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Crock Pot Cooking
Salads, Flavor Favorites
Even though salads have been enjoyed since ancient times, the variety can be both tempting and visually pleasing.
As we become more and more health conscious, salads become more popular, usually people think of vegetables when salads are mentioned.
However, there are numerous fruit salads at every family gathering and pot-luck in the country! Salads can contain anything from apples to zucchini and anything in between, just use your imagination.
Although lettuce has been the starting point for most salads, there are many other foods favorites you can start with:
*Watercress, cabbage or spinach
*Oranges, apples or grapefruit
*Beans or frozen peas
*Broccoli
*Potatoes
*Meats and seafood
Just about any food you can think of can be turned into a salad with a modest amount of creativity! You can create many kinds of salads:
*Jell-o salads with fruit
*Fruit salads with yogurt
*Green salads with every kind of vegetable imaginable
*Coleslaw
*Potato salad
*Tuna salad
*Chicken salad
Again, the varieties are endless, and the list can go on and on to eternity. One of my favorites includes a green salad with sunflower seeds or cashews, lettuce, tomatoes, celery, onions, carrots and ranch dressing.
With the dressings you can get just as creative, ranch, French, blue cheese and Italian are your basic dressings.
Now try some of these, mix a little concentrated orange or lemon juice to French dressing or mayonnaise for a delicious fruit salad dressing.
How about a dressing for grapefruit made with, sugar, pepper, paprika, dry mustard, grapefruit juice and catsup?
Add a little chili powder to concentrated juice, horseradish a cooked egg and mayonnaise for a spicy new taste.
Every nationality has their own favorite flavors in salads, get together with a few friends for a salad party; you would be amazed at the variety you will see.
See Also:
MySpace.com - wok - 22 - Male - BRICK, NEW JERSEY - www.myspace.com/wokwok1st
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Efficiency will save you lots of time in the kitchen, to accomplish this, learn to do more than one thing at a time. Increased preparation time before cooking is another way to become a faster cook.
Read your recipe before starting, this will save you many headaches, like getting a dish ready and finding out you need bat wings and you dont have any! Just kidding, I dont stock bat wings in my kitchen either, but you get the idea.
Get everything you will need together, follow the order they are used in the recipe, this allows you to be sure that you have everything you will need. Once you are sure you have everything, measure out the ingredients according to the recipe.
Organize all of your ingredients on one side of the work area, as you use something, move it to the other side, lessens confusion as to whether you used it or not.
Use the cutting board for all of your non-meat items first, this avoids cross contamination. If you have to prepare the meat first, wash the cutting board thoroughly before using it for any other food items.
Keeping a sink of hot soapy water will help cleanup later on, just drop used utensils in the water and allow them to soak.
Sometimes it is better to use your hands to mix something than it is to use a utensil; it also saves time washing up later. I for one loved making mud pies when I was a child, the only difference is the mud is now hamburger and the crushed leaves are now herbs.
Salads are always mixed more evenly if they are tossed with your hands. Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly, inexpensive plastic gloves will help if you didnt like playing in the mud!
Coat measuring cups, spoons and molds with non-stick spray before putting anything sticky in them, the ingredients will slide right out. To prevent having to clean a burned on, sticky mess from your boiler pan, line the pan with foil and spray the rack with non-stick spray.
Re-sealable plastic is great for marinating and coating foods with flour or cornmeal.
Planning in advance can save you a lot of time in the kitchen opening up your evenings to spend more time with your family. |
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Outdoor Grills
Barbecues have thrilled the American public for years, who doesnt love to taste of food cooked over an open grill?
Choosing a grill is an important part of this process, and there are as many types of grills as there are people cooking out of doors. There are small ones that fold up and can sit anywhere, costing only a few dollars.
There are the old standbys that were round with legs, and eventually they got used so much that the bottom burned out! Then there are the big fancy ones, costing hundreds of dollars, with propane, or charcoal.
Then there are the back yard barbecue enthusiasts who have one built of brick, block or fieldstone the choice is yours. There are grills with hoods, windshields, warming ovens and rotisseries.
These items bring all the advantages of cooking in your kitchen into your backyard. It is important that the grill you purchase meet all of your needs, choose it in the same way you would choose a stove for the kitchen!
Do you want a grill that you can take with you to a friends house; or just one to leave at home? If you are newlyweds just getting started, you may want a small grill just for two, possibly a hibachi, unless you have lots of barbecues or plan to start your family early.
In which case you may choose one of the larger models, for cooking a large amount of food at one time. Another consideration is propane or charcoal briquettes, some people dont like the taste of foods barbecued over propane (it looses that smoked taste).
However, you can buy chips to bring that taste out in your foods. Charcoal briquettes have a definite advantage when it comes to taste, and like I said earlier, who doesnt love the taste of food cooked over an open grill?
I once cooked on a grill so old the bottom was covered with a piece of metal and tin foil, dont try to convince the owner of that grill to buy a new one, his is “just getting broke in good”!
Choose wisely and enjoy your outdoor grill for many years to come!
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