Tag: Appetizer

Ranch Pasta Salad Revisited

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After revisiting this recipe from January, I felt the need to readdress it, improve it, and publish it with new photos and better flavor. Using fresh onions is much better than using dried minced onion. Onion powder is necessary to enhance the ranch flavor. Garlic powder is also better than fresh garlic because it can also disperse better. I added fresh green beans from my last fall harvest, and they were delicious and added great texture to this side dish. You could also add diced bell peppers if you want more excitement. I increased the amount of dressing that was made, and I increased the pasta amount to make 4-5 side portions for this recipe.

Ranch Pasta Salad Revisited Recipe CardDownload

What You Will Need

  • 2 Cups Shaped Pasta
  • 1 Cup Green Beans
  • Large sauce pan
  • Salt
  • Colander
  • 1/2 Cup Ranch
  • 1 Cup Mayo
  • 2 tsp Onion powder
  • 1/2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 Tbsp Chives
  • 2 Tbsp Diced Onion
  • Serving Bowl and Spoon

Directions

  1. Boil pasta and green beans until pasta is al dente. Strain and rinse with cold water. Shake off excess water.
  2. In Serving bowl, add ranch, mayo, onion, garlic powder, onion powder, and chives. Mix together. Add cooled pasta and green beans, and Stir.
  3. Refrigerate until serving.
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Tomato Cucumber Salad

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Even though I pulled my cucumbers a couple weeks ago, I still have a small mound of cucumbers sitting on my counter. At the same time, my in-law’s garden is just full of cherry tomatoes. So, here is a simple summer salad that uses up some items that may still be plentiful for you this time of year. Add a bit of acid with vinegar or lemon, and balance it with a bit of sugar, if desired.

Tomato Cucumber Salad Recipe CardDownload

What You Will Need

  • 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, Halved
  • 1 Small Cucumber, Peeled and Julienned
  • 1/2 Medium Onion, Diced
  • 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp Sugar
  • Serving Bowl and Spoon

Directions

  1. Prepare your vegetables and add you serving bowl.
  2. Add Lemon juice, vinegar, and sugar. Stir.
  3. Serve right away, or refrigerate and serve later.
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Garlic Bread

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Garlic bread is a delicious side for any Italian meal. I believe no garlic is too much garlic, and garlic and butter are one of the best toppings for bread. This simple recipe can be used with any bread. I used a whole grain bread and it was quite delicious. If you would rather take a few extra minutes, you could also melt the butter in a small frying pan with the garlic and cook it for 10 minutes on low until the garlic is soft enough to become a paste. If you dice the garlic up finely, it will help cook it faster. This recipe is enough for 4 side servings. I used a 6 inch loaf cut into quarters.

Garlic Bread Recipe CardDownload

What You Will Need

  • 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
  • 2 Bread Slices
  • 3 Tbsp Butter
  • Garlic Powder
  • Bowl and Pastry Brush
  • Baking Sheet

Directions

  1. Heat Oven to 350 F
  2. Cut your bread into your desired size.
  3. Place Minced garlic and butter into a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir butter until melted. Brush butter over bread and add garlic evenly over bread. Place bread on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes
  4. Remove bread and top each slice with a sprinkle of garlic powder. Serve as a side.
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English Muffins

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The original recipe is found here.

These English muffins were very delicious. The original recipe calls for instant yeast, however I substituted in active dried yeast instead. They both seem to work well, however instant yeast seemed to provide less rise during cooking. I also believe that waiting 12-18 hours was unnecessary with active dried yeast, since it seemed to only mature the flavor of the dough. My dough almost had no rise, and with active dried yeast you’d probably be fine cooking these muffins in an hour rather than waiting 12-18. I rolled my dough to about 1 cm thick and that was plenty for the rise I wanted. I also rolled some thicker, and it had no real affect on the overall thickness of my muffins, the only thing that did seem make a difference was what temperature you cooked them at. My first three rose very little due to the pan not being fully hot and heated before cooking. The rest popped up like balloons due to the heat within a minute. My oven has heat settings from 1-9 and I used 4 for this recipe.

What You Will Need

  • 2 1/2 cup Flour
  • 1/4 tsp Active dried yeast
  • pinch of Salt
  • 2/3 cup Milk
  • 1/2 cup Water
  • 1 Tbsp Butter

Directions

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine first three ingredients. In a separate microwaveable bowl, add your wet ingredients and butter. Microwave until liquid is finger warm and the butter can melt.
  2. Slowly add ingredients until a dry dough has come together. Mix until smooth adding additional liquid sparingly.
  3. Leave dough in bowl and cover with a tea towel and let sit for 1-2 hours. Turn out dough onto a floured surface.
  4. Roll out dough to be 1 cm thick, then use a 3 inch cutter or cup to make dough rounds. Flour both sides of the round and place aside.
  5. Rework dough then repeat step 4 until out of dough. Cover with tea towel and let rise another 45 minutes.
  6. Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium to medium-low heat.
  7. Use a spatula to move the dough to the frying pan leaving room for minor expansion. Cover with a lid and leave for 8 minutes.
  8. Flip your dough, cover, and let cook another 3 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Let cool before eating.
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Refrigerator Pickles

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Original recipe can be found here. I used Dried Dill instead of fresh, though the original recipe used fresh dill. I also forgot to add onion, so that also changed the flavor.

I made this recipe a week and a half ago. This weekend I was making picnic food, and I thought these pickles would pair very nicely. These pickles are very good. They aren’t as sour as store bought pickles, but they had the right flavor and tasted great! I used 9 tsp dried dill, 2 garlic cloves, and I forgot the onion. Despite this these pickles were very good and still had a fresh flavor about them. If you still have as many cucumbers as I do, this would be a great recipe to make!

Refrigerator Pickles Recipe CardDownload
What You Will Need
  • 4 qts Cucumbers, with ends cut off and quartered if large
  • 9-12 tsp dried dill
  • 2-4 garlic cloves
  • 1 small onion
  • 7 1/2 cups water
  • 2 cups vinegar
  • 1/3-1/2 cup salt
Directions
  1. In a large pot, bring water, vinegar, and salt to a boil. Turn off burner and remove from heat.
  2. In a gallon container, add dill, garlic and onion, then top with cut cucumbers.
  3. Cover with warm brine, place a plate on top to hold cucumbers under the brine, then add lid and transfer the fridge.
  4. Pickles are ready after 5 days, and are good for 9-12 months.
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