Garden Rotini and Chickpea Salad

Yesterday, I actually sat down and planned out a week of menu ideas. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to hit the grocery store until today. Still, here is my first vegan dish. I thought it was very tasty! Jeff enjoyed it, too, but I didn't realize that he doesn't care much for pasta salads. Oh well, more for me! :-)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz rotini
• 1 (15-oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1/2 roma tomato, diced
• 2 radishes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• Annie's Natural Goddess dressing

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook rotini according to package. Drain well and rinse with cool water. Transfer to a large bowl.

2.  While pasta is cooking, prep vegetables. Add all the vegetables to the cooked pasta. Drizzle with 1/3 to 1/2 bottle of dressing  and toss gently to combine.

*Recipe adapted from Garden Rotini and Chickpea Salad with Inner Goddess Dressing. Vegan on the Cheap. pg. 85.

challenge accepted!

I have accepted my sisters challenge!! I am even starting out with a meatless side dish just for her!!!! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and LOVE the difference mayonnaise changes the taste of scalloped potatoes! I did tweak it just a little...one cannot conform too much I say!!! So here is scalloped potatoes and onions! YUMMY!!!

Ingredients

• 5 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• Paprika
• 1 cup shredded cheese

Directions
In a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish, layer potatoes and onion. In a saucepan, melt the butter; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add broth, mayonnaise, salt and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly. Pour over potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover and bake at 325 degrees F for 2 hours or until tender. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!! Not only was excellent it uses basic pantry ingredients and is relatively cheap too!!!!!

Potato Salad

My sister (not the co-auther of this blog, another sister) is generally the potato salad maker, but I had a lot of potatoes to use up, so I figured a potato salad would be perfect. I searched online and found this recipe, which I have modified into a tasty version of my own. Jeff, who normally doesn't care much for potato salad, surprised me by not only liking this concoction but also having multiple servings. Now that's what I call success!

Yields 6 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds potatoes, peeled
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup salad dressing (e.g. Miracle Whip®)
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp dried, minced onion
• 1 tsp Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb
• ¼ tsp salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ cup sliced celery
• Paprika, to taste

Directions:
1. Place potatoes into a large pot of salted water; bring to a boil. Cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop into 1 inch cubes. Place in a medium bowl.

2. Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 12 to 14 minutes. Drain water and immediately add cold water and/or ice. Peel and dice.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, salad dressing, dijon mustard, milk, vinegar, onions, Mrs. Dash, salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the potatoes, and mix together with the eggs and celery. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.

Onion Rice

ONIONS ONIONS ONIONS!!!!!!!!

I have a love affair with onions. They are in almost everything I cook. Who can resist the smell of sauteing onions???? When I made a new recipe which I called Jamaican jerk pork roast in the crock pot, I needed something to serve it over because of its yummy juices and pineapple. I was SO bored of just plain old rice. Seriously tired of it. So I jazzed it up a bit with the help of a beautiful yummy onion. Family loves this side and it is so incredibly easy! You don't even feel like you have done ANYTHING! P.S. I have a crummy microwave so I make the rice on the stove top. Feel free to make it in the microwave!

Click here for Printable Recipe

Super Easy Onion Rice
Serves 2 (and one little Saul)

• 1 cup Brown Minute Rice
• 1 cup Water
• 1/4 tsp or so of onion salt (you can add more later if needed)
• 1 medium Onion coarsely chopped
• Cooking spray
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring water and onion salt to a boil. Add the rice and cover for about 8 minutes (until the water is all absorbed). Meanwhile, Spray pan with cooking spray and saute onions until clear and translucent. When rice is ready toss onions with the rice and salt and pepper to taste.