Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

It's summer, and it's WAY to hot to cook! I really love salads in the summer so I'm always looking for new dressings. This is delicious!

Ingredients

• 1/2 c balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce

Directions

1. Whisk together the vinegar, honey, olive oil, and soy sauce until the honey has dissolved, and the dressing is smooth.

No Mayo Ranch

I'm a huge ranch dressing fan. HUGE! I like to eat it on baked potatoes, french fries, veggies, my hamburgers, and of course, salad. I even conveniently 'forget' it's made from mayo (which I used to love but after the birth of my fourth child, could no longer stomach if I smelled it, go figure) to enjoy it. Except recently, I came to the horrifying realization that there are MEGA calories in my favorite dressing. So I had all but cut it out....until! This dressing.

Ingredients

• 1 cup low-fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chives
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place sour cream and buttermilk into a mixing bowl. Season with parsley, chives, garlic powder, dill, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Whisk together until smooth. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. You can whip this again before serving for a thicker texture.

Asian Chicken Noodle Salad

With summer like weather upon us, it's nice to have some meals that don't require heating up the kitchen.

Ingredients

• 1 (3 oz.) package ramen noodle pasta, crushed
• 1 TBS peanut oil**
• 1/2 c. sunflower seeds
• 1/2 c. pine nuts
• 3 c. shredded bok choy
• 5 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 c. diced, cooked chicken breast meat
• 1 (5 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained
• 12 pods snow peas
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1/4 c. rice vinegar
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 TBS lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. In a large bowl, mix the noodles, sunflower seeds, and pine nuts with the peanut oil until evenly coated. Spread the mixture in a thin layer on a baking sheet.
3. Bake 7 to 10 minutes in the oven, stirring occasionally, until evenly toasted. Remove from heat, and cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl toss together the noodle mixture, bok choy, green onions, chicken, water chestnuts, and snow peas.
5. Prepare the dressing by blending the oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and lemon juice. Pour over salad, and toss to evenly coat. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until chilled.

Serves 4

** you can substitute canola or vegetable oil if you prefer

Fajita Salad

I think this would also taste great if you substituted chicken, but DH requested beef, and so I stuck with the recipe. This had an amazing flavor for only marinating 10 minutes!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c lime juice
• 4 TBS minced fresh cilantro
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 1/2 lbs. boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
• 1 medium green pepper, julienned***
• 1 medium sweet red pepper, julienned
• 1 medium onion, sliced and halved
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 8 cups torn mixed salad greens
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1/4 c low-fat sour cream
• 1/2 c salsa (the fresh kind, not the jar type)

Directions:

1. In a large Ziploc bag, combine the lime juice, cilantro, garlic and chili powder; add beef. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 10 minutes, turning once.
2. Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet, cook the peppers and onion in oil over medium heat for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove and set aside. Add beef with marinade to the skillet; cook and stir for 4-5 minutes or until meat is tender and mixture comes to a boil. Add pepper mixture; heat through.
3. Divide the salad greens and tomato among 8 bowl; top with 1 1/4 cups beef mixture, 1 TBS sour cream and 1 1/2 tsp salsa.

Serves 8

*** I cheat when it comes to bell peppers. My local market carries a bag of mixed peppers (red, yellow, orange and green) in the frozen section, already julienned. Not only is this a huge time saver for me, but it's actually cost effective. I used only half a bag of peppers for this dinner. I added it in straight from the freezer!