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

Crispy and Crunchy Coleslaw!

Need a refreshing side dish for the summer? Don't like what you buy in the store?? Well change that now!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 sm head of Cabbage
• 1/2 c Mayo
• About 1/2 cup Sour Cream 
• 1 Tbsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Carrot
• 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Start by getting the mayo, sour cream, onion, garlic powder, lemon juice, salt and pepper mixed well in a medium sized bowl.  Next peel and shred the carrot and throw that into the bowl, mix well. Once the carrot is getting to know it's new neighbors, shred and separate the Cabbage. Once its all separated and into bite sized pieces, throw that into the bowl mix well, and ENJOY! It's that simple!

Remoulade Dipping Sauce

This sauce is a perfect pairing for fish dishes. It's great for crab cakes, fish tacos, baked salmon, and any other seafood plate that might need a little perk.

What you'll need:
(all veggies are measured as being minced)

• 3 tsp Light Mayo
• 1/2 tsp Celery
• 1/2 Green Pepper
• 1/8 tsp Worcestershire or Light Soy Sauce (whatever you have)
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1/4 tsp Franks Red Hot
• 1 tsp Ketchup
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Spicy Mustard
• 1/4 tsp Onion

Mince all vegetable ingredients as finely as possible and add to a mixing bowl with the rest of ingredients. Mix VERY well. Before adjusting the flavors, let this sit mixed and chilled for about 15-20 first and give it a few stirs in between. Then kick up the flavor with extra Red Hot, Garlic, Lemon, or Mustard. Whatever your taste prefers. If you'd like to cool the flavor down, add a little more mayo and Ketchup. (Make this recipe easier by using your food processor to mince!)

Lettuce Wraps

Crunchy and delicious. Super Simple. Fun and healthy.  Trifecta! : )

What you'll need:

• 1/2 Head Iceburg Lettuce
• 1lb 99% Fat Free Ground Turkey
• 1 Carrot
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 1 Handful Dry Roasted Peanuts
• 1/2 Green, Red, or Yellow Pepper
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 1/2 Jalepeno

Dipping Sauce:

• 2 tbls Hoisin Sauce
• 1 1/2 tbls Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup Lite Soy Sauce
• 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 tsp Ginger
• 1 Clove Garlic
• Fresh Lemon
• 1 tbls Rice Wine Vinegar

Start this off with making the sauce. I like to make the sauce as a a little potent because ground turkey is very bland and flavorless and tends to soak up all the flavor of this sauce when it's cooked in. 

Very simply mince the 1 garlic clove and ginger as finely as you can. Add all the ingredients of the dipping sauce together in a mixing bowl and whisk until completely mixed or peanut butter blends completely.

Let this refrigerated while we work on everything else. Taste test...is the sauce a little salty for your taste? Add a little water and a teaspoon of sugar!

Julienne (cut into thin, long strips) the carrot, cucumber, jalepeno and peppers. In a small bowl add some Rice Wine Vinegar and let them soak. Chop up the jalepeno a little more if you're afraid of the heat.

Rise your 1/2 Head of Iceburg lettuce well and gently pull off the "cups" and arrange on a plate.

In a medium dry heated pan, add the ground turkey with the other minced garlic clove. As is begins to cook, start chopping the meat until it starts to look crumbled. Cook thoroughly for approximately 15 minutes.

Once the turkey is about 80% done, add the sauce and let it cook in. (*If you broke the rules and are using ground beef or chicken or turkey that is not 99% fat free, please drain the fat from your pan before adding the sauce we made.) Have extra sauce? Good! Put it in a small cup on the side for dipping! Continue to cook for another 5 minutes, or until the turkey is done cooking.

Then, drain the vegetables that were soaking in the Rice Wine Vinegar.

Arrange the veggie blend on a large serving plate next to a small pile of peanuts with the lettuce cups and a small cup of the dipping sauce in the center.

In a small bowl, serve the ground turkey on the side or on the plate for individual servings.

Let the fun begin by building your wraps with all your favorite pieces!


*Editors note:  I mentioned serving this with peanuts. They are supposed to be on the plate until I realized my lovely boyfriend ate them all. So, you get a dinosaur instead. Don't eat the dinosaur.