Pomegranate Salad

My grandmother making the pomegranate salad

It's a Tobler tradition to have Pomegranate Salad. It comes from my paternal grandmother, so actually a Bybee tradition. My Grandmother's brother grows pomegranates in California, there are no better ones than theirs. Theirs are sweeter, not so tart compared to what you find in the stores.

Anyway, it's a fruit salad, but with pomegranates. The measurements aren't exact, but here it is:

2-3 large pomegranates
heavy whipping cream
white sugar (to taste)
2-3 chopped apples (sweeter ones to help the tartness of the pomegranate)
1 c. raisins
1 c. craisins (I've added this)
1 c. nuts (I use Cashews, the original recipe uses walnuts)

Clean out the pomegranates. Whip cream adding sugar. Combine all ingredients. Enjoy!

I'm a Believer (Tortilla Bowls)

I finally made Barbacoa Pork and it was delicious! I made it once before without making any of the recommended accompaniments (tomatillo dressing, etc.) and it got mixed reviews at our house. Then a couple of months ago I went to a dinner where taco salad was served with everything and I was sold. I resolved to go all out the next time I made it. I even made tortilla bowls (although my leftovers were just as good with chips after I ran out of bowls). I found an easy recipe on foodnetwork.com. Here it is:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place a small dish of water next to your work surface. To make the tortilla bowls, place 4 empty (15-ounce) cans, open side down, on a baking pan. Using a pastry brush, soften the tortillas (10-inch flour) by brushing both sides with a little water, and then brush with oil. Drape the tortillas over the cans and bake until firm, about 5 to 7 minutes. Using tongs, turn the tortilla bowls right side up, discard the cans, and continue to bake until golden and crisp, another 4 minutes.

Twist on Elise's Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

At our house we, too, love the Barbacoa Pork and Creamy Tomatillo Dressing. I was making it last week and I wondered if I might replace some of the fat and calories and still get a good product. I didn't want to mess things up too much so I wasn't super daring but I did replace half of the mayo with low-fat ricotta cheese and used 1% milk with 1 T of vinegar in place of the buttermilk. I also used a 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper instead the jalepeno just because I did not have a jalepeno. Everybody seemed to enjoy it just as much! Maybe one day I'll try using plain yogurt in place of most of the mayo.

Barbacoa Pork

This recipe came from Elise's blog a while ago, and I make it so much I just had to put it here too. It's very similar to the pork at Cafe Rio. In fact we eat in salad form just like the one you can get there. We put tortillas in pie tins and sprinkle them with a little cheese, then put them under the broiler to melt the cheese and crisp the tortillas slightly. We then layer the salads in this order in the tortillas: rice (lime cilantro rice would be great), black beans, pork, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, more cheese, and anything else you like on a salad or in a burrito. It's excellent, and the ingredients always surprise our guests. I think the meat is flavorful enough that we don't use any salad dressing, but you could use ranch or a tasty dressing Elise likes.
Thanks Elise!

Barbacoa Pork

3-4 pound pork roast
1 can cola
1 C brown sugar
1 bottle red taco sauce (about 15 oz, La Victoria works best, but Taco Bell brand is OK too)
1 Tb cumin

Place pork in slow cooker and fill with water half way up the roast. Cook on low 6 hours. Drain the water and shred the pork, returning the pork to the slow cooker. Combine the remaining ingredients and poor over the pork. Cook on low for another two hours.

Chinese Chicken Salad (although I am not actually certain just how Chinese it is...)

This makes a BIG salad! I usually make it for putlucks or days when I know I don't want to cook the next day. I don't think the salad is really Chinese, but that is what my mom always called it. It is yummy salad! Emily asked me for the recipe to this one and I was going to just email it to her, then I thought, "I should put in on the blog." So here it is, for all of you out there looking for a new salad to take on a picnic or to a ward activity.

Chinese Chicken Salad

2 packages of your favorite flavor of ramen noodles (I have only ever used chicken or oriental flavored)
1 large can of pineapple chunks or tidbits (with juice)
half a head of cabbage chopped up
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2-3 cups of grapes (depending on the size of salad you are making)
1 small package of slivered almonds (more if you like more)
1/2 of a medium sized purple onion chopped
1 medium green pepper
Soy Sauce
Salt and Pepper

These are approximates. Add how ever much you like of each.

Directions for salad:
1. Crumble the ramen noodles into the bottom of a big bowl (but not too small). Pour the can of pineapple with juice onto noodles (this makes the noodles soft).

2. Cook the chicken and cut it up into bite size pieces. Season chicken with soy sauce and salt and pepper to taste as it is cooking. For the last couple of minutes that the chicken is cooking add the slivered almonds and let them cook until slightly golden.

3. Throw in all the other ingredients, but don't stir until everything is added (you want to give the noodles plenty of time to get soft before you stir everything in with them).

The dressing:
1 or 2 flavoring packets from your ramen noodles (depending on how much seasoning you like... I use one, my sister uses two)
1/3 cup of oil
2 tablespoons of orange juice concentrate
3 tablespoons of vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
salt and pepper to liking

Mix it all up. Pour the dressing onto salad and stir it all up. Eat right away or chill until you are ready to eat (the leftovers are even better the next day because the flavors have mixed for a while.

