A Perfect 4th of July Picnic Salad

Here is a new salad to add to your list – I like it since it is not too mayonnaisey and has a lot of crunchy ingredients. After talking to friends, I think it is a slightly different version that many people make. Make it this weekend for your 4th of July festivities.

Best Broccoli Salad

3c. broccoli flowerets – just buy the crowns and trim them into mouth size pieces
½ c. raisins
½ c. chopped celery
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (in a pinch I have used Hormel real bacon pieces)
½ c. nuts – I have used cashews, walnuts and even peanuts

Mix all these elements together in a large bowl, then coat with dressing. Here is the dressing: mix ½ c. mayonnaise, 2 tbs. honey and the juice of one whole lemon. Pour on the salad and toss away. If I am making more, I use 2 lemons and increase the mayo by ¼ c.

I really liked this and so have my guests. I first had a version of it at my grandson’s birthday party that was purchased at Sam’s Club. This is my duplicate version. It keeps well and is something different than the standard fare. ENJOY! Happy Fourth of July!

Becky's Original Flank Steak Salad

A long time ago, I came up with a delicious flank steak salad recipe that I have tweaked over the years. Today I made the current version and it was so perfect I will never “fix” it again.

Early in the day, marinate a flank steak in the following mixture:

1/3 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. oil
1 T. brown sugar
4 green onions, chopped or ½ of a regular onion
1 clove garlic, minced

Mix all these together and make sure the sugar is dissolved. Place the flank steak in a plastic bag and add the mixture. Let sit in fridge all day. When I make this for me and Mike, I only use ½ a flank steak since it is only part of the salad, not the star. Freeze the remaining half for flank steak and broccoli stir fry or just to marinate and grill.

On a large plate, put a nice heaping spread of chilled, chopped romaine lettuce you have rinsed and dried. In sections on the plate, arrange chopped hard boiled eggs, red onion diced finely, pretty chopped tomatoes and a green or yellow vegetable. I like asparagus or yellow or green beans you have cooked until not crunchy but not mushy either.

Grill or broil flank steak about 6 minutes each side. Let rest for 10 minutes on your cutting board. Slice across the grain and then cut again into smaller pieces. Arrange on plate. Sprinkle crumbled bleu cheese on top. Make the dressing and spoon on lightly.

Dressing: Mix together 1/3 c. balsamic vinegar, ½ c. olive oil, 2 tsp. Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.

This is such a pretty, great summer dinner. I serve it with fresh French bread or rolls.

A Pretty Summer Salad

Mike and I hosted our good friends the Bradley’s last Saturday night for dinner and a movie (except the movie was at the theater and by the way it was so bad it would have been way better for us to get a rental).

We saw Eat, Pray, Love and if all you want is a huge close-up of Julia Roberts’ big teeth, than this is the movie for you. I slept through Italy, Keith slept through India and Mike through Bali. Debbie was the only alert one and I am not sure why since she didn’t like it either.

Anyway, back at our house I served appetizers (the movie is very long so we were all starving) and then a simple dinner of the Barefoot Contessa’s Shrimp Scampi, garlic bread and a really pretty fresh summer salad.

Here is the salad recipe and ingredients for four:

3 large freshly grown tomatoes (only really available in the summer of course)
8 very thin slices of red onion
Small can of slice black olives
4 oz. feta cheese crumbled (try to crumble yourself –the other stuff is dry)
16-20 asparagus spears you have lightly blanched, placed in ice water, drained and chilled

Dressing: Mix together 1/3 c. red wine vinegar, 2 tsp. sugar, ½ c. salad oil, ¼ tsp. basil and oregano and 2 tsp. fresh chopped parsley. Shake it all together until sugar dissolves.

On a nice large salad plate, lay tomatoes and onions in a pretty curve. Top with feta cheese. On the other side of the plate, lay the asparagus. Drizzle with dressing.

I assembled everything before we left and drizzled on the dressing when I was ready to serve. Try this – it is pretty and delicious!

Mandarin Chicken Salad

This concludes my chicken recipes for Jamie P. I hope she found them to be just what she was looking for. I am sure she will impress anyone she invites to dinner.

Mandarin Chicken Salad

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 c. of any store bought teriyaki marinade (or just blend ½ c. soy sauce with ½ c. water)

1 tbs. vegetable oil
1 pkg. oriental flavor ramen noodles (optional but they give a nice crunch and only cost TWENTY CENTS or if you don’t like these, use crunchy chow mein noodles)
½ c. sliced almonds (don’t buy the weird white slivered ones that look like skinny false teeth)
1 tsp. sesame seeds
One bag of mixed greens (I always add a few handfuls of good old chopped romaine since these mixed greens look too much like weeds to me)
3 green onions, chopped
½ cucumber, sliced
8 oz. can of mandarin oranges, drained
One bottle of any ginger, sesame, teriyaki salad dressing (there are a bunch of them out there and they are all pretty good, even the low fat ones).

Marinate chicken in sauce for an hour or longer in refrigerator. When ready to serve, remove from bowl, discard marinade and grill or broil until chicken is cooked through. When slightly cooled, cut in thin slices on an angle. Meanwhile, in sauté pan using the oil, lightly brown the almonds, broken up noodles and sesame seeds. On each plate, assemble mixed greens and romaine. Add oranges, green onions, noodle mix and chicken. Top with dressing. I think you will like this one – it’s spicy and so flavorful too.

*Becky Knows Everything: I flatten the chicken breasts so they cook more evenly, but if the pounding drives you nuts, just cut them in half horizontally.

Becky's Great Greek Salad

Here is one more delicious recipe with feta - Becky's Great Greek Salad. It's healthy and crunchy! This is so pretty and delicious you will be dancing like Zorba - you know smashing plates and all that.

Becky's Great Greek Salad

One bunch romaine lettuce, torn into bite size pieces

One bunch red leaf lettuce, also torn into bite size pieces

One small red onion, sliced very thinly

½ half seedless cucumber, sliced thinly

Grape tomatoes (they are so sweet and yummy and don’t burst in your mouth like those cherry ones)

Two hard boiled eggs, chopped

12-15 pitted kalamata olives or most of one jar

Combine all the above in a large bowl. Just before serving, toss with dressing and sprinkle generously with feta cheese. This recipe makes a lot and will fill a big bowl. You can keep it fresh if you only put the dressing on the portion you are eating and refrigerate the rest until tomorrow.

Dressing: combine 1/3 c. balsamic vinegar, 1/2 c. olive oil, salt and pepper, ½ tsp. oregano, ½ tsp. basil, ½ tsp sugar. Mix all until well blended.