is cooked, drain it and chop it up into small cubes, or shred it. However you prefer. Let it cool slightly before adding to the mixing bowl. 

Mix everything together and taste test until the salt/pepper/dill ratio is right and then its ready to be chilled. 

Served chilled and enjoy :)

Other options: Add craisins! Also, I learned through forum content by some gracious users that greek yogurt could replace the mayo.  SUCH a great idea! I'll update when I find out for myself!