These are kind of estimates. I don't usually measure when I am making this salad. I just toss in a little of this and a little of that, so if something sounds good to you try it out, or if you think it sounds gross leave it out, of add more or less of something if you want. My sister said she wants to try it with craisins (just an idea).

Layer Salad

Here's a salad that has everything tasty in it, and it looks pretty in a glass bowl or trifle dish. I was leery of the dressing at first, but it was really good, sort of like a Caesar dressing. Left overs of this salad actually taste good! Because the lettuces are kept away from the dressing, they don't get mushy.
I made this a meal by adding grilled chicken breast seasoned with lemon pepper cut into strips. Green onions are also mentioned in the recipe, but we don't like them. You can add 1/2 cup of sliced green onions on top of the lettuce.

Layer Salad

1 medium head of lettuce, shredded
8 oz baby spinach, washed and trimmed
1 C thinly sliced celery
1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 (10 oz) package frozen peas
2 C mayonnaise
2 tsp sugar
1/2 C grated Parmesan
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3 eggs, hard boiled and chopped
3/4 pound bacon, fried and crumbled
2 medium tomatoes, cut in wedges

Mix lettuce and spinach and place in the bottom of a 4 qt glass bowl. Layer celery, water chestnuts, and uncooked peas on top. In a separate bowl combine mayo, sugar, cheese, salt and garlic powder. Spread over peas. Just before serving, sprinkle with eggs and bacon. Garnish with tomato wedges.

Jammy Vinaigrette

I had the spinach, celery, and Craisins for a tasty salad but no vinaigrette. And you can't just put ranch on that sort of salad. So I made this with homemade strawberry jam. It worked! I imagine any type of jam would work well.

Jammy Vinaigrette

1/4 C olive oil
1 Tb red wine vinegar
1-2 Tb jam
salt
pepper

Nuke the jam in the microwave for 30 seconds or until it's warm enough to stir easily. Mix the olive oil and vinegar with the jam until combined (in a bowl with a fork is just fine). Add salt and pepper to taste. If you like more vinegar-y taste, add more. If you don't like the taste as much, try less. This makes enough for a salad for about 4 people. Make a double batch and save the rest if you think you might need it.

Barbeque Chicken Salad

A local restaurant serves a tasty version of this salad, so I thought I'd try to duplicate it at home. I have to say that mine is just a little bit better than theirs! :)

Barbeque Chicken Salad
Serves 4-6

2 Chicken Breasts
Green Leaf Lettuce, washed
Baby Spinach, washed
3/4 Cup white corn
1 can black beans
3/4 cup Tomatoes (I like to use cherry tomatoes because they are sweeter and cuter, but any tomatoes will work)
1/2 Yellow onion
2 Tbs Flour
2 Tbs Butter
Grated cheese
Ranch Dressing
Barbeque sauce

Cook chicken breast and cube or shread. Baste with barbeque sauce if desired, set aside. Over medium-low heat, melt butter. Chop onion into thin strips and add to butter. Sautee for a few minutes until soft, then add flour, making sure each onion is coated. Continue cooking until golden brown and crunchy to taste. Cool on a paper towel. Cook corn and heat black beans, chop tomatoes. Prepare dressing by mixing ranch dressing and barbeque sauce in 3 Ranch:1 Barbeque ratio. Tear lettuce and spinach if nessecary. Assemble all ingredient in salad, top with shredded cheese.

Although the onions are my favorite part of this recipe, we've had the salad without and it is still delicious!

Buffalo Chicken with Blue Cheese Lettuce Wedges

If you like hot wings you'll love this! It was so easy. Using a rotisserie chicken makes it quick. I bought my chicken a day before I made this recipe, so it was in the fridge and cold the night I was going to use it. I just cut it into pieces and used my roasting pan (like the one in Heidi's picture) on the stovetop to let the chicken heat up in the sauce on low for about 20 minutes.
I love the vinegary taste of the hot sauce. And I've tried a couple bottled blue cheese dressings that I didn't like. This dressing is simple and brings out the blue cheese flavor. I also had diced tomatoes and crumbled bacon to serve over the dressing (highly recommended!) Extra dressing can be used with the chicken for dipping.

Buffalo Chicken
from Real Simple January '07

1 5-oz bottle of hot sauce (such as Frank's RedHot)
4 Tb butter
1 rotisserie chicken, cut into pieces

In a small saucepan, over medium-low heat, warm the hot sauce. Stir in butter and heat until melted. place the chicken pieces in a large bowl, pour sauce mixture over the chicken and toss.

Blue Cheese Lettuce Wedges

1/2 C sour cream
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 small head iceburg lettuce, cut into wedges

In a small bowl combine sour cream, blue cheese, salt, pepper, and 2 1/2 Tb water. If you want a thinner dressing, add more water 1 tsp at a time. Serve dressing over wedges